The Baron Run for Fun and Profit!
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Bastosa on Friday, February 27, 2009 - 33 Comments Tags: baron mount, baron rivendare, baron run, farming, grinding, rare mount, stratholme
Bastosa on Friday, February 27, 2009 - 33 Comments Tags: baron mount, baron rivendare, baron run, farming, grinding, rare mount, stratholme 
Fresh on the heels of my post about cool things to explore in the old world, I thought I would take a moment to highlight one of the more interesting ones: Stratholme. I will say this now, I am extremely lucky. I received the Baron mount on my 4th attempt. For those of you who don’t know what that means (I was surprised to learn how many are unfamiliar), let me explain what I am talking about.The Baron mount, or The Deathcharger's Reins, is an epic ground mount that drops from the final boss of Stratholme’s dead side: Baron Rivendare. It has a 1 in 100 drop rate. This has been greatly increase recently as it used to be 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 5,000 before that. Now that it exists in the world of attainability, lots of people spend time farming for this unique mount. Doing the “Baron Run” is not only a great way to get Argent Dawn rep for those of you going for Argent Champion (be sure you have your Argent Dawn Commission equipped!), but there is that great carrot of a mount at the end to keep you grinding away.
Stratholme is a level 60 instance, and can be easily soloed by level 80 characters, and with a little more work if you are 70+. If done correctly the Baron run can be completed very quickly, with some able to do it in under 10 minutes. The easiest place to start is at the service entrance, far to the east of the main entrance in Eastern Plaguelands. To do this you must have The Key to the City. If you do not have the key, simply go in the front. You can also have somebody else open the gate for you, or even pick the lock if you have the ability. Once inside, make sure you kill Magistrate Barthilas as this will make future runs much simpler!
Trash is packed tight in Stratholme, so you best policy is to kill things as soon as you aggro them so they don’t pull other mobs. That being said, a vast majority of the trash is completely skippable due to a very small aggro radius, especially for level 80s.
In order to get access to Baron Rivendare, there are 3 bosses that must first be killed: Baroness Anastari, Maleki the Pallid, and Nerub'enkan. None of these bosses should present a challenge at high level, just make sure you enter their temples after the boss dies and kill all of the acolytes. You can find a great map of where to find these guys at Wowhead.
Once the acolytes are dead you will gain access to a new area full of abominations. These must all be killed in order for the door to Rivendare’s room to be opened. It is good practice to save one for last, and kill him in front of the door to the Baron's chamber. That way, you can run in before the door shuts. Once this happens you have one more boss to kill: Ramstein The Gorger. Get him down and go kill the Baron! The run is quick, and I wish you luck on the drop! If you aren't lucky enough to get the mount, be sure and pick up all the loot, as it can be sold for a suprising amount of gold.
Reader Comments (33)
nice post, i've been thinking about going for it since i could also do with the rep you get, but knowing my luck i wouldnt get the mount xD
Grats on the mount, it dropped on about the same amount of time for me, but unfortunately, a guildy got it :P (I was only there because I was bored and I wanted the rep).
And of course, I now hate Stratholme. A lot.
i might try to run Strath on my 80
1) for money
2) for the mount =)
gratz on the mount
BEWARE PET USERS
any one of the three bosses that you have to kill (i actually think this is only for the Baroness but just to be sure)at the ziggurauts have a mind control which almost always lands on you forcing you kill your pet or heal her if you can.
The only boss who should really present any challenge, especially for melee, is Nerub'enkan who snares you with his web then runs away. the problem with this is that if you want to get through as fast as possible and didn't clear the room he agros his buddy's and, unless your some kind of uber epic, you'll die within 10 seconds of the whole room agro.
i still haven't gotten that mount to drop and ive run through straht at least 10 times (not alot but look at bast getting it on hiis 4th try). so good luck and happy hunting.
Stratholme is still my favorite Vanilla instance, and possibly my favorite of all the instances. The feeling you get the first time you set foot in the main entrance and see the burning houses coupled with the horde of undead... you think "Man, we are going INTO this?" The only thing that compares in scope is the first time you look over the edge of those bridges in BRD (possibly my second favorite, though they may tie if you count all of the wings of Blackrock Mountain, Spire to Core) and see the bridges above and below you. Both instances just feel huge.
I'm working on Argent Champion (Paladins represent!) and if the mount drops then all the better. Of course I could also put the Baron's Runeblade in my trophy pile next to Marduk's broken hilt. It is a shame I never managed to score a Corrupted Ashbringer before 3.0. I would like to have had a complete set of Runeblades.
the place sucks to me mound is not worth it what is the big deal ooooh it gives 100% speed and it looks like the undead mounnd big deal it doesnt do anything allse like fly or shat gold so go to that dredfull place i much rather spend my time gathering money for my epic flying mounnd gathering badges shards running instances thats axauly a challange PVPing or atleast learning to PVP i havent been to winter grasp in a while
I grinded up Rivendare's Warhorse a few weeks ago. All in all it took 91 runs, spread over the coarse of about 3 weeks. Was it worth it? No man can say.
Gotta love my new mount, though.
Elion
learn to spell
learn sentence structure
This is my first post. Take your time killing the Abominations in main square before Baron. If you kill them to fast, or if an Abomination gets out of the square gate you entered. ( i noticed the Abominations will head toward the gate after awhile.) Ramstein the Gorger doesn't spawn and its a wasted run. You'll be locked in the main square and have to hearth and reset. Stay near the gate and pull them one at a time.
Grats on the mount. My fiance has been running that instance for quite some time now and still hasn't seen the mount drop (180+ runs at this point). She has however gotten the Baron Rivendare's sword. The sword is cool and all but it is definitely not as awesome as the mount.
4th time? I know someone that really wants that badly and will hate you for it.
Hi Devon! :D
Hey, at least my low level toons (in the 50s) get to come along for the ride for some easy XP. I just need to be more careful about all the pats.
Grats, i also got the mount on my 4th run
i've run strat for gold ever since i hit 70 back in the days of BC. Even after getting my rivendare deathcharger (which luckily for me dropped after my 5th run) i realized this was a great way to make so gold. Even at level 80 i still do a couple runs a week for some extra quick gold when dailies are driving me nuts.
Haha what's funny is that I did this on my Paladin and I got it on my 4 try as well, although there was a huge gap between my 3rd and 4th try.
I've been hated by many because they've been really unlucky with the mount not dropping for them after the umpteenth time, but I just link and gloat at them xD.
Somehow i have a feeling this is all going to bite back at me later...
I have done Strat 168 times since i reached lvl 80...still no mount. Some things just aint ment for some ppl :(
Bastosa you lucky jerk. I personally worked my mage from honored to exalted with the Argent Dawn without having the commission at all before I finally had it drop.
Was it worth it? I think so. It gave me something to do during down time, got me the Deathcharger (which I am pretty much in love with as far as mounts go) and in a heroic run or two will have ended up getting me the Argent Champion title to boot.
Good luck to all you who are trying for the mount, it may get discouraging but keep at it.
Took me 37 time before I got it. :)
@PatrickD Well I can't say it took me 4 runs but it did take only about 12 runs and I'm now the proud owner of a dead horse as a mount. It does look pretty cool though I have to admit. :)
I did the run 3 times in a row yesterday since I was bored and I had done it 5-6 before that, but no mount (yet) ;P
Yep you were extremely lucky i've been in there 158 times so far no mount ^^
why whould you run that so many times and whats even more said is to ceep track of how many times you ran it damn
i got this first time LMAO
Wait, I thought they took the mount out? Now it's still there? Dang, I'm gonna be running that shiz like craaaazy!
1. I love strat. I want the mount and will have it.
2. Stop bashing people for there play style. Asking why you would run it so many times and keep track, why go there at all.. blah blah blah. Your not paying there 15.00 per month, its there game, allow them to play there style.
I personally use the in game stop watch all the time when i solo ramps for cash and when i farm the baron mount (havent gotten it yet). Some people find this play style entertaining. I personally feel its easy to spot the younger generation of mmorpg'ers by comments like those. ( not always but alot). I have been in WOW since day 1 but I started with UO. Collecting and such was common place in UO. And i played that for 9 yrs. It is actually credited with starting the mmorpg trend.
Let people play there way without uneeded comments.
Thanks.
Seriously, Bast? Not one mention of the person who introduced you to the greatness of the Strat run? I see how it is.