Hallow's End guide for WotLK: candy buckets, the Headless Horseman, costumes and rewards
Hallow’s End is the Halloween world event in World of Warcraft. For two weeks every autumn the inns of Azeroth fill with pumpkins and candy buckets, innkeepers hand out treats (and the odd trick), the Forsaken and the Alliance trade stink bombs and water buckets, and the Headless Horseman rides out of the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard. In Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a it is one of the best events of the year: easy to take part in at any level, full of cosmetic rewards, and home to one of the rarest mounts in the game.
This guide covers what the event is, how each part of it works, and which rewards are worth your time. Hallow’s End runs from 18 October to 1 November, and on Lasthavens it is live right now.
What Hallow’s End is
Hallow’s End is a seasonal holiday celebrated by the Forsaken, who mark the night they broke free of the Lich King’s control. In practice, it turns the whole world into a festival: decorations go up in every town, the inns become trick or treat stops, and a set of quests, daily quests and achievements opens up for its two weeks.
You don’t need to be max level to enjoy it. Trick or treating, candy buckets, costumes and most of the quests work at any level. Only the Headless Horseman fight is built for level 80 characters.
Trick or treating at the innkeepers
The simplest part of the event: talk to any innkeeper and choose to trick or treat. You get one of two results.
- A treat: a Treat Bag with candy, sometimes a mask or a Hallowed Wand.
- A trick: a short harmless effect, such as being turned into something odd for a while.
You can trick or treat at the same innkeeper again after about an hour, so it’s worth doing whenever you pass through a town.
Candy buckets in every inn
Almost every inn in Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms and Outland has a candy bucket, usually on a table or near the innkeeper. Each bucket gives you a handful of candy the first time you loot it.
The buckets are also the backbone of the Tricks and Treats achievements, one for each of those three continents, which together earn Tricks and Treats of Azeroth. If you’re going for the event’s title, plan a route: a flying mount makes Outland quick, and Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms go faster if you use flight paths and portals between the capital cities.
Tricky Treats and the event vendors
Tricky Treats are the event’s candy, and they double as its currency. You get them from Treat Bags and from the Headless Horseman. You can eat them (eat too many and you’ll feel it), or spend them at the Hallow’s End vendors that appear in the capital cities.
The vendors sell the event’s cosmetic stock: masks, costumes and Hallowed Wands, which turn another player into a pirate, ninja, skeleton, ghost, bat, wisp or leper gnome for a while. The Flimsy Masks let you look like another race, one mask for each race and gender. None of it is power, all of it is fun, and a few of them are needed for the event’s achievements.
The Headless Horseman
The Headless Horseman is the event’s boss. He’s fought in the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard, and at level 80 you queue for him through the Dungeon Finder, where he’s listed as a holiday dungeon while the event lasts. It’s a short fight that a normal five-player group handles easily.
Every kill gives one of three item level 200 rings, which are strong upgrades for a fresh level 80. The first kill each day also gives a Loot-Filled Pumpkin, and that’s where the rare rewards come from:
| Reward | What it is | Chance from the pumpkin |
|---|---|---|
| The Horseman’s Reins | The Headless Horseman’s Mount, flying and ground | 1% |
| Sinister Squashling | A pumpkin companion pet | 8% |
| Hallowed Helm | A cosmetic pumpkin-head helm | 8% |
| The Horseman’s Horrific Helm | Item level 200 plate helm | 2% |
| The Horseman’s Baleful Blade | Item level 200 sword | 2% |
| Magic Broom / Flying Broom | Brooms you can ride during the event | 20% / 10% |
The pumpkin also always contains Tricky Treats and an Emblem of Frost. The full fight, the loot and how to farm the mount are in the Headless Horseman guide.
Hallow’s End quests
Alongside the innkeepers and the Horseman, the event adds quests in and around the capitals and the starting towns:
- Fire brigade quests: the Headless Horseman sets towns on fire, and players put the flames out with buckets of water. They’re fun to do in a group.
- Rotten Hallow and the stink bombs: Horde players can throw stink bombs into Alliance towns, and Alliance players can clean them up. Both sides have daily quests for it.
- Costume and candy quests: short quests around the capitals that hand out treats and point you toward the event’s activities.
Achievements and the Hallowed title
Hallow’s End has a set of achievements, and finishing the main ones earns the meta achievement Hallowed Be Thy Name and the title the Hallowed. It also counts toward What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, the meta achievement for all the year’s world events, which rewards the Reins of the Violet Proto-Drake.
There are eleven achievements in the meta. They ask you to trick or treat, visit the candy buckets of Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms and Outland, eat too many treats, defeat the Horseman, save a village from his fires, use a Tooth Pick, ruin the other faction’s festival, get transformed by the Hallowed Wands, put pumpkin heads on other races, and get the Sinister Squashling and the Hallowed Helm. The full list, with tips for each, is in the Hallow’s End achievements guide.
Where to play Hallow’s End
Lasthavens is a free Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a realm that runs in your browser, on PC, phone or tablet, with nothing to install. Hallow’s End is on now until 1 November, the Headless Horseman is in the Dungeon Finder for level 80s, and the inns are full of candy buckets.
Create a free account and play in your browser. If you’re new to the expansion, the beginner’s guide is a good place to start.
Frequently asked questions
When is Hallow's End in WotLK?
Hallow's End runs every year from 18 October to 1 November. On Lasthavens it is on now and ends on 1 November.
How do you trick or treat in Hallow's End?
Talk to any innkeeper during the event and choose to trick or treat. You get a Treat Bag with candy and costume items, or a trick such as a harmless transformation. You can do it again at the same innkeeper after about an hour.
Where are the candy buckets in Hallow's End?
There is a candy bucket in almost every inn in Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms and Outland. Each one gives candy the first time you loot it, and finding them counts toward the Tricks and Treats achievements for each continent.
Where is the Headless Horseman in WotLK?
The Headless Horseman is fought in the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard. At level 80 you queue for him through the Dungeon Finder, which lists him as a holiday dungeon during Hallow's End.
What does the Headless Horseman drop?
He drops one of three item level 200 rings, and the first kill each day gives a Loot-Filled Pumpkin. The pumpkin can hold The Horseman's Reins mount, the Sinister Squashling pet, the Hallowed Helm, brooms, and two item level 200 pieces: The Horseman's Horrific Helm and The Horseman's Baleful Blade.
What are Tricky Treats used for?
Tricky Treats are the event's candy currency. You get them from Treat Bags and the Headless Horseman, and you can eat them or spend them at the event vendors on costumes, masks, wands and other Hallow's End items.