Stratholme

Preparation checklist

Ticks save in this browser only.

Confirm Service Gate access; if it cannot be opened, plan the Main Gate and connecting streets.
If doing The Restless Souls, accept Egan’s follow-up and bring Egan’s Blaster.
Plan outside turn-ins between quest stages; The Archivist and The Flesh Does Not Lie do not open follow-ups automatically inside.

At a glance

Plan a five-player WoW: Forever quest party. Location: the northern edge of Eastern Plaguelands. The inherited layout has a Main Gate toward the Scarlet Bastion, usually called Live, and a Service Gate at Eastwall Gate for the shorter Undead approach. Both lead into the same instance in that baseline.

The inherited Service Gate plan uses Magistrate Barthilas's Key to the City; one holder admits the party. If the gate cannot be opened, use the Main Gate and clear the connecting streets toward Undead. Confirm Forever's current key and lock-opening rules before arranging the shortcut.

A first party around 58-60 should allow roughly an hour or more per side. State Live, Undead or both when forming the group. This is provisional Forever planning: quests, gates and mechanics below use Classic evidence, with Forever changes still to be confirmed. Verification is from public sources, not an in-game clear.

Quests to pick up first

Shared collection and route objectives

The Restless Souls: Caretaker Alen at Light's Hope Chapel sends you to Egan at the house southwest of Stratholme. Accept Egan's follow-up and bring Egan's Blaster. Use it on Ghostly or Spectral Citizens, then use it again on the Restless Souls released to free them. Check 15 souls freed for each quest holder; killing citizens normally does not finish the objective.
The Great Ezra Grimm, Smokey LaRue at Light's Hope: open the tobacco container in the Live-side streets to summon Ezra, kill him and collect Grimm's Premium Tobacco. Clear the surrounding enemies before clicking.
Houses of the Holy, Leonid Barthalomew at Light's Hope: collect 5 Stratholme Holy Water from supply crates. Some crates trigger pests or other trouble, so open them with the group ready rather than during a boss pull.
The Flesh Does Not Lie, Betina Bigglezink at Light's Hope: collect 20 Plagued Flesh Samples from eligible undead. Turn it in outside before accepting The Active Agent, which needs Scourge Data from a ziggurat object. You cannot collect the later quest's credit simply by completing the first objective inside.

Optional Blacksmithing events

Under the inherited specialty route, eligible Weaponsmiths take Sweet Serenity from Lilith the Lithe or Corruption from Seril Scourgebane in Everlook before travelling. See Blacksmithing for the preparation and check Forever's current skill/quest access.

Crimson Hammersmith, Live: inspect the Blacksmithing Plans on the floor before Cannon Master Willey to summon the fight, then loot the Crimson Hammersmith's Apron for Sweet Serenity.
Black Guard Swordsmith, Undead: inspect the plans near the first ziggurat, by Anastari's stairs, then loot the Insignia of the Black Guard for Corruption.

Clear the surrounding street before opening either set of plans and tell the tank before starting the ambush. These are optional summons, separate from the ordinary ziggurat and Scarlet Bastion progression.

Live side

The Archivist, Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff at Light's Hope: kill Galford and burn the Scarlet Archive using its object. If you also have Of Love and Family from Tirion Fordring's chain, collect the painting in the same room first.
The Truth Comes Crashing Down: the Head of Balnazzar starts this only after The Archivist has been turned in. Plan a return trip or an agreed outside turn-in before Balnazzar, rather than promising the whole chain in one uninterrupted first clear. Turn in the head to unlock Above and Beyond, the Baron objective.
The Medallion of Faith: Aurius in the chapel near the Undead entrance wants the medallion from Malor's strongbox in the Scarlet Bastion. Bring it back to Aurius and complete the dialogue before the Baron fight. His Aurius' Reckoning reward is checked after he assists in that encounter; revisit him rather than leaving immediately.

Undead side and longer chains

Above and Beyond, Duke Nicholas: accept the stage after the Balnazzar-head turn-in, then loot Rivendare's head. A Baron kill before accepting is not a completed later quest.
Ramstein, Horde: advance Nathanos Blightcaller's The Ranger Lord's Behest chain in Eastern Plaguelands until he offers the Ramstein kill/head objective.
Menethil's Gift, late Scholomance/Ras chain: with Leonid Barthalomew's actual stage active and Keepsake of Remembrance in your bags, click the glowing floor symbol in Rivendare's room, accept its same-name follow-up and return to Leonid at Light's Hope. Complete this before leaving; it is not a generic Baron drop.
Tier 0.5's Dead Man's Plea imposes its own timed Baron run. Do not advertise a normal first clear as a guaranteed timed completion; accept the proper chain stage, prepare the route and watch the actual timer.
Atiesh, inherited endgame event: a prepared legendary quest bearer can use the supplied staff at Consecrated Earth near Festival Lane's fountain to summon the demon. Arrange a separate five-player fight with curse removal and a Disarm plan for the temporary Andonisus sword, then return to Anachronos. See Naxxramas's Atiesh preparation for the earlier forty-Splinter and raid-component stages; an ordinary Stratholme clear does not unlock this summon.

The run

Main Gate and Scarlet Bastion, Live

Streets: pull patrols back, stop fears and clear a safe place for ghosts or crates. Optional Skul and Hearthsinger Forresten are rares. The Unforgiven appears with an ambush on its street; gather the adds rather than assuming the corner is safe.
Post route, optional: the Stratholme Courier carries mailbox keys. In the inherited event, the third opened postbox summons Postmaster Malown and three companions. Clear the surrounding street before opening each box, and gather the full ambush on the third. Arrange this detour before starting so mailbox fights do not overlap patrols.
Timmy the Cruel: clearing the Scarlet Bastion courtyard brings him into play. Gather him on the tank and keep damage going through his drain. He is not just an ordinary ghoul to skip by name.
Malor the Zealous, side room: interrupt Holy Light, continue after his emergency heal and loot the strongbox medallion for Aurius. This is a required detour only for that objective or his loot.
Cannon Master Willey: clear the room, assign a player to the cannonballs and cannons, and use the cannons on summoned riflemen rather than letting them stack up. Keep the tank on Willey and maintain healing while the cannon user handles the reinforcements.
Archivist Galford: clear the room, interrupt his dangerous casts and remove damaging magic if available. Collect Of Love and Family's painting if needed, then use the Archive object for the quest. Check both objectives before continuing.
Grand Crusader Dathrohan / Balnazzar, Live final: clear the room before pulling. The apparent crusader transforms into Balnazzar during the fight. Keep the tank in healing range, leave safe space for fear and control a dominated ally without killing them. The healer saves mana for the demon phase; damage dealers interrupt what can be interrupted and avoid pulling the uncleared corridor during fear. Loot the head only if eligible for its chain.

Undead streets and three ziggurats

Magistrate Barthilas: if entering from the Service Gate, he can run to a later position rather than remain at the entrance. Kill him where found, tank against safe terrain for knockback and loot the Key to the City for future access.
Baroness Anastari: keep the party ready for Possess. Stop ordinary damage on the boss when she vanishes, control the possessed ally and carefully damage that player enough to break the possession, stopping as soon as control returns. Do not kill your party member with unchecked damage-over-time effects.
Nerub'enkan: the tank gathers summoned scarabs while damage dealers clear them before returning to the boss. Avoid leaving the healer surrounded by adds.
Maleki the Pallid: interrupt his Frost spell damage where possible, remove harmful magic if available and keep the healer free to cover the tank during control effects.
After each of these three bosses, enter that ziggurat and kill all its Thuzadin Acolytes. The boss kill alone does not disable the tower. Check all three before expecting the Slaughter Square gate to open. Look for Scourge Data if on The Active Agent.

Slaughter Square and Baron Rivendare

Enter the square as a group and clear its abominations in controlled pulls. Do not spread through several live packs or let a knockback send the tank into another abomination. Clear every required abomination to trigger the next stage.
Ramstein the Gorger emerges from the slaughterhouse. Pick him up promptly, keep the tank topped up through stun/knockback and maintain a safe facing. Loot the Horde quest head if needed.
Mindless Undead wave follows: gather the swarm and use controlled area damage with the healer protected. Do not begin looting while the wave approaches.
Defeat the Black Guard Sentries that follow and wait for the slaughterhouse doors to open. If the door is still shut, check the unfinished event instead of assuming a random reset is needed.
Baron Rivendare: fight with the tank and melee in front of the healer's safe line of sight, keeping ranged away from Unholy Aura where possible. His Mortal Strike reduces healing on the tank; time defensives and strong heals for that pressure. Kill the skeleton waves promptly before they reach or sustain him and before they overwhelm the healer. Use available area damage or Holy Water when appropriate, while preserving quest water until Houses of the Holy is complete.
Finish Aurius and plagued-earth objectives if active, check quest heads and loot, then leave. The rare mount is a possible drop, not a reason to promise a fixed number of runs.

Loot worth staying for

Inherited targets to compare with the current Forever item and boss table before farming:

Willey: Shadowcraft Spaulders and ranged-weapon drops.
Galford: Devout Gloves and Foresight Girdle.
Timmy: Lightforge Gauntlets.
Balnazzar: the Live-side final boss pool, including the rare Book of the Dead.
Anastari: Dreadmist Sandals.
Nerub'enkan: Beaststalker's Boots.
Maleki: caster loot such as Maleki's Footwraps.
Ramstein: Gauntlets of Valor and other late-dungeon gear.
Rivendare: dungeon-set leg pieces, Cape of the Black Baron and the rare Deathcharger's Reins. A class set drop is random, not selected to match the party.

Tips

Bring an Argent Dawn Commission or an appropriate upgraded trinket if you want eligible scourgestone drops under Classic rules. Put it on before the kills, not at the end.
The Undead progression is three bosses plus acolytes, abominations, Ramstein, undead wave, Black Guards, Baron. Missing an event step is the common reason a gate stays closed.
Complete outside chain turn-ins between stages. The Archivist and The Flesh Does Not Lie do not automatically open their follow-ups while you are still inside.
Use a key holder for the Service Gate on a first Undead run if possible. A personal Key to the City is convenient later, but is not required on every party member.