Headless Horseman

From WoWWiki

For the creature who attacks the villages, see Shade of the Horseman.

The subject of this article or section is part of Hallow's End, a seasonal event that lasts two weeks. Once the event has run its course, this will no longer be available until next year, but there are no guarantees.

During Hallow's End, the Headless Horseman is a summoned elite boss spawned in the Pumpkin Shrine in the middle of the Forlorn Cloister in The Graveyard, an instanced wing of the Scarlet Monastery. Additionally, his shade attacks Horde and Alliance villages at various times throughout the event.

The Horseman was once a knight of the Silver Hand, but is now cursed. He is of the belief that he is alive, while those who face him are dead. When defeated, he is revealed as Thomas Thomson ( aka Sir Thomas).

To spawn him, first click on the Pumpkin Shrine to receive  [80 Daily] Call the Headless Horseman. Click the Loosely Turned Soil behind the shrine to hand in the quest. Each character can summon the horseman once per day.

He can also be summoned once only by players with the quest starting at the Shade of the Headless horseman. This quest can only be obtained from the Costumed Orphan Matron when the Shade has been defeated in one of the villages and the Large Jack-o'-Lantern is on the ground.

Whilst the horseman can be summoned, killed, and looted as usual in a raid, the instance limit is 5 people.

Contents 1 Attacks and abilities 2 Strategy 2.1 Phase one 2.2 Phase two 2.3 Phase three 2.3.1 Notes 3 Quotes 4 Additional notes 5 Loot 5.1 2007/2008 loot table 6 Videos 7 Patch changes 8 External links

Attacks and abilities

• Basic Melee: Deals 3-4k damage to Plate tanks.
• Cleave: Standard cleave, hits for ~4k damage to plate.
• Whirlwind: After losing its head, the body will AoE whirlwind for ~2k/sec.
• Conflagration: An AoE DoT, can only be removed with a PvP Trinket or other similar abilities(Ice Block, Divine Shield, etc). Ticks for a percentage of your maximum health every second and confuses the target. Lasts ~5 seconds. Feigning Death right before the conflag hits will cancel the fear effect, although the emotes and animations will still proc. You can attack/move as normal. Not sure if this also cleanses the DoT too.
• Head of the Horseman: Active after the Horseman suffers 99% damage each phase. 63000 Health.
• Pulsing Pumpkin: Tossed on the ground during phase three. Casts sprout after ~15 seconds. ~10k Health. If a pumpkin lands on a player, they get a disease named Squash Soul which is -18 Spirit for 20 minutes.
• Pumpkin Fiend: Sprouted from the Pulsing Pumpkins. Deals ~650 base damage and has ~10k Health.

Strategy

The Headless Horseman encounter is a three phase fight.

Phase one

The Horseman makes his entrance and engages whoever lit the candle. The tank should taunt immediately if they did not start the event. Watch out for Cleave and DPS him down.

At 1% the horseman will go immune, toss his head, walk around disoriented, and occasionally use a Whirlwind attack. The Head of the Horseman will become an active target while the body heals to 100%. All DPS should have a target macro for Head of the Horseman. After the party damages the head to about 60%, or the body heals to 100%, the head will rejoin the body and the next phase begins.

Phase two

When the Horseman rejoins with his head, he targets the player with the highest threat. This is the same as phase one except he will randomly cast Conflagration on a random party member (not the tank). You can use a PvP Trinket to remove the Conflagration. Healers and ranged DPS should be alert to the location of both tank and Conflagration target; steer clear of these.

Phase two ends if the head reaches about 30% health, or when the body heals to 100%.

Phase three

The Horseman does not use Conflagration in Phase Three. Eventually he will toss four Pulsing Pumpkins, which sprout Pumpkin Fiends after several seconds, and they will completely heal. The pumpkins have around 10k health and the Fiends will crit cloth wearers for 1k. The fastest course of action seems to be having the tank stand in the middle of the pumpkins with focus abilities at the ready. The rest of the party continues DPS on the Horseman until his head is tossed. If the party has low DPS, a second or even third wave of Pulsing Pumpkins can be spawned before the head is tossed.

Tanking the Horseman on the steps to the underground area will cause all the spawns to land very close to the boss. This should make it very easy for the tank to pick them all up.

Once the Head of the Horseman dies, the Headless Horseman has been defeated, and the remaining pumpkins will die. If you don't kill the Head of the Horseman before the Horseman heals to 100%, Phase Three will repeat, meaning you have to nuke the Horseman again to get him to toss his head.

Notes

• Having a Paladin tank makes this Phase much easier due to Consecration. The rest of the party hugs the Paladin, inside the spell's range, allowing the tank to pick up the Fiends, thereafter the DPS can burn these down.

• The key to the Headless Horseman is to find and DPS down the head as fast as possible when it is off the Horseman. The head does no damage so all DPS should feel free to unload on it. The macro "/target Head of" helps with this, as it allows you to pick up the head almost as soon as it detaches. To make certain that the macro does not inadvertently target the Headless Horseman, you can use "/targetexact Head of the Horseman".

Quotes

On Start

(player): Horseman rise... Your time is nigh... You felt death once... Now, know demise!

Headless Horseman: It is over, your search is done! Let fate choose now, the righteous one. [emits a horrifying guffaw]

Lost Head

(Head of the Horseman) Get over here, you idiot!

Rejoined

Here's my body, fit and pure! Now, your blackened souls I'll cure!

Conflagration

Harken, cur! Tis you I spurn! Now feel... the burn!

Sprouting Pumpkins

Soldiers arise, stand and fight! Bring victory at last to this fallen knight!

Horseman Death

This end have I reached before. What new adventure lies in store?

Player Death

Your body lies beaten, battered and broken. Let my curse be your own, fate has spoken.

Additional notes

When the Horseman was introduced in 2007, making multiple attempts required resetting the instance each time and creating multiple instance IDs, running up against the 5 instances per hour rule. In 2008, the event was changed so that resetting the instance was no longer required.

Loot

Headless Horseman Loot

The Horseman's Reins Binds when picked up Requires Level 40 Item Level 40Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Requires Riding (75) Use: Teaches you how to summon this mount.	Magic Broom Binds when picked up Mount Requires Level 10 Item Level 1Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Requires Hallow's End Requires Riding (75) Use: Summons and dismisses a rideable magical broom! This mount changes depending on your Riding skill and location.	Ring of Ghoulish Glee Binds when picked up Unique Finger +33 Agility +50 Stamina Requires Level 80 Item Level 200Disenchants into: [Abyss Crystal]: 1 Equip: Increases attack power by 100. Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 36. Equip: Improves hit rating by 29.	The Horseman's Seal Binds when picked up Unique Finger +38 Stamina +38 Intellect Requires Level 80 Item Level 200Disenchants into: [Abyss Crystal]: 1 Equip: Increases spell power by 58. Equip: Improves haste rating by 36. Equip: Improves hit rating by 29.
Wicked Witch's Band Binds when picked up Unique Finger +38 Stamina +38 Intellect Requires Level 80 Item Level 200Disenchants into: [Abyss Crystal]: 1 Equip: Increases spell power by 59. Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 33. Equip: Restores 17 mana per 5 sec.	The Horseman's Horrific Helm Binds when picked up Plate Head 1821 Armor +86 Strength +102 Stamina Meta Socket Yellow Socket Socket Bonus: +8 Strength Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 80 Item Level 200Disenchants into: [Abyss Crystal]: 1 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 48. Equip: Improves hit rating by 36 Use: Let the Horseman laugh through you.	The Horseman's Baleful Blade Binds when picked up Unique Sword Main Hand Speed 2.70 271 - 504 Damage (143.5 damage per second) +14 Agility +16 Stamina Requires Level 80 Item Level 200Disenchants into: [Abyss Crystal]: 1 Equip: Increases attack power by 77. Equip: Improves hit rating by 26. Equip: Improves your expertise rating by 26. Use: Summon Pumpkin Soldiers to burn your foes. (10 Mins Cooldown) "Soldiers arise, stand and fight!"	Hallowed Helm Binds when picked up Cloth Head 3 Armor Durability 20 / 20 Item Level 1Disenchants into: Not disenchantable "There's a hole for your head..."
Sinister Squashling Binds when picked up Item Level 20Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Use: Teaches you how to summon this companion.	2020 Weighted Jack-o'-Lantern Use: Jam onto your head, or throw at your friends!

In addition, everyone in the party gets 20  [Tricky Treats] after every kill.

2007/2008 loot table

For historical purposes, these items were only available during the 2007 and 2008 events.

[Ring of Ghoulish Delight]  [The Horseman's Signet Ring]  [Witches Band]

[The Horseman's Blade]  [The Horseman's Helm]

Videos

- Prot Pally Solo
Headless Horseman Kill Paladin Tank

Headless Horseman Kill Mage

Patch changes

• Patch 3.2.2 (2009-09-22): "I posted this a while back, but [the Headless Horseman] is indeed level 80." (Source)
  

External links