World of Warcraft Hallow's End Guide 2009

The pumpkins have been carved, the Headless Horseman has donned his spurs, and Hallow's End has arrived in Azeroth. Hallow's End is often set beside Brewfest and Winter Veil as one of World of Warcraft's most involved and popular holidays. There is a lot to do before the holiday ends on November 1, so it is easy to get overwhelmed and miss some of the opportunities the holiday has to offer. To help you sort through all the mayhem, below are some tips for getting the most out of Hallow's End. Reader beware, you are in for a scare!

Trick or Treating

Once every hour during Hallow's End, your character can "Trick or Treat" at any one of Azeroth's many inns. To take your chance at delicious treats, simply talk to an Innkeeper and select the "Trick or Treat" chat option. If you are lucky, you will get a treat in the form of a Treat Bag which can contain candy themed food, a random mask, a wand used to put costumes on your party members, or another more rare treasure such as a Tooth Pick, a Penny Pouch, a Sinister Squashling pet, or a Hallowed Helm. If you are unlucky, you will be tricked and transformed into one of a number of random creatures including a cat, bat, or ghost.

You will want to take advantage of as many opportunities to Trick or Treat as you can both to obtain fun items and to make progress on the various Hallow's End achievements. There is also profit to be made in that many players working on The Masquerade achievement will pay for needed wand costumes. Check out our separate Hallow's End Achievements Guide more information.

Candy Buckets

As part of Hallow's End, there are quest giving candy buckets in many Inn's across Azeroth. These buckets provide a quick turn in quest for a Handful of Candy with no travel required. The locations of Azeroth's buckets are listed in the Tricks and Treats of Eastern Kingdoms and Tricks and Treats of Kalimdor achievements. Outland's buckets are to be found in the locations listed in the Tricks and Treats of Outland achievement. There are also buckets available across Northrend, but they are not tied to an achievement and are currently bugged and therefore may not be accessible. The candies received from the quest provide stackable buffs to hit rating, spell power, and defense, but be sure not to eat to many at once or you will lose your lunch and your buffs.

These buckets are a boon to lower level players as the quest turn in at each bucket awards experience and, even in the upper 70s, dropping by all the inns can net you a relatively easy half a level. For level 80 players, unless you are chasing achievements or really want the buffs, which do stack with each other and other food buffs, you may not want to bother tracking them all down.

The Headless Horseman

One of the more exciting parts of Hallow's End is the season specific level 80 boss, the Headless Horseman. The Horseman is located in the Scarlett Monastery Graveyard in Tirisfal Glades and can be summoned once per day by any character level 75 or higher through a daily quest which can be picked up in the instance. On your first day doing him, you can summon him twice by thwarting the Horseman's efforts in Goldshire, Azure Watch, Kharanos, Brill, Razor Hill, or Silvermoon City by fighting fires as per the Costumed Orphan Matron's quests. You can do both that quest chain's summon and the daily summon on your first go around. Savvy players might use this day of double summons to participate in two Horseman Groups, giving you 10 or more shots at loot rather than just 6.

As for equipment, the Headless Horseman drops the Ring of Ghoulish Glee, The Horseman's Seal, the Wicked Witch's Band, The Horseman's Horrific Helm, and The Horseman's Baleful Blade. He also drops several Weighted Jack-o'-Lanterns which can be used for the Check Your Head achievement. Lastly, he has a smaller chance of dropping either a magic broom mount which can be ridden during the holiday, a Sinister Squashling pet, a Hallowed Helm, or even the Horseman's own mount through The Horseman's Reins.

The Headless Horseman is an incredibly easy kill. Even level 75 players should be able to survive the encounter without much difficulty. All you need to know strategy wise is that whenever the Horseman dismounts, shift all dps to his floating head. As long as your healer isn't afk, your tank picks up the adds, the ranged dps spreads out, and you burn the head, this fight is no challenge at all for even just three level 80 players. If you are over level 75, try to kill him everyday until you have the loot you desire. If you are not 80 and are having a hard time getting into groups, make one yourself.

Hallow's End Profit

For the entrepreneurial player, Hallow's End can be a very profitable time of year and it is all thanks to the achievement The Masquerade. To complete that achievement, a player must rely on other players to transform them using the different transformation wands found in Treat Bags and Crudely Wrapped Gifts. Many players are willing to pay between 5 and 25 gold per transformation. An army of alts camped at innkeepers who Trick or Treat once an hour can generate a healthy supply of wands, the charges from which can then be sold for a decent profit. Considering the wands are free, this is a pure gold making method that requires no investment and has absolutely no chance of loss. If you have time, the spirit of a salesman, and a handful of alts, Hollows End can be a great opportunity to expand your coffers.

Achievements

Check out our separate World of Warcraft Hallow's End Achievement Guide 2009 to learn all you need to know to complete all of the Hallow's End Achievements.