Games - Stratholme

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	Games - Stratholme

Stratholme is a location set in Blizzard Entertainments video game and book series, Warcraft. In the MMORPG World of Warcraft it acts as an instance dungeon in the virtual world.

Background

In Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Stratholme was noted for having abundant natural resources in the form of oil, which the Alliance and Horde navies required for shipbuilding. Both factions fought at least one major battle for control of the city. It was one of the most prosperous cities of northern Lordaeron before Prince Arthas, ignoring the counsel of his mentor, Uther Lightbringer, slaughtered its inhabitants to stop the spread of the plague of undeath in Warcraft III: The Reign of Chaos. The city succumbed nonetheless. In World of Warcraft, Stratholme is a high-level instance located in the Eastern Plaguelands. Both the undead Scourge and the Scarlet Crusade contest the region. According to Warcraft lore, it is the capital of the Scourge in Lordaeron and the seat of the Lich Kel'Thuzad's power.

Nomenclature

While geographical short forms are highly varied in any MMORPG, the most common shortform referring to 'Stratholme is "Strat", or alternatively, "Strath". Stratholme is also generally divided into two sections by players based on two possible entrances to the instance:

Scarlet Crusade Side - Variously referred to as Scarlet Strat, Strat SC, Human Strat, HU Strat, Live Strat, Strat SM or SM2 (referring to the Scarlet Monastery theme), and FD Strat (referring to the entrance taken for that part of the instance is the "front" door of Stratholme)
Scourge Side - Referred to as Undead, or UD Strat, Strat UD, BD Strat (referring to the entrance taken being the back door, as it is labeled the "Service Entrance"), or more commonly a "Baron run" which refers to the final boss Baron Rivendare who can only be reached by clearing all of this area of Stratholme.

Instance zone

Stratholme is usually divided into two sections:

The Scarlet Side - where a large temple occupied by members of the Scarlet Crusade
are found.
The Undead Side - where many undead defend unholy ziggurats ultimately leading to the chamber of Baron Rivendare.

The maximum number of people allowed in a single instance is 10 but some important quests in Stratholme can only be accomplished by a group of five. As of patch 1.10, the maximum number of people changes to five.

Enemies

Stratholme Scarlet side is populated by various forms of undead (skeletons, ghouls, zombies, ghosts) and then, inside the Scarlet Crusade's building, a large number of humans. In general, the Scarlet side of Stratholme is regarded as being the more difficult of the two areas.

Stratholme Undead side is populated by undead of every possible type including banshees, abominations, and nerubian "death spiders". Monster levels range from 58 to 61. Most monsters are elite.

Some very important quests can only be finished by fighting through Stratholme, often in a small group of no more than five. The rewards for these quests are impressive and many players consider them worth the effort. Also the two main bosses often reward the players who defeat them with very powerful items.

Balnazzar - The boss of the Scarlet side of Stratholme drops several powerful items including the pattern for the epic priest robe "Truefaith Vestments" and the boots of the Paladin's Lightforge Armor set.
Baron Rivendare - The final boss of the Undead section drops the leg slot item for every class' blue armor set making him a very popular encounter. "Baron runs" can be completed by skilled parties in about 30 mintues. The Baron also drops two extremely rare epic items: his Runeblade and the Reins of the Deathcharger, his epic mount, which can be used by any race in the game.

Trivia

Many players have pointed out that, after four years since it was destroyed and started burning, the city would have burnt to the ground, but it still remains standing and burning

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Stratholme ]

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