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 | WoW's Anniversary, Pilgrim's Bounty |
“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.”
- — Official description[1]
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 of your race's major city, or in the neutral locations of Shattrath or Dalaran. Day of the Dead made its debut in 2009.
Background
During the Day of the Dead, when the spirit world draws close to the realm of the living, the people of Azeroth gather in graveyards to celebrate and cherish the spirits of those they have lost. The festivities take place in the cemeteries of any major city where celebrants cook, drink, and don costumes.[1] To welcome the departed back, even if only for a time, people decorate their graves with flowers, candles, and offerings, so that they might eat and drink and smile and know that they are loved.[2] The ghosts notably eat the seasonal Bread of the Dead,[3] while the Orange Marigolds sold by Chapman are said to attract spirits, helping one communicate with them during the festivities.[4]
The Macabre Marionettes are possessed puppets which are given a semblance of life by whimsical spirits of the departed.[5]
New in 2025
Chapman sells a number of new crowns, masks and combinations thereof for 100
each:
[Marigold Remembrance Veil]- [Starflower Remembrance Veil]
- [Lotus Remembrance Veil]
- [Orchid Remembrance Veil]
- [Heartblossom Remembrance Veil]
[Lotus Deathmask]- [Marigold Deathmask]
- [Starflower Deathmask]
- [Orchid Deathmask]
- [Heartblossom Deathmask]
[Heartblossom Crown of the Dead]- [Orchid Crown of the Dead]
- [Lotus Crown of the Dead]
- [Starflower Crown of the Dead]
- [Marigold Crown of the Dead]
Items
Chapman, at capital city graveyards, sells all holiday-related items:
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 
[1-80] 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.
Graveyard locations
- Neutral
- Shattrath - [40, 21.9] past the east entrance of Shattrath in Terokkar Forest.
- Dalaran - [34.8, 39.1] next to the Violet Citadel in both Northrend and the Broken Isles.
Alliance
- Ironforge - [61.1, 36.9] just outside Ironforge at the Gates of Ironforge to the east of the entrance up a small hill.
- Stormwind - [46.8, 26.0] in Stormwind City Cemetery, just behind the Cathedral.
- Darnassus - [69.4, 40.6] at east entrance from Dolanaar, near Craftsmen's Terrace.
- Exodar - [47.9, 55.9] just south of Azure Watch on Azuremyst Isle.
Horde
- Silvermoon City - Going from Silvermoon go west past The Dead Scar before you get to Falcon Square.
- Thunder Bluff - 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
1Pandaren can only complete the quest at a neutral city.
Patch changes
Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): Fighting costumes and achievements added. 
Patch 3.2.2 (2009-09-22): Added.
References
- ^ a b Celebrate with the Dead During Day of the Dead!
- ^ Catrina's gossip
- ^ [1-80] The Grateful Dead
- ^ [Bouquet of Orange Marigolds]
- ^ Pet Journal's description for [Macabre Marionette]
External links
World of Warcraft Community Site The Day of the Dead has Arrived (2014 version) World of Warcraft Community Site Day of the Dead (2012 version)