World of Warcraft’s famous Hallow’s End event has brought the Halloween spirit back to Azeroth once again, and this year, the in-game holiday has received a fresh new look that comes with countless changes. Between a multitude of new achievements, as well as a complete overhaul to the famous Headless Horseman encounter, Hallow’s End 2023 is bringing about the biggest update the event has ever seen.
A lesser-known change, though, comes in the form of an update to one of the game’s oldest and most iconic dungeons: the Scarlet Monastery. In addition to the modern version of the Monastery getting a new look for the Halloween season, the Vanilla WoW version of the dungeon—which had been previously inaccessible—has re-opened its doors, allowing retail WoW players to experience the original layout of the instance, complete with its four unique wings.
Thanks to the technology that allows players to visit previous versions of old zones like Theramore Isle and the Blasted Lands, a separate, instanced version of the Monastery can now be accessed. Previously, the Classic WoW version of the Scarlet Monastery had been inaccessible due to a rework that hit the dungeon in 2012. But with the Hallow’s End update that went live on retail WoW Dragonflight servers earlier today, you can get back to the old Monastery, provided you complete the new-and-improved Headless Horseman boss fight.
To gain access to the old Scarlet Monastery, you’ll have to first defeat the Headless Horseman during WoW’s ongoing Hallow’s End event. Beating the Horseman will give you a chance to get an item called “The Scarlet Key,” which is a neat little homage to the old Scarlet Keyring that you needed to obtain if you wanted to gain access to all of the wings of the Monastery back in the previous version of the game.
After you’ve defeated the Horseman and looted the Scarlet Key, you can head over to the Monastery and interact with the keyring that’s posted on the wall of the Monastery’s main chamber. Interacting with the keyring will give you a buff called “The Scarlet Key.” Make sure that buff is active, and you’ll be able to go into the old Vanilla versions of the Scarlet Monastery’s wings: the Graveyard, Library, Armory, and Cathedral. If you ever want to re-transition back to the reworked version of the dungeon, you can do so by clicking on the Scarlet Keyring again.
You can reach the old Scarlet Monastery by flying into Tirisfal Glades and heading into the northeast corner of the zone. If you get unlucky with your Headless Horseman runs and don’t get the Scarlet Key to drop for you, it’s available to purchase at the Auction House.
