Affliction Warlock Artifact Weapon: Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester

By Wowhead Updated: 2025/10/17

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvesteroriginal Legion expansionLegion: RemixAppearances and TintsArtifact CalculatorLegion Dressing RoomDeadwind HarvesterLight's ChargeHand of the AfflictedForged for BattlePower RealizedPart of HistoryThis Side UpSoul SiphonImproving on HistoryUnleashed MonstrositiesKeystone MasterGlory of the Legion HeroDeath's HandThe PrestigeCrest of HeroismCrest of CarnageCrest of DevastationSpine of the CondemnedThwarting the TwinsFate's EndEssence of the ExecutionerGrimoire of the First NecrolyteThe Grimoire of the First NecrolyteSkull of the ExecutedTransmog Recommendationssave and share an Outfit with this artifactDeath's Hand + Tier 2Deadwind Harvester + Tier 1Empowered + Season 3 PvPExecutioner + Tier 5Soul Siphon + Tier 16Artifact AcquisitionUlthalesh, the Deadwind HarvesterYouTube Artifact Acquisition PlaylistThe Tome of Blighted Implements

Wielded by Sataiel, the first necrolyte, the Deadwind Harvester earned its name by stripping the life from the lands known as Deadwind Pass.

After centuries locked away, Ulthalesh has been discovered in the possession of the Dark Riders. You must hunt them down if you wish to find where they have it hidden.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester

Revil Kost says: "Stay back, warlock! I may be wounded, but the Light will protect me!

"What? Have you not come to finish what the Dark Riders started?"

Revil Kost says: "I hear the truth in your words, warlock. We may walk very different paths, but I see you fight for a noble cause. I will tell you what I know."

Following the Curse

Revil Kost: "It seems you've been followed, warlock! Dark Riders!

"The battle is won, but there will be more. Quickly, to Ariden's camp!

"The Dark Riders were not always like this. They were once a group of traveling merchants. Unfortunately they crossed the sorcerer Medivh, who cursed them to an eternity of hunting artifacts for him.

"Ariden was the first of the Dark Riders, and I believe he leads them now. His camp is still in Deadwind Pass, strangely untouched after all these years. If my convictions are correct, the key to finding the Dark Riders, as well as the artifacts they still covet, can be found there.

"Here! The camp is in this clearing. Let us search it."

Disturbing the Past

Ariden yells: "Fool! You will suffer for your tresspass! Turn away now, interloper! The horrors of the past will be your undoing!"

Revil Kost: "I think that means we're on the right track. See what you can find in that journal."

To Point the WayThe Fate of Deadwind

Sataiel says: "Such poor souls. You don't even belong here, but you will be forever bound to this place.

"Do not fret. Through Ulthalesh, you will be so much more in death than you were in life.

"You were fools to think such a pitiful force could oppose an agent of Sargeras!

"Your worthless lives will pave the way for the Legion!

"How quaint. Do you really think your Holy Light can protect you from the Legion's onslaught? Where is your Light to protect you now?"

The Dark Riders

Revil Kost: "Take care! There is a dark energy emanating from the spirits of this place. We had best not get too close.

"How far down is this place? These stairs seem to go forever."

Revil Kost: "The way is blocked!"

Ariden yells: "You will go no further!"

Revil Kost: "Hold warlock! Those spirits he's controlling look like they'll rip us apart! We have to figure a way to get past without being torn asunder."

Ariden yells: "Do not think you have won! Conservator, do your duty!"

The Conservator yells: "Your presence is unauthorized. Removal protocols engaged."

Revil Kost: "Keep your guard up! I fear Ariden is not done with us yet. The artifact chambers look to be just ahead. Let us proceed."

"Over here! Is this the relic you seek?"

Ariden yells: "So this is what you're after? The artifacts of Karazhan belong here, and I will not allow them to be taken away!"

Revil Kost: "You have no right to these artifacts, fiend! They must be reclaimed in the name of the Light!"

Ariden yells: "Your Light does not reach here, priest! If you want the Ulthalesh, warlock, come and claim it!"

Ariden says: "You are a persistent one. Very well! If you so thirst for the power of the Deadwind Harvester, then I will show it to you myself!"

Ariden yells: "Ulthalesh feasts tonight!

"No! I will not be taken! Nooooooo!"

Artifact Book Text

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester

Those who care for their souls would be wise not to trifle with this cursed scythe. Few among the living know its origins, but its powers are well known to the dead.

Ulthalesh gorges on the souls of its victims, gaining strength with each massacre. During the War of the Ancients, Sargeras gifted one of his favored necrolytes with this infernal blade. At the time, it was known only as Ulthalesh; it wouldn't earn its grim epithet until later, after Deadwind Pass was turned into a charnel house, its inhabitants obliterated, the land itself bereft of all life.

Since then, Ulthalesh has grown even more powerful.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part One

Before his fall from the titan Pantheon, Sargeras defended creation from demons, imprisoning untold numbers of them in Mardum, the Plane of Banishment. Over the millennia, these demons were not idle. The dreadlord Ulthalesh ruled the pocket dimension with an iron fist, plotting for the day when he would exact vengeance.

When Sargeras shattered Mardum to recruit forces for the Burning Legion, he offered his former prisoners an ultimatum: join him or be cast into oblivion. Most of the demons accepted, but scores refused, rallying around Ulthalesh. In answer to the challenge, Sargeras forged a great felsteel scythe from the fires of Mardum's destruction, and he used it to harvest the souls of the recalcitrant demons, confining them in a new prison. Ulthalesh, strongest of will, was the last to be devoured.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Two

Sargeras named the scythe Ulthalesh, after the dreadlord who had risen up against him. Ulthalesh's spirit gave the weapon unfathomable strength, but with that strength came a curse, for those who bore Ulthalesh were inevitably consumed by it. The scythe would obey its masters' commands until they were mortally wounded; then Ulthalesh would feast on their souls. Over the centuries, Sargeras bestowed the blade upon cunning nathrezim, ferocious doomlords, and even potent demigods, only to see their spirits devoured by Ulthalesh after they fell. The scythe grew stronger with each master it absorbed, and it became difficult for Sargeras to find servants who could control the weapon.

Over the wailing of souls trapped within the scythe, the Dark Titan could hear Ulthalesh's grim laughter.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Three

During the War of the Ancients, the peoples of Azeroth rebelled against the Burning Legion's invasion, and Sargeras sought to break their will with Ulthalesh. But first, he had to find a servant who was powerful enough to wield it.

His thoughts turned to the eredar Sataiel. She was the first necrolyte with the strength to command the spirits of the living and the dead with fel magic, a feat that rivaled even Kil'jaeden's necromantic abilities. She was also notoriously ambitious, and fearless to the point of arrogance. Ulthalesh's baleful reputation did not sway her. When Sargeras gifted her with the weapon, she accepted it eagerly.

"I shall be its final master," Sataiel said.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Four

Millennia ago, Sargeras gave Ulthalesh to Sataiel and commanded her to reap the souls of Azeroth's rebellious denizens, starting with the area that would later be known as Deadwind Pass. No one knows what the land was called before the coming of Sataiel. Most would rather not think of it at all. It is the burial site of countless trolls who were methodically slain, their spirits consumed by Ulthalesh, fueling its power to murder more. The scythe would feed and feed until all of the inhabitants were dead.

But Sataiel knew this was just the beginning, a promising start that only hinted at what Ulthalesh was capable of. Sargeras had dispatched her to break the will of Azeroth's denizens. It was not enough simply to kill them; bodies could be buried and forgotten. She decided to strike at the very heart of the land so that no new life could take up residence. With Ulthalesh, she would see that Deadwind Pass stood as a monument to the Legion's wrath.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Five

Ulthalesh has had many masters, but Sataiel was the first to discover the scythe's true potential.

After she used Ulthalesh to consume the souls of all living creatures in Deadwind Pass, she turned the blade on the land itself, draining it of life. The trees were reduced to withered husks. The marshes became a desiccated waste. The sky turned a sepulchral gray, the sun covered in a burial shroud. Sataiel relished the despair of the scythe's new prisoners as they unwittingly assisted in the annihilation of their home. The destruction was absolute. Even Azeroth's slumbering world-soul quailed.

Sataiel was impressed with her handiwork. So was Ulthalesh.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Six

From the journal of Sataiel, recovered from the ruins of Deadwind Pass:

"I surveyed the ruination I had wrought with great Ulthalesh, and it was glorious. The land was a mausoleum. Everywhere was blight, decay, destruction-except for one area. The explosive force from our ritual had carved a massive crater into the ground, and it roiled with unnatural energies, forming a magical nexus. I knew in my bones that I had birthed a fount of power more potent than the scythe itself.

"I must inform Sargeras. But something gives me pause, something I cannot dismiss.

"What claim does Sargeras have to this power? Who else but I could have wielded the scythe to the fullness of its potential? No one. Ulthalesh knows this. He urges me not to surrender our progeny.

"With such strength at our command, he says we may one day challenge Sargeras."

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Seven

Like all who presume to wield this pernicious blade, Sataiel was ambitious, strong-willed, and supremely confident. She had come to Azeroth to prove herself to Sargeras, but when she saw the heights of power she could reach with Ulthalesh, she wondered whether she'd set her sights too low. She had massacred thousands, turned the land into a tomb, and ripped open a magical nexus of unspeakable force. Her destiny was bright, and she needed no one's patronage to achieve it.

Ulthalesh whispered to Sataiel from the scythe, infecting her mind. She decided to keep the magical nexus for herself, and she cast potent wards to hide it from the outside world. Then she cut off all contact with the Legion, biding her time until she and Ulthalesh had the strength to challenge the Dark Titan.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Eight

For centuries, the necrolyte Sataiel guarded Ulthalesh and hoarded the magical nexus they had created. When Sargeras discovered her deception, he was furious. The fount of power was his by right, and Sataiel was keeping it from him. Not only that, but his spies informed him that she was harboring delusions of grandeur, conspiring with the spirit of Ulthalesh to slay Sargeras. Such arrogance could not go unpunished. The upstart eredar had to be eliminated.

Sargeras found his champion in Scavell, the Guardian of Tirisfal. He sent the Guardian visions of a dangerous entity lurking in Deadwind Pass, a demon awaiting the return of the Burning Legion. Scavell boldly took up the charge, hunting down Sataiel and, after an epic battle, slaying her with her own weapon. Her soul was cast screaming into the scythe.

As the Guardian examined the blade, he was filled with dread. Rarely had he seen so mighty an instrument of death, and though he had slain its bearer, he wondered whether the real threat remained unchecked. He decided to hide Ulthalesh where no one would find it.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Nine

Empowered by Sataiel's spirit, the scythe had grown immeasurably stronger. There seemed to be no limit to how powerful it could become. Sargeras knew of Ulthalesh's scheming, of his promises to Sataiel that they could one day rival the Dark Titan. Although he dismissed this as mere bravado, he refused to give Ulthalesh the opportunity to make good on his threat.

Centuries after Scavell hid Ulthalesh, Sargeras twisted the Guardian Medivh's mind so he would assist him in regaining control of the scythe. The Guardian became obsessed with this task, and he dispatched the cursed Dark Riders to search for the blade and bring it back to the tower of Karazhan, which had been built on top of the magical nexus in Deadwind Pass--the nexus that Sataiel and Ulthalesh had created. Sargeras was pleased. It was only a matter of time before the Dark Riders would find the weapon, making a mockery of Ulthalesh's ambitions.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Ten

So powerful was Medivh's charge that the Dark Riders continued their quest for Ulthalesh even after the Guardian's death. Eventually, their leader, Ariden, was drawn to the scythe when he sensed the keening of the trapped souls within, and he brought it to the catacombs beneath Karazhan.

Ariden lacked the willpower and ingenuity of Sataiel, and his stewardship of Ulthalesh did not last long. There are conflicting reports about how he met his end. Some say he succumbed to the scythe's curse after he was defeated in battle, but others tell a different story. By all accounts, however, Ulthalesh went missing soon after Ariden's death. Its current whereabouts are unknown. Legend holds that only an individual of exceptional skill and fortitude can control it now.

Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester,
Part Eleven

The following is an excerpt from A Hypothetical Examination of the Legion's Weaknesses, author unknown. It has been deemed apocryphal by the Archival Authority of Argus and is currently banned in all Legion-controlled worlds.

"There are few things in creation that Sargeras fears. The Deadwind Harvester, Ulthalesh, is one of them. The necrolyte Sataiel regrets that she did not attempt to slay the fallen titan with it when she had the chance, so she will test whoever dares to wield the weapon in her stead. Ulthalesh does not mind. The scythe's master will either overcome Sataiel or be consumed, which will only make the blade more powerful. And then another bearer will take their place. And another.

"Ulthalesh has been playing this game with Sargeras for millennia. He knows the meaning of patience."

Comments

Comment by Deastrumquodvici

This might sound a little odd, but it's a right shame there's nothing to match the Doomcaller's Attire. My lil' gnomie's feeling pretty left out.

Comment by 1618251

maybe our secret ability will be revealed with karazhan reopening

Comment by acemans99

hi im just going to ask is there a way to turn off the ghost or the spirit effects off ?

Comment by adinthrae

As of the Shadowlands prepatch, it's impossible to get this artifact if you're leveling a character in Legion Chromie Time. In order to get to Ariden to defeat him, you need to use Demonic Gateway which isn't available until level 49.

Affliction Warlock Artifact Weapon: Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester

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