Ghoul lords: Lord Malathrom

Normally ghouls are among the lowest of the undead, basic troops fit only to savage enemies with their filthy claws. Normally rarespawns have one thing that distinguishes them from the large hordes of "vanilla" mobs in the game. Some rarespawns, however, have a bit better luck and are "blessed" with unique abilities, unique drops and a cool-sounding name to boot. That such a mob would happen to be a ghoul only adds to the unique situation.

This post is about Lord Malathrom.



Finding Lord Malathrom

Lord Malathrom is a rare mob ghoul found in Duskwood in the Eastern Kingdoms.



Lord Malathrom can be found in the Dawning Woods cemetery in the north-western corner of Duskwood. He will always be found underground, in the extensive catacombs honeycombing the area. He can be /target through the ground if you do not have a track undead ability, which may make the search easier. Lord Malathrom does not wander, just meanders around in the spot he spawns. However, the widespread nature of the catacombs mean that you may find yourself searching for him in vain until you are familiar with the layout.



Fighting Lord Malathrom

The Dawning Woods catacombs are filled with ghouls of different types (likely all serving the corrupt sorcerer Morbent Fel), but Lord Malathrom is quite special if engaged in combat.



Malathrom melees for average damage, and casts a Shadow Word: Pain spell. However, his special ability is to summon two small minions with the models of bog beasts. These two minions are named Sloth and Sludge, and will apply a debuff that slows the opponent down. Despite their plant elemental looks, they are classified as undead (something very rare for the elemental models and shared only with creatures like Loatheb). If the battle continues, Malathrom will keep summoning new minions with no limit. While they can be quickly killed, doing so regularily is important so as to avoid being swamped in adds.

(I apologize for not having any pictures of Malathrom's adds here. All screenshots I tried to take of them were very messy, since he only summons them in combat. Consult wowwiki for more information)

Looting Lord Malathrom

When defeated, Malathrom has two unique drops. As usual, he will only drop one of them per kill (at least as far as I know). One drop is a rather terrible caster cloak, but the other is quite interesting. It is an item called the Spiked Collar, a consumable which summons a felhunter to protect you for one hour! This creature has no special abilities and is constantly aggressive towards mobs, so take great care. However, for roleplaying it can be a fun effect, and well worth finding the item for (Keep in mind the item is Unique, and you can thus only carry one at a time).



Now, there is some evidence in the lore for "ghoul lords", more powerful ghouls which may have spellcasting ability and retain shreds of their former personality. One such creature was Horgus the Ravager, a very powerful ghoul which served the Lich King in his annihilation of the small town of Darrowshire. I do not know if Malathrom became a "lord" after his death, or if he was a nobleman interred in the cemetery before being raised as a ghoul. I would tend to believe the latter is true, and that the hapless Malathrom was a Darkshire resident before his death, possibly even a warlock or shadow priest given his drops and abilities. It seems likely that he serves Morbent Fel as a lieutenant of the undead of the area now, regardless.



With a combination of interesting abilities and a very cool drop, Malathrom is a very neat low-level rare. He is well worth seeking out!

Until next time, don't let the Scourge control you.

~Dragonshade