[WoW] Pirate's Day '23

Pirate's Day was originally introduced into the game back in 2008, to commemorate the International Talk Like A Pirate Day, or ITLAPD. This Holiday always lands on September 19th, as that's the official date for the real life "holiday." And now.. *clears throat*

The Holiday itself be mighty short 'n sweet. It only lasts 24 hours 'n it only has one achievement. As o' 2016, thar be a wee bit more t' do since its inception. Since thar be so wee t' do fer this Holday, I be also goin' t' fill this guide wit' other trivial infromation so that it lasts longer than jus' a couple paragraphs. 

Now that that's out o' the way...

Yer one 'n only destination fer this Holiday be quite obvious... We be goin' t' Booty Bay!

When ye enter Booty Bay, point yerself toward the buildin' housin' the bank 'n land on the roof. Durin' Pirate's Day, the roof will be covered in the Dread Crew who will be launchin' fireworks, but they be nah yer target. Ye're lookin' fer Dread Captain DeMeza, the Scourge o' the South Seas.

When ye speak wit' DeMeza, ye 'ave the option t' drink wit' her. Once selected, ye will receive the Dread Corsair buff 'n be transformed into a pirate. This buff persists through death, mountin' up, 'n while logged out, but it does nah persist through shape shiftin' (Wit' the changes in how shape shiftin' works, this might no longer be the case, but I didn' test this out wit' a druid.) If ye lose the buff at any time, ya can jus' natter t' the commoners in any capital city fer a 1 hour replacement. No needs t' head all the way back t' Booty Bay t' drink wit' DeMeza, but why nah?

Afore we get into the new stuff, we be goin' t' do that trivial information bit I mentioned above. Thar are three other named NPCs nearby. Let's natter about 'em.

First Mate Hapana be DeMeza's first mate, as his name suggests, wit' his assault parrot, Nyuni. He can be interacted wit', but he only shoos ye away t' natter t' DeMeza, so he's nah mighty social. He offers no other dialogue option or buffs. An interestin' thing t' note be that he apparently has a tattoo on one arm wit' the word "MAGATHA" in a heart. Hapana Grimtotem? A past love o' Magatha Grimtotem? The world will ne'er know.

Cap'n Slappy be the in-game representation o' one o' the scallywags behind the ITLAPD, Mark Summers. The date o' ITLAPD was picked so that Summers could easily remember the date, which was his ex-proud beauty's birthday. He infroms ye' o' how he 'n Chumbucket created the Holiday, but DeMeza took off wit' it.

Ol' Chumbucket be the in-game representation o' the other scallywag behind ITLAPD, John Baur. Baur has appeared on the television show Wife Swap as well as an episode o' Jeopardy! He tells ye that today belongs t' DeMeza 'n her crew 'n lookin' like a pirate be only half the celebration, natterin' like one be the other half.


-NEW- 2023 brings us the first real update t' Pirate's Day since 2017, in the form o' a purchaseable armor saddle customization option fer our Highland Drake, purchased from DeMeza fer a whoppin' 50,000 gold. I've included it below in her vendor list.

The only actual quest fer Pirate's Day:

• You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat!. Simply jump down into Booty Bay's.. bay.. 'n scuttle the Hungry Shark and Scavenger Shark fer their Razor Shark Shark Tooth. Return the 33 teeth t' DeMeza fer yer reward.
• 5x Emergency Pirate Outfit.

The giant rare shark named Ol' Eary will spawn, roughly, every thirty minutes out by where the galleon travels t' Ratchet. Dread Cap'n DeMeza announces his arrival wit' a yell, "Yarrrrr! Thar be Ol' Eary, terror of the open seas! Now's our chance boys, git 'em!" The Toy he drops, the Slightly-Chewed Insult Book itself be a reference t' the Monkey Island series.

Dread Captain DeMeza be the vendor available fer this Holiday available t' everyone 'n she offers only a few things:

• Volatile Rum - 16s
• Petey - 10g
• Big Bag of Booty - 300g
• Through rough calculation, nah done by me, it looks like it's a net loss o' around 13g per purchase, or roughly a 4-6% loss. Credit to Jjanchan fer this post.
• Highland Drake: Pirate's Day Armor

Edward Techt be another vendor fer this shortened Holiday, he spends his time out on the beach o' the Wild Shore 'n only sells a single item, but only t' those who 'ave shown loyalty t' the Bloodsail Buccaneers through the quest Avast Ye, Admiral!.

• Jolly Roger - 10g

After finishin' off that quest, takin' out a giant shark, 'n partyin' down wit' the Dread Crew, jus' make sure that ye don't forget t' pick up the only achievement currently available fer this Holiday. Just 'ave a drink wit' ye ol' Cap'n DeMeza.

The Captain's Booty: Head down t' booty Bay 'n share rum wit' Dread Captain DeMeza durin' the Pirate's Day celebration.

AHEM! *clears throat*

Umpteenth Time

And we did it again. We almost went two whole expansions without an update. I was thinking about doing a holiday post, since Noblegarden just ended and Children's Week starts in just over a week, but I realized that's not worth it. Blizzard's Roadmap for Dragonflight includes a Holiday Revamp in 10.1.7, so if I was going to do some holiday-related stuff, I might as well just wait for that to come out instead. At least it would be fresh content to go over.

This draft of a post started back in April and now 10.1.7 is live on Retail and we're coming up on Pirate's Day and Brewfest, with Secrest of Azeroth just coming to a close. If ever there was a time to bring back the blog, it would be right now. So here we go again.

Welcome back to the mad ramblings of Paragon, mostly about World of Warcraft, but with sprinklings of other games tossed in. But mostly just WoW.

Blizzcon 2019

So the first real day of the Blizzard Convention down in Anaheim, California happened today starting at 11AM PDT. J. Allen Brack took the stage to start the entire convention off with an apology over the Hearthstone incident that happened over a month ago and how they jumped too quick and responded too late and that's not the kind of company they want to be and it doesn't reflect their core values.

Diablo 4

By Three, They Come.
By Three, Thy Way Opens.
By The Blood Of The Willing..
We Call Thee Home.
Hail Daughter of Hatred.
Creator of Sancutary.
Hail.. Lilith.

• Officially announced and a trailer was dropped right out of the gate..
• Darkness.
• Art, story, horror elements, all going back to the franchise's darker roots. Blood, gore, ouccullt symbols. Victories are going to be a challenge, no guarantees.
• World.
• We've never seen the world of Sanctuary in a wide view. Every zone and every monstter is going to represent what Sanctuary actually is. Even the depths of Hell. Group play confirmed, from player trading to PvP zones.
• Legacy.
• Diablo 1's Sense of Dread. Diablo 2's Class Lineup. Diablo 3's Visceral Combat. All come together in Diablo 4 for a game that the dev team sees as the Diablo game fans have really been waiting for. PC, PS4, and Xbox One release.
• The first three confirmed classes are:
• The Barbarian.
• The Sorceress.
• The Druid.
• Mounted travel confirmed in the gameplay trailer that is very fluid into entering combat.
• They didn't want to announce Diablo 4 without a playable demo on the floor to really showcase the darker Sanctuary.
• I will be doing a post entirely around Diablo 4 after Blizzcon is over and we have all of the information we can from the official source.

Starcraft 2

• DeepMind AI available to play against those AI Agents at Blizzcon.
• Arcturus Mengsk coming later this month as the newest co-op commander.

Heroes of the Storm

• Deathwing officially unveiled.
• Most requested hero of all-time.
• Two forms with two different sets of abilitties.
• Blizzcon/Virtual Ticket holders get Deathwing for free.
• All Heroes avaialble for free until November 10th.

Warcraft 3: Reforged

• Beta recently started.
• All Blizzcon/Virtual Ticket holders get free Beta access.
• Release date announcement Soon.

World of Warcraft

• Classic: "You think that you want this, and I think that you do."
• Classic: Phase 2 opens its gates to World Bosses and the PvP Honor system on Novemvber 12th.
• Make-A-Wish Foundation and We.Org Charity Pet, Dotty the Baby Alpaca, hits the Blizzard Store in December.
• All proceeds from Dotty through the end of 2019 go towards those two charities.
• Anniversary event officially launches on November 5th in Retail WoW.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

• Trailer explains Bolvar's blue eyes.
• "There must always be a Lich King."
• "In the end, Death comes for us all."
• Pre-orders available now on tthe Blizzard Store for a 2020 release date.
• I will be doing an in-depth guide to this and not attempt to fit it all into just this one blog post.
• There is a lot to go over. From new zones, to new "factions", to new raids and dungeons, abilitiy unpruning, etc, etc.

Hearthstone

• Rise of Shadows - Introduction of the League of Evil.
• Saviors of Uldum - Introduction of the League of Explorers.
• The tale comes to its stunning conclusion in Dragonblight as the two Leagues meet each other for their final confrontation.
• Descent of Dragons brings the Year of the Dragon to a close.
• So many Dragons. More dragons than ever before.
• Galakrond, the Nightmare: The newest Hero card.
• Invoke is the newest key word and mechanic.
• Galakrond, the Apocalypse: The invoked version of this Hero.
• Galakrond, Azeroth's End: The final form of this Hero.
• Five free Legendary Heroes for those who associated with the League of Evil as soon as the expansion drops.
• Ysera, Unleashed for the League of Explorers.
• Every class will get their own Legendary Dragon.
• Pre-purchase begins today for Descent of Dragons.
• Hearthstone: Battlegrounds. 8 player auto-battle mode.
• Open Beta starts November 12th.
• Blizzcon/Virtual Ticket holders and pre-purchasers of Descent of Dragons get access come November 5th.

Overwatch 2

• Updated version of the game engine.
• Story Missions
• Hero Missions
• Highly replayable cooperative missions.
• Level up your favorite hero to play YOUR way/
• New PvP Mode: Push
• "I AM GOOD AT PUSHING THINGS."
• Sojorn, the first Canadian Hero, joins the lineup.
• Will launch with multiple new heroes.
• Toronto, the first Canadian map, and the first map for Push.
• As well as multiple other maps to join the map list.
• More story and cooperative PvE.
• Tons of PvE content.
• Complete story experience.
• What does a sequel mean to me as a player?
• Sequels make gamers nervous.
• All original Overwatch players, will get all the same maps and new maps that come to Overwatch 2.
• All original heroes and all the new heroes coming in Overwatch 2 are playable in the original Overwatch.
• All cosmetics from Overwatch will transfer over to Overwatch 2, all progress follows you, no one is getting left behind.
• If there's enough information shown off, I will do a full post dedicated to Overwatch 2.

Trying Again

I know it's been a hot minute since I've made an update on here, so I figured maybe we'd try this thing out again. My plan back when I did that small revamp was that I'd have more to talk about than just World of Warcraft stuff and that I would try to fit time in for all of that. But it never panned out that way. My updates were still focused around WoW in-game Holidays, my drafts sat unfinished for any other topic, and I just felt so downtrodden on myself that I eventually just stopped updating any posts altogether and let it sit as the dust collected.

I read a small little article today on Twitter about trying to use a different style font to type with because it changes your perspective on the topic. Unfortunately this platform doesn't have that font as an option, so I'd have to use the font elsewhere and then transfer it into Blogger. I've done that before in the past and it's always forced me into "hyper-edit mode" where I have to correct so many things to get it to post in the correct format, but..

We're going to try this thing again. Blizzcon is this Friday and Saturday (Nov 1-2, 2019) and we're going to post about it. We're going tot ry and re-ignite the passion for writing. It's been a long time. I've always missed it when it wasn't there. Time to try again. It's always time to try again.

[WoW] Lunar Festival '19

It's 2019 and the first holiday of the new year in World of Warcraft is the Lunar Festival. The Lunar Festival starts on January 1st and runs through February 11th. The Lunar Festival is the in-game representation of the real life celebration of the Lunar New Year, which many different countries and cultures celebrate around the world.

Lunar Festival by Kerighan

Side-Note: Still looking for some new customized Holiday artwork if any artists are interested. Credit and links to current works/portfolios would be included.

We usually don't start with how the holiday ends, but there will be a fireworks display that takes place on the final day of the event, so on the 11th, but only in Moonglade. But you can enjoy the lunar lanterns in most cities arouns Azeroth to reflect the Lantern Festival.

As with all other Holidays, you are going to notice when this event starts due to an explosion of lanterns hanging around most capital cities. As of the opening day of the festival though, there are no holiday decorations added to Boralus Harbor or to Dazar'alor. There are no bread crumb quest starters in the new city hubs either for the newest expansion, so you're going to have to take one of the city portals back to Stormwind, Orgrimmar, or other options to begin the quest chains.

The bread crumb quests are there to teach you the basics of shooting off rockets and rocket clusters through the use of launchers located throughout the world. The other thing it leads you through is how to use your Lunar Festival Invitation to make your way to Moonglade in the beams of moonlight. The Holiday vendors and the Holiday "boss" are both located in Moonglade, but you are not going to be spending a whole lot of time there throughout the Festival.

• The Lunar Festival/The Lunar Festival: Speak with the Lunar Festival Emissary, if you're Alliance, or the Lunar Festival Herald, if you're Horde, and get some simple instructions to head to the local Lunar Festival area and speak with a Lunar Festival Harbinger. You could also just go talk to the Lunar Festival Harbinger and completely bypass thsi quest, but it's there, so we're going to mention it.
• Lunar Fireworks: To complete this quest, you'll need to speak with a Lunar Festival Vendor and pick up an assortment of rockets (Small Blue Rocket, Small Green Rocket, Small Red Rock) and rocket clusters (Blue Rocket Cluster, Green Rocket Cluster, Red Rocket Cluster). Launch them all off at the nearby launchers and we'll keep this train chugging along.
• Lunar Festival Invitation: The 24 hour cooldown for this item was removed during the Cataclysm launch of the Holiday, so now you don't have to worry about coming back to pick another one up. This handy little item is how we're going to be getting to Moonglade to spend our Coin of Ancestry and beat up the Holiday "boss."
• Valadar Starsong: With your Lunar Festival Invitation procured, it's time to step into the large beam of moonlight amongst the launchers and teleport to Moonglade. Once there, you're going to head north into Nighthaven and speak with Valadar Starsong, one of the Holiday vendors.
• Elune's Blessing: This is the final quest of the Holiday, but since it also pertains to the Holiday "boss", we're going to come back to this one after we've talked about everything else. But, just to let you know, you have to take down (or watch someone else take down) Omen, and stand in the beam of moonlight that spawns from his corpse to receive Elune's Blessing.
• Elune's Lantern: The 24 hour cooldown makes this Toy less useful, and the introduction of the Raid Markers make it almost pointless for raid utility. Remember Heigan's Dance Room in Naxxramas? The stones from this were a saving grace for a lot of raid groups as indications for where the different plague zones were in the room.
• Lunar Festival Fireworks Pack
• x3 Solid Stone

And with that, we've done a quick rundown of all of the non-important bits of the Lunar Festival It's time to get down and dirty with the nitty-gritty part of this Holiday. The real meat of it all.

The main idea behind the Lunar Festival is to honor the Elders of the past, which requires a whole lot of traveling all over the world from the sand dunes of Tanaris, to the icy crags of Storm Peaks, to the balmy tropics of Stranglethorn. There are no Elders on the Outlands, on Pandaria, on Draenor, or on the Broken Isles.

As you make your trek across the continents, each Elder is going to give you a Coin of Ancestry after you've honored them. This is the primary currency for this Holiday. You'll also receive a Lucky Red Envelope from each Elder, as well, with one of two gifts inside.

1. Lucky Rocket Cluster: These act the same as the normal rocket clusters that we've used before. They do pack a little bit of a larger punch.

• Lunar Fortune: When you fire off these rockets, you do get a small health buff. This buff does not adjust by level, so you will always receive a buff of +250 health. Amusingly, it has an area effect cast, so anyone around the launcher will also receive this mighty buff, even if they're from the opposing faction.

1. Elder's Moonstone: This item creates a three minute beam of moonlight at the targeted location. As beneficial as that sounds, we only wish you could have utilized these stones to create portable Grand Moonlights to use with the Lunar Festival Invitation.

There are a total of 84 Elders spread across the multiple continents of Azeroth. Due to phasing issues, the Elder inside Wintergrasp might not be worth your time, but find a way in if you're shooting for picking up all of the achievements.

EASTERN KINGDOMS

Elder Snowcrown: Eastern Plaguelands, Light's Hope Chapel (75,54)

Elder Farwhisper: Stratholme, Live Side near The Unforgiven [Dungeon Elder]

Elder Windrun: Eastern Plaguelands, Crown Guard Tower (36,69)

Elder Meadowrun: Western Plaguelands, Weeping Cave (64,36)

Elder Moonstrike: Western Plaguelands, Outside Scholomance (69,74)

Elder Graveborn: Tirisfal Glades, Brill (62,54) [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Darkcore: Undercity, Ruins of Lordaeron Throne Room (67,38) [Horde Elder] [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Obsidian: Silverpine Forest, The Sepulcher (45,41)

Elder Highpeak: The Hinterlands, Creeping Ruin (50,48)

Elder Darkfeather: Twilight Highlands, Thundermar Ruins (51,33) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Firebeard: Twilight Highlands, Dunwald Ruins (51,70) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Silvervein: Loch Modan, Thelsamar (33,46)

Elder Goldwell: Dun Morogh, Kharanos (54,50)

Elder Bronzebeard: Ironforge, Mystic Ward (29,16) [Alliance Elder]

Elder Ironband: Searing Gorge, Blackchar Cave (21,79)

Elder Morndeep: Blackrock Depths, Ring of Law [Dungeon Elder]

Elder Stonefort: Lower Blackrock Spire, Inner Bridgework [Dungeon Elder]

Elder Dawnstrider: Burning Steppes, Flame Crest (54,24)

Elder Rumblerock: Burning Steppes, Dreadmaul Rock (70,45)

Elder Starsong: Sunken Temple, Dragonkin Ring [Dungeon Elder]

Elder Bellowrage: Blasted Lands, Dark Portal (54,50) [Speak to Zidormi if you need the past phase.]

Elder Starglade: Northern Stranglethorn, Zul'Gurub (71,34)

Elder Winterhoof: Cape of Stranglethorn, Booty Bay (40,73)

Elder Skychaser: Westfall, Sentinel Hill (57,47)

Elder Stormbrow: Elwynn Forest, Goldshire (40,64)

Elder Hammershout: Stormwind City, Stormwind Gates (34,51) [Alliance Elder]

Elder Stonebrand: Deepholm, Temple of Earth (49,54) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Deepforge: Deepholm, Stonehearth (27,69) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Moonlance: Vashj'ir, Shimmering Expanse (57,86) [Cataclysm Elder]

KALIMDOR

Elder Bladeswift: Darnassus, Cenarion Enclave (39,32) [Alliance Elder] [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Bladeleaf: Teldrassil, Dolanaar (57,53) [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Starweave: Darkshore, Lor'danel (50,19) [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Nightwind: Felwood, Jaedenar (38,53)

Elder Riversong: Ashenvale, Astranaar (36,49)

Elder Windsong: Mount Hyjal, Sanctuary of Malorne (26,62) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Evershade: Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil (62,22) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Brightspear: Winterspring, Lake Kel'Theril (53,57)

Elder Stonespire: Winterspring, Everlook (60,50)

Elder Skygleam: Azshara, Ravencrest Monument (65,70)

Elder Darkhorn: Orgrimmar, Flight Master Tower (52,60) [Horde Elder]

Elder Runetotem: Durotar, Razor Hill (53,44)

Elder Windtotem: Northern Barrens, Ratchet (68,70)

Elder Moonwarden: Northern Barrens, Crossroads (49,59)

Elder High Mountain: Southern Barrens, Vendetta Point (42,48)

Elder Bloodhoof: Mulgore, Bloodhoof Village (48,53)

Elder Ezra Wheathoof: Thunder Bluff, Elder Rise (73,23) [Horde Elder]

Elder Splitrock: Maraudon, Rotgrip/Tinkerer Gizlock Area [Dungeon Elder]

Elder Mistwalker: Feralas, The Maul (62,31)

Elder Grimtotem: Feralas, Lariss Pavilion (77,38)

Elder Primestone: Silithus, Crystal Vale (31,13) [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Bladesing: Silithus, Cenarion Hold (53,36) [MUST BE IN THE PAST]

Elder Thunderhorn: Un'goro Crater, Slithering Scar (50,76)

Elder Menkhaf: Uldum, Khartut's Tomb (65,18) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Sekhemi: Uldum, Ruins of Ammon (32,63) [Cataclysm Elder]

Elder Ragetotem: Tanaris, Ruins of Uldum (37,79)

Elder Dreamseer: Tanaris, Gadgetzan (51,28)

Elder Wildmane: Zul'Farrak, Gahz'rilla's Pool [Dungeon Elder]

Elder Morningdew: Thousand Needles, Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge (77,76)

Elder Skyseer: Thousand Needles, Freewind Post (46,51)

NORTHREND

Elder Sardis: Borean Tundra, Valiance Keep (59,66)
Elder Arp: Borean Tundra, D.E.H.T.A. (57,44)
Elder Pamuya: Borean Tundra, Warsong Hold (43,50)
Elder Northal: Borean Tundra, Transitus Shield (34,34)
Elder Igasho: The Nexus, Ormorok the Tree-Shaper Area [Dungeon Elder]
Elder Sandrene: Sholazar Basin, River's Heart (50,63)
Elder Wanikaya: Sholazar Basin, Rainspeaker Rapids (64,49)
Elder Bluewolf: Wintergrasp, Wintergrasp Fortress (49,14) [Faction Controlled or Open Door]
Elder Morthie: Dragonblight, Star's Rest (30,56)
Elder Skywarden: Dragonblight, Agmar's Hammer (35,48)
Elder Nurgen: Azjol-Nerub, Post-Hadronox [Dungeon Elder]
Elder Thoim: Dragonblight, Moa'ki Harbor (49,78)
Elder Jarten: Utgarde Keep, Post-Prince Keleseth [Dungeon Elder]
Elder Chogan'gada: Utgarde Pinnacle, Under Skadi the Ruthless [Dungeon Elder]
Elder Beldak: Grizzly Hills, Westfall Brigade Encampment (61,28)
Elder Lunaro: Grizzly Hills, Ruins of Tethys (81,37)
Elder Whurain: Grizzly Hills, Camp Oneqwah (64,47)
Elder Kilias: Drak'Tharon Keep, King Dred's Den [Dungeon Elder]
Elder Tauros: Zul'Drak, Zim'Torga (59,56)
Elder Ohanzee: Gundrak, Drakkari Colossus Altar [Dungeon Elder]
Elder Graymane: The Storm Peaks, K3 (41,85)
Elder Fargal: The Storm Peaks, Frosthold (29,74)
Elder Stonebeard: The Storm Peaks, Bouldercrag's Refuge (31,38)
Elder Muraco: The Storm Peaks, Camp Tunka'lo (65,51)
Elder Yurauk: Halls of Stone, Pre-Krystallus [Dungeon Elder]

As you finish your travels around the continents, honoring the Elders of the past and collecting all 84 of the Coin of Ancestry, or however many you managed to collect, you're going to need something to spend them on. Time to head back to Moonglade!

Valadar Starsong

• Festival Dumplings - 1 Coin of Ancestry
• Perky Blaster - 1 Coin of Ancestry [For use with your Perky Pug.]
• Lunar Festival Fireworks Pack - 5 Coin of Ancestry [Incoming Inventory Spam]
• x2 Large Blue Rocket, Large Green Rocket, Large Red Rocket, Large White Rocket, Large Yellow Rocket.
• x2 Small Blue Rocket, Small Green Rocket, Small Red Rocket, Small White Rocket, Small Yellow Rocket.
• Festive Green Dress - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Festive Pink Dress - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Festive Purple Dress - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Festive Black Pant Suit - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Festive Blue Pant Suit - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Festive Teal Pant Suit - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Crown of Courage - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• Crown of Dark Blossoms - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• Crown of Good Fortune - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• Crown of Prosperity - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Lunar Elder's Hearthstone - 30 Coin of Ancestry
• [A] Lunar Lantern - 50 Coin of Ancestry
• [H] Festival Lantern - 50 Coin of Ancestry

Fariel Starsong

• Schematic: Cluster Launcher - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Schematic: Firework Launcher - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Small Rocket Recipes - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Schematic: Small Blue Rocket, Schematic: Small Green Rocket, Schematic: Small Red Rocket
• Large Rocket Recipes - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Schematic: Large Blue Rocket, Schematic: Large Green Rocket, Schematic: Large Red Rocket
• Cluster Rocket Recipes - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Schematic: Blue Rocket Cluster, Schematic: Green Rocket Cluster, Schematic: Red Rocket Cluster
• Large Cluster Rocket Recipes - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Schematic: Large Blue Rocket Cluster, Schematic: Large Green Rocket Cluster, Schematic: Large Red Rocket Cluster
• Pattern: Festival Dress - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Pattern: Festival Suit - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• Schematic: Alliance Firework - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• x5 Alliance Firework
• Schematic: Horde Firework - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• x5 Horde Firework
• Schematic: Snake Firework - 5 Coin of Ancestry
• x5 Snake Firework
• Red Dragon Body Costume - 10 Coin of Ancestry
• Red Dragon Head Costume - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• Red Dragon Tail Costume - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Blue Dragon Body Costume - 10 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Blue Dragon Head Costume - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Blue Dragon Tail Costume - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Green Dragon Body Costume - 10 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Green Dragon Head Costume - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• -NEW- Green Dragon Tail Costume - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• [A] Everlasting Alliance Firework - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• [H] Everlasting Horde Firework - 25 Coin of Ancestry
• Learning either of these Toys will automatically have you learn the other one.
• Ancient Heirloom Armor Casing - 40 Coin of Ancestry
• Timeworn Heirloom Armor Casing - 75 Coin of Ancestry
• Weathered Heirloom Armor Casing - 75 Coin of Ancestry

I mentioned this a little bit earlier on in the post that your Coin of Ancestry spending was going to depend on your professions. If you're an Engineer or Tailor, you've got quite a few things extra that you can pick up, but you['re not going to have enough Coin of Ancestry on a single toon to be able to pick up all of your profession recipes as well as any of added bonus still like Toys or Pets, so you need to make sure to plan your spending accordingly amongst your toons. Now, are you all done with your Coin of Ancestry spending? Here's what you can get with just your hard-earned gold, because there's's always a vendor for that.

Lunar Festival Vendor

• Moonglow - 15c
• Small Blue Rocket - 25c
• Small Green Rocket - 25c
• Small Red Rocket - 25c
• Blue Rocket Cluster - 1s
• Gren Rocket Cluster - 1s
• Red Rocket Cluster - 1s
• Festival Firecracker - 3s

Valadar Starsong

• Elune's Candle - 10s

So earlier on, we brought up the Elune's Blessing quest and what it entailed for you to complete it, right? We're at that point now in our little rundown here. First off, make sure you've picked up the quest from Valadar Starsong back in Nighthaven in Moonglade. With it, head down to the south-eastern portion of Lake Elune'ara.

1. The Launching: In the south-eastern corner of Lake Elune'ara will be quite a few cluster launchers near the water's edge. Using all of the available cluster rocket you've dealt with over the course of this Holiday, you need to launch a total of 30 rocket clusters with these specific launchers.
2. The Spawning: 
• Minion of Omen : These are going to start spawning early-on in your 30 cluster launch session. You can either mow them down, if you've got the group for it, or you can just ignore them. They will continue to spawn even if they are all killed off.
3. The 30th:
• Omen
• Omen - Cleave : Frontal cone that should only be soaked by the highest aggro, preferably a tank of some kind.
• Starfall : This spell will be randomly cast on anyone at ranged. Move out of it, it can do some serious damage if you don't move fast enough.
• If you fall during your encounter with Omen, his health does not reset back to full. Essentially making this fight nothing more than a graveyard zerg, but it should not be necessary if there are enough people around or if you have any soloing ability. Omen cannot be leashed away from his spawning point anymore.
4. The Afterlife: When Omen becomes nothing more than an empty husk on the ground near the shores of the lake, a small beam of moonlight will spawn in the center of his corpse.
• Elune's Blessing : Stepping into this light will grant you the buff necessary to complete the quest that you picked up from Valadar Starsong in Nighthaven. Return to him to receive your final reward.
5. You are not required to be part of the kill to gain access to the moonlight that spawns from Omen's corpse. If you decide to take advantage of other people attacking Omen and sit it out, you are doing nothing more than showing how much of an ass you are by not helping with something so simple. But who am I to judge..

With the blood of an immortal demigod on those hands of yours and those like you, and after honoring a score of Elders from the past, it's time to get cutting away at the loose ends of this Holiday.

Completing all of the necessary achievements below will bestow upon you the title of 'Elder' and grant you the meta achievement: To Honor One's Elders!

• A Coin of Ancestry : Honor your very first Elder and your journey of collecting many Coin of Ancestry will have begun..
• 5 Coins of Ancestry : Only five Coin of Ancestry? You have much work to do..
• 10 Coins of Ancestry : Ah! Ten Coin of Ancestry already?! Journey more, my child..
• 25 Coins of Ancestry : Halfway there, wanderer, there are more Coin of Ancestry to be collected..
• 50 Coins of Ancestry : Quite the collection! But there is even more to be had! Do not stop at simply 50 Coin of Ancestry, for there are even more Elders to honor!
• Elders of Eastern Kingdoms : From top to bottom, there are 29 total Elders to honor on the Eastern Kingdoms. Of that 29, 17 of them count towards this achievement.
• Elders of Kalimdor : From Teldrassil to Uldum, there are a grande total of 30 Elders on Kalimdor. Of that 30, 18 of them are going to be honored to pick up this achievement.
• Elders of Northrend : Traverse the varying landscapes of the frozen northern continent of Northrend, honoring all of the available Elders. Of the 25 located on the Scourged wasteland, 18 of them will count towards this achievement.
• Elders of Cataclysm : Venture forth through the forever-changed lands abused by the Shattering and locate the 9 Elders in the regions made available with the release of Deathwing.
• Elders of the Dungeons : Seek out the 13 Elders hiding away in the various instances spread across the three continents. These Elders might require some creativity, ingenuity, or just some friends. As is always the case with instance achievements, doing this at level cap makes it significantly easier.
• Elders of the Alliance : Saunter, or tip-toe, your way through the Alliance capitals and honor their very own Elders. There are 3 total Elders for this achievement.
• Elders of the Horde : Much like the Elders of the Alliance, make your way through the Horde capitals and honor the Elders of the Horde. There are 3 total Elders for this achievement as well.
• Frenzied Firecracker : Gather up some Festival Firecracker from your local Lunar Festival Vendor, a total of 10. Spending big money on these achievements here. Easiest way to get this one is to set the Festival Firecracker to a hotkey and toss them out right after one another. If you miss a single cooldown, you're probably doing to have to start over. Grab some extra 'crackers if you think you'll need it.
• The Rocket's Red Glare : Have an engineer throw together some of the Red Rocket Cluster, or pick them up from the Lunar Festival Vendor. You're going to need a total of 10 -RED- clusters for this to work. If they aren't RED, you aren't going to get any credit. After you've got your 10 Red Rocket Cluster, find yourself a cluster launcher and let 'er rip. With 25 seconds on the timer, you should be able to get this achievement with some time to spare.
• Lunar Festival Finery : Valadar Starsong is the man of the hour for this achievement. You've spent so little time with him this Holiday, but you're going to need to spend 5 Coin of Ancestry on his wares and pick yourself up a festive outfit to wear. Whether it be one of the dresses or a pant suit set, you need to look your best to grab this achievement.
• Elune's Blessing : Complete all of the pre-requisite quests to gain access to the final Quest; Elune's Blessing. Turning in the quest is all that will be necessary to net yourself this achievement, whether or not you actually put down the feral dog or just danced in the afterglow.

And there were a couple of battle pets that could be obtained during this Holiday season, their information is down below:

• Lunar Lantern - Magic, Rare, Breed 3 B/B
• Beam, Illuminate, Soul Ward, Burn, Flash, Light
• Festival Lantern - Magic, Rare, Breed 3 B/B
• Beam, Illuminate, Soul Ward, Burn, Flash, Light

[WoW] Noblegarden '18

Noblegarden is the in-game representation of Easter, only it lasts for an entire week, running from April 2nd through April 9th. As with all other Holidays this expansion, the only change that has come to Noblegarden is that the event items can now be transmogged during the duration of the Holiday.

Cuddle to Arms!!! by Quikewuff

Side note: Looking for some new customized Holiday artwork if any artists are interested.

Just like before, the main objective of this Holiday is the collection of the Brightly Colored Egg placed around the starting areas. For the Alliance, that means Azure Watch, Dolanaar, Goldshire, and Kharanos. For the Horde, that means Bloodhoof Village, Brill, Falconwing Square, and Razor Hill. Most of the towns have a small area where you can effectively camp out and have access to 4-5 eggs in a very small location without much adjustment to reach them all.

Since the spawn points are going to be the same for the Brightly Colored Egg as they were from years past, I will be spending my time in two locations: Goldshire behind the inn in the garden and/or in Dolanaar making "rounds." As suggested in previous incarnations of this guide, if you have terrible targeting skills, stick to the camping method, as it doesn't involve much moving, so you can keep your mouse in the proper locations. If you're good on the run, use the "rounds" method to maximize your upkeep. Also, pick your method based on the population of the area as well, as you're going to be competing against anyone and everyone for these spawns.

As always, this Holiday has a small assortment of quests that can be taken advantage of with little effort.

• Spring Collectors/Spring Gatherers: Head to any of the capital cities of your faction and speak with the commoner of your choice to gain access to this breadcrumb quest. Your destination as Alliance is to speak with a Spring Collector in Goldshire, Kharanos, Dolanaar, or Azure Watch. As Horde, you are looking for a Spring Gatherer in Razor Hill, Bloodhoof Village, Brill, or Falconwing Square. Pick your ending location based on how well you know the layout for the Brightly Colored Egg spawn points.
• The Great Egg Hunt/The Great Egg Hunt: This is your only daily quest for this Holiday and honestly, it's not worth it to keep repeating it, unless you're still working toward a collection goal. You need to collect Brightly Colored Shell Fragment from the Brightly Colored Egg. That simple. You need 20. You get a Blossoming Branch from this, but you're probably going to get a ton more from just opening the eggs anyway.
• A Tisket, A Tasket, A Noblegarden Basket/A Tisket, A Tasket, A Noblegarden Basket: The Noblegarden Vendor, if you're Alliance, or the Noblegarden Merchant, if you're Horde offers up this quest. You'll get a Borrowed Egg Basket to use in your quest to gather 10 Noblegarden Chocolate. Upon completing the quest, you get your own Egg Basket, that does the same thing as the quest version. If you're doing the "rounds"-method I mentioned before, this item is a must-have for the speed boost.

And there you have it, you're done with all of the quests. NOW COLLECT THAT CHOCOLATE, AND DON'T EAT ALL OF IT. Find your respective Noblegarden vendor of choice and prepare to spend a lot of Noblegarden Chocolate on random cosmetic things.

Remember! Most of the items available from the vendor can, and more than likely will, show up inside of the Brightly Colored Egg while you are farming up the necessary amounts of Noblegarden Chocolate to collect all of the items available. So while, yes, you need over a thousand Noblegarden Chocolate to purchase everything, you aren't going to be purchasing everything by the end of your gathering, I can almost 100% guarantee that.

• Noblegarden Egg - 5 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Blossoming Branch - 10 Noblegarden Chocolate
• White Tuxedo Shirt - 25 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Black Tuxedo Pants - 25 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Elegant Dress - 50 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Spring Flowers - 50 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Spring Robes - 50 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Spring Circlet - 50 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Black Spring Circlet - 50 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Pink Spring Circlet - 50 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Spring Rabbit's Foot - 100 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Mystical Spring Bouquet - 100 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Tome of Polymorph: Rabbit - 100 Noblegarden Chocolate
• As always, your Mage must be level 60 to purchase this tome.
• Noblegarden Bunny - 200 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Swift Springstrider - 500 Noblegarden Chocolate
• Poorly-Painted Egg - 10s
• You have the worst luck, as the Poorly-Painted Egg only vendors for 9s.
• Intricately-Painted Egg - 10g
• You saw the shiny Intricately-Painted Egg? Have 9g.
• Magnificently-Painted Egg - 1000g
• Winner! The Magnificently-Painted Egg! 900g! Now, let's hope it wasn't yours.

With all of that egg-hunting and chocolate scarfing, you're hungry for more to do I'm sure! Complete the slew of achievements for this Holiday to grant yourself the title of 'the Noble' with the completion of the meta achievement: Noble Gardener.

• I Found One! : So you noticed a Brightly Colored Egg on the ground, eh? Picked it up, did ya? Good, we're done here.
• Noble Garden/Noble Garden : Partake in the fun! Place your very own Noblegarden Egg in Stormwind City, if you're Alliance, or Silvermoon City, if you're Horde. Don't forget to pick it back up once you're placed it, you might get something fancy back. Or just more Noblegarden Chocolate. Probably just more Noblegarden Chocolate.
• Chocolate Lover : The sight of all that Noblegarden Chocolate finally got the better of you, did it? You didn't have to eat a whole 25 of them, though. Well, have an achievement for stuffing your face full.
• Chocoholic : Okay, now things are getting out of hand. You didn't stop at 25, but you went all the way to 100 Noblegarden Chocolate? You might have some issues, kid, but... Here's an achievement.
• Hard Boiled : This one requires the company of a friend or maybe just a random passerby that just happens to have a Blossoming Branch. Either way, you need to head over to Un'Goro Crater and step into the Golakka Hot Springs while turned into a bunny and wait to lay an egg. You could also set your Hearthstone to Marshal's Stand, get turned into a bunny in one of the towns, then hearth and run there. If you get into combat though, the disguise fails and you have to start over. Bring a friend, it'll be faster.
• Desert Rose : Slip into your Spring Robes and get ready to take a trip around Azeroth! When you use the Spring Robes, you plant a flower. Your goal here is to head over to a few deserts and plant some flowers. On Eastern Kingdoms, you're making a stop at the Badlands. Head over to Kalimdor and hit up Desolace, Thousand Needles, Tanaris, and Silithus, which are all on the southern portion of the continent. Don't ruse those Kalimdor deserts, your Spring Robes come with a 1 minute cooldown on flower-planting.
• Shake Your Bunny-Maker : Use the Spring Flowers you got from the vendor, or from the Brightly Colored Egg, and find yourself some level 18+ honeys. You need to use the Spring Flowers on a female of every race (sans Pandaren) that is level 18+ to gain credit for the achievement. Sadly, the Spring Flowers has a 5 minute cooldown, so don't try and go too fast if you're just going to bum yourself out.
• Spring Fling/Spring Fling : Use your Spring Rabbit pet to help it find "love", but only in different area codes.
• Alliance: Help your little bunny out in Goldshire in Elwynn Forest, Kharanos in Dun Morogh, Dolanaar in Teldrassil, and Azure Watch on Azuremyst Isle.
• Horde: Help your little bunny out in Razor Hill in Durotar, Bloodhoof Village in Mulgore, Brill in Tirisfal Glades, and Falconwing Square in Eversong Woods.
• Blushing Bride : Don your Sunday's Finest and find yourself a partner Dressed for the Occasion and pucker up. The person wearing the dress does not get the achievement, so be sure to thank them if only you get the achievement.
• Sunday's Finest : Crack open those Brightly Colored Egg until you've got yourself a hot, sticky mess of White Tuxedo Shirt and Black Tuxedo Pants. To complete this, you actually have to get them out of the eggs, you can't purchase or trade to get credit.
• Dressed for the Occasion : Don't stop with the suit, go for the Elegant Dress, too. Just like the suit, you actually have to get it from the Brightly Colored Egg, you can't purchase or trade to get credit.

There are only two pets for this Holiday, but only one gets to roll around in the dirt.

• Spring Rabbit - Critter, Rare, Breed 5; S/S
• Scratch, Adrenaline Rush, Burrow, Flurry, Dodge, Stampede
• Mystical Spring Bouquet - Non-Combat
• Noblegarden Bunny - Critter, Rare, Breed 3; B/B
• Scratch, Egg Barrage, Burrow, Flurry, Dodge, Stench

When you're done gorging yourself on Noblegarden Chocolate, maybe we can have a sit down to talk about your weight problems.. And the follow-up for the Holiday.

[WoW] Post-Lunar Festival '18

Much like last year, I didn't participate quite enough during this Holiday to really make it worth my while. The experience gains were actually decent from gathering Coin of Ancestry from the Elders, so I probably should have spent some time actually doing this on lower toons. Well, we know for next year.I did just enough to gather the new items, just like last year, so at least we have that.

Unlike the Love is in the Air post-write-up, we're not going to put all the extra toons like we did for that one. Well, we will add one other toon, since they hit up some Elders.

Paragon: Elder of '09.
Railene: Elder of '10.
Xardion: Elder of '10,
Laviana: Elder of '11.
Arcia: Elder of '11. Collected the four new cosmetic headpieces; Crown of Good Fortune, Crown of Courage, Crown of Prosperity, and Crown of Dark Blossoms.
Sollexi: Elder of '12.
Ferenan: Elder of '16.
Yesira: Elder of '16.
Disana: Elder of '17.

Brigitte: Completed A Coin of Ancestry, 5 Coins of Ancestry, 10 Coins of Ancestry, and Elders of Northrend. Highly unlikely completion in 2019 due to not being a part of primary account.