Saturday, February 17, 2018

[WoW] Lunar Festival '18

What is usually the first Holiday of the year has come second in 2018. The Lunar Festival starts on February 17th this year and runs through March 3rd. The Lunar Festival is the in-game representation of the real life celebration of the Lunar New Year, which many different countries and cultures celebrate.

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

Not to start with the finale, but there will be a fireworks display that takes place on the final day of the events, so the 3rd, but only in Moonglade. There is also an increase in lanterns around Lake Elune'ara during the event, as a true reflection of the Lantern Festival.

As with almost all of the other Holidays, you are definitely going to know when this event begins, as there will an explosion of lanterns hanging around all of the capital cities, your garrison, and potentially your Order Hall. There will be bread crumb quests as normal that are going to get you to where you need to be to get started on the Holiday events and activities.

The bread curmb quests are there to teach you the basics of shooting off rockets and rocket clusters through the use of launchers located throughout the world. The other thing it leads you through is how to use your Lunar Festival Invitation to make your way to Moonglade in the beams of moonlight. The Holiday vendors and the Holiday "boss" are both located in Moonglade, but you are not going to be spending a whole lot of time there throughout the Festival.
And with that, we've done a quick rundown of all of the non-important bits of the Lunar Festival It's time to get down and dirty with the nitty-gritty part of this Holiday. The real meat of it all.

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

As you make your trek across the continents, each Elder is going to give you a Coin of Ancestry after you've honored them. This is the primary currency for this Holiday. You'll also receive a Lucky Red Envelope from each Elder, as well, with one of two gifts inside.
  1. Lucky Rocket Cluster: These act the same as the normal rocket clusters that we've used before. They do pack a little bit of a larger punch.
  • Lunar Fortune: When you fire off these rockets, you do get a small health buff. This buff does not adjust by level, so you will always receive a buff of +250 health. Amusingly, it has an area effect cast, so anyone around the launcher will also receive this mighty buff, even if they're from the opposing faction.
  1. Elder's Moonstone: This item creates a three minute beam of moonlight at the targeted location. As beneficial as that sounds, we only wish you could have utilized these stones to create portable Grand Moonlights to use with the Lunar Festival Invitation.
    There are a total of 84 Elders spread across the multiple continents of Azeroth. Due to phasing issues, the Elder inside Wintergrasp might not be worth your time, but find a way in if you're shooting for picking up all of the achievements.

    EASTERN KINGDOMS
    Elder Snowcrown: Eastern Plaguelands, Light's Hope Chapel (75,54)
    Elder Farwhisper: Stratholme, Live Side near The Unforgiven [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Windrun: Eastern Plaguelands, Crown Guard Tower (36,69)
    Elder Meadowrun: Western Plaguelands, Weeping Cave (64,36)
    Elder Moonstrike: Western Plaguelands, Outside Scholomance (69,74)
    Elder Graveborn: Tirisfal Glades, Brill (62,54)
    Elder Darkcore: Undercity, Ruins of Lordaeron Throne Room (67,38) [Horde Elder]
    Elder Obsidian: Silverpine Forest, The Sepulcher (45,41)
    Elder Highpeak: The Hinterlands, Creeping Ruin (50,48)
    Elder Darkfeather: Twilight Highlands, Thundermar Ruins (51,33) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Firebeard: Twilight Highlands, Dunwald Ruins (51,70) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Silvervein: Loch Modan, Thelsamar (33,46)
    Elder Goldwell: Dun Morogh, Kharanos (54,50)
    Elder Bronzebeard: Ironforge, Mystic Ward (29,16) [Alliance Elder]
    Elder Ironband: Searing Gorge, Blackchar Cave (21,79)
    Elder Morndeep: Blackrock Depths, Ring of Law [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Stonefort: Lower Blackrock Spire, Inner Bridgework [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Dawnstrider: Burning Steppes, Flame Crest (54,24)
    Elder Rumblerock: Burning Steppes, Dreadmaul Rock (70,45)
    Elder Starsong: Sunken Temple, Dragonkin Ring [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Bellowrage: Blasted Lands, Dark Portal (54,50) [Speak to Zidormi if you need the past phase.]
    Elder Starglade: Northern Stranglethorn, Zul'Gurub (71,34)
    Elder Winterhoof: Cape of Stranglethorn, Booty Bay (40,73)
    Elder Skychaser: Westfall, Sentinel Hill (57,47)
    Elder Stormbrow: Elwynn Forest, Goldshire (40,64)
    Elder Hammershout: Stormwind City, Stormwind Gates (34,51) [Alliance Elder]
    Elder Stonebrand: Deepholm, Temple of Earth (49,54) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Deepforge: Deepholm, Stonehearth (27,69) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Moonlance: Vashj'ir, Shimmering Expanse (57,86) [Cataclysm Elder]

    KALIMDOR
    Elder Bladeswift: Darnassus, Cenarion Enclave (39,32) [Alliance Elder]
    Elder Bladeleaf: Teldrassil, Dolanaar (57,53)
    Elder Starweave: Darkshore, Lor'danel (50,19)
    Elder Nightwind: Felwood, Jaedenar (38,53)
    Elder Riversong: Ashenvale, Astranaar (36,49)
    Elder Windsong: Mount Hyjal, Sanctuary of Malorne (26,62) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Evershade: Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil (62,22) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Brightspear: Winterspring, Lake Kel'Theril (53,57)
    Elder Stonespire: Winterspring, Everlook (60,50)
    Elder Skygleam: Azshara, Ravencrest Monument (65,70)
    Elder Darkhorn: Orgrimmar, Flight Master Tower (52,60) [Horde Elder]
    Elder Runetotem: Durotar, Razor Hill (53,44)
    Elder Windtotem: Northern Barrens, Ratchet (68,70)
    Elder Moonwarden: Northern Barrens, Crossroads (49,59)
    Elder High Mountain: Southern Barrens, Vendetta Point (42,48)
    Elder Bloodhoof: Mulgore, Bloodhoof Village (48,53)
    Elder Ezra Wheathoof: Thunder Bluff, Elder Rise (73,23) [Horde Elder]
    Elder Splitrock: Maraudon, Rotgrip/Tinkerer Gizlock Area [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Mistwalker: Feralas, The Maul (62,31)
    Elder Grimtotem: Feralas, Lariss Pavilion (77,38)
    Elder Primestone: Silithus, Crystal Vale (31,13)
    Elder Bladesing: Silithus, Cenarion Hold (53,36)
    Elder Thunderhorn: Un'goro Crater, Slithering Scar (50,76)
    Elder Menkhaf: Uldum, Khartut's Tomb (65,18) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Sekhemi: Uldum, Ruins of Ammon (32,63) [Cataclysm Elder]
    Elder Ragetotem: Tanaris, Ruins of Uldum (37,79)
    Elder Dreamseer: Tanaris, Gadgetzan (51,28)
    Elder Wildmane: Zul'Farrak, Gahz'rilla's Pool [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Morningdew: Thousand Needles, Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge (77,76)
    Elder Skyseer: Thousand Needles, Freewind Post (46,51)

    NORTHREND
    Elder Sardis: Borean Tundra, Valiance Keep (59,66)
    Elder Arp: Borean Tundra, D.E.H.T.A. (57,44)
    Elder Pamuya: Borean Tundra, Warsong Hold (43,50)
    Elder Northal: Borean Tundra, Transitus Shield (34,34)
    Elder Igasho: The Nexus, Ormorok the Tree-Shaper Area [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Sandrene: Sholazar Basin, River's Heart (50,63)
    Elder Wanikaya: Sholazar Basin, Rainspeaker Rapids (64,49)
    Elder Bluewolf: Wintergrasp, Wintergrasp Fortress (49,14) [Faction Controlled or Open Door]
    Elder Morthie: Dragonblight, Star's Rest (30,56)
    Elder Skywarden: Dragonblight, Agmar's Hammer (35,48)
    Elder Nurgen: Azjol-Nerub, Post-Hadronox [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Thoim: Dragonblight, Moa'ki Harbor (49,78)
    Elder Jarten: Utgarde Keep, Post-Prince Keleseth [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Chogan'gada: Utgarde Pinnacle, Under Skadi the Ruthless [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Beldak: Grizzly Hills, Westfall Brigade Encampment (61,28)
    Elder Lunaro: Grizzly Hills, Ruins of Tethys (81,37)
    Elder Whurain: Grizzly Hills, Camp Oneqwah (64,47)
    Elder Kilias: Drak'Tharon Keep, King Dred's Den [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Tauros: Zul'Drak, Zim'Torga (59,56)
    Elder Ohanzee: Gundrak, Drakkari Colossus Altar [Dungeon Elder]
    Elder Graymane: The Storm Peaks, K3 (41,85)
    Elder Fargal: The Storm Peaks, Frosthold (29,74)
    Elder Stonebeard: The Storm Peaks, Bouldercrag's Refuge (31,38)
    Elder Muraco: The Storm Peaks, Camp Tunka'lo (65,51)
    Elder Yurauk: Halls of Stone, Pre-Krystallus [Dungeon Elder]
    As you finish your travels around the continents, honoring the Elders of the past and collecting all 84 of the Coin of Ancestry, or however many you managed to collect, you're going to need something to spend them on. Time to head back to Moonglade!


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

    Lunar Festival Vendor

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

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

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

    And there were a couple of battle pets that could be obtained during this Holiday season, their information is down below:
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    Friday, February 2, 2018

    [WoW] Love Is In The Air '18

    Love Is In The Air is a Holiday that has been with us for a long time and has had smaller updates and then was given a Holiday boss. It's also one of the first Holidays to have a mount drop included in the events, with some of the lowest drop rates around. Love Is In The Air is a two week-long in-game representation of Valentine's Day, running from February 2nd through February 16th.

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

    Love Is In The Air has always been primarily about collecting Lovely Charms, but there is a nefarious plot underfoot that you can uncover if you decide to follow the clues. Be a detective, confront the patsies, locate the real deal, and take out the trash! And with that little intro, we're going to start right off with the traditional bread-crumb quests that being every Holiday!

    While you were off being a detective, you might have noticed that there were some daily quests available that you could also take part in during this Holiday event. Aside from straight up farming, these daily quests are your main source of the Holiday currency Love Token. If you're looking to get your hands on anything you might have missed in previous years, and get anything new that's been added, you're going to need more than just a handful.

    Look for your friendly neighborhood Public Relations Agent and be prepared to feel like one of those perfume ladies at the mall. While performing the three following dailies, if at any point you attempt to use one of the items on a target that already has the debuff Sample Satisfaction, you will not receive credit for the item use. Each of these dailies rewards 5 Love Token.
    The typical Crushing the Crown daily quest from years past has been replaced as of 2017. So instead of speaking with Inspector Snip Snagglebolt/Detective Snap Snagglebolt and receiving a quest to go to a random location and beat up a bunch of patsies, you're just going to go back to Silverpine Forest to the area just outside of Shadowfang Keep to complete a pair of daily quests there instead. These two dailies do not unlock unless you've completed the main Holiday questline.
    There is still one more set of dailies that we need to talk about before we delve into the strategy behind the Apothecary Trio fight or even touch upon what the Holiday vendors even have available for sale. Before we talk about the quests though, we do need to go back over the farming aspect of this Holiday. First off, you're going to need to speak with Kwee Q. Peddlefeet. There is a clone of this NPC floating at various locations in each capital city.
    1. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Outside of the Trade District Bank in Stormwind City.
    2. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Marble Island South of the Bank in Darnassus.
    3. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Commons Area near the Bank in Ironforge.
    4. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Outside the Eastern Exit in the Exodar.
    5. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Between the Auction House and Inn in Valley of Strength in Orgrimmar.
    6. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Near the Auction House in the Bazaar of Silvermoon City.
    7. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Center Totem Pole o the Lower Rise of Thunder Bluff.
    8. Kwee Q. Peddlefeet : Throne Room of the Ruins of Lordaeron in the Undercity.
    Kwee will give you a Lovely Charm Collector's Kit that needs to remain in your inventory for you to be able to collect Lovely Charm. Once you've collected enough Lovely Charm, all of ten, you can convert them in to a Lovely Charm Bracelet. As you create one Lovely Charm Bracelet after another, you have two options. You can turn a single Lovely Charm Bracelet into the Kwee Q. Peddlefeet a each respective city for the dailies (and buff card reward) for 20 Love Token per day, or you can save the Lovely Charm Bracelet to sell them on the Auction House, or you can trade them in at the Holiday vendor Love Token at a 1:1 ratio. You also have the opportunity to wear them on lower level twinks or bank toons.

    Now that we've finally gotten past all of the quests and daily quests, we can finally get to finishing off the diabolical plot that Snagglebolt was having you investigate. The men behind hiring Snivel Rustrocket and having him pump his rockets full of a not-so-innocent "love potion"? The Apothecary Trio in charge of the Crown Chemical Co. Apothecary Hummel, Apothecary Baxter, and Apothecary Frye are located inside a special instanced version of the Shadowfang Keep. You can queue through the LFD UI by selecting the Crown Chemical Co. in the drop-down menu, or you can speak with any Steamwheedle Shyster to be queued up as well. Unlike previous years, you will now spawn directly on the stairs leading down into the courtyard. All three of the Apothecaries must be defeated before you will be able to get any loot.
    1. The Monologue: After Apothecary Hummel's little monologue, the fight will start. For the first eight second of the encounter, you will only be dealing with Hummel by himself.
        • Alluring Perfume : This is a constant aura around Hummel for anyone in melee range. This can be easily negated by using the Perfume Neutralizer available on the table next to where the fight takes place.
        • Alluring Perfume Spray : This is Hummel's main attack and it is a melee-range frontal-cone attack that is aimed at the highest threat target, try to aim it away from the group. Or anyone that isn't wearing the correct neutralizer.
        • Chain Reaction : Hummel will spawn a small alchemy table and after 3 seconds, it will explode and damage anyone near it.
    2. The Next Eight Seconds: After eight seconds of dealing with only Hummel, he demands that Baxter assist him in trying to kill you. He will, of course, listen.
        • Irresistible Cologne : Much like Hummel's Perfume aura, Baxter has a constant melee range aura as well. Also like Hummel's aura, this can be easily negated by utilizing the Cologne Neutralizer on the same table. Only one can be active at a time.
        • Irresistible Cologne Spray : This is Baxter's main attack and it is a melee-range frontal-cone attack that is aimed at his highest threat target, try to aim this away from the group. Or just anyone that isn't wearing the correct neutralizer.
        • Chain Reaction : Just like Hummel, he will spawn an alchemy table that will explode after 3 seconds, damaging everyone in the immediate vicinity.
    3. Again With the Eight Seconds?: After dealing with those two for eight more seconds, Hummel yells at Apothecary Frye to quit dilly-dallying and get to work on killing us. I'm not entirely sure if he actually listens or not. 
        • Lingering Fumes : The most annoying part of this entire fight is Frye's inability to be controlled. He has no aggro table and he is constantly throwing out either vials of perfume or cologne that burst into damaging clouds that linger. The neutralizers only work on one or the other type, so you're going to be constantly taking damage once Frye enters the fight. The only good part? He can be stunned. Rotate them.
        • Throw Perfume : Frye will throw out a vial of perfume that will burst into a cloud on the ground. Try not to stand in it if you don't have the Perfume Neutralizer.
        • Throw Cologne : Frye will throw out a vial of cologne that will burst into a cloud on the ground. Try not to stand in it if you don't have the Cologne Neutralizer.
    4. More Apothecaries?!
      • Crazed Apothecary : These adds will be spawning consistently throughout the entire fight. Due to how short the fight can be though, there have been reports of not a single one of these adds spawning at all. Count your blessings, I suppose.
        • Unstable Reaction : If one does happen to spawn during your encounter, it is going to run around aimlessly for a bit and then explode, dealing quite a bit of damage to anyone in the immediate area. They take after Frye in that they have no aggro table. Avoid at all costs to limit damage taken.
    5. Heart-Shaped Box - Only available on your first kill per day per toon.
      • 5-10 Love Token
      • Forever Lovely Rose: A very simple headpiece involving a rose. For all female toons, the rose is tucked behind the ear. For all male toons, it's placed within the teeth like a tango dancer.
      • Vile Fumigator's Mask: A cloth gas-mask headpiece with an attached fumigation backpack. The on-use effect is still comically useless.
      • Toxic Wasteling: Teaches the Toxic Wasteling battle pet. It still consumes critters and grows larger as it does so.
      • The Heartbreaker: An interesting item originally built to explode chest cavities. Instead, you just burst in to tears. This item was turned into a Toy with the release of the Toy Box.
      • Big Love Rocket: Big Love Rocket. Do I really need to say anything?
    6. Heart-Shaped Carton - Replacement Heart-Shaped Box for toons under level 98.
    7. Hummel's Corpse (Loot Phase)
        • These necklaces come with an on-use effect that unleash the Love Rocket, acquiring a single necklace from the event is on your to-do list, you'll find out why in the achievement section at the end of the guide.
    After all of that questing, farming, and boss-killing is finally over, you're probably wondering what to do with all of those (or lack-there-of) Love Token.

    Lovely Merchant - Available in a local capital city near you!
    And with that we bring this Holiday event to its closing. You captured Snivel, you beat up the Apothecary Trio, crushed their crowns in Silverpine, it's time to take a moment and make sure that you've finished all of your Holiday achievements.

    Completing all of the necessary achievements below will bestow upon you the title of 'the Love Fool' and grant you the meta achievement: Fool For Love!

    And those are all of the achievements that are important if you're looking to get yourself that title. If you want more to do, there are a few more you could focus on if you have any free time left after farming up those Lovely Charm Bracelet.

    And now to look at the battle pets that come with this Holiday.
    See you all at the end of the Love is in the Air event with my post-holiday completion post!
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