Day of the Dead '15

Super short Holidays deserve super short guides! Day of the Dead is a three-day Holiday, so only a tad bit longer than Pirate's Day, but not quite a full week like most of the other holidays. It runs from November 1st through the 3rd, just like its real-world counterpart Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead. Both the real version and the in-game version immediately follow Halloween/Hallow's End. This holiday is a celebration of remembrance of those who have already passed on, all in support of their spiritual journey.

Before 2013, this holiday didn't really have a whole lot going for it. It was originally a small questline to obtain a temporary pet and receive a lower-tiered cooking recipe and nothing more. Now though, there is a little bit more to it and that dastardly little marionette is now a permanent battle pet.

Much like the Pirate's Day guide and the Harvest Festival guide, I will not be doing a post-guide for this holiday.

There is only one quest to take part in during this holiday and its location is different depending on your race and faction. The quest can only be started at your RACE's respective capital, Shattrath, or Dalaran. Pandaren can only complete the quest at Shattrath or Dalaran. It can also only be done once, so if you've completed it before, you will not be able to do it again. Luckily for you, if you did it before 2013, it was reset so that you could get the pet.

• The Grateful Dead: You're going to need to cook up some Bread of the Dead with Simple Flour and Ice Cold Milk, so grab some of that before you head to the graveyard. Pick up the Recipe: Bread of the Dead from Chapman, alongside an Orange Marigold or Bouquet of Orange Marigolds. Cook the bread up at the special cooking fire there. Use the flowers inside the graveyard. Speak with a Cheerful Spirit of your corresponding race/location and give them the Bread of the Dead you just made.
• Macabre Marionette

Be sure to take a second to dance with Catrina nearby, as this will unlock one of the few achievements that this holiday has available. Dancing with her also grants you he Honor the Dead buff that transform you into Catrina or Chapman, depending on your gender. Catrina is based off of La Calavera Catrina, if you'd like to read up more on that.

Chapman <Day of the Dead Vendor>

• Whimsical Skull Mask: 5 copper
• Orange Marigold: 10 copper
• Candy Skull: 25 copper
• Spirit Candle: 30 copper
• Recipe: Bread of the Dead:  20 silver
• Bouquet of Orange Marigolds: 1 gold
• "Blooming Rose" Contender's Costume: 100 gold
• "Night Demon" Contender's Costume: 100 gold
• "Purple Phantom" Contender's Costume: 100 gold
• "Santo's Sun" Contender's Costume: 100 gold
• "Snowy Owl" Contender's Costume: 100 gold
• These contender's costumes were all transformed into Toys for the 2015 holiday.

Using any of the five Contender's Costumes Toys will grant you a 10 minute buff with a 1 minute cooldown. Donning these special costumes will grant you a set of random abilities (Quick Punch, Strong Sweep, Jump Attack) that can only be used on other players who are also wearing the Contender's Costumes. There is a set of achievements linked to battling it out with these Costumes on, so find a group of people looking for a smack-down and feel free to go ham. You can and will die while wearing these, but you will suffer no durability as long as the buff is active when you go down. Dueling seems to be the only effective way to actually kill someone.

With all of that out of the way, it's time to talk about the available achievements for this holiday that you can get. There's no over-arching meta achievement or title for this one.

• Dead Man's Party: Simply dance with Catrina in any graveyard.
• To the Afterlife: Don your favorite Contender's Costume and beat someone up!
• Vientos!: You thought you were done after one? Get back in there for 20 more!
• Calavera: You got 20, but can you get 50? Keep at it!
• Please note that none of the achievements related to the Contender's Costumes require the Holiday to be active for completion.

And now for the one and only battle pet!

• Macabre Marionette - Undead, Uncommon, Breed 7; H/P
• Level 1: Macabre Maraca, Level 2: Death and Decay, Level 4: Dead Man's Party, Level 10: Bone Bite, Level 15: Siphon Life, Level 20: Bone Barrage

Post-Hallow's End '15

I did not designate as much time as I could have to this event, but I did manage to get a lot of things done that I needed to get done to make sure I got everything obtainable from the event. Rust was actually put on hold, unlike last month, so we were all good to take part in lots of entertaining holiday event shenanigans. Least I didn't have to farm for the mount like some of you did! (And still do!)

Blizzard stated that the event was going to end at 3:00 PM server time, but they pulled it at 2:00 PM when they pushed Day of the Dead live, so I didn't get as much finished on the lower level toons as I expected with one less hour.

Paragon the Warrior: Hallowed of '08. Obtained the Exquisite Costume Set: "Deathwing" and the Sack of Spectral Spiders.
Railene the Paladin: Hallowed of '09.
Xardion the Death Knight: Hallowed of '10. Did not finish Tricks and Treats of Pandaria, yet again.
Laviana the Mage: Hallowed of '10.Did not finish Tricks and Treats of the Cataclysm or Tricks and Treats of Northrend, again.
Arcia the Druid: Hallowed of '09. Finished Tricks and Treats of Northrend and Tricks and Treats of Pandaria.
Sollexi the Rogue: Hallowed of '11.

Ferenan the Monk: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. Finished That Sparkling Smile and Tricks and Treats of Pandaria. 100% possibility of completion in '16.

Shaman: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 75-80% possibility of completion in '16. Purchased the Coin of Many Faces off of the AH, since my luck was not good.

Hunter: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 25-50% possibility of completion in '16.

Warrior: Unofficial Hallowed of '08.  No progress made on any achievements. 85-90% possibility of completion in '16.

Warlock: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 75% possibility of completion in '16.

Warrior II: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 0% possibility of completion in '16.

Paladin: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 0% possibility of completion in '16.

Horde Paladin: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 75-80% possibility of completion in '16.

Horde Warrior: Unofficial Hallowed of '08. No progress made on any achievements. 50% possibility of completion in '16.