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.