So, you think you got what it takes to obtain the coveted cursed mourneblade, Shadowmourne? The journey will be long, peppered with challenges that will test the coordination, patience and spirit of your raiding party, but should you succeed... well, let's just say you can go into Battlegrounds and absolutely destroy cloth wearers - and that's just part of the fun.

Shadowmourne is a Two-Handed Axe that can be worn by plate classes. It is recommended for Retribution Paladins, Arms & Fury Warriors, and, well any sort of Death Knight I suppose!

Here's what you can expect if you wish to undertake the quest to get this awesome weapon:

An image of Shadowmourne and its item stats.
Considering the overpowered special effect, I'd wage the sockets are overkill, but after grinding ICC for months, it stops mattering, eh?

Table of Contents

    Warm-Up Quests

    All quests are given and handed in to Highlord Darion Mograine, who hangs out next to the forges right at the start of the Icecrown Citadel raid.

    The first quest, The Sacred and the Corrupt, first of all requires you to be at least Friendly with The Ashen Verdict (more on this reputation below) and then bring the quest giver, Highlord Darion Mograine, the following items:

    Not that both Roface and Festergut's blood items are not group loot, meaning only a single one will drop from each boss! Additionally, they only drop in the 25-player version of the raid.

    To get Light's Vengeance, you must first journey to Frostmourne Cavern in Dragonblight. Here's a general idea of where you'll find the entrance:

    Once you're in the cave, you'll be phased and The Lich King will appear. After a short monologue, he'll spawn a whole bunch of ghouls! They don't hit too hard, so you should be able to grab Light's Vengeance to the right of the cavern. Once the ol' hammer does its thing and kills all the undead, you'll be able to pick it up!

    The next quest, Shadow's Edge, will grant you, well, Shadow's Edge, the "non-legendary" version of Shadowmourne, an item level 264 axe that will probably carry you through most of the raid's progression, if not all of it. After gaining the axe, you can start A Feast of Souls, which requires you to kill 1000 monsters in Icecrown Citadel (regardless of difficulty). This is best done by endlessly killing the trash mobs before Lord Marrowgar, resetting the instance, and doing it over and over again. It also goes hand in hand with farming Ashen Verdict reputation.

    Past these initial quests, we get to the harder stuff: Infusions! All of the following quests require you to have Shadow's Edge equipped and, once each quest's condition is met, stay alive until the end of the fight.

    Image showing Valithria Dreamwalker, a boss in Icecrown Citadel.
    Well that was a snooze. Onwards to more stimulating quests!

    Infusions: Goo, Blood, Ice

    We're now getting to the part of the "infusion" quests, which can thankfully be completed in a single raid lockout if you do your job correctly!

    Unholy Infusion asks the following of you:

    • During the Professor Putricide encounter, you must become the Abomination.
    • When the boss' health is roughly 40%, and you're at 100 Energy (from absorbing green goo on the floor), press the "Shadow's Edge looking button" (Shadow Infusion) on your action bar.
    • Putricide should enter phase 3 now and you should no longer be in the abomination. Defeat him!

    Image showing Professor Putricide, a boss in Icecrown Citadel.
    Once the tank engages Putricide, you'll want to click on this handy table to drink up and become the Abomination.

    After you hand in Unholy Infusion, you get Blood Infusion, which requires the following:

    • As the Blood-Queen Lana'thel encounter begins, rush in with the tank (and hopefully no one else around you!) and make sure you get the Blood Mirror debuff.
    • This debuff will turn into Gushing Wound, dealing ~1500 damage every second. Make sure you've got a healer keeping an eye on you.
    • Next, it's biting time. If you weren't bitten by Lana'thel, make sure whomever was bitten will bite you first.
    • Once you're bitten, you will become a vampire in one minute. Once the one minute is up, you have 10 seconds to bite someone else!
    • If you don't bite someone else, you will be mind-controlled for the rest of the fail (and fail the quest requirement).
    • Once you bit someone, you revert to your usual bitten self for one minute, after which you must bite someone yet again.
    • You need to bite three people, after which you need to stay alive and defeat Lana'thel to complete the quest.
    • Each time you bite someone, Gushing wound will deal another extra 1500 damage, up to 4500 damage per second. Again, make sure you've got a healer keeping you alive those few precious minutes!

    Image showing Blood-Queen Lana'thel, a boss in Icecrown Citadel.
    Blood-Queen Lana'thel is a chaotic fight. Make sure the people you're biting are well aware of their positioning relative to you.

    After you hand in Blood Infusion, it's time for the Frost Infusion, which requires the following:

    • During the Sindragosa encounter, you must be hit by and survive four of her breath attacks. Each breath slows you down and it stacks.
    • It would be nice to have some Frost Resistance gear, such as the Titanium Frostguard Ring, on so you take less damage.
    • Make sure to pop some defensive cooldowns when you're about to get hit. Mighty Frost Protection Potions are also handy.
    • Once you've been hit four times, you'll get a six minute buff. Defeat Sindragosa before the buff expires!

    Image showing Sindragosa, a boss in Icecrown Citadel.
    Sindragosa's Frost Breath is generally meant to only hit tanks. Make sure you've invested in enough Frost damage mitigation to make your healers' job easier.

    The Final Stretch

    With most of the annoying (as in, things that require the use of the mind!) quests out of the way, you're now onto The Splintered Throne - collect 50 Shadowfrost Shards. Here's how it works:

    • Shards can only be obtained from the 25-player version of the raid.
    • You don't need to have Shadow's Edge equipped for shards to drop.
    • Each boss can drop one shard, but the drop isn't guaranteed. Shards are not group loot either - only one player can loot any single shard.
    • Expect this quest to take on average 10 full raid clears to complete.

    Once you've completed the Splintered Throne, you get to swap Shadow's Edge for Shadowmourne itself in the quest Shadowmourne...! Now, there is but a single quest left for you: The Lich King's Last Stand. Defeat the Lich King, which you've undoubtedly already done several times by now. This quest rewards a whole bunch of cool items:

    It is important to note the intention of this final reward. Blizzard didn't just think "hey, we already gave this crazy cool axe as a reward, let's add some other stuff on top!", but rather, these five items are supposed to be gifted to guild members that helped you on your journey to get Shadowmourne. They're all "bind on use", and after receiving each item from the NPC that holds it, they tell you in no uncertain terms to 'remember those who helped you achieve this'. So be a sport and give these items to some of your loyal friends!

    Image of a player fighting The Lich King in Icecrown Citadel.
    You got this, jump higher! Too bad Shadowmourne doesn't actually help you reach the floating Lich King.

    If you have any more questions about acquiring Shadowmourne, let us know in the comments below!