Wednesday, November 20, 2013

GAH

I've been lax in my updates lately and I apologize for that. I've already skipped two holidays and have put little to no work into the guide for the next two holidays (Pilgrim's Bounty and Feast of Winter Veil), but I'm hoping to put in enough time on my day's off to actually get the previous two guides done as well as get the new two guides up as well. I doubt I'll have either of them done at the beginning of either holiday, but I'm pushing to have them done before the holidays are over.

I've got a few bits left of the Brewfest guide to complete and then I can put that guide up, as well as the post guide to my completions. I need to do the Hallow's End one still as well, but that one won't be too difficult to pull together. The Day of the Dead guide should go up shortly after that, even though it's had a little bit of changes made to it (that pet is finally permanent!), but nothing that should take more than a few minutes to throw together.

I also have two more posts in the works that are little different from my normal kinds of posts. One is about the information released at Blizzcon about Warlords of Draenor, while the other is something completely different altogether that kinda ties into my other guides a little. I might put that one on hold though until I've done a little more in-game work with what it's related to, we'll have to wait and see on that one.

I'm also starting work on a League of Legends blog. I'll be sure to edit this post to include a link to it once I'm ready to show it off. It's not ready yet and I don't want to start sending people over there until I have something to show off. It's a pretty special kind of blog and I'm hoping that the ideas I spew in words over there are interesting and fun for people to think about it. It's going to be pretty cool. Stay tuned!
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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Pirate's Day '13


Pirate's Day was originally introduced into the game back in 2008, to commemorate International Talk Like  A Pirate Day, or ITLAPD. This holiday always lands on September 19th, as that's the real date of the out-of-game holiday.

The holiday itself is short and sweet. It only lasts a day, it only has one achievement, and you really only have to do a single thing. Since there is so little to do for this holiday, I'm going to attempt to fill this blog post with other trivial information so that it lasts longer than a couple paragraphs.

First off, no. I'm not going to type this up in Pirate-ese. That's not happening. I don't celebrate this parodic holiday, so I'm not going to participate, even with the written word. Now that that's done..

Your one and only destination for this holiday is quite obvious.. We're going to Booty Bay!
When you enter Booty Bay, point yourself toward the building housing the bank and land on the roof. During Pirate's Day, the roof will be covered in Dread Crew who will be launching fireworks, but they aren't your target. You'll looking for Dread Captain DeMeza, the Scourge of the South Seas.

When you speak with DeMeza, you have the option to have a drink with her. Once selected, you'll receive the Dread Corsair buff and be transformed into a pirate. This buff persists through death, mounting up, and while logged out, but it does not persist through shapeshifting.. Sorry druids. There are some other strange instances where the buff will randomly remove itself, but since the holiday is only a day long, I don't have the time to test them all out and get back to you before it's all over. If you lose the buff at any time, you can just talk to the commoners in capital cities for a 1 hour replacement. No need to head back to Booty Bay.

There are three other named NPCs nearby. Let's talk about them before I throw the only achievement for this holiday up here and bring this blog post to a close..

First Mate Hapana is DeMeza's first mate, as his name suggests, with his assault parrot, Nyuni. He can be interacted with, but he only shoos you away to talk to DeMeza, so he's not very social. He offers no other dialogue options or buffs. An interesting thing to note is that he apparently has a tattoo on one arm with the word "MAGATHA" in a heart. Hapana Grimtotem? A past love of Magatha Grimtotem? The world will never know..

Cap'n Slappy is the in-game representation of one of the men behind the ITLAPD, Mark Summers. The date for ITLAPD was picked so that Summers could easily remember the date, which was his ex-wife's birthday. He informs you of how he and Chumbucket created the holiday, but DeMeza took off with it.

Ol' Chumbucket is the in-game representation of the other man behind ITALPD, John Baur. Baur has appeared on the television show Wife Swap, as well as an episode of Jeopardy!. He tells that today belongs to DeMeza and her crew and looking like a pirate is only half the celebration, talking like one is the other.

As of now, there is currently no plans to implement anything new to this holiday, so here's your one and only achievement!

The Captain's Booty: Head to Booty Bay and share a drink with Dread Captain DeMeza during the Pirate's Day celebration.
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Harvest Festival '13

Here's another holiday that I've never actually written about in the many years that I've (barely) been running this blog. The Harvest Festival! This holiday was originally the anniversary of the US stress test in 2004. It was not implemented for 2005, but it returned in 2006 as the in-game representation of Canada's Thanksgiving, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Korean Chuseok. The 2013 Harvest Festival falls between September 12th through the 20th.

Unique to the Harvest Festival is the exclusion of any achievements. There is no other in-game holiday event that has no achievements. Even the holidays that are a day, or two days, long have achievements associated with them.

The Harvest Festival only has a single quest to do, for either faction.
  1. Honoring A Hero: Speak to Wagner Hammerstrike outside of the gates of Ironforge. The point of this quest is to head north to the Western Plaguelands and place Uther's Tribute (different for each race) at Uther's Tomb, west of Chillwind Camp. The immediate quest reward is For the Light!. This item is not soulbound, so it can be traded amongst your alts, to the Horde side, or even traded on the Auction House.
  1. Honoring A Hero: Speak to Javnir Nashak outside of the gates of Orgrimmar. The point of this quest is to head north into Ashenvale and place Grom's Tribute (different for each race) at the Monument to Grom Hellscream, inside Demonfall Canyon. The immediate quest reward is The Horde's Hellscream. This item is not soulbound, so it can be traded amongst your alts, to the Alliance side, or even traded on the Auction House.
    • Bounty of the Harvest: This reward will come in the mail a few days following your completion of the quest. This item conjures up 4 Harvest Bread on a 12 hour cooldown. I have yet to find an exact time frame for its delivery, but I will continue to look and update with that information.
With that simple quest out of the way, the only other things to keep your interest in this holiday comes from the multiple banquet tables laid out in front of both Ironforge and Orgrimmar. These tables have four different items on them that the player has the opportunity to react with to gain consumables; Harvest Boar, Harvest Fish, Harvest Fruit, and Harvest Nectar.

  1. The boar yields Harvest Boar.
  2. The fish-platter yields Harvest Fish.
  3. The fruit bowl yields Harvest Fruit.
  4. The mug yields Harvest Nectar.

Once you've collected your mass amounts of good and paid your tributes to your faction's hero, there's only one thing left to do. Buy fireworks! Wagner and Javnir are your vendors, and their prices are susceptible to faction discounts.
Since there are no bosses, mounts, pets, or achievements to be had from the Harvest Festival, that's the end of this guide. Hope you have fun and enjoy your time stuffing your face on all of the bounties of the harvest. Also, there will be no follow-up to this holiday like there normally is, as I have nothing to follow-up on. Do you REALLY want to know whether I went out and collected a book a bunch of times and got a cornucopia on a bunch of toons? Come on now, be serious.
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Friday, August 23, 2013

Astounding

It's been almost two months since I've made a blog post and.. Nope, not sorry. Can you blame me? Between the beginning of July and the middle of September, there are no in-game holidays!

Here's a little update though that I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear..

I've got the next few holiday guides already set up and waiting for when their respective holidays roll around. So there won't be any waiting this time. I'm going to release each guide probably a day or two in advance of the holiday, so that'll give you guys time to read up and see if there's anything new added into the game with the available information. Once the holidays go live in-game, I'll be sure to make any necessary updates to each guide as soon as possible so that the information stays current and you aren't left in the dust!

Sadly though, I don't have any game time, so I won't be able to actively participate in any of the coming holidays (unless of course I get time between now and then.)

I did make a trial account on a different e-mail address so I can still mess around in-game, but not being able to get past level 20 makes it almost impossible to get anything done in relation to the holidays.. Or anything else really.

Well, there's your update. I'm not dead. Be astounded.
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Friday, July 5, 2013

Post-MFF'13


Since there were little to no changes, again, made to this holiday, I was about to completely skip out on doing any of the event again. Near the end of the holiday though, I knocked out the Pandarian flames on Paragon, Railene, and Laviana. I used Xardion to gather up the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor flames to push him into his next level, and then logged on to the Horde Paladin and cleared out all of the bonfires but Vash'jir, Deepholm, and Pandaria due to level restrictions and blocks, she also gained 3 levels off of it, so it was a pretty solid undertaking with awesome rewards!

Paragon: Flame Warden of '09. Honored and Desecrated Northrend and Cataclysm in '12. Honored and Desecrated Pandaria in '13.

Railene: Flame Warden of '09. Honored and Desecrated Northrend and Cataclysm in '12. Honored and Desecrated Pandaria in '13.

Laviana: Flame Warden of '11. Honored and Desecrated Northrend and Cataclysm in '12. Honored and Desecrated Pandaria in '13.

Sollexi: Flame Warden of '12. Did not Honor or Desecrate Pandaria. 100% possibility of completion in '14.

Xardion: Flame Warden of '11. Did not Honor or Desecrate Pandaria. 100% possibility of completion in '14.

Arcia: Flame Warden of '10. Honored and Desecrated Northrend and Cataclysm in '12. Did not Honor or Desecrate Pandaria. 100% possibility of completion in '14.

Monk: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 90-95% possibility of completion in '14.

Shaman: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

Hunter: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 25-50% possibility of completion in '14.

Warrior: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 85-90% possibility of completion in '14.

Warlock: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Warrior II: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Paladin: Unofficial Flame Warden of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Horde Paladin: Unofficial Flame Keeper of '09. Did not Honor Cataclysm, Honor or Desecrate Pandaria, or ice Ahune due to level restrictions. 95% possibility of completion in '14.

Horde Warrior: Unofficial Flame Keeper of '09. No progress made on any achievements. 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.
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Midsummer Fire Festival '13

Despite having this blog for multiple years and basically only posting about the holiday events that occur in World of Warcraft, I have yet to actually successfully update with a Midsummer Fire Festival guide. That all changes this year. I also completely failed at getting the guide put together before the holiday was practically over, but with this guide now built that means that next year will be finished beforehand!

The Midsummer Fire Festival starts on the real world date of the northern summer solstice. This year the events runs from June 21st through July 5th. Much like the Lunar Festival back in January, the Midsummer Fire Festival necessitates tons of travel time to get through all of the achievements, as you travel around the multiple continents (even Pandaria included now) to honor your faction's flags and desecrate those of the opposite faction. All the while gaining Burning Blossom, which is this holiday's currency.

The Burning Blossom also have a secondary function that I'd like to go over here before we get into anything else. If you use a Burning Blossom near a festival fire, all surrounding players will gain the Fire Festival Fury buff, which scales with your level. And if you happen upon a bonfire that's been desecrated and use a Burning Blossom on it, you will activate the zone-wide buff of Bonfire's Blessing, which scales by 10 per level.

The Midsummer Fire Festival also comes with a holiday boss; The Frost Lord, Ahune. His loot tables have already been updated this year to include level 90, item level 480 epic cloaks. He also has some other drops that we will get into later on when we get to the Ahune section of the guide. Until then, we're going to start with the holiday quests!

There are some bread crumb quests that will lead you to some festival camps outside of the capital cities, as well as bread crumbs that lead to the camps located inside the capitals. We'll start off with the quests located outside of the cities.
  1. The Master of Summer Lore/The Spinner of Summer Tales: The true bread crumb quest. All capital cities will have commoners who will send you on your way to the Fire Festival Camps outside of the capital cities. These quests are mostly for flavor to announce the beginning of the Festival, but you do get a Burning Blossom out of it.
  2. Incense for the Summer Scorchlings/Incense for the Summer Scorchlings: You will be given some Summer Incense and told to drop it off at the nearby Summer Scorchling. Be sure to stick around for a bit after turning it in and collecting your Burning Blossom, as there is a small little scene involving the Scorchling.
    • Now that you're done with the quests at the Festival Camps outside of the city, it's time to speed on inside of the capital itself and head to the Festival Bonfire.
      • Stormwind: To the left of Stormwind Stockades and past the cooking daily.
      • Ironforge: At the entrance to the Hall of Explorers.
      • Darnassus: Inside the Warrior's Terrace on the way inside from Teldrassil.
      • Exodar: On the right side of the Crystal Halls.
      • Orgrimmar: Up past the flight master on the Valley of Wisdom.
      • Thunder Bluff: On the edge of the Spirit Rise, near the zeppelin dock.
      • Undercity: Just inside the Ruins of Lordaeron.
      • Silvermoon City: Inside the Court of the Sun, near the fountain before the Sunfury Spire.
  1. Torch Tossing/Torch Tossing: The Master Flame Eater of your respective faction will offer up this quest near the bonfire. You will need to use Practice Torches and throw them at the targeted brazier nearby. It is very simple and you don't always have to land the torch directly on the brazier, either, which makes it slightly easier for those with slower reaction times.
  2. Torch Catching/Torch Catching: The Master Flame Eater of your respective faction will also offer up this quest. You will need to throw one of the Unlit Torches and follow it's shadow to toss it up again. This quest, and subsequent daily, can be very irritating due to other people, lag, or having some of your graphic settings on lower values, adjust according and even switch cities if necessary to complete. Knocking out this quest will open up its daily, as well as reward you with x5 Juggling Torch which will come in handy later.
With the little quests unlocked and those two dailies unlocked, it's time to complete and unlock the other daily, as well as delve into the holiday boss fight information. First off, since you're still in your capital city near the bonfire, I think it's time to mention the ribbon pole. At every bonfire, you will find the ribbon pole, which your character will twirl around. Doing so grants you the Ribbon Dance buff, which stacks every 3 seconds to a total of a 1 hour buff. This buff stacks with rested experience as well.

Now it's time to speak to the Earthen Ring Elder! (If you're tracking Low Level Quests, you'll see this bad boy, if you aren't tracking it.. Well.. Surprise?!)
  1. Unusual Activity: Get your Totemic Beacon from the Elder and head out for Ashenvale. You're going to the Zoram Strand, in the very north-western corner of the Ashenvale map. Your mission is to kill Twilight Cultists until you get your hands on the Twilight Correspondence. With it in hand, use the Totemic Beacon to summon the Earthen Ring Guide, who will continue your quest.
  2. An Innocent Disguise: Use the given Orb of the Crawler to spy on Ice Caller Briatha and company, on the banks of the Zoram Strand, further along than where you killed cultists for the Twilight Correspondence.
  3. Inform the Elder: Head back to an Earthen Ring Elder at a capital city to complete the questline. There used to be a few more quests, but they were removed with the introduction of the LFD and queue system. Finishing this series of quests opens another set of dailies which all reward x10 Burning Blossom  these will depend on your level, much like the Love is in the Air dailies:
With all of those quests finished, it's time to throw down against the holiday boss; The Frost Lord Ahune. Before you we go any further, please note that you need to be level 89-90 to even access this boss. Not there? Either level quickly or try again next year. You can either queue through the LFD UI by selecting Frost Lord Ahune in the drop-down menu option, or you can speak with any Earthen Ring Elder to be queued up as well. Making a trip out to the Slave Pens will not spawn the boss.
  1. Emerged Phase (Phase 1): When dealing with this stage (hopefully not too many times), you are not able to directly assault Ahune. You have to deal with his adds and dodge ice spikes. He spawns three separate adds each emerged phase, two of which constantly spawn.
    • Lord Ahune
      • Ahune's Shield: This cannot be broken through any means by the player.
      • Cold Slap: When a player gets too close to Ahune, he will use this ability, launching them back away from him, dealing damage and fall damage. Stay off the ice and you should be fine. Amusingly, you will receive a Snowball in your bags every time you get hit by this ability.
      • Ice Spear: Ahune casts this under the feet of a random player. If they don't move in time, they will get launched into the air and sustain fall damage, unless they move or prevent the damage through abilities.
    • Ahunite Hailstone - Focus this add.
      • Chilling Aura: This ability can cause upwards of 60% of the total damage done for the fight. These adds need to be focused immediately once the tank has aggro.
      • Pulverize: As long as the tank has aggro, this ability should not be an issue.
    • Ahunite Coldwave - Requires little attention.
      • Bitter Blast: Let the tank get aggro to avoid taking damage from this, or simply burn them as soon as they spawn.
    • Ahunite Frostwind - Requires little attention.
      • Lightning Shield: Works the same way as a Shaman's own ability. Let the tank take the hits to avoid taking extra damage, or burn it down as soon as it spawns.
      • Wind Buffet: One of the most annoying spells in existence for anyone with a cast bar.
  2. Core Phase (Phase 2)
    • Frozen Core - Ahune submerges into this state.
      • Ahune's Shield fades, Cold Slap and Ice Spear are disabled, and there are no adds that spawn. Ignore the ones that are up, if there are any, when he submerges. Blow your cooldowns and burn him. If you don't strike him down in one attempt, he will re-emerge after 30 seconds and you will have to repeat Phase 1.
  3. Satchel of Chilled Goods - Only available on your first kill per day.
  4. Ice Chest (Loot Phase)
      1. Shards of Ahune: You get to pick between one of the two available tabards.
        • Tabard of Summer Skies
        • Tabard of Summer Flames
        • If you wish to acquire both tabards, there is a simple method in which to do so. Simply place the tabard of your choice into your Void Storage. Speak with a Tabard Vendor and select the opposite choice as the one you lost to have both.
Now that we've gone over the basic quests and tore apart Ahune and his minions, it's time to dig into the real meat of this holiday. Much like the Lunar Festival, the Midsummer Fire Festival requires quite a bit of traveling to make sure you get your hands on enough Burning Blossom to be able to purchase all the necessities to complete all of the achievements and get the vanity items. Your job is to traverse the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Northrend, the Outlands, and now Pandaria to honor and desecrate the bonfires.

There are a total of 110 Bonfires to locate and collect and honor/desecrate. Please note that most of these are not in an order for fastest completion or ease of travel. I will eventually create a "travel guide" for both Lunar Festival and the Midsummer Fire Festival.

EASTERN KINGDOMS
Silvermoon City: Court of the Sun (70, 43) [Alliance]
Eversong Woods: North Sanctum (46, 50)
Ghostlands: Tranquillien (46, 26)
Western Plaguelands: Chillwind Camp (43, 82)
Western Plaguelands: The Bulwark (29, 57)
Tirisfal Glades: Brill (57, 52)
The Undercity: Ruins of Lordaeron (68, 9) [Alliance]
Silverpine Forest: The Sepulcher (50, 38)
Hillsbrad Foothills: Tarren Mill (55, 50)
The Hinterlands: Aerie Peak (14, 50)
The Hinterlands: Revantusk Village (76, 74)
Arathi Highlands: Hammerfall (69, 42)
Arathi Highlands: Refuge Pointe (44, 46)
Wetlands: Menethil Harbor (13, 47)
Twilight Highlands: Thundermar (47, 28)
Twilight Highlands: Bloodgulch (53, 46)
Loch Modan: Thelsamar (32, 40)
Dun Morogh: Kharanos (54, 45)
Ironforge: Hall of Explorers (64, 25) [Horde]
Badlands: New Kargath (24, 37)
Badlands: Dragon's Mouth (19, 56)
Burning Steppes: Flame Crest (51, 29)
Burning Steppes: Morgan's Vigil (68, 60)
Redridge Mountains: Lakeshire (24, 53)
Swamp of Sorrows: Bogpaddle (76, 14)
Swamp of Sorrows: Bogpaddle (76, 14)
Blasted Lands: Dreadmaul Hold (46, 14)
Blasted Lands: Nethergarde Keep (58, 17)
The Cape of Stranglethorn: East of Booty Bay (501 70)
The Cape of Stranglethorn: East Booty Bay (50, 70)
Northern Stranglethorn: Fort Livingston (51, 63)
Northern Stranglethorn: Grom'gol Base Camp (40, 51)
Westfall: Moonbrook (45, 62)
Duskwood: Darkshire (73, 55)
Elwynn Forest: Goldshire (43, 65)
Stormwind City: The Canals (49, 72) [Horde]
KALIMDOR
Azuremyst Isle: Azure Watch (44, 53)
The Exodar: The Crystal Hall (41, 26) [Horde]
Bloodmyst Isle: Blood Watch (55, 69)
Teldrassil: Dolanaar (54.8, 52.9)
Darnassus: Warrior's Terrace (63, 47) [Horde]
Darkshore: Lor'danel (49, 23)
Winterspring: Everlook (59, 35)
Winterspring: Everlook (62. 35)
Mount Hyjal: Nordrassil (63, 23)
Azshara: Bilgewater Harbor (60, 53)
Orgrimmar: Valley of Wisdom (47, 38) [Alliance]
Durotar: Razor Hill (52, 47)
Ashenvale: Forest Song (87, 42)
Ashenvale: Silverwing Refuge (51, 66)
Northern Barrens: The Crossroads (50, 55)
Stonetalon Mountains: Sun Rock Retreat (53, 62)
Stonetalon Mountains: Mirkfallon Lake (49.5, 51.1)
Desolace: Nijel's Point (65, 17)
Desolace: Shadowprey Village (26, 76)
Thunder Bluff: Spirit Rise (21, 26) [Alliance]
Mulgore: Bloodhoof Village (51, 59)
Feralas: Camp Mojache (72, 47)
Feralas: Feathermoon Stronghold (47, 44)
Silithus: Cenarion Hold (60, 33)
Silithus: Cenarion Hold (51, 41)
Un'Goro Crater: Marshal's Stand (59.8, 62.9)
Un'Goro Crater: Marshal's Stand (56, 66)
Uldum: Vir'naal Oasis (53.4, 31.9)
Uldum: Vir'naal Oasis (53, 34)
Tanaris: Gadgetzan (49, 27)
Tanaris: Gadgetzan (52, 29)
Southern Barrens: Desolation Hold (41, 68)
Southern Barrens: Fort Triumph (48, 72)
Dustwallow Marsh: Brackenwall Village (33, 30)
Dustwallow Marsh: Theramore Isle (62, 40)
OUTLAND
Hellfire Peninsula: Honor Hold (62, 58)
Hellfire Peninsula: Thrallmar (55, 40)
Terokkar Forest: Allerian Stronghold (55, 55)
Terokkar Forest: Stonebreaker Hold (52, 45)
Shadowmoon Valley: Wildhammer Stronghold (40, 55)
Shadowmoon Valley: Shadowmoon Village (33, 30)
Nagrand: Telaar (50, 70)
Nagrand: Garadar (51, 34)
Zangarmarsh: Telredor (69, 52)
Zangarmarsh: Zabra'Jin (36, 52)
Blade's Edge Mountains: Sylvanaar (42, 66)
Blade's Edge Mountains: Thunderlord Stronghold (50, 59)
Netherstorm: Area 52 (31, 63)
Netherstorm: Area 52 (32, 68)

NORTHREND
Borean Tundra: Fizzcrank Airstrip (55, 20)
Borean Tundra: Bor'gorok Outpost (51, 12)
Sholazar Basin: River's Heart (47, 66)
Sholazar Basin: River's Heart (47, 62)
Dragonblight: Wintergarde Keep (75, 44)
Dragonblight: Agmar's Hammer (39, 48)
Grizzly Hills: Amberpine Lodge (34, 61)
Grizzly Hills: Conquest Hold (19, 61)
Howling Fjord: Fort Wildervar (58, 16)
Howling Fjord: Camp Winterhoof (48, 13)
Zul'Drak: The Argent Stand (41, 61)
Zul'Drak: The Argent Stand (43, 71)
The Storm Peaks: K3 (42, 87)
The Storm Peaks: K3 (40, 86)
Crystalsong Forest: Windrunner's Overlook (78, 75)
Crystalsong Forest: Sunreaver's Command (80, 53)

CATACLYSM
Vashj'ir: Shimmering Expanse, Silver Tide Hollow (49, 42)
Deepholm: Temple of Earth (49. 51)

PANDARIA
Jade Forest: Dawn's Blossom (47.2, 47.2)
Valley of the Four Winds: Halfhill (51.8, 51.4)
Krasarang Wilds: Zhu's Watch (74, 9.49)
Dread Wastes: Soggy's Gamble (56.1, 69.5)
Townlong Steppes: Longying Outpost (71.5, 56.3)
Kun-Lai Summit: Binan Village (71.1, 90.9)
Vale of Eternal Blossoms: Mogu'shan Palace (77.8, 33.9) - Both Horde and Alliance bonfires.
Once you've gone out and collected all of your blossoms, you're going to need something to spend them on. Head back to your capital city of choice and speak with a Midsummer Supplier/Midsummer Merchant.
    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.

    Completing all of the achievements listed below will net you the meta achievement: The Flame Warden/The Flame Keeper!
      And now for the special bit at the end that needs to be added to appease the pet battlers amongst you.
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      Wednesday, May 29, 2013

      Post-CW'13


      When Children's Week came out, I looked at it. I saw that there were no updates, despite Pandaria being a perfect location for the addition of more orphans, and just sighed and left it at that. Looking at the aftermath, I guess I should have at least touched on some of the quests to at least net me some more achievements on my alts, but all in all, no loss.

      Paragon: Matron of '09. Veteran Nanny of '11.

      Railene: Matron of '10. Veteran Nanny of '11.

      Laviana: Matron of '12. Missing Egbert and Peanut to complete Veteran Nanny. 100% possibility of completion in '15.

      Sollexi: Matron of '12. Missing Egbert and Peanut to complete Veteran Nanny. 100% possibility of completion in '15.

      Xardion: Patron of '10. Missing Egbert and Peanut to complete Veteran Nanny. 100% possibility of completion in '15.

      Arcia: Matron of '10. Missing Peanut to complete Veteran Nanny. 100% possibility of completion in '14.

      Monk: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 90-95% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Shaman: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 75-80% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Hunter: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 25-50% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Warrior: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 85-90% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Warlock: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. Received a pet and left an orphan all alone. No progress made on any achievements. 15-25% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Warrior II: Unofficial Patron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 15-25% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Paladin: Unofficial Patron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 0% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Horde Paladin: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 90-95% possibility of Meta completion in '14.

      Horde Warrior: Unofficial Matron of '09 due to account-wide achievements. Unofficial Veteran Nanny of '11. No progress made on any achievements. 75-80% possibility of Meta completion in '14.
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      Tuesday, May 28, 2013

      Children's Week '13


      This is, also, so late...
      Children's Week, much like Noblegarden, has not received a significant change since its last update in 2011. Despite all of this, with the introduction of the Pet Battle System, you might have a little bit more incentive to collect these once-a-year pets to add them to your Battle Pet collection. As such, much like the Noblegarden post, I will be taking last year's overlook and simply updating it to more match the new format of the blogs.

      First off, we're going to go over the Stormwind and Orgrimmar quest chains. Alliance players will need to meet up with Orphan Matron Nightingale in the Cathedral District to get your Human Orphan Whistle, while Horde players will need to meet up with Orphan Matron Battlewail on the path between the Valley of Strength and the Valley of Honor to get your Orcish Orphan Whistle.
      1. Cruisin' The Chasm
        • Head over 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. Win/win?
      2. Malfurion Has Returned!
        • Make your way 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!
        • The leader of Ironforge, reduced to a giant dwarf-shaped crystal for a child's amusement. Oh, how low you must feel, Magni. (For more information on this, please read 'The Shattering'.)
      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 and hand it over to your orphan.
      5. Let's Go Fly A Kite
        • There is a gnome pushing a small cart around the outside of the Trade District by the name of Craggle Wobbletop, he sells the Dragon Kite 2-Pack that your orphan wants. Fly some kites.
      6. A Warden Of The Alliance
      1. Ridin' The Rocketway
        • First and closest destination is due north of Orgrimmar. You're heading to the Southern Rocketway Terminus for a trip down the rocketway on the Redhound Two-Seater. Pro-tip? Don't let the child drive.
      2. The Banshee Queen
        • Head back to Orgrimmar and snatch a zeppelin ride over to the Tirisfal Glades and stop in at the Undercity. The dialogue exchange is very interesting, especially the blood elf ambassador's attempt at defending Sylvanas.
      3. The Fallen Chieftain
        • A funeral pyre dedicated to the late Cairne Bloodhoof. The ceremony that follows has been known to effect players that were fond of Cairne in their time playing. (For more information on this, please read 'The Shattering'.)
      4. You Scream, I Scream...
        • Back in Orgrimmar, you're next stop is down inside the Drag. Here, you'll find a crazy goblin mage selling selling ice cream. Purchase a Cone of Cold and hand it over to your orphan.
      5. Let's Go Fly A Kite
      6. A Warden Of The Horde
      The next obvious step of Children's Week is to head out into the Outlands and make a trip to Shattrath City to see Orphan Matron Mercy to pick up another set of orphans to escort around. We'll again be splitting this information up between the factions, so get your respective whistles ready; the Draenei Orphan Whistle or the Blood Elf Orphan Whistle.
      1. Auchindoun And The Ring Of Observance
        • Your first stop is just outside of Shattrath: Auchindoun. All you need to do is visit the Summoning Stone and Dornaa will ask for assistance in summoning an Alliance Adventurer. 
      2. Jheel Is At Aeris Landing!
        • Your next task is over in Nagrand. At Aeris Landing, there is a boy named Jheel who works for the Ethereals settled there. He is the brother of Dornaa and after their little catch-up chat, he is the finisher of that step of this adventure.
      3. A Trip To The Dark Portal
        • Your last stop is one very familiar with most of the old crowd of players; the Dark Portal. Land at the top of the stairs for Dornaa to be amazed at the sight of this magnificent world-bridging structure.
      4. The Seat Of The Naaru
        • Since Dornaa lives in Shattrath, they've never been to the Draenei capital of The Exodar. That's your next stop. Speak with O'ros down in the Seat of the Naaru. He gives you another quest (Call on the Farseer) that you might as well finish while you're in Exodar. Simply speak to Farseer Nobundo for an interesting scene.
      5. Time To Visit The Caverns
        • Use whatever is the quickest route available for you to get to Tanaris and enter the Caverns of Time. Whether you accept the free ride at the entrance, you will need to make two stops on this journey. One is at Alurmi, who sells the Toy Dragon. And the other is at Zaladormu, for some more foreshadowing.
      6. Back To The Orphanage
        • With that, you're to head back to Shattrath City and drop Dornaa back off at the orphanage. You'll receive a letter in the mail from her in the mail later on, but the matron will offer you one of the following as a reward:
      1. Hch'uu Of The Mushroom People
        • Your first stop with Salandria is over in the Zangarmarsh. She wants to meet up with a lost friend by the name of Hch'uu, who is one of the Sporeggar. Hch'uu was only in the orphanage in Shattrath at all because she ran away from a fungal giant and got lost.
      2. Visit The Throne Of The Elements
        • The next task asked of you is to take Salandria over to Nagrand, as she wishes to see the Throne of the Elements. Upon arriving, speak with Elementalist Sharvak to complete that step of the journey. (Inquiry: Why didn't the Alliance bring Dornaa here instead?)
      3. A Trip To The Dark Portal
        • Your last stop is one very familiar with most of the old crowd of players; the Dark Portal. Land at the top of the stairs for Salandria to be amazed at the sight of this magnificent world-bridging structure.
      4. Now, When I Grow Up...
        • Salandria's dream in life is to become a rock star! While the Tauren Chieftains show up in quite a few locations, the only spot that will count for this quest is their appearance in Silvermoon City. Head there to meet the band; Samuro, Sig Nicious, Bergrisst, Mai'Kyl, and Chief Thunder-Skins.
      5. Time To Visit The Caverns
        • Use whatever is the quickest route available for you to get to Tanaris and enter the Caverns of Time. Whether you accept the free ride at the entrance, you will need to make two stops on this journey. One is at Alurmi, who sells the Toy Dragon. And the other is at Zaladormu, for some more foreshadowing.
      6. Back To The Orphanage
        • With that, you're to head back to Shattrath City and drop Salandria back off at the orphanage. You'll receive a letter in the mail from her in the mail later on, but the matron will offer you one of the following as a reward:
      We're finally on the final set of Children's Week quests. Your first stop is going to be Dalaran, where you'll need to speak with Orphan Matron Aria near the southern bank. Before you set off, you can watch the Wolvar orphans harass the Gorloc orphan. Either way, whichever orphan you decide to pick up is going to be the pet reward that you get at the end of the quest line.
      1. Little Orphan Roo Of The Oracles
        • We're going to start off by picking the Gorloc pet first, whose name is Roo. You'll receive an Oracle Orphan Whistle so even if you lose him, you won't lose him.
      2. The Biggest Tree Ever!
        • After accepting the quests from Roo, your first stop is going to be in the Grizzly Hills. Roo wants to see the Grizzlemaw, which is the home of the furbolgs of Northrend. You'll have to go to the very bottom of the hollowed-out tree where a small tree is growing.
      3. The Bronze Dragonshrine
        • After escaping from the furbolgs, you'll need to head on over to Dragonblight. If you completed the quest lines in Dragonblight, you'll know what happens at the Bronze Dragonshrine. If you haven't, it'll be a surprise, as I'm not ruining it here! (Hint: Do the quests from Chromie.)
      4. Playmates!
        • With that encounter done, it's time to head west to the Borean Tundra. Roo wants to go find some friends, so you're heading to the Winterfin Retreat for him to meet the Winterfin Playmate, who will challenge him to a dance-off! Bladestorm is not a dance Roo. /sigh
      5. Meeting A Great One
        • After all the dancing has ended, you're going to need to head due north into the Sholazar Basin. Your destination is the Waygate southeast of the Mosslight Pillar. Heading through that portal will land you in the Un'Goro Crater, where you're looking for The Etymidian. (Side-note: If you have the Flight Master's License, you could just head to Un'Goro Crater normally and fly up there to meet him.)
      6. The Dragon Queen
        • Go back through the Waygate in Un'Goro Crater to be teleported back to the Sholazar Basin. You're going to need to head back to the Dragonblight now. Stop in at the Wyrmrest Temple and let Roo meet Alexstrasza the Life-Binder.
      7. A Trip To The Wonderworks
        • With that, it's time to head back to Dalaran. Roo wants to make a final stop in at the Wonderworks toy shop. Speak with Jepetto Joybuzz or his Clockwork Assistant to purchase a Small Paper Zeppelin. Make sure to buy the correct one for the quest! (Pro-tip: It isn't this one.) Toss it to Roo and then it's time for your adventure to come to an end.
      8. Back To The Orphanage/Back To The Orphanage
        • Head back to the statue in front of the southern bank and turn your quest in to Aria. Depending on if you've done this quest before in the past will depend on what rewards are offered to you. If you haven't completed the line before, you will receive nothing, but the pet will come in the mail. If you have completed the line before, you will be offered a bribe or some biscuits.
      1. Little Orphan Kekek Of The Wolvar
        • This time around, we're going to go with the Wolvar orphan. You'll receive a Wolvar Orphan Whistle, so if you lose Kekek, you won't lose Kekek.
      2. Home Of The Bear-Men
        • After accepting the quests from Kekek, your first stop is going to be in the Grizzly Hills. Kekek wants to see the furbolgs fighting one another for their home at Grizzlemaw. I'm not entirely sure where you need to stand to get credit, so you might want to just go to the bottom of the hollowed-out tree like with Roo.
      3. The Bronze Dragonshrine
        • After escaping from the furbolgs, you'll need to head on over to Dragonblight. If you completed the quest lines in Dragonblight, you'll know what happens at the Bronze Dragonshrine. If you haven't, it'll be a surprise, as I'm not ruining it here! (Hint: Do the quests from Chromie.)
      4. Playmates!
        • With that little event over with, it's time to head southwest to the Snowfall Glade area between Mo'aki Harbor and the Ruby Dragonshrine. Kekek wants to show off the ferocity of the Frenzyheart tribe to other Wolvar pups, so go meet up with the Snowfall Glade Playmate, to watch a snowball fight.
      5. The Dragon Queen
        • Now it's time to head over to the Wyrmrest Temple to meet Alexstrasza the Life-Binder  I can only assume that Krasus still has his speaking role in this event, despite having caught a fatal case of the dead.
      6. The Mighty Hemet Nesingwary
        • Once Alexstrasza has convinced Kekek that she's not just an elf-lady with funny horns, t's time to meet another famous figure. Head northwest into the Sholazar Basin and drop in on Hemet Nesingwary at his base camp.
      7. A Visit To The Wonderworks
        • With that, it's time to head back to Dalaran. Kekek wants to make a final stop in at the Wonderworks toy shop. Speak with Jepetto Joybuzz or his Clockwork Assistant to purchase a Small Paper Zeppelin. Make sure to buy the correct one for the quest! (Pro-tip: It isn't this one.) Toss it to Kekek and then it's time for your adventure to come to an end.
      8. Back To The Orphanage/Back To The Orphanage
        • Head back to the statue in front of the southern bank and turn your quest in to Aria. Depending on if you've done this quest before in the past will depend on what rewards are offered to you. If you haven't completed the line before, you will receive nothing, but the pet will come in the mail. If you have completed the line before, you will be offered a bribe or some biscuits.
      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 devouring delicious sweets right in front of your poor little orphan, without offering them even the smallest of bites. 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.
      • 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 that is not required for the meta. You have to get three of the, now, four Shattrath pets; Peanut, Willy, and Egbert. Legs still does not count toward this achievement.
      And now for a special bit that I should have done for other holidays, but will start to do from here on out. Yes, that does mean another blog format update, but oh well. It's not going to be a huge deal.
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