Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead
Duration	November 1 - 3
Highlights	Invisible Ghosts; [Macabre Marionette]; [Dead Man's Party]; Fighting Costumes
Other events
Preceded by	Hallow's End
Followed by	Warcraft's Anniversary, Pilgrim's Bounty

Day of the Dead is a world event that occurs immediately after Hallow's End, on 1st to 2nd of November. This is the same time as the real-world Day of the Dead. It takes place in the Graveyards your race's major city, or in the neutral locations of Shattrath or Dalaran. Day of the Dead made its debut in 2009.

During the Day of the Dead, the people of Azeroth gather in graveyards to celebrate and cherish the spirits of those they have lost. One can find the festivities in the cemeteries of any major city where celebrants cook, drink, don costumes and more.

Can you feel it? The spirit world draws close during the Day of the Dead. This is why we decorate the graves of our dearly departed with flowers and candles and offerings: to welcome them back, even if only for a time.

New in 2023

[Cliffside Wylderdrake: Day of the Dead Armor] for 50,000 from Chapman at capital city graveyards
Traveler's Log activities:
- Complete quest [1-70] The Grateful Dead (100 points)
- Defeat a Contender (100 points)

Items

Chapman has some permanent costumes on sale for 100:

Chapman
Item	Cost	Type
[Cliffside Wylderdrake: Day of the Dead Armor]	50,000	Drakewatcher Manuscript
[Candy Skull] x5	25	Food
[Orange Marigold]	10	Invis detect
[Spirit Candle]	30	Campfire
[Whimsical Skull Mask]	100	Cosmetic helm
[Whimsical Skull Mask]	5	Mask Effect
[Recipe: Bread of the Dead]	20	Cooking (1)
[Bouquet of Orange Marigolds]	1	Invis detect
[Marigold Petal Offering Bowl]	1	Invis detect
["Night Demon" Contender's Costume]	100	Fighting costume
["Purple Phantom" Contender's Costume]	100	Fighting costume
["Blooming Rose" Contender's Costume]	100	Fighting costume
["Snowy Owl" Contender's Costume]	100	Fighting costume
["Santo's Sun" Contender's Costume]	100	Fighting costume

Use those costumes to earn some new achievements:

Things to do

Dance with Catrina

During the event, become a skeleton by /dancing with Catrina at any capital city graveyard. This grants the achievement [Dead Man's Party] and the cosmetic [Honor the Dead] buff.

Get a Macabre Marionette pet

Buy some [Simple Flour] and [Ice Cold Milk] and go to the graveyard of your racial capital city, or Shattrath or Dalaran (pandaren cannot complete this quest except in the neutral cities). Complete [1-70] The Grateful Dead by doing these steps:

Buy [Recipe: Bread of the Dead] for [Bread of the Dead] and an [Orange Marigold] or a [Bouquet of Orange Marigolds]
Create the bread at the Ghostly Fire next to Chapman or Catrina
Use the marigolds to see the Cheerful Spirit quest giver.

A companion skeleton with a Sombrero on, the [Macabre Marionette] is available as a reward.

Originally meant to only last the duration of Day of the Dead, the pet has since changed in 2013 to be a permanent companion.

Fighting costumes

Available for 100 each from Chapman, five fighting costumes can be used to fight other contenders who are wearing costumes with special moves:

Quick Punch — Strike contenders directly in front of you for 10% health. 1 sec cast (1 sec cooldown)
Strong Sweep — Sweep contenders in a 4-yard cone for 20% health and knock them down for 1.50 sec. 1.5 sec cast (1.5 sec cooldown)
Jump Attack — Jump forward and strike contenders in a 0-yard circle for 30% health and knock them down for 3 sec. 1 sec cast (1.5 sec cooldown)

Defeating 1, 20, and 50 contenders will each award an achievement: [To The Afterlife], [Vientos!], and [Calavera], respectively. Don't attempt to get the achievements in Sanctuaries like Shattrath and Dalaran, as the abilities will not do any damage to other players.

Easy Calavera technique

To get 50 kills quickly, after acquiring a costume, form a raid with some friends or a PuG and zone into an instance where players respawn inside the instance, like Siege of Orgrimmar. Start fighting immediately after zoning in. This way, after releasing, defeated characters will respawn instantly in the melee, rather than having to deal with the resurrection timer and running around. Resurrect instantly and just stand there while waiting on the costume cooldown to keep attacking. Other players will get credit for your character's death if your character still has the buff (it lasts through death), even if your character cannot actively attack.

Another method is to use graveyard resurrection sickness, for those who can't enter raids, but make sure to put all armor that takes durability damage in the bank while doing this.

A macro to make competitive killing easier:

/cancelaura Strong Sweep
/cancelaura Jump Attack
/click ExtraActionButton1

This removes the stun/knockdown caused by others, and causes you to attack.

Finding graveyard locations

Neutral
- Dalaran - Graveyard can be found next to the Violet Citadel in the grass next to the Underbelly entrance.
- Shattrath - Graveyard is just outside the East Gate of the city.

Alliance
- Ironforge - Graveyard can be found to the east of the entrance up a small hill.
- Stormwind - Graveyard can be found at the North end of the Stormwind Graveyard, just behind the Cathedral.
- Darnassus - Graveyard located to the right when entering the city from Dolanaar, near Craftsman's Terrace.
- Exodar - Graveyard is just south of Azure Watch.

Horde
- Silvermoon City - Going from Silvermoon go west past The Dead Scar before you get to Falcon Square.
- Thunder Bluff - Graveyard can be found right next to the north lift of the Middle Rise
- Orgrimmar - Can be found left of the road heading south right past the boar farm.
- Undercity - Graveyard is located inside the courtyard of the city right across from the chamber for the Orb of Translocation

Racial home city graveyards

This section contains information that is out-of-date. Reason: races missing

Race	Home city	Graveyard location
Draenei	Exodar	Azuremyst Isle^[48, 57](approx.)
Ironforge dwarf	Ironforge	Dun Morogh^[61, 36]
Gnome	Ironforge	Dun Morogh^[61, 36]
Human	Stormwind City	Stormwind City^{[46.86, 26.13]}
Night elf	Darnassus	Darnassus^[77, 27]
Pandaren¹	Stormwind City	N/A
Blood elf	Silvermoon City	Eversong Woods
Forsaken	Undercity	Undercity
Goblin	Orgrimmar	Durotar
Orc	Orgrimmar	Durotar
Pandaren¹	Orgrimmar	N/A
Tauren	Thunder Bluff	Mulgore
Troll	Orgrimmar	Durotar