World of Warcraft players challenging the Headless Horseman during Hallow’s End may have noticed a mysterious Scarlet Key tucked away in their Loot-Filled Pumpkins. This key starts a short secret quest that unlocks (pun intended) access to the vanilla version of Scarlet Monastery. This guide explains how to get The Scarlet Key and start the quest to unlock old Scarlet Monastery in WoW: Dragonflight.
How to Get The Scarlet Key in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
The Scarlet Key has a high chance of being obtained from opening a Loot-Filled Pumpkin, rewarded from your first Headless Horseman victory of the day. The Headless Horseman can be challenged during WoW’s Hallow’s End (Halloween) event by queueing through the Dungeon Finder.
You can also purchase and sell The Scarlet Key on the Auction House. However, I recommend farming the Headless Horseman to get the utterly adorable Arfus battle pet. If you already have Old Scarlet Monastery unlocked, you can get extra Scarlet Keys from Arcanist Doan’s chest to sell, pass on to a friend, or keep as a souvenir.
How to Use The Scarlet Key to Unlock Old Scarlet Monastery in WoW
With The Scarlet Key in your bags, go to Scarlet Monastery in Tirisfal Glades, Eastern Kingdoms. As a Horde player, the Monastery was a swift trip from the Undercity/Ruins of Lordaeron portal in Orgrimmar. For Alliance players, traveling from Ironforge or The Twilight Highlands is your best bet.
Walk up the stairs (19.85, 74.88), and you’ll find an Old Keyring attached to the wall on the left side of The Grand Vestibule’s entrance. If you have The Scarlet Key in your bag, this will give you the aptly named The Scarlet Key quest.
Read the text and simply click Complete to finish the quest. From now on, you can click this keyring on any character to gain The Scarlet Key buff, which allows you to access the original version of Scarlet Monastery through the Scarlet Halls and Scarlet Monastery portals.
Scarlet Halls’ portal leads to the Library section of the dungeon, while Scarlet Monastery leads to the Graveyard entrance. Having the Scarlet Key buff active also unlocks the previously locked Cathedral and Armory doors, giving you four different entrances to choose from — each with its own “mini instance” that makes up one large dungeon.
Related: All Rumble Coin and Rumble Foil Locations in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
All Old Scarlet Monastery Rewards
It’s been over a decade since we’ve been able to experience the classic Scarlet Monastery since its removal in Mists of Pandaria. Much like the return of Old Scholomance in Dragonflight, plenty of long-lost loot is finally available to earn once again. Here’s all the returning gear in Old Scarlet Monastery and which bosses they drop from.
Scarlet Library Loot
| Item name | Item Type | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Dog Whistle | Trinket | Houndmaster Loksey |
| Dog Training Gloves | Gloves (Leather) | Houndmaster Loksey |
| Loksey’s Training Stick | Staff | Houndmaster Loksey |
| Hypnotic Blade | Dagger | Arcanist Doan |
| Illusionary Rod | Staff | Arcanist Doan |
| Mantle of Doan | Shoulder (Cloth) | Arcanist Doan |
| Robe of Doan | Chest (Cloth) | Arcanist Doan |
Scarlet Armory Loot
| Item Name | Item Type | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Ravager | Two-Handed Axe | Herod |
| Raging Berserker’s Helm | Helmet (Plate) | Herod |
| Scarlet Leggings | Legs (Mail) | Herod |
| Herod’s Shoulder | Shoulder (Plate) | Herod |
Scarlet Cathedral Loot
| Item name | Item Type | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Branded leather Braces | Bracers (Leather) | High Inquisitor Fairbanks |
| Inquisitor’s Shawl | Shoulder (Cloth) | High Inquisitor Fairbanks |
| Dusty Mail Boots | Boots (Mail) | High Inquisitor Fairbanks |
| Scarlet Leggings | Legs (Mail) | Scarlet Commander Mograine |
| Aegis of the Scarlet Commander | Shield | Scarlet Commander Mograine |
| Mograine’s Might | Two-Handed Mace | Scarlet Commander Mograine |
| Gauntlets of Divinity | Gloves (Mail) | Scarlet Commander Mograine |
| Whitemane’s Chapeau | Helmet (Cloth) | High Inquisitor Whitemane |
| Hand of Righteousness | One-Handed Mace | High Inquisitor Whitemane |
| Triune Amulet | Necklace | High Inquisitor Whitemane |
Scarlet Graveyard Loot
| Item name | Item Type | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Torturing Poker | Dagger | Interrogator Vishas |
| Bloody Brass Knuckles | Fist Weapon | Interrogator Vishas |
| Ironspine’s Fist | One-Handed Mace | Ironspine (Rare) |
| Ironspine’s Ribcage | Chest (Plate) | Ironspine (Rare) |
| Ironspine’s Eye | Ring | Ironspine (Rare) |
| Ghostshard Talisman | Necklace | Azshir the Sleepless (Rare) |
| Necrotic Wand | Wand | Azshir the Sleepless (Rare) |
| Blighted Leggings | Legs (Cloth) | Azshir the Sleepless (Rare) |
| Ebon Vise | Gloves (Leather) | Fallen Champion (Rare) |
| Embalmbed Shroud | Helmet (Cloth) | Fallen Champion (Rare) |
| Morbid Dawn | Two-Handed Sword | Fallen Champion (Rare) |
| Bloodmage Mantle | Shoulder (Cloth) | Bloodmage Thalnos |
| Orb of the Forgotten Seer | Off-Hand | Bloodmage Thalnos |
Classic Scarlet Monastery is a Level 30 dungeon, meaning soloing the instance with max-level characters will be a piece of cake. In fact, my Death Knight was being continuously whacked in the face by an NPC in the background as I was writing this. I should probably go and sort that out. Happy Hallow’s End!
This guide was written while playing World of Warcraft: Dragonflight on PC.
