Children's Week

Children's Week, or the Week of the Wardens, seems to be loosely based off of Japan's Children's Day. You pick-up orphans from Stormwind/Orgrimmar, Shattrath City, and Dalaran and take them to places of their choosing to meet famous Lore heroes and buy them toys. At the completion of each separate string of quests, you'll receive your choice of multiple pets.

First we're going to go over the Stormwind and Orgrimmar quest chains. With the inclusion of Cataclysm, this quest-lines have changed from the past few years.

1. Cruisin' The Chasm: Your little human orphan wants you to take him down to Westfall, hop into one of the lovely rental choppers, and take a cruise over to the gigantic chasm with a huge tornado inside of it. Why we, as wardens, thought this would be a good idea, is beyond me. The kid has a good time, no one is dead, he's happy.
2. Malfurion Has Returned!: Take your orphan over to Darnassus and introduce him to the legendary druid himself, Malfurion Stormrage. Ol' Malfy will even throw an enchantment on the fella to give him wings for a bit.
3. The Biggest Diamond Ever!: If you've read the Warcraft novel 'The Shattering,' then you know what happens to poor Magni Bronzebeard. Your orphan wants to see him. Head on over to Ironforge and go to the throne room. That door that's always been closed is now open and you can head down into Old Ironforge to see Magni.
4. You Scream, I Scream...: Head over to the Mage Quarter of Stormwind. Near the Blue Recluse inn, there is a small ice cream stand. Purchase a 'Cone of Cold' ice cream cone and hand it over to your little orphan.
5. Let's Go Fly A Kite: There is a gnome pushing a small cart around the outside of the Trade District. Stop him and purchase a 2-Part Kite set. Fly the kites with your orphan for a bit.
6. A Warden Of The Alliance: Purchase a Foam Sword Rack from the traveling gnome toy salesmen and return to the orphan matron. Turn in the rack, the orphans will snatch them up and start playing. The matron offers you your reward..
• Piglet's Collar: Mr. Wiggles the Pig.
• Rat Cage: Whiskers the Rat.
• Turtle Box: Speedy the Turtle.
• Snail Shell: Scooter the Snail.
• Curmudgeon's Payoff: 5 gold.

1. Ridin' The Rocketway: Your new orc orphan wants to go to the new Goblin Rocketway, so that's where you're headed. Head on over to Azshara and ascend the Southern Rocketway Terminus. Board the Redhound Two-Seater Prototype and take a trip down the rocketway in style.
2. The Banshee Queen: Time to head to the Tirisfal Glades and ascend into the Undercity to meet the matriarch of the Forsaken, Sylvanas Windrunner. Apparently the blood elf ambassador gets a little pissy that your orphan is speaking the Queen of the Dead herself.
3. The Fallen Chieftain: Just like the Alliance version to go see Magni, in 'The Shattering,' Cairne Bloodhoof challenges Garrosh Hellscream to a duel to the death. Magatha of the Grimtotem tribe poisons Garrosh's Gorehowl and a small cut cripples Cairne and Garrosh finishes him off.
4. You Scream, I Scream...: Head back to Orgrimmar and head down to the Goblin Slums section of town. Find the Cone of Cold shop and purchase a 'Cone of Cold' ice cream cone for your orphan. Let him get a brain freeze and then move on to the next quest.
5. Let's Go Fly A Kite: Much like the Alliance version, you have to find someone pushing a toy cart. This time, you're looking for a goblin on the outside of the Drag. Purchase the 2-Part Kite set and set them aloft with your orphan. After playing with them for some time, it's time to send them back to the orphanage.
6. A Warden Of The Horde: Pick up a Foam Sword Rack from the goblin toy vendor and head back to the orphan matron. Let the kids play around with their foam swords and then pick up your new companion, or your 5 gold.
• Piglet's Collar: Mr. Wiggles the Pig.
• Rat Cage: Whiskers the Rat.
• Turtle Box: Speedy the Turtle.
• Snail Shell: Scooter the Snail.
• Curmudgeon's Payoff: 5 gold.

And with that, it's time to move on to the Shattrath City orphan quests. Again, split into both Alliance and Horde questlines.

1. Auchindoun And The Ring Of Observance: Your little Draenei orphan wants to go to the Auchindoun, which is now the ruins of an old mausoleum for the Draenei people. Go see the Summoning Stone near the center and appease your orphan by trying to help them summon someone. 
2. Jheel Is At Aeris Landing!: Apparently our little orphan has a sibling who is working with the Ethereals over at the Aeris Landing in Nagrand. So that's where we're going. When arriving, they chat for a bit and your quest completion is after you talk to Jheel.
3. A Trip To The Dark Portal: Since your orphan is a Draenei, they've never seen the Dark Portal before. Time to head over that way and check it out. You have to land on the very top platform at the Dark Portal for your orphan to run up amazed at the sight.
4. The Seat Of The Naaru: Despite being a Draenei, they've never seen the Exodar. Time to take your little orphan down to the new Draenei capital city on Azeroth and have a talk with O'ros down at the bottom of the middle section of the Exodar. He'll tell you to go talk to Farseer Nobundo.
5. Time To Visit The Caverns: Quickest way to get here is to get a portal to Dalaran opened up by a friendly mage and take the free portal in the Violet Citadel. If you take the free dragon ride, you'll land opposite of the center of where you need to go. Go meet up with the big bronze dragon. After the little run-in, head back up the tunnel a bit and talk to the Keepers of Time quartermaster to get your toy dragon for your orphan. With toy in hand, it's time to return to the matron.
6. Back To The Orphanage: Head back to Shattrath the quickest way you know how. Either a mage friend or flying your ass through the Dark Portal. Upon getting back to the matron, you'll get your choice of four pets.
• Egbert's Egg: Egbert the Baby Hawkstrider.
• Elekk's Training Collar: Peanut the Baby Elekk.
• Sleepy Willy: Willy the Baby Beholder.
• Legs: Legs the Mini Marshwalker.

1. Hch'uu Of The Mushroom People: After picking up your new little Blood Elf companion, it's time to head over to Zangarmarsh and meet up with your orphan's long, lost friend of the Sporeggar people; Hch'uu. Who apparently ran away from a fungal giant and got lost, which is why she was in the Shattrath orphanage.
2. Visit The Throne Of The Elements: After the reminiscing is over with, it's time to make your way over to Nagrand and drop in on the Elementals of the Throne. Let the orphan have a wide-eyed gander at all of the large-sized Elementals before talking to one of the Earthen Ring.
3. A Trip To The Dark Portal: Finishing up on the Throne of the Elements makes your orphan want to take a peak at another oversized site; the Dark Portal that leads to Azeroth. Land up on the platform and let your orphan get an eyeful of the object that spans two planets and connects them together.
4. Now, When I Grow Up...: Unlike the Draenei orphan that is destined to become a powerful shaman of her people, your Blood Elf has a less significant goal in life.. to become part of the Elite Tauren Chieftains rock band. Head over to the Blood Elf capital of Silvermoon City to wave at the band members.
5. Time To Visit The Caverns: Find a quick way to get to Dalaran, so you can steal the free portal down to the Caverns of Time. Either fly your way down when you get there and pick up the toy dragon from the quartermaster on the way down, or take the free flight from the dragon at the top. Either way, go see the big bronze dragon and get your toy dragon. With all that finished, it's time to head back to Shattrath City.
6. Back To The Orphanage: Head back to Shattrath the quickest way you know how. Either a mage friend or flying your ass through the Dark Portal. Upon getting back to the matron, you'll get your choice of four pets.
• Egbert's Egg: Egbert the Baby Hawkstrider.
• Elekk's Training Collar: Peanut the Baby Elekk.
• Sleepy Willy: Willy the Baby Beholder.
• Legs: Legs the Mini Marshwalker.

Not that it matters the order in which you complete the questlines involved with either faction's orphan quests.. You can now head to Dalaran and pick up one of two quests for one more Children's Week pet. Depending on which questline you complete, depends on the pet that you receive.

1. Little Orphan Roo Of The Oracles: Talk to the matron standing near the floating statue by the southern bank and select this option to start the quest to get the Gorloc pet.
2. The Biggest Tree Ever!: Grab the little Oracles orphan and make your way over to the Grizzly Hills. You're going to be going to Grizzlemaw, the home of the furbolgs. You have to go down to the very bottom of the tree, where there is small tree growing.
3. The Bronze Dragonshrine: After escaping the furbolgs, it's time to head over to the Bronze Dragonshrine in Dragonblight. Much like when, or if, you did the quests for Chromie at the Wyrmrest Temple, your little orphan here is going to see the future version of himself.
4. Playmates!: Once he's done talking to himself, head on over to the Borean Tundra and swing down to the Winterfin Retreat. Your orphan will meet up with a baby murloc and start dancing. Though how Bladestorming can be considered dancing, I'm not entirely sure..
5. Meeting A Great One: Once your orphan is done making friends, it's time to go experience some Oracles culture. Go up into the Sholazar Basin and head through the Waygate by the Mosslight Pillar. Passing through this Waygate teleports you to the Un'goro Crater. Make your way up the little pathway and stop at the angry-looking construct.
6. The Dragon Queen: Head back through the Waygate to get back to the Basin and make your way back down to Dragonblight. It's time to stop in at the Wyrmrest Temple. Your little orphan wants to meet the Life-Binder herself.
7. A Trip To The Wonderworks: Time to head back to Dalaran, but before you go talk to the matron, your little buddy here wants to get some playtime in with you. Head over to the Wonderworks toy shop and buy the Small Paper Zeppelin. It's only available for purchase when you're actually on this quest. After you toss it back and forth, it's time to take him back to the matron.
8. Back To The Orphanage: Head back over to the floating statue and return the Oracle back to the matron. You won't receive the pet initially, but it comes in the mail. Logging out and back in should do it, or taking a portal somewhere else. Any loading screen makes it appear, I believe.
• Curious Oracle Hatchling: Roo the Curious Oracle Hatchling.

1. Little Orphan Kekek Of The Wolvar: Talk to the matron standing near the floating statue by the southern bank and select this option to start the quest to get the Wolvar pet.
2. Home Of The Bear-Men: Once you're got your feisty little devil with you, it's time to head over to the Grizzly Hills. You're going to be going to the home of the furbolgs, Grizzlemaw. You're going to have to go to the very bottom of the broken tree to where a small tree is growing.
3. The Bronze Dragonshrine: Once that's over, it's time to head over to Dragonblight. You're going to be making a stop at the Bronze Dragonshrine for your little orphan to meet his future-self and have a little heart-to-heart.
4. Playmates!: Since you're in Dragonblight still, you might as well wonder over to the Snowfall Glade and let your orphan pup play around with some other Wolvar pups. They throw snowballs at each other for a while.
5. The Dragon Queen: Then it's time to head over to the Wyrmrest Temple, where your orphan wants to meet the mighty Alexstrasza. Krasus even talks to him for a bit.
6. The Mighty Hemet Nesingwary: Once you're done meeting the Queen of the Red Dragonflight, it's time to head over to the Sholazar Basin and meet your orphans hunter idol. Head over to the Nesingwary Base Camp on the western side of the Basin, so your orphan can have a chat with Hemet Nesingwary.
7. A Visit To The Wonderworks: Once he's gotten all of his meet-and-greets out of the way, it's time to head back to Dalaran. Before heading back to the matron, you need to make a quick stop in at the Wonderworks toy shop. Your Wolvar orphan wants to have a little playtime with you, by tossing back and forth some paper zeppelins. Make sure to pick-up the Small Paper Zeppelin that's only for purchase when you have this quest.
8. Back To The Orphanage: After you're done playing, it's time to go back to the matron. Head over to the floating statue by the southern bank and return your Wolvar orphan. You won't receive your pet initially, but it comes in the mail. Logging out and back in should do it, or taking a portal to somewhere else. Any loading screen makes it appear, I believe.
• Curious Wolvar Hatchling: Kekek the Curious Wolvar Hatchling.

And now that we've gone over ALL of the questlines, for both Alliance and Horde, it's time to look at getting those achievements. Hopefully you still have some time left after traversing multiple continents and separate worlds to get some of these in.

• Home Alone: Is your orphan currently staring at your with wondrous eyes of wonder? Use your hearthstone. Congratulations, you just left your orphan wherever you just were. But you got an achievement! Now, blow your whistle again and get back to making them happy. Asshole.
• Bad Example: Begin nomming on delicious sweets right in front of your poor little orphan. Head to Dalaran and pick up a Red Velvet Cupcake, a Lovely Cake Slice, a Dalaran Doughnut, and a Dalaran Brownie. After that, head down to Stormwind and pick up a cone of Tigole and Foror's Strawberry Ice Cream. Then, either make or procure a Delicious Chocolate Cake and a Tasty Cupcake. Devour all of this in front of your hungry orphan's face and you.. are a horrible person.
• Daily Chores: Have your orphan with you as you complete five daily quests. Any five, doesn't matter what. It's more exciting if you make it something dangerous. Like.. Fishing. Or cooking.
• Aw, Isn't It Cute?: Complete any string of orphan quests from the Stormwind/Orgrimmar, Shattrath, or Dalaran orphans and receive a pet. You get this achievement just for getting a pet. It's win/win!
• School Of Hard Knocks: One of those "awesome" PvP achievements that Blizzard likes to integrate into certain holidays to make you experience both the PvE and PvP aspects of the game. Have your orphan out as you return a fallen flag in Warsong Gulch, assault a base in Arathi Basin, assault a tower in the Alterac Valley, and capture a flag in Eye of the Storm. This achievement will probably take the longest for most people depending on level and the player.
• Hail To The King, Baby: Be of level and head into Utgarde Pinnacle in Howling Fjord of Northrend. Make your way to the end of the instance and knock King Ymiron's face in. Make sure your orphan is watching! As he goes down, your orphan will cheer at death. Since this achievement has a level requirement, it might be the last of the meta you're working toward for this holiday.
• Veteran Nanny: A three-year long achievement. You have to get three of the, now, four Shattrath pets; Peanut, Willy, and Egbert. Legs is a new addition to the roster, so he doesn't count toward this achievement. He might in the future, but as of right now, it's still only the original Burning Crusade three.

And now time for my own accomplishments..

Warrior: Matron of '09. Received Veteran Nanny in '11.

Paladin: Matron of '10. Received her first pet back in '08. Finished off Veteran Nanny in '11.

Druid: Matron of '10. Two more years to go until Veteran Nanny.

Death Knight: Patron of '10. Two more years to go until Veteran Nanny.

Mage: Not a Patron. Being a weak-bodied mage, taking down King Ymiron without a group will be tough. The King dies next year. Veteran Nanny in three years, because I apparently didn't do the Shattrath questline at all this year.

Rogue: Not a Patron. Rogue wasn't a bad enough example, didn't go to school, and wasn't a high enough level for the King. At least he'll be a Veteran Nanny in two years.

Noblegarden

Blizzard's version of Easter for the World of Warcraft. This is a week long event that, like most of the religious related events, has absolutely nothing to do with anything religion based. Your main goal behind the Noblegarden holiday?

Go egg-hunting. A lot.

The only quests involved with this holiday are ones that ask you to gather eggs. One of them is even a daily! So, seriously.. Get to gathering eggs. All of the achievements obtainable for this holiday require you to get something out of the eggs. Whether it be actual pieces of holiday clothing, or the chocolate that is then used to purchase items from the holiday vendor to participate in certain events.

Egg-Hunting. Serious business. Okay, screw this, time for the achievements.

• I Found One!: Remember how I told you to go egg-hunting already? You get this for finding an egg. Aren't you amazing?!

• Chocolate Lover/Chocoholic: For each egg that you gather up, you get a piece of Noblegarden Chocolate. You can either save these up and use them as currency, or devour 100 of them to get the two achievements. The first one is for eating 25. Keep eating all the way up to 100 and you get Chocoholic.

• Sunday's Finest: While you're out snatching up those brightly colored eggs for people to slow to get them before you can.. You're going to be on the look out for special clothing. To get this particular achievement, you're looking for a White Tuxedo Shirt and a pair of Black Tuxedo Pants. You have to acquire both through the eggs, no purchasing or trading counts. Neither of these items are soulbound, so you can pass them over to your bank toon or to someone that just wants to look dandy.

• Dressed For The Occasion: Keep cracking open those eggs until you found yourself with an Elegant Dress. How they stuffed this, or even the pants or shirt, inside of an egg is beyond me. Like the pants and shirt, you can't cheat your way out of this and get them traded over or purchase them through the vendor.

• Hard Boiled: As your picking up eggs, you have a random chance to be turned into a bunny. This achievement will require this form, but the easiest way to complete the achievement is to get a friend who has a Bountiful Branch on them. Head on down to the Un'goro Crater and meander over to the Golakka Hot Springs. Become a bunny, lay an egg under the hot water, and you're done.

• Spring Fling: By either purchasing the Spring Rabbit pet from the vendor or getting it from one of those brightly colored eggs, you're going to have to do some traveling. You have to go to each of the four starter locations where eggs are located and have your Spring Rabbit and someone else's Spring Rabbit.. Make babies. When they say "like rabbits," they weren't kidding.

• Noble Garden: Use some of that leftover chocolate that I know you're tired of throwing out or eating and purchase your very own Brightly Colored Egg. Head into Stormwind or Orgrimmar and drop it down. Pick it right back up. Achievement get! Plus, you have a "free" chance at getting another item. You'll probably just get more chocolate, though.

• Shake Your Bunny Maker: Take your Spring Flowers item and equip it. You'll either get these from an egg or from the holiday vendor. Run around like a chicken with its head cut off until you find someone who is over level 18.. And is of the female variety. Use the flowers! Pow! Free bunny ears. Over level 18 and bunny ears.. Hrmmm...

• Desert Rose: Don your "beautiful" Spring Robes, either from an egg or from the vendor, and begin your long trek. You have to head down to The Badlands, Silithus, Desolace, Thousand Needles, and Tanaris. By 'using' your robes, you'll plant a rose. Do this in every desert and this achievement proves you have a green thumb.

• Blushing Bride: Find a friend wearing the Elegant Dress, whether it be male or female. Throw on your White Tuxedo Shirt and Black Tuxedo Pants and throw them a kiss or two.

And because it totally matters, here comes the item collection list for this holiday. I'm not going to bother mentioning that you can obtain these items out of the eggs. I'm only going to list their vendor prices.

• Tome of Polymorph: Rabbit: For mages only. This can only be purchased from the holiday vendor for a grand total of 100 Noblegarden Chocolate. You have to be level 60 to learn it AND to purchase it.
• Spring Rabbit's Foot: It's a bunny! You can purchase it with 100 Noblegarden Chocolate. You'll need to get this pet eventually if you plan on completing the holiday meta.
• Spring Circlet: Net yourself your own pair of sexy bunny ears with this 50 Noblegarden Chocolate purchase.
• Elegant Dress: If you plan on being the bride who blushes, drop 50 Noblegarden Chocolate off at your local holiday vendor and prepare to be blown away with kisses.
• White Tuxedo Shirt: Are you too sexy for your shirt? Well, pick up this dandy formal wear for 25 Noblegarden Chocolate.
• Black Tuxedo Pants: Combine with the White Tuxedo Shirt for best effect. For 25 Noblegarden Chocolate.
• Spring Robes: If you plan on going on a flower planting spree, you're going to need these robes. They put Harvest Moon to shame. To get your green thumb on, you only need 50 Noblegarden Chocolate.
• Spring Flowers: Want to become Hugh Hefner? Need some 'Bunnies? Grab a bouquet of Spring Flowers and get to hip-hopping. 50 Noblegarden Chocolate at your local 'Bunny Manor.
• Egg Basket: Completing the quest to gather 10 pieces of Noblegarden Chocolate nets you this item. It's an off-hand frill equip that gives you a 60% run speed increase for 10 seconds, on a 10 second cooldown. So you can spam it to gather eggs.

The fact that it took me this long to post a blog about this holiday is ridiculous and I feel like a huge failure for it.

Also, I don't think my lame jokes for the items could have gotten any worse.

Warrior: The Noble of '09. Had all achievements completed in two days.

Paladin: The Noble of '09. Had all achievements completed two days after my Warrior's meta was completed.

Druid: The Noble of '09. Had all achievements completed the day after my Paladin's meta was completed.

Death Knight: The Noble of '10. Had all achievements completed in two days. There's a pattern here..

Mage: The Noble of '09. Had all achievements completed between my Warrior's meta completion and when I started my Paladin's meta.

Rogue: Not a Noble. There needs to be some bunny love, bunny makin' shakin', a lovely dress, some bride kissing, some desert roses, and a hard boiled egg.

Love Is In The Air

Love Is In The Air is the week-long Holiday event based on Valentine's Day. This event used to be more interesting when it was first created, when you had to give gifts to guards and in return get presents back or a 'Heartbroken' debuff that prevented you from getting more presents for an hour.

Now you just go out and beat some guys up, turn in the quests, get heart-shaped gift tokens that you spend at a vendor to purchase the achievement-related items, the pet, and other such commodities. But I digress, since most holidays have changed into this particular model..

The questline has you taking samples from the guards around Stormwind/Orgrimmar, then stealing a crate from the Crown Chemical Co. in the guise of a goblin. (I wonder if Goblins even get the guise buff, they probably do..). The crates are packed with chemical-filled rockets. After that, you're sent to a lovely lady of the town to discover where Snivel Rustrocket, the crafter of the rockets, might be hiding. After encountering him in the Auction House, the bank, and the barbershop, you're sent to go stop him from escaping town via boat/zeppelin. Take Snivel's ledger back to the investigator and you get a question to head into Shadowfang Keep and knock out the Apothecary trio behind the Crown Chemical Co.'s shenanigans.

Additionally there are six dailies that you are able to do to gain more Love Tokens. Three are random, where you roam around town and use items on random people that don't have the buff you're trying to give them. Another is to go beat up some Crown Chemical Co. lackies and destroy their chemical wagon. Depending on your level depends on the location of where the mobs will be located at that you need to defeat. They change, roughly, every ten levels.

The last four are to take Lovely Charm Bracelets to the four faction leaders (excluding the Troll, Gnome, Worgen, and Goblin leaders). You have to acquire a Lovely Charm Bracelet Kit to begin collecting Lovely Charms off of mobs. Collecting ten charms creates a bracelet. Each faction leader also gives you a lovely card that gives you a different buff, but they don't stack with each other. On a side note; while the Lovely Charms are soulbound, the Lovely Charm Bracelets are not. So you can trade them off to alts or your main for quicker Token acquisition.

Before I go over the achievements and how to get them, I'm going to give a quick overview of the boss fight for this holiday. It wasn't very difficult at all when it was first introduced last year, this year wasn't much more difficult, just you had to teach the new people that didn't know what to do. It was also harder to use the same tactics from last year, and much more difficult to DPS tank. Like we were doing last year, hehe.

Apothecary Hummel is the "main" target of the fight, but he comes with two others; Apothecary Baxter and Apothecary Frye. There are items off to the side to negate certain effects used by the bosses during the fight. Hummel uses an Alluring Perfume, using the Perfume Neutralizer negates all but his melee attacks. Baxter uses  Irresistible Cologne and the Cologne Neutralizer takes care of him. Frye is simply and annoyance and uses both, but he can be completely ignored for the most part of the fight. Upon initiating the fight, you can only attack Hummel. After, I believe, 15 seconds, Baxter activates and you can attack him as well. About the same time after that, Frye activates as well. The easiest way to do this is for the tank to hold both Hummel and Baxter and wear the Neutralizer for whichever boss gets downed first and then switch to the other. Another possibly strategy is to just have a DPS hold Baxter until Hummel is downed. Frye has no aggro table, which is why I said to just ignore him.

Possible loots to acquire! These bosses drop level appropriate necklaces as their mandatory gear drop. Aside from that, they drop flavor loot, which is the norm for all holiday bosses.

• Forever-Lovely Rose: A simply headpiece that makes your character have a rose in their mouth. No required level, but since you have to be 85 to even activate the fight.. You get the idea.
• Vile Fumigator's Mask: A headpiece that makes your character wear a gas mask. Also has the added effect of stunning your target for 30 secs. Completely worthless, honestly, at max level. Amusing for recreational purposes.
• The Heartbreaker: I've never actually seen this item drop, but it apparently just makes your character burst into tears. With a one minute cooldown, it's almost not worth it.. But I'd keep it if I'd've ever won it.
• Toxic Wasteling: No holiday is complete without a pet. This one is just like the Disgusting Oozeling, but as this one travels past critters.. It eats it. And gets bigger. Also, no debuff!
• Big Love Rocket: This is the money maker. It's a giant pink rocket with a zebra-striped seat cover. Plus.. the in-game icon for it is pink and phallic-shaped. Innuendos everywhere!

On to the achievements, which is why everyone reads this! Woot.

• Be Mine!: Purchase the Bags of Heart Candies from the vendor using Love Tokens and eat one of each of the eight Heart Candies. Each bag costs two Love Tokens and the Heart Candies aren't soulbound, so you can AH or trade them off to friends to assist others in getting their achievements.

• Charming: Grab your Lovely Charm Bracelet Kit and get to destroying lots of mobs. You're going to need 120 Lovely Charms for this achievement, because you need to create twelve Lovely Bracelets. Lovely Charms are soulbound, so there is no avoiding this achievement. Though if you don't need those bracelets once you get the achievement, you can pass them on to someone else or try to sell them.

• Dangerous Love: Being the Crown Chemical Co. questline in either capital city and run it through to its completion of crushing the crown and turning the daily back into the investigator in Stormwind City or Orgrimmar. You'll receive the achievement at that time.

• Fistful Of Love: Since Cataclysm's release, this achievement got a little harder. Since we don't have Dalaran or Shattrah to hang around in anymore, finding the correct Horde race/class combinations are going to require people to actually head into battlegrounds. Or have a friend who has free open character creation slots who is willing to waste their time creating toons for you to throw rose petals on them. You get Handfuls of Rose Petals from the holiday vendors; two Love Tokens for five Handfuls. Since it's uneven, you'll have to over-purchase just to complete the achievement, but keep an extra on hand for another achievement. Handful of Rose Petals are also not soulbound, so you can give away your extras or sell them.

• Flirt With Disaster: Head over to Ironforge and stop in at an inn. Pile up on the heavy drinks and make your way to the Great Forge section of town. Skull the drinks down, grab one of your leftover Handful of Rose Petals and start searching. Find Sraaz strolling around the area, throw your rose petals on him, and then throw the beautiful little gnome a huge kiss. He sells pie, so I don't see how he could be such a huge disaster.

• I Pitied The Fool: This one is going to take some time. You have to be at least level 70 to complete this achievement, since you need to be able to enter a level 70 raid instance. You're also going to need the time necessary to collect and acquire 50 Love Tokens so you can buy up five Love Fools. Or have a friend who has extra, since they're not soulbound. You have ten days of real time to throw these puppies down in Naxxramas, the Culling of Stratholme, the blacksmith in Arathi Basin, anywhere in Wintergrasp, or the Gurubashi Arena in Stranglethorn and give them the ol' pity stare. Simple in it's execution to say the least.

• Lonely?: Throw down ten more Love Tokens to pick yourself up a Romantic Picnic Basket and then ten more Tokens for a Box of Chocolates and hope you get the chocolate treat you desire. You're going to need to head over to Dalaran, plop down your picnic basket, and wait for someone who is as lonely as you to plop down beside you.. So you can share a Buttermilk Delight with them. Warcraft isn't all rainbows and sunshine anymore. As usual, the chocolates from the Box of Chocolates aren't soulbound, but the box itself is.. As is the picnic basket.

• Lovely Luck Is On Your Side: Head over to our lovely holiday vendors and use twenty of your Love Tokens to pick up a Lovely Dress Box. Open it up and if inside you find yourself a coveted Lovely Black Dress, you earn this achievement to go alongside your newest fashion statement. The Lovely Dress Box has an even 25% chance to drop one of four dress; Black, Purple, Blue, or Red. There is also a Dinner Suit Box with three dinner suits in it, but who cares about those. It's not a pretty black dress! None of these dresses, or even the suits, are soulbound. Share them with your lowbies or friends who need something for a date.

• My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose: Bouquet of Red Roses and Bouquet of Ebon Roses are your target items here. I can't give much information on this particular item because with each level cap change, the bosses that drop this item changes. So while it was Admiral Ripsnarl of the Deadmines, Lord Godfrey of Shadowfang Keep, Corla, Herald of the Twilight of Blackrock Caverns, Drahga Shadowburner of Grim Batol, and High Priestess Azil of Stonecore this year.. When another expansion comes out, it'll all just change again. You only need one or the other to gain this achievement, not both.

• Nation Of Adoration: You know how you made those twelve Lovely Charm Bracelets awhile back for the Charming achievement? Hope you kept four of them to turn into the four faction leaders of whichever faction you are to gain this achievement. If not.. Get back to farming, you're going to need forty more Lovely Charms.

• Perma-Peddle: Use forty of your Love Tokens to purchase a Truesilver Shafted Arrow to acquire this permanent companion version of the pet gained from the Silver Shafted Arrow you can purchase from the holiday vendor for a five for five deal.

• The Rocket's Pink Glare: Love Rockets are currently on sale at your local holiday vendor for a five-for-five deal. You're going to need to pick up two sets, because you need ten for this achievement. Your goal is launch all ten of your rockets in twenty seconds or less. It's pretty simple, just don't dilly-dally if you're bad at placing your targeting area.

• Shafted: Pick up some Silver Shafted Arrows from your local holiday vendor, turn around, and being your role as Cupid. The arrows are another five-for-five deal, so you're going to need to pick up double the initial purchase to finish off this achievement. And again, the arrows are not soulbound.

• Sweet Tooth: Remember when I told you to buy Box of Chocolates for your romantic picnic alone in Dalaran? Well, this one is to eat one of each of the four chocolates that can come out of that box. The chocolates aren't soulbound, as usual.

• Tough Love: Defeat the Apothecary Trio inside of Shadowfang Keep. You're going to need to be level capped to even make an attempt on these guys. At least this isn't a part of the meta, so it's not required to get your "Love Fool" title.

• Big Love Rocket: The Feat of Strength attached to this holiday through acquiring the Big Love Rocket mount from the Apothecary Trio.

And now my own personal achievement list..

Warrior: Love Fool of '09. Achieved all achievements within the first two days of the holiday. Took down the Apothecary Trio in '10 when they were first released. No dice on the Big Love Rocket.

Paladin: Love Fool of '10. I apparently wasn't at a high enough level in '09 to get at the bosses that dropped the bouquets, nor get inside of Naxxramas to drop a Love Fool whom to pity.

Druid: Love Fool of '11. Completed most of the achievements back in '09, but had to knock out the chocolate eating and silver shafting people in '10. Finally completed the rest of the meta in '11 by picking up a beautiful bouquet and pitying some fools. Also took down the dastardly trio in '11.

Death Knight: Love Fool of '11. Completed most of the achievements within the first three days. Getting up enough Love Tokens for my Handful of Rose Petals, Truesilver Shafted Arrow, Lovely Dress Box, and Romantic Picnic Basket are what took me the longest. I wasn't high enough to get inside of Naxxramas in '10, so I pitied my final fool in '11.

Mage: Love Fool of '11. Knocked all achievements, but six in '09. Shafted some people in '10. Moved on in '11 to pity and bouquets. While picking up a flying goblin pet, the apothecary did not get to feel the wrath of a mage.

Rogue: Nowhere near being a Love Fool. This rogue is not charming, doesn't know how to pity or flirt, is quite lonely, has useless fists, has no luck, and has weak love like a wilting dandelion. If you can't pick up what achievement he's lacking, you're not very good at this.

And that concludes my rundown of Love Is In The Air! We'll see you next year for this holiday, hopefully gallivanting around Stormwind City atop a Big Love Rocket of some kind.

Lunar Festival

The Lunar Festival is the in-game holiday knock-off of the Chinese New Years.

To start off the Lunar Festival, citizens of every capital city, as well as regions of Nighthaven and Moonglade, put out festival lanterns that look akin to Chinese lanterns. When the actual New Year hits, there are celebratory events in-game to coincide with that happening. On the last day of festival there is also a big fireworks show in Moonglade over the Lake Elune'ara, including extra lanterns placed around.


The first thing you're going to be doing is getting the lead-in quests to take you to Moonglade so you can really "start getting involved" in this holiday. The only real purpose to do the quests that take you to Moonglade is to gain access to the Omen quest, for an achievement I'll get to later. Launch some rockets, get a letter, port yourself to Moonglade through a pillar of light. Boom, you're here.


The real idea of this holiday is to travel throughout different locations of the game, excluding the Outlands, and talk to and honor the Elders of both the Horde and Alliance. As you honor each Elder, you are given an Ancestry Coin and eight hours later, a red envelope in the mail containing either; a health boosting rocket cluster or a moonstone to create a pillar of light.


The red envelope items have little purpose, though I will say the moonstones were greatly effective during the Naxxramas days of indicating where each plague patch of floor was during the Heigan dance. the rocket cluster of health boosting-ness is only 250 health, so it's really only useful for those just beginning their heroic adventures.


Ancestry Coins are the real draw to this holiday.  Tailors and Engineers are the cream of the crop for this holiday, as the only patterns that can be purchased (they are BoP, so don't waste the coins on an alt) are for those two professions:

• The Engineering schematics are different colors of small rockets, large rockets, rocket clusters, large rocket clusters, and the launchers required to use said items outside of this holiday.
• The Tailoring patterns are red versions of the festival dress and festival suit you will see most characters, both male and female, wearing during this holiday.

Omen is our holiday boss, as almost every holiday has one of these now. He is summoned by launching off cluster rockets at the launchers near the lake's shore. It spawns his minions initially, who are weak, but after some time, Omen himself will spawn and come creeping out of the lake's depths. To finish the quest, and get the achievement involved, you have to not only kill him, but then stand in his corpse under the rays of the moonlight to gain a buff called "Elune's Blessings."


The "rewards" of this holiday are the Elune's Candle, which has an 88 shot count, and you can blast people and mobs with firework explosions. The other is Elune's Lantern, which turns a Solid Stone into an Elune's Stone, which works just as the Elder's Moonstones do; creating a patch of moonlight on a targeted location.


On to the achievements!

• A Coin of Ancestry/5 Coins of Ancestry/10 Coins of Ancestry/25 Coins of Ancestry/50 Coins of Ancestry: This achievement scales over time as you acquire more and more coins. It's the easiest of the achievements to get for this holiday simply because this is what you'll be doing to gather up most of the rest of the achievements anyway. So don't worry about not getting it completed, as long as you're doing the Elder achievements, you'll be fine here.

• Lunar Festival Finery: Take five of those lovely little Ancestry Coins you've been tracking down from the Elders and use them to purchase a Festival Suit or Festival Dress of any color. To note, the red festival dress made by tailors does not count toward this achievement.

• The Rocket's Red Glare: Spend a tiny little bit of your money on purchasing up 10 -red- rocket clusters. Make sure they're red or they won't count. After that, find yourself a cluster launcher and have at it. With 25 seconds on the timer, you really can't mess up unless you purposely screw this one up.

• Frenzied Firecracker: Just like the rockets, purchase firecrackers from the Lunar Festival vendors. You'll, again, need ten of these. Set them to a hotkey and toss 'em out on each cooldown. This one is easier to screw up, missing a single cooldown will make you fail. Grab some extra 'crackers if you don't think you'll get it in the first ten.

• Elune's Blessing: Complete the pre-requisite quests to gain access to the Elune's Blessing quest to go after Omen. Whether you actually participated in besting the beast or if you showed up during the aftermath, you can still complete the quest. As long as the beam of moonlight is there to grant the Elune's Blessing buff, you're good to roll. Turn the quest in to complete this achievement.

• Elders of the Eastern Kingdoms: Simply honor all of the Elders located on the Eastern Kingdoms. There are 24 total Elders on the Eastern Kingdoms that count toward the various Elder achievements. See the complete list after the break.

• Elders of Kalimdor: Simply honor all of the Elders located on Kalimdor. There are 26 total Elders on Kalimdor that count toward the various Elder achievements. See the complete list after the break.

• Elders of Northrend: Go around Northrend and honor the 25 total Elders there. Some count toward the Dungeon Elders count, but they all matter toward completing the Meta. See the complete list after the break.

• Elders of the Dungeons: Seek out the 13 Elders hiding away in instances on any of the three continents. These Elders might require some creativity, ingenuity, or friends. As always with instance achievements, doing this at level cap is significantly easier. See the complete list after the break.

• Elders of the Horde: Saunter, or tip-toe, your way through the Horde capitals and honor their very own Elders. There are 3 total Elders for this achievement. See the complete list after the break.

• Elders of the Alliance: Much like the Elders of the Horde, make your way through the Alliance capital cities and honor the Elders of the Alliance. There are 3 totals Elders for this achievement as well. See the complete list after the break.

EASTERN KINGDOMS
Snowcrown: Eastern Plaguelands, Light Hope's Chapel (75, 54)
Farwhisper: Stratholme, Live Side near The Unforgiven
Windrun: Eastern Plaguelands, Crown Guard Tower (35.6, 68.8)
Meadowrun: Western Plaguelands, Weeping Cave (63.5, 36.1)
Moonstrike: Western Plaguelands, Outside Scholomance (69.2, 73.5)
Graveborn: Tirisfal Glades, Brill (61.9, 53.9)
Darkcore: Undercity, Ruins of Lordaeron Throne Room (67, 38)
Obsidian: Silverpine Forest, The Sepulcher (45, 41.1)
Highpeak: The Hinterlands, Creeping Ruin (49, 47.9)
Silvervein: Loch Modan, Thelsamar (33, 46)
Goldwell: Dun Morogh, Kharanos (53.9, 49.9)
Bronzebeard: Ironforge, Mystic Ward (29, 16)
Ironband: Searing Gorge, Blackchar Cave (21.3, 79.1)
Morndeep: Blackrock Depths, Ring of Law
Stonefort: Lower Blackrock Spire, Inner Bridgework
Dawnstrider: Burning Steppes, Flame Crest (53.6, 24.5)
Rumblerock: Burning Steppes, Dreadmaul Rock (70.1, 45.4)
Starsong: Sunken Temple, Dragonkin Ring
Bellowrage: Blasted Lands, Dark Portal (54.3, 49.5)
Starglade: Northern Stranglethorn, Zul'Gurub (71, 34.3)
Winterhoof: Cape of Stranglethorn, Booty Bay (39.9, 72.5)
Skychaser: Westfall, Sentinel Hill (56.6, 47)
Stormbrow: Elwynn Forest, Goldshire (39.8, 63.7)
Hammershort: Stormwind City, Stormwind Gates (34.2, 72.5)


KALIMDOR
Bladeswift: Darnassus, Cenarion Enclave (38.8, 32.3)
Bladeleaf: Teldrassil, Dolanaar (57, 53)
Starweave: Darkshore, Near Lor'danel (49.5, 19)
Riversong: Ashenvale, Astranaar (35.6, 48.9)
Skygleam: Azshara, Ravencrest Monument (34.7, 79.3)
Brightspear: Winterspring, Lake Kel'Theril (53.2, 56.8)
Stonespire: Winterspring, Everlook (60.1, 49.9)
Nightwind: Felwood, Jaedenar/Bloodvenom Falls (38.3, 52.9)
Windtotem: Northern Barrens, Ratchet (68.4, 70)
Runetotem: Durotar, Razor Hill (53.2, 43.6)
Darkhorn: Orgrimmar, Valley of Wisdom (52.4, 60)
Moonwarden: Northern Barrens, The Crossroads (48.5, 59.3)
High Mountain: Northern Barrens, Vendetta Point (41.5, 47.5)
Bloodhoof: Mulgore, Bloodhoof Village (48.3, 53.4)
Ezra Wheathoof: Thunder Bluff, Elder Rise (73, 23.3)
Skyseer: Thousand Needles, Freewind Post (46.4, 51)
Morningdew: Thousand Needles, Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge (77.1, 75.6)
Dreamseer: Tanaris, Gadgetzan (51.3, 27.8)
Wildmane: Zul'Farrak, Gahz'rilla's Pool
Ragetotem: Tanaris, Ruins of Uldum (37.2, 79.1)
Thunderhorn: Un'Goro Crater, Slithering Scar (50.4, 76.1)
Bladesing: Silithus, Cenarion Hold (53, 35.5)
Primestone: Silithus, Crystal Vale (30.8, 13.3)
Grimtotem: Feralas, Lariss Pavilion (76.7, 37.9)
Mistwalker: Dire Maul, The Maul (43.4, 67.7)
Splitrock: Maraudon, Rotgrip/Tinkerer Gizlock Area


NORTHREND
Sardis: Borean Tundra, Valiance Keep (59.1, 65.6)
Arp: Borean Tundra, D.E.H.T.A. (57.3, 43.7)
Pamuya: Borean Tundra, Warsong Hold (42.9, 49.6)
Northal: Borean Tundra, Transitus Shield (33.8, 34.4)
Igasho: The Nexus, Ormorok the Tree-Shaper Area
Sandrene: Sholozar Basin, River's Heart (49.8, 63)
Wanikaya: Sholozar Basin, Rainspeaker Rapids (63.8, 49)
Bluewolf: Wintergrasp Fortress (49, 13.9)
Morthie: Dragonblight, Star's Rest (29.7, 55.9)
Skywarden: Dragonblight, Agmar's Hammer (35.1, 48.3)
Nurgen: Azjol-Nerub, Post-Hadronox
Thoim: Dragonblight, Moa'ki Harbor (48.8, 78.2)
Jarten: Utgarde Keep, Post-Prince Keleseth
Chogan'gada: Utgarde Pinnacle, Under Skadi the Ruthless
Beldak: Grizzly Hills, Westfall Brigade Encampment (60.6, 27.7)
Lunaro: Grizzly Hills, Ruins of Tethys (80.5, 37.1)
Whurain: Grizzly Hills, Camp Oneqwah (64.2, 47)
Kilias: Drak'Tharon Keep, King Dred's Den
Tauros: Zul'Drak, Zim'Torga (58.9, 56)
Ohanzee: Gun'Drak, Drakkari Colossus Altar
Graymane: The Storm Peaks, K3 (41.2, 84.7)
Fargal: The Storm Peaks, Frosthold (28.9, 73.7)
Stonebeard: The Storm Peaks, Bouldercrag's Refuge (31.3, 37.6)
Muraco: The Storm Peaks, Camp Tunka'lo (64.6, 51.3)
Yurauk: Halls of Stone, Pre-Krystallus

For more information on this holiday, follow this http://www.wowhead.com/guide=lunar-festival to Wowhead for their article and completion list.

Cataclysm Overview Pt. 2

Continuing on from my last blog post, I'm going to hopefully fit the rest of the Cataclysm changes in on this post. I'll be going back and making some 1.5 posts to go over the dungeons/raids, and there will be some 2.5 posts as well, for the battlegrounds, since some people care about these things. I don't think there will be a Part 3 unless I can't cram all of this into one blog, but like I said.. I'm going to try.

• Major Cities: Should have had these in on the first part of this blog, but I missed them. Stormwind got a major overhaul with the destruction of the old park, the addition of a new park-like section, the Dwarven District received it's own bank and auction house, and the Keep was slightly altered. Ogrimmar, under new management, received an overhaul as well. The old tribe-like setup was cast out and the Northrend-style of Orc construction was brought in. Dark iron buildings with plenty of spikes included loom over the smaller lodgings of the Orc capital city. Trolls and Goblins were cast out into the "slums" of the city, while Tauren and Orc make up the defensive force of the inner-section of the city. Ironforge, Darnassus, Exodar, Undercity, Thunder Bluff, and Silvermoon City received some cosmetic updates and a few minor changes.
• Starting Areas: With the pre-Cataclysm events of Zalazane's Fall and Operation: Gnomeregan, both the Troll and Gnome starting areas were changed with the release of Cataclysm, instead of starting in the Valley of Trials with the Orcs and Anvilmar with the Dwarves, respectively. Trolls now begin on the Echo Isles and the Gnomes begin in Tinker Town, just outside of the tunnel down into Gnomeregan.
• New Zones: With the release of Cataclysm and the restructuring of the continents, new zones are added into the game for exploration and questing.
• Vashj'ir: A completely new zone based underwater. The first few quests give you a "passive" buff known as 'Sea Legs', that makes it so you can run on the bottom of the ocean and you never run out of breath. It's very long-winded. While I liked the zone itself, and the naga battle-maiden questline, it was just too.. over-extended.
• Mount Hyjal: The giant block of "unvisitable" space in Kalimdor is finally open. And it swallowed part of Winterspring with it; the Darkwhisper Gorge. Lorewise, one of the most expansive locations added in with Cataclysm. Malfurion Stormrage leads many of the questlines here, as well as working with some of the Ancients. If you've read the War of the Ancients trilogy, most of these guys will be familiar to you. There's a questline involving Fandral Staghelm that did not initially understand, but after reading Stormrage, I understood what he was doing there.
• Deepholm: Located beneath the Maelstrom between the three continents, Deepholm is the Elemental Plane of Earth. Deathwing recuperated here after his defeat at Grim Batol and the destruction of the Demon Soul. This is also where he broke through into Azeroth, splitting the world and shattering the World Pillar in Deepholm, name being literal. The questlines here are to repair to World Pillar, make Therazane see reason, and help the Earthen defend their lands from the troggs.
• Uldum: What was once nothing more than a door is revealed to be a sizable chunk of land invisible to the mortal eye. Located between Tanaris, Silithus, and Un'Goro Crater, the Cataclysm damaging the Titan-made cloaking device keeping it hidden away. Populated by the cat-like people known as the Tol'vir. Brann Bronzebeard and Harrison Jones rush to make discoveries for the Explorers' League, Belloc Brightblade for the Horde's Reliquary. Access to the Elemental Plane of Air, the Skywall, exists here. You can even take the fight to Al'Akir, the Elemental Lord of Air in the Throne of the Four Winds raid.
• Twilight Highlands: Once a part of the Wetlands known as Grim Batol, and an unlabeled section of the world map, Twilight Highlands takes Grim Batol away from the Wetlands and makes it part of its own new map as well as turning it into an instance. Twilight Highlands is mostly a Horde-Alliance struggle, while fending off the Twilight's Hammer and black dragonflights. The Bastion of Twilight, the raid where you take the fight to the leader of the Twilight's Hammer rests in this zone.
• Revamped 15-60 Dungeons: Most of the Vanilla dungeons have been revamped, some even with complete makeovers. Certain dungeons received cosmetic changes and minor changes, while others were split into separate sections, had sections removed, or had the level difficulty changed. Leveling a new toon is even more like a completely new experience with this added changes to the game.
• Battleground Additions: Along with the original battlegrounds from Vanilla; Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley, as well as the new one from The Burning Crusade; Eye of the Storm, and the continuing of the trend with Wrath of the Lich King; Strand of the Ancients, Isle of Conquest, as well as Wintergrasp, Cataclysm brings with it it's own set of new battlegrounds.
• Tol Barad: Tol Barad is the Wintergrasp of Cataclysm. It's a timed World-PvP event with an attached raid for "free" loot. I mentioned Baradin Hold in Pt. 1, and with a simple explanation, it really is a free loot raid. Tol Barad is set up as a seven location area. There are three towers, that if downed, increase the time limit for the event. There are three bases; Warden's Vigil, the Slagworks, and Ironclad Garrison. The attacking faction has to capture all three bases to be victorious, while the defending faction only has to hold one to win. It's flawed, but hopefully the scheduled changes will make the change of hands happen more often.
• The Battle for Gilneas: This is , for all intents and purposes, Arathi Basin v2.0. It's a resource race, where the most locations owned and held, the more resources you gather and the quicker you gather them. It's a 5v5 battleground, so it seems to carry more of a strategical element to it than the original Arathi Basin, since there are less people to go around, so placement is key. I have yet to participate in this battleground, but after looking over the information and videos for it, I might take a stab at it and see how it plays out.
• Twin Peaks: Like Battle for Gilneas being Arathi Basin v2.0, Twin Peaks would be Warsong Gulch v2.0. It is a 10v10 capture-the-flag style match-up. Two graveyards per team, a bridge choke-point mid-field, as well as enchantments in outposts on either side of the middle. It is pretty much setup just like Warsong Gulch is. Three captures win the match, or the most captures before time runs out. Each base is up off the ground, so a proper defense/offense can take the opposing side by surprise and use the edges to their advantage. Also like the Battle for Gilneas, I have not participated in this one yet either. I will get some game-time in, so I can give you a real in-depth explanation on it. Though what I have here will probably give you a good idea.
• Rated Battlegrounds: Much like Arenas, you put together a "pre-made" group for the battleground, queue as a team, and you go in together. Also like Arenas, this is the only other option to acquiring Conquest points, which is the higher-level of PvP-related currency. This feature is for level 85s only, much like most of the other added in features that came with Cataclysm. There is also related news that rated battlegrounds will be bringing back the old school PvP titles that were removed after Vanilla, but I cannot find any information that supports them currently being available in-game at the current time.
• Archaeology; New Secondary Profession: Archaeology is the new "time-wasting" profession. Even more so than ever was Fishing. You travel from randomly located dig sites around the continent you are currently on and use the Survey tool to find your fragments. Three fragment finds per dig site. up to skill 300, you are stuck to Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms collecting Dwarf, Fossil, Night Elf, and Troll. At 300, you get access to Outlands with Draenei and Orc sites. At 375, we move along to Northrend to start discovering Nerubian and Vrykul sites. At 450, you get a new dig site type on Kalimdor located only in Uldum, the Tol'vir. There are 26 rare artifacts that are cosmetic items or bind-to-account gear, 1 common item that could contain an Alchemy recipe mount, and all other items are nothing but vendor trash. With the recent patch changes, Archaeology can bring in some serious cash flow if you're lucky with your commons.
• Glyph Overhaul: While they removed the Path of the Titans glyph system between Cataclysm's announcement at Blizzcon and it's release, they used what they learned to overhaul the glyph system itself. There are now three separate types of glyphs; Prime, Major, and Minor. Prime glyphs effect actual combat, increasing either the healing or damage of a particular ability. Major glyphs feature spell changes that come with trade-offs, an example being an increase in damage but a decrease in spell range. Minor glyphs are convenience or cosmetic improvements. Glyphs, until used, are not bound and can be traded. Once learned, they are permanently added to your Glyph list and can be used at any time. [Vanishing Powder], levels 25-80, and [Dust of Disappearance], levels 81-85, are required to remove Glyphs to add new ones.
• New Races: Like with The Burning Crusade, the Cataclysm brings with it two new playable races. While most people were expecting a new Hero class, like Wrath of the Lich King's Death Knight, Blizzard said they wanted to hold off on adding another Hero class due to how much balancing went into creating a new class.
• Goblins are now available for the Horde. Don't worry, these Goblins are not part of everyone's favorite Steamwheedle Cartel, they belong to the Bilgewater Cartel run by Trade Prince Gallywix. The Lost Isles destroyed during the Cataclysm when the volcano destroyed their homeland and they shipped out to try and save themselves.
• Worgen are now available for the Alliance. Once the proud and arrogant population of Humans behind the Greymane Wall, they are now infected by the very curse that Arugal once released to protect the populace. The Curse of the Worgen has turned Gilneas against itself. The arrogant King Genn Greymane fought to protect his people, but eventually had no choice but to establish help with the Alliance for assistance.
• New Class Combinations: 
• Humans: Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior.
• Dwarves: Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior.
• Night Elves: Death Knight, Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warrior.
• Gnomes: Death Knight, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior.
• Orcs: Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior.
• Tauren: Death Knight, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Warrior.
• Trolls: Death Knight, Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior.
• Blood Elves: Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior.
• Undead: Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior.
• Class Mechanic Changes: Hunters (and warriors and rogues) no longer need ammo, all bows, crossbows, and guns will create their own ammo. Warlocks no longer need to collect Soul Shards, they are more like Death Knight Runes now. Consolidation of totems and buffs. Paladins gain a new resource of Holy Power to work into their multiple rotations. Balance Druids gain an Eclipse mechanic to make their rotations less proc-based. Rage for Warriors and Feral (Bear) Druids has been normalized to give a set amount on white damage instead of giving more rage for harder hits. The Rune system for Death Knights was been reworked for less downtime. Hunters no longer use Mana and now use Focus, which works more like a Rogue's energy. Most Racial bonuses were reworked. Hunters and Warlocks now start off with a pet/minion at level 1 instead of needing to do a quest.
• Stat System Revamp: MP5 (Mana pre 5 seconds), Armor Penetration, and Defense Rating have all been removed from gear and reworked into the new talent trees or mastery stat.
• Mastery: Cataclysm brings with it a new stat called Mastery. The basic idea of Mastery is that it's a stat that makes what your class/spec combination does, do it better. It positively enhances certain abilities, both active and passive, depending on what class and talent specialization you pick.
• Overhauled Talent Trees: It was announced that Blizzard was only going to be adding five more levels to the game, so most online talent calculators added in five new points for people to play with. After sometime, Blizzard announced that their talent trees were going to be completely redone and new. They then showed us what they had in mind. At level 85 with a total of 41 points. They trimmed out most of the "mandatory" talents, making them more of passive bonuses for the class/specs, in almost all of the trees and made it so players had more of a choice between certain talents and others. So it made the game more customizable for the player. They also made it so you only gained a talent point every other level until you hit 80, then 81-85 would all give you a point to spend in your trees. They also made it so once you picked a tree, you had to spent at least 31 points in that tree to be able to spend points in either other tree. Once selected, you gained a major active skill as well as 2-3 passive skills to go along side of it. This also supported Blizzard's intent to make it feel like you were actually specializing in the spec you selected.
• Vengeance: Something I didn't mention was that all tanks gained a new passive skill called Vengeance. What this passive skill does is, as the tank gets hit, it stacks a damage buff on the tank. This was Blizzard's way of trying to fix the threat issue that tanks were having as the damage dealing classes were gaining higher stats aimed toward dishing out damage and the tanks were gaining higher stats aimed toward surviving, and less toward threat procurement. With a stacking buff that was passive to increase a tank's damage, threat would be less of an issue, but something still needing to be paid attention to.
• New PvE Currency: During Wrath of the Lich King, multiple currency systems were used for gear. We had the normal boss-drop token system used from The Burning Crusade, but there was also an Emblem system. You could purchase current, and old, tier gear with a certain amount of Emblems procured through dungeons and raids. Heroism, Valor, Conquest, Triumph, and Frost. With each new tier of raid content, a new set of Emblems was released. New gear would be purchased with the new emblems and all old tier would cost the deprecated emblems. With Cataclysm, all old emblems were converted into the new currency system known as Justice and Valor points. The way this new system will work is that old tier gear will be purchasable using Justice Points and current tier will be purchasable using Valor Points. If I understand correctly, when the next tier content comes out, all Valor points are converted into Justice Points (which has a 4k cap) and you start with a fresh set of no Valor, so you can't start off with a few pieces of the new gear from your Valor Points.
• New PvP Currency: Just like with the PvE currency, PvP also got a currency change. Before, you had your Marks of Honor from battlegrounds, which would be turned in for Honor Points. Doing Arenas earned you Arena Points and Arena Rating. With Cataclysm, all Honor points and battleground related items were converted into Honor Points, with a 4k cap. The new "arena points" are now called Conquest Points can only be earned through Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds. They'll work the exact same way the PvE currency works. Where all the old tier can be purchased with Honor Points, and all new tier will be purchased with Conquest, which will rollover into Honor when a new tier is released.

Alright, there we go. I got it all booked up into two blog posts. Now, remember. I will be going back and making some .5 posts over things I mentioned in part 1 and things mentioned in part 2. Plus, since it took me so long to get these overviews out, I also have to do a write up for the Lunar Festival in-game event as well as the Love is in the Air in-game event. I'll probably put those two together since the actual events overlap in-game.

Cataclysm Overview Pt. 1

I had originally started this post the other night, when I hadn't slept for almost 48 hours and was running on lots and lots of energy drinks. Mostly mixtures and concoctions in large 52 oz QuikTrip cups. After my computer restarted, I lost that original beginning and then put it off for another week before finally coming back to this and deciding that maybe today would be a good day to finally type up and finish this blog post.


Cataclysm has been out for almost two months, so I think I have enough of game-time experience to write up a blog about the things I feel about this particular expansion. The only information that I will be lacking on informing you of will be the raiding portion. My guild <Radiant Crusade> has enough folks ready to raid, but our schedules are jumbled and sporadic to where we don't have the people we need on at the correct times. We're working toward a solution and still recruiting. Though I know the few people that read this blog don't actually play, maybe you have friends who play. Give. Them. To. Me. >:O Moving on..


I'm going to use the multiple resources available on the internet to create a list of things to talk about for Cataclysm instead of trying to just spout everything off, off the top of my head, because I am almost positive I would forget something and then someone would yell at me. And then I would cry. (Not really.)

• New Level Cap of 85: Pretty small level gap. Blizzard said it was so more people could experience end-game at a quicker pace, but it just seems to be making more people bored of playing quicker than both previous expansions.
• Profession Skill Cap Increased to 525: Standard 75 point increase. Nothing new. The new skill system where certain crafts will give an increase of 3/5 points is very nice and extremely helpful. I've been power-leveling my alt's professions because of this particular profession change.
• Flying Capabilities in Azeroth: People have been complaining about this one since Burning Crusade was released. Blizzard kept telling the playerbase that they would need to do an entire re-haul of the original continents to make them fly accessible. Ala Cataclysm. Definitely a useful tool, but not entirely necessary due to the increased amount of flight paths added in to the game.
• Updated Eastern Kingdoms/Kalimdor: The "big" change of this expansion. While I enjoy some of the changed zones, others just bother me. For instance, the orcs pushing back the night elves in Ashenvale. Why would the orcs win, apparently the draenei, night elves, and the ancient protectors aren't enough to keep them at the region's boundaries? The flooding of the scars in Eastern Plaguelands. There's no nearby water source to overflow to complete that change, did it just rain for 40 days? At least the Thousand Needles flooding makes sense geologically.
• New Towns: With the destruction of the old, the new must begin. Though there are a LOT of new towns, while only a few of the original towns were destroyed.
• 3500+ New Quests: They HAD to add in more quests, because they got rid of all of the old, cool quests that made leveling fun. I've been looking through my inventories/banks and comparing them to the item databases on WoWHead just to see which items I'm carrying are now considered "unattainable." And I will never get rid of them, not even in the face of a pretty Cataclysm raid epic.
• Seven New Dungeons: I will make a later blog post going over the intricacies of these dungeons, because I feel like I owe you guys something more for being so freaking lazy.
• Blackrock Caverns: Located inside of Blackrock Mountain, this instance is one of the first instances all new Cataclysm players will encounter (both before and after the next patch's removal of the "discover dungeon entrance" requirement). It's very straightforward, none of the bosses are too hard. Finkle Einhorn returns from his debut in the stomach of the Beast in UBRS. He's the dungeon questline giver for this instance and will keep you company to the very end. You also come across the Beast's long lost love, Beauty. Get it?
• Throne of the Tides: If you don't quest in Vashj'ir, you won't find this dungeon's entrance. Luckily, as slightly mentioned above, they are removing the necessity to discover the entrances to dungeons before you can queue for them in the Dungeon Finder. This instance is probably the main reason for this change. The dungeon isn't linear, requiring much backtracking to the teleport, using an elevator, taking both paths at a junction. It also has some very annoying trash pulls. You assist Neptulon, the Elemental Lord of Water, here.
• The Stonecore: Located inside the very tower you are teleported into when you first enter Deepholm. This instance is probably one of the more difficult of the lot of seven, due to one of the boss' mechanics. If you've run this instance, you know exactly which boss I'm talking about. Ozruk.
• Vortex Pinnacle: This instance is floating in the air above Uldum's south-eastern coast. You traverse this particular instance by running along platforms and then leaping into vortexes that fling you from place to place. There are also mobs that act like Boo's from Mario, where if you stare at them, they go into hiding. Very fun, very simple.
• Lost City of Tol'Vir: Lost in the sense that it no longer belongs to the Ramkahen, the main faction of the Uldum area, and instead is under control by the Deathwing-aligned Neferset tol'vir. This instance is wrought with horrible pulls, odd boss mechanics, and a significant difficultly level.
• Halls of Origination: The "longest instance ever." You meet up with our good friend Brann Bronzebeard inside this one. You do a bit of exploring and carrying on. I'd recommend making sure you're playing with the sound on at least one time through here, just so you can hear what Brann has to say. Also, much like Lost City, this instance has horrible pulls and odd boss mechanics.
• Grim Batol: The finale. The lore behind this instance is enough to make me have a loregasm like the little loregeek that I am. Alas, none of that lore matters anymore. Twilight's Hammer controls Grim Batol now, for it's evil experiments. Also, troggs. Utilizing drakes to strafe through the majority of the dungeon to wreak havoc on later pulls is awesome. The first two bosses are easy, mostly just "Move away from this" fights. The last boss requires coordination and people that understand how to use their slows.
• "Four" New Raids: Like the dungeons section, I will make more blog posts on these. Like I also said earlier, I have little to no experience with these, so I lack the knowledge to inform you of anything other than the bosses.
• Baradin Hold: The new Vault of Archavon. Linked to Tol Barad, which is the new Wintergrasp, it's open to whichever faction currently owns Tol Barad island. There are three pulls before the boss. And I will explain Argaloth the way I comically explained it to my wife the other day. "Boss is in the middle. Tank with Group 1 on left. Tank with Group 2 on right. Taunt, taunt, taunt, taunt, taunt. FIRE! Run around like chickens' with your heads cut off. Back to spots. Taunt, taunt, taunt, taunt, taunt. FIRE! Run around like chickens' with your heads cut off. Back to spots. Taunt, taunt, taunt, taunt, dead." Free loot.
• Bastion of Twilight: You bring the fight directly to Cho'gall's sanctuary. The Upper Bastion, where you begin, holds the bosses Halfus Wyrmbreaker and the "twins" Valiona and Theralion. (On an aside, Theralion had a very fabulous voice during the Beta, but they took it away from him and gave him a generic voice. Sad days for all.) The Lower Bastion holds the Ascendant Council, a four boss encounter, and the nasty Cho'gall himself. If you're running on Heroic, after defeating Cho'gall, you gain access to the once mighty consort of Deathwing, Lady Sinestra, in her very own lair..
• Blackwing Descent: The portal for Blackwing Descent is where you fought Nefarian in Blackwing Lair, which seems only fitting, since you're going to be fighting him yet again. Heading in, you have a choice. Take on the fiery lava wyrm, Magmaw, or go after the quad-threat, Omnotron Defense System. After those are taken care, you leave the Broken Hall to gain entrance to the Vault of the Shadowflame. Down here we have Maloriak, the mad scientist dragonman who has a horrible success rate with experiments, Atramedes, the blind elementium dragon with an awesome fight mechanic (aka "the sound meter"), and Chimaeron, a nasty looking hydra. Once those three are dead, you impede upon Nefarian himself, who has a surprise. Not only did Deathwing bring his son back, but good old Onyxia as well. And you have to contend with both at the same time.
• Throne of the Four Winds: You head straight into the Elemental Plane of Air to bring the business end of your weapons against Al'Akir, the Elemental Lord of Air and his djinni. There are two fights here. One is against three of Al'Akir's djinni warlocks called the Conclave of Wind. These three bosses have to be killed within one minute of each other, as they will revive themselves within a minute of their death. After the Conclave is destroyed, you move on to Al'Akir himself. Al'Akir was actually the very last boss of the Heroic Tier 1 content to be downed, so it must be a testament to how difficult this fight is on Heroic.

And because we're beginning to get a little TOO lengthy here, I'm going to go ahead and cut this blog off. I will continue and finish out the rest of the Cataclysm information with my next blog. Which, since I already started and completed this one, I'm going to go ahead and quickly speed through the next one. Though it'll be tomorrow, after I get home from work.

I'll also have two more blogs up within the next few weeks, one containing information on the Lunar Festival that is currently going on in-game and the other over Love is in the Air, which begins right as the Lunar Festival ends. Here's hoping I get the Love Rocket this year.

Feast of Winter Veil

I figured I'd get this thrown out before the next holiday hits and I'm again behind. I'm okay with getting behind, but I know that there are some people that actually read these blogs and I don't want to leave them hanging simply because I'm slacking off at my job. Though no one actually "follows" the blog, people from my Facebook read it and enjoy the randomosity I throw into these little blogs I write up. Anyways..

Feast of Winter Veil!
When this holiday's achievements were first introduced, much QQing took place. It was the first achievement of many where players had to participate in both PvP and PvE content of the game to complete the Meta achievement for the entire holiday. Time to go through what needs to be done for this holiday for completion.

• He Knows If You've Been Naughty: From the 25th of December on for about a week or two, I'm not entirely sure, I usually get this one done on the 25th.. Grab a present from underneath the tree in Ironforge/Orgrimmar. That easy. Presents are available per level brackets, so the amount of presents available is different per player.

• On Metzen!: Pick up the quest from Ironforge/Orgrimmar to go save Metzen the Reindeer. The notes given to you during the quest say Tanaris or Searing Gorge. I think he's at both locations, but I've always just gone to Searing Gorge due to it being closer to Ironforge, as an Alliance. Sprinkle the dust on Metzen, he vanishes, return to Ironforge/Orgrimmar. That simple. Those of lower levels, there are adds all around his cage, so you might have to fight a bit to get to him. Usually higher levels will have destroyed everything around the area, so you -should- be safe.

• With a Little Helper from My Friends: PvP achievement! And one of the most annoying ones ever created. There are machines located in certain capital city, although I'm not positive if they are located in every capital city. These machines transform you into a gnome in a red or green costume. After that? Go into battlegrounds or world PvP or anything else to collect Honor Kills, and get 50. Without losing the form. Which breaks on death or shapeshifting. Quite fun.

• Scrooge: Here's a snowball! Chuck it at Muradin Bronzebeard in Ironforge as Alliance or Baine Bloodhoof in Thunderbluff as Horde. Snowballs can be collected from the AH, Alterac Mountains, Winterspring, I'm pretty sure any location where there is snow, you can collect snowballs from piles on the ground. People actually expected the faction leaders to be backwards, so more of a PvP-related achievement, due to the one before.

• Fa-la-la-la-Ogri'la: Head to Shattrath and pick up the questline from the ogre in the Lower City to head to Blade's Edge Mountains. Kill some gronns. Kill some more gronns. Kill an ogre, steal his book. Use the book to kill another gronn. Go to Ogri'la. Collect some shards, mix up some drinks, bomb some stuff up. Finished? Kay. Grab the bombing quest again as a Daily quest, bomb down the cannonball stacks again, make sure you use your Preserved Holly before you turn it in or before you accept the quest. Since the dismount has been removed by knockback during flight, this daily has become extremely easy and uncomplicated. Also, make sure to track the achievement under Outlands called Blade's Edge Bomber, get two achievements at once. =D /win

• 'Tis the Season: Collect the red/green clothing and winter boots from a tailor and a leatherworker with the patterns. Then, go defeat specific bosses with 100% chance to drop if they're wearing the hats, instead of farming random humanoid mobs hoping for the drop. Wear the hat with the cloths and boots, eat fruit cake. Anywhere, anytime. Achievement: Done.

• Simply Abominable: Just like with the On Metzen! achievement. Pick up the quest in Ironforge/Orgrimmar about the missing courier. Head up to Alterac Mountains, near the Growless Cave, you'll find a couple of trees with a snowman between them. That's your guy. Talk to him, he sends you after the Abominable Greench. He does a subzone wide yell emote when he spawns, he's just a large green yeti. Hard to miss, easy to watch die. Take him down, loot the stolen goods, return to where you started. Turning in the quest nets you the achievement.

• Let It Snow: You need to collect Handfuls of Snowflakes from /kiss'ing commoners underneath the mistoletoe in inns. (This is also a way to collect Holly if you don't have any preserved.) You have to use the Handfuls of Snowflakes on specific race/class combinations of both factions. Orc Death Knight, Human Warrior, Tauren Shaman, Night Elf Druid, Undead Rogue, Troll Hunter, Gnome Mage, Dwarf Paladin, Blood Elf Warlock, Draenei Priest.

• Bros. Before Ho-Ho-Ho's: Alliance technically has this one easier than the Horde. Alliance has to hit up five "Brother"s in Stormwind, one in Goldshire, one in Theramore, and one in Northern Stranglethorn Vale with Mistletoe. Horde has less Brothers, but they have to hit one on the ship flying over Icecrown, so they have a level restriction, or need a warlock.

• The Winter Veil Gourmet: Get your cooking skill high enough to cook a Gingerbread Cookie, Egg Nog, and Hot Apple Cider. Think you need 325 for the Cider, everything else is much lower.

• A Frosty Shake: I believe after completing the Greench questline, you'll recieve a mail 24 hours later holding a Winterveil Disguise Kit which turns you into a snowman. Go to Dalaran, have a snowball and this kit, use it and dance with someone else also using it.

• Crashin' & Thrashin': The present of '08 was a Chrashin' Thrashin' Racer. Up until they added a blue cart to the toy vendor in Dalaran, this achievement was unfinishable. Now it can be completed by anyway that never got the original cart. Destroy 25 other carts with your own. This is NOT part of the Meta!

• BB King: The present of '09 was a Red Rider Air Rifle with 100 charges. It has a cast time and aggro'd whatever you shot if it was an enemy. BB King's requirement? Shoot Baine Bloodhoof, Sylvanas Windrunner, Garrosh Hellscream, and Lor'themar Theron. Combine with For the Alliance for added awesome. Switch leaders and Alliance with Horde and you'll get the Horde achievement. This gun is now available to be purchased from the toy vendor in Dalaran. This is NOT part of the Meta!

And now the part that everyone cares about.. My own collection of achievement gatherers!

Warrior: Merrymaker of '08. I race-changed last year after the holiday and they removed my Red Rider Air Rifle from my bags. So until they recently added the gun to the toy vendor in Dalaran, I had no way to complete BB King. But I'm good now.

Paladin: Merrymaker of '09. BB King of '10. Completed 5 of the achievements in '08, finished off the rest in '09.

Druid: Merrymaker of '10. The 50 HKs was the hardest part, since my druid is balance and lack of moonkin form is a tough survival choice. Completed five achievements in '08, three achievements in '09, and knocked out the rest in '10. No BB King.

Death Knight: Merrymaker of '10. Completed four achievements in '08, six achievements in '09, and the 50 HKs and the Fa-la-la-la-Ogri'la during the '10 event. No BB King, but I only need Garrosh, and no Chrashin' & Thrashin'.

Mage: Not a Merrymaker. Completed five achievements in '08, one in '09. Did not participate this year. With Cataclysm hitting a week before, I was too focused on leveling my warrior and paladin to 85 and working on gear then worrying about this holiday meta on some of my other alts. I'll get it next year though, for sure.

Rogue: Not a Merrymaker. Not surprised. Completed three achievements in '08, one achievement in '09, and one achievement in '10. If I actually put the time into this guy to level him to, at least, 70, he'll be a Merrymaker next year when it rolls around. Unless Blizz changes it to some 85 stuff, then he's in the can again.

The Feast of Winter Veil is a great holiday. It represents the happiness of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa and other religious holidays around the Winter time of year. About giving and receiving, helping those that can't help themselves, delicious Winter goodies, and spending time with those you love most. While the achievements are rather debatable on certain aspects of what this holiday really stands for, they fit for a game made up of a wide variety of people and keep the monotony to a minimum.

Lunar Festival starts within a week or so, but I still need to get out a blog on Cataclysm itself. If my podcast was up and running, I'd just make a blog post sending people over there to listen to it, but we're not ready yet. Which makes for a sad Paragon.

P.S. I kinda like the listing format for the achievements and talking about them. Instead of random comments on the achievements themselves with little to no information about them. I think I'll stick to this format from here on out. You learn things as you go along!