Monday, February 25, 2013

Post-LIITA'13

Just like the Lunar Festival aftermath, I am still in the same boat I was in then. Considering it's only been two weeks, this shouldn't come as a surprise. I was able to log in long enough to down the boss a few times for necklaces, but not for much else. 800+ ms (and climbing) was not enjoyable.

No luck on the Big Love Rocket.

Paragon: Love Fool of '09. Received Toxic Wasteling with account-wide pets.

Railene: Love Fool of '10.

Xardion: Love Fool of '11.

Laviana: Love Fool of '11. Tackled the Apothecary Trio in '12.

Arcia: Love Fool of '11. Currently the only holder of The Heartbreaker.

Sollexi: Love Fool of '12.

Monk: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. No progress made on any achievements. 90-95% possibility of completion in '14.

Shaman: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

Hunter: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 25-50% possibility of completion in '14.

Warrior: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 85-90% possibility of completion in '14.

Warlock: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Warrior II: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Paladin: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 0% possibility of completion in '14.

Horde Paladin: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

Horde Warrior: Unofficial Love Fool of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

Due to internet restrictions, I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy on this information due to not being able to log in and check. I'm using the data collected from last year's festival to generate this new information.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Love Is In The Air '13


Like last time, due to the new posting model for these holiday guides, all information within is subject to change after the holiday event goes live on the servers. Any changes will be made and corrected shortly after their discovery and all changes will be notated in the comments below.

The Love is in the Air week-long holiday event is based on the real-life holiday of Valentine's Day. The first incarnation of Love is in the Air was more interesting than the current model, because the event was based around using the turn-ins as a way to show player "endorsement" of their favorite Alliance/Horde leader. You also had to give gifts to the guardsmen around the towns and received presents or the Heartbroken debuff in return that prevented you from amassing limitless amounts of presents.

The current model for this holiday involves farming mobs around the world within your level range to gather the materials needed to make the items required for the quest turn-ins. Rinse, repeat, etc. After the gathering process is over, you use the rewards from those quests to then purchase the achievement-related items, the pets, and other such awesome commodities from the holiday vendors. Oh, and you get to fight the boss trio for even more rewards.

Most of the holidays now use this model.
  1. Uncommon Scents/Uncommon Scents: The Steamwheedle Cartel suspects foul play of the Crown Chemical Co. for their shady activities and a representative has been sent to Stormwind City and Orgrimmar to fill you in on the investigation. A Junior Detective is waiting near the initial Crown Chemical Co. camps to point you toward the Snagglebolt goblin.
  2. Something Stinks/Something Stinks: Your respective Snagglebolt will hand you a Snagglebolt's Air Analyzer to run around town and use on six (6) guards that are covered in purple fumes.
  3. Pilfering Perfume/Pilfering Perfume: Snagglebolt wants supplies. The Crown Chemical Co. stockpile for both factions are just outside the main gates of Stormwind and Orgrimmar and to the left. You will receive a goblin disguise (Snagglebolt's Cloaking Device) to cover your tracks so you can get Crown Chemical Co. Supplies before they notice you're not part of the company. While disguised, you will be unable to mount or transform, you are only able to run there in less than two (2)minutes. Return to your Snagglebolt to move on to the next step of the investigation.
  4. Fireworks At The Gilded Rose/Snivel's Sweetheart: The Crown Chemical Co. Supplies contained chemical-filled rockets that Snagglebolt recognizes the design as being one created by Snivel Rustrocket. To locate his whereabouts, you're sent to his "girlfriend" for more information. Horde players are sent down into the Drag to talk to Roka at Gotri's Traveling Goods, Alliance players are sent to the Gilded Rose to speak with Marion Sutton.
  5. Hot On The Trail/Hot On The Trail: Snivel is apparently a liar. The annoyed ladies send you on a chase around either city to try and locate Snivel. Stop in at the bank, the auction house, and the barber shop of Stormwind or Orgrimmar to catch him fleeing the scene at each turn. Return to the ladies to discover that they think Snivel is trying to run out on them to the South Seas!
  6. A Friendly Chat.../A Friendly Chat...: Alliance players need to head straight to the docks and catch Snivel waiting for his boat. Horde players need to head to the eastern zeppelin tower in town. Once you've caught up to Snivel, he'll pass over Snivel's Ledger,which Snagglebolt wants to look at for his investigation. With the information within, he decides that it's time to take on the big boys.
While you just completed the holiday questline, you probably also noticed during your time spent in your capital city of choice, that there were some daily quests that you could also be doing. Aside from the farming, these daily quests are the only other way of receiving the holiday currency of Love Tokens. You're going to need more than a few for your first rodeo.

  • The following quests are determined based upon your current level and the bracket that corresponds with that particular level. Each quest does require a bit of travel, so be prepared to go somewhere "exotic" to kill these Crown Chemical Co. employees and destroy their wagons with Snagglebolt's Khorium Bombs. As with the sampler dailies, you will be rewarded with 5 Love Tokens and a sum of gold.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 5 - 13. Alliance players head to Elwynn Forest near the Westbrook Garrison. Horde players head to Durotar to the west of Ogrimmar's main gates.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 14 - 22. Alliance players head to Darkshore at the Grove of the Ancients. Horde players head to Silverpine Forest, just outside of Ambermill.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 23 - 31. Alliance players head into Duskwood to the abandoned farm near Darkshire. Horde players head to Hillsbrad Foothills, just outside of Hillsbrad Village.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 32 - 40. Both Alliance and Horde players need to head to Dustwallow Marsh just outside of what used to be Theramore.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 41 - 50. Both Alliance and Horde players need to head to the Hinterlands to the east of Aerie Peak.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 51 - 60. Both Alliance and Horde players need to head to Winterspring to the east of Everlook.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 61 - 70. Both Alliance and Horde players need to head to Terokkar Forest in the Outlands, to the east of Shattrath City.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 71 - 80. Both Alliance and Horde players need to head to Crystalsong Forest in Northrend, to the Forlord Woods beneath Dalaran.
  • Crushing the Crown/Crushing the Crown: Levels 81 - 90. Both Alliance and Horde players need to head to Uldum on Kalimdor, to the east of the Tomb of Khartut.
There is one more set of dailies that we need to cover before we talk about the Apothecary Trio boss fight and the holiday goodies that you can purchase during this event. Before we get into those dailies though, we need to discuss the farming aspect of this event. First off, you're going to need to speak with Kwee Q. Peddlefeet. There is a clone of this NPC standing at various locations in each capital city. 
  1. Peddlefeet. Outside of the Trade District Bank in Stormwind
  2. Peddlefeet. Between Auction House and Inn in Valley of Strength in Orgrimmar.
  3. Peddlefeet. Marble Island South of the Bank in Darnassus.
  4. Peddlefeet. Near the Auction House in the Bazaar of Silvermoon City.
  5. Peddlefeet. Commons Area near the Bank in Ironforge.
  6. Peddlefeet. Center Totem Pole on Lower Rise in Thunder Bluff.
  7. Peddlefeet. Outside Eastern Exit of Exodar.
  8. Peddlefeet. Throne Room of the Ruins of Lordaeron in 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 Charms off of level appropriate mobs to create Lovely Charm Bracelets with every ten (10) Lovely Charms. If possible, find an instance with a never-ending flow of mobs for the quickest returns.
As you create the Lovely Charm Bracelets, you have two options. You can turn a single Lovely Charm Bracelet into the Kwee at each respective city for the dailies below (and buff card reward!), or you can save the Lovely Charm Bracelets up to sell them on the Auction House, or a trade in at the holiday vendor for Love Tokens at a 1:1 rate. You also have the opportunity to wear them on lower level twinks or bank toons.
  1. A Gift for the King of Stormwind
  2. A Gift for the Warchief
  3. A Gift for the High Priestess of Elune
  4. A Gift for the Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas
  5. A Gift for a Lord of Ironforge
  6. A Gift for the High Chieftain
  7. A Gift for the Prophet
  8. A Gift for the Banshee Queen
The Apothecary Trio are located inside of Shadowfang Keep near the fountain and stables. You can see them from the entrance, but you still have to take the inside route to get to them. The door at the stairs is unlocked, so you don't have to wait to get in. There are three bosses; Apothecary Hummel, Apothecary Baxter, and Apothecary Frye, all three must be defeated before Hummel's corpse can be looted.
  1. Apothecary Hummel: Hummel uses Alluring Perfume and has a melee-range aura Alluring Perfume Spray. His damage can be nullified by using the Perfume Neutralizer available on the table nearby. While wearing the Perfume Neutralizer, beware to not stand in the cologne clouds thrown by Apothecary Frye.
  2. Apothecary Baxter: Baxter uses Irresistible Cologne and has a melee-range aura Irresistible Cologne Spray. His damage can be nullified by using the Cologne Neutralizer available on the table nearby. While wearing the Cologne Neutralizer, beware to not stand in the perfume clouds thrown by Apothecary Frye.
  3. Apothecary Frye: Frye does not have an aggro table and will continuously run between the entire party, deal negligible melee damage, while throwing perfume and cologne bottles to create clouds upon the ground. If wearing the opposite neutralizer, watch your step.
This fight is incredibly simple, even since it's first inception. It can be completed with a party of two well-geared players. No main "tank" or "healer" is required for success, as long as all players are paying attention to their surroundings and the rest of the group. A single player wearing the Perfume Neutralizer needs to grab and sustain aggro on Hummel, another player wearing the Cologne Neutralizer needs to grab and sustain aggro on Baxter as soon as he activates (about 15 seconds after aggroing Hummel). Frye activates after Baxter, about 15 seconds as well, and since Frye has no aggro table, it is best to simple let him run wild, or roll your stuns over on him to keep him locked down. If at any point Hummel or Baxter spawn a small alchemy lab, your healer needs to prepare a heal as they are about to unleash a Chain Reaction, which has the potential to be devastating if you aren't utilizing a T-H-3D group. A relatively continuous stream of Crazed Apothecaries will also spawn throughout the duration of the fight. Much like Frye, they cannot be controlled and will die shortly after spawning in an Unstable Reaction, hurting any party members nearby.
After all that questing, farming, and boss-killing is finished, you're wondering what to do with all those (or lack there-of) Love Tokens.

Lovely Merchant: Available in a local capital city near you!
And now that everything else has been settled, it's time to start making sure that all of the achievements are completed for the meta achievement: Fool For Love!
See you all at the end of the Love is in the Air event with my post-holiday completion post.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Post LF'13

And now that the holiday is officially over, I need to post my personal achievements for it.

Sadly, due to real life intervention, I was unable to play much during this holiday. In fact, I don't think I logged in more than a couple times during the entire duration. Love is in the Air might turn out the same way, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a little bit of game time in just to try and get the only holiday mount that I don't have..

Paragon: Elder of '09. Completed the Elders of Cataclysm in '12. Nothing new added for this year, nothing new gained.

Railene: Elder of '10. Completed the Elders of Cataclysm in '12. Nothing new added for this year, nothing new gained.

Xardion: Elder of '10. Completed the Elders of Cataclysm in '12. Nothing new added for this year, nothing new gained.

Laviana: Elder of '11. Completed the Elders of Cataclysm in '12. Nothing new added for this year, nothing new gained.

Arcia: Elder of '11. Completed the Elders of Cataclysm in '12. Nothing new added for this year, nothing new gained.

Sollexi: Elder of '12. Firecrackers and firework launching completed in '09, Alliance Elders in '11, and all other achievements completed in '12. Nothing new added for this year, nothing new gained.

Monk: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. No progress made on any achievements. 90-95% possibility of completion in '14.

Shaman: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 3 Coins and 2 Alliance Elders.   Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

Hunter: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 1 Coin. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 25-50% possibility of completion in '14.

Warrior: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 16 Coins, 1 Alliance Elder, 7 Kalimdor Elders, and 3 Eastern Kingdom Elders. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 85-90% possibility of completion in '14.

Warlock: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 2 Coins, 1 Alliance Elder, and 1 Eastern Kingdom Elder. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Warrior II: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 2 Coins, 1 Alliance Elder, and 1 Eastern Kingdom Elder. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 15-25% possibility of completion in '14.

Paladin: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. No progress made on any achievements. 0% possibility of completion in '14.

Horde Paladin: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 1 Coin. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

Horde Warrior: Unofficial Elder of '12 due to account-wide achievements. Collected 36 Coins, all Alliance, Horde, Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, and Cataclysm Elders. Current level restricting completion of all achievements, 75-80% possibility of completion in '14.

I was going to go further and branch out off of my main server, but I decided that would be pushing it.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Lunar Festival '13

The Lunar Festival really has not changed much over the years since it's original inception back in 2006. The holiday itself is the in-game version of the Chinese New Year and Blizzard actually changes the occurring dates of the holiday to correspond with the real holiday's dates. The 2013 dates are currently January 27th through February 9th.

On the actual date of the Lunar New Year, there are firework shows in Stormwind City, Thunder Bluff, Booty Bay, and Moonglade. On the final day of the festival, there is one more firework show put on display in Moonglade, with an increased number of lanterns placed around Lake Elune'ara to create parallels with the Chinese Festival of Lanterns.

With all that said, you'll know that the Lunar Festival has started because most, if not all, of the capital cities will have Chinese-style lanterns set out on display around the scene showing the start of the next holiday. Bread crumb quests will show up on your mini-map, and depending on where you log out in cities, right in your face.

The only purpose of the bread crumb quests, of which there are three, is to get you introduced to the idea of shooting off rockets and rocker clusters from the launchers placed around. As well as how to use your Lunar Festival invitation to come and go from Moonglade, where the vendors and fighting bits of the holiday all occur.

  1. The Lunar Festival/The Lunar Festival: The true bread crumb quest. All capital cities will have a Lunar Festival Emissary. This is the quest they offer to start you on your way toward doing an awful lot of flying/running.
  2. Lunar Fireworks: Like I said, these quests are the basics of the holiday. Purchase eight (8) fireworks, of any color, and launch them off from the firework launchers placed around the quest giver. Do the same thing after purchasing two (2) rocket clusters, of any type. 
    • Lunar Festival Invitation: This little bad boy is your free pass-port to Moonglade. As long as you're standing in a Greater Moonlight effect. As of last year's event, the invitation no longer has a 24 hour duration and now persists through the entire holiday, so you won't have to go back to get another one every single day.
  3. Valadar Starsong: Now that you have your invitation, use it in the Greater Moonlight nearby to port to Moonglade. Head into the town of Nighthaven and speak with Valadar. This gentleman is your go-to guy for some of the items to be purchased for this holiday. A list of his purchases will be further on down the guide.
  4. Elune's Blessing: You have to be at least level 40 to be able to grab this quest. It requires you to summon and kill a raid-level boss to gain a buff from the moonlight spawned within the corpse. We will get to Omen later as well. We have something a little more important to get to first.
Now that we've knocked out all of the holiday quests, and what an adventure they were, it's time to get down into the meat of the holiday. The Lunar Festival is all about traveling the world, literally. There are Elders placed all around Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, as well as Northrend. The Outlands are left out of this holiday.

As you go around speaking to these Elders, you will receive Coin of Ancestry from each one. You also receive a Lucky Red Envelope upon completing the quest; talking to them. There are two potential rewards inside of the envelopes:

  • Lucky Rocket Cluster: The same as the normal clusters of rockets that can be purchased from the holiday vendors, only this one comes with a little extra:
    • Lunar Fortune: When you launch these rockets off, you get a health buff. This buff does not adjust by level, so you always only receive +250 health. Amusingly, it has an area effect to it, so all those around the launcher get the buff, not faction specific either.
  • Elder's Moonstone: This item creates a pool of moonlight that you can stand in, much like the Grand Moonlight needed to use your  Lunar Festival Invitation, only it DOES NOT work for the invitation. Very helpful, or was, for indicating zones in Heigan's Dance Room in Naxxramas.
There are a total of 84 Elders to locate and collect coins from:

EASTERN KINGDOMS - Roughly placed dots, but good indicators of approximate locations.
  • 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)
  • Darkfeather: Twilight Highlands, Thundermar Ruins (51, 33)
  • Firebeard: Twilight Highlands, Dunwald Ruins (50, 70)
  • 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) [Claims to be removed, but is still there.]
  • Winterhoof: Cape of Stranglethorn, Booty Bay (39.9, 72.5) [Claims to be removed, but is still there.]
  • Skychaser: Westfall, Sentinel Hill (56.6, 47)
  • Stormbrow: Elwynn Forest, Goldshire (39.8, 63.7)
  • Hammershout: Stormwind City, Stormwind Gates (34.2, 50.6)

KALIMDOR - Roughly placed dots, but good indicators of approximate locations.
  • Bladeswift: Darnassus, Cenarion Enclave (39.1, 31.9)
  • Bladeleaf: Teldrassil, Dolanaar (57, 53)
  • Starweave: Darkshore, Near Lor'danel (49.5, 19)
  • Nightwind: Felwood, Jaedenar (38.8, 52.9)
  • Riversong: Ashenvale, Astranaar (35.6, 48.9)
  • Windsong: Mount Hyjal, Sanctuary of Malorne (26, 62)
  • Evershade: Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil (62, 22)
  • Brightspear: Winterspring, Lake Kel'Theril (53.2, 56.8)
  • Stonespire: Winterspring, Everlook (60.1, 49.9)
  • Skygleam: Azshara, Ravencrest Monument (64.7, 79.3)
  • Darkhorn: Orgrimmar, Flight Master Tower (52.4, 60)
  • Runetotem: Durotar, Razor Hill (53.2, 43.6)
  • Windtotem: Northern Barrens, Ratchet (68.4, 70)
  • Moonwarden: Northern Barrens, Crossroads (48.5, 59.3)
  • High Mountain: Southern Barrens, Vendetta Point (41.5, 47.5)
  • Bloodhoof: Mulgore, Bloodhoof Village (48.3, 53.4)
  • Ezra Wheathoof: Thunder Bluff, Elder Rise (73, 23.3)
  • Splitrock: Maraudon, Rotgrip/Tinkerer Gizlock Area
  • Mistwalker: Feralas, The Maul (62, 31)
  • Grimtotem: Feralas, Lariss Pavilion (76.7, 37.9)
  • Primestone: Silithus, Crystal Vale (30.8, 13.3)
  • Bladesing: Silithus, Cenarion Hold (53, 35.5)
  • Thunderhorn: Un'goro Crater, Slithering Scar (50.4, 76.1)
  • Menkhaf: Uldum, Khartut's Tomb (65, 18)
  • Sekhemi: Uldum, Ruins of Ammon (32. 63)
  • Ragetotem: Tanaris, Ruins of Uldum (37.2, 79.1)
  • Dreamseer: Tanaris, Gadgetzan (51.3, 27.8)
  • Wildmane: Zul'Farrak, Gahz'rilla's Pool
  • Morningdew: Thousand Needles, Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge (77.1, 75.6)
  • Skyseer: Thousand Needles, Freewind Post (46.4, 51)

NORTHREND - Roughly placed dots, but good indicators of approximate locations.
  • 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) [Must be owned by your faction or have a broken door.]
  • 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

CATACLYSM  Vashj'ir/Deepholm - Roughly placed dots, but good indicators of approximate locations.

Once you've gone out and collected all of your coins, you're going to need something to spend them on. Time to head back to Moonglade and talk to the Starsong's.

Valadar Starsong:

Fariel Starsong:

Maybe I should have mentioned that aside from the holiday outfits, if you're not a tailor or an engineer, this holiday is pretty much a worthless event for you. But it's a holiday, so chin up, and let's move on. Now that you've purchased anything you can get with your 84 coins (and whatever you have leftover from previous years), it's time to move on to the items that are sold that actually cost you coin.

Lunar Festival Vendor:

Valadar Starsong:

Now, it's time to finish off this holiday with a bang. It's time to bring out Omen, get your buff, and get your holiday quest reward.

In Moonglade, there is the Lake Elune'ara. During the Lunar Festival, there is a small patch of cluster rocket launchers on the far side of the lake away from Nighthaven. You're going to need a stockpile of cluster rockets to get the fight with Omen underway. I've heard anywhere from 20 - 70 cluster rockets are necessary to complete the summoning.

At first, there will be Minions of Omen summoned by the rockets. You can either slay these beasts or leave them to settle the bigger prize. Overtime, Omen will eventually spawn. He only comes with two attacks; Cleave and Starfall. There is potential for soloing, but your best bet is simply to assault him with others. You do not have to be grouped, as Omen's death will not complete the quest for you. If your groups happen to wipe, Omen's health does not reset. So simply resurrect and return to battle until Omen has been defeated. Do not fear being under-leveled for Omen, as you can simply participate in the battle using Elune's Candle. It doesn't deal a tremendous amount of damage, but it gives the lower level players something to do instead of sitting around and waiting for the battle to be over. Just make sure to try and avoid being hit by the Starfall.

When Omen is slain, a stream of moonlight will spawn in the middle of his corpse. This is the Elune's Blessing that is required to complete the quest. Head back to Valadar to complete your quest and get your reward:
  • Elune's Lantern: This fancy little item lets you create Elune Stones using Solid Stones. It has a 1 day cooldown, so it'll take some time to stockpile any amount of moonlight pools, as that is all the Elune Stones do.
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: To Honor One's Elders!
  • 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 Pant Suit or Festival Dress of any color. To note, the red festival dress/pant suit 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 it up or lag hates you.
  • 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. Just keep going until you get it.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Elders of the Cataclysm: Venture forth to the newest additions to the region with the Cataclysm expansion pack and find the 9 hidden Elders there. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 you at the end of Lunar Festival with my post-holiday completion post!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Tooltips

I am the greatest blogger ever!

Slight over-exaggeration, I suppose.

WoWHead offers a guide to adding tooltips to other websites, including blogs.

Lo and behold, my guides now have hover-over tooltips. I checked through my old guides and they look quite spectacular now.

Things can only get better from here.

~Paragon

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Time For Change

I started this blog back in October of 2010. Since then, I have made a grand total of 30 blog posts. That's a total of 26 months. The numbers turn out to be a little over a blog a month. Considering the topic and the amount of content that this blog was created for, I'm not putting forth my best effort to get information out to the reader as much as I should be.

With all that said, I'm not quitting. Definitely not.

My plan is, since it's almost the end of the year. To take a break. Officially. I know that I haven't made a post, or even edited a post draft since August/September and technically I've been taking a break since my LAST post, which was on August 9th, but I need you to stay with me for a bit.

I want this to work. And I feel that the only way for this to work, for me, is to start over. Sort of.

January is only a few weeks off, with that will come a "fresh" start and the beginning of the year holiday in World of Warcraft; the Lunar Festival.

My goal this time around is to get it done quickly and early. With a follow-up blog post when the holiday is over with all of my up-to-dates on progress for it.

I'm also going to be dipping out of my comfort zone a little and doing posts about something other than holidays. I really want to keep working on the Hardmode Reroll diary on Kutira, I find it to be an amusing entry and it's a break from the blog norm.

To be completely honest, I need some creative feedback. I can write holiday guide blogs and POV short-stories all day. I want to know what YOU want as a reader.

Class/Spec Guides?
Instance Guides?
Raid Fails?
Pet Battle Skirmishes?
Tales of PVP Glory? (or lack thereof as it would be)?
REAL Warcraft Short Stories?
Patch Note Rundowns?
Expansion Information Coverage?

Please let me know what YOU want as a reader and I'll do my damn best to bring you what you want. I only do this because I know people read it. If I'm not bringing you what you want, why would you bother to keep coming back?

~Paragon

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Hardmode Reroll: The Story of Kutira (Day ?)

Name: Kutira
Race: Orc
Class: Warrior
Spec: Fury/Protection
Guild: <Reckless Minority>
Server: Alterac Mountains-US

Completed Questing Areas:
Durotar, Mulgore, Northern Barrens, Eversong Woods, Tirisfal Glades,
Azshara (All three completed 'Glutton' achievements, plus 'Joy Ride'),
Ghostlands, Silverpine Forest, Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, Stonetalon Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Hinterlands, Northern Barrens

Completed Dungeons [Weapon Hoarding]:
Ragefire Chasm [Oggleflint's Inspirer, Cursed Felblade, Bazzalan's Blade]
Deadmines [Smite's Reaver, Cookie's Tenderizer]
Wailing Caverns [Stinging Viper, Worn Turtle Shell Shield]
Shadowfang Keep [Baron's Scepter, Commander's Crest, Haunting Blade]
Stormwind Stockades [Cold Iron Pick]
Blackfathom Deeps [-]
Gnomeregan [Hydrocane]
Razorfen Kraul [Thornspike]
Maraudon [-]
Scarlet Monastery: Graveyard [-]
Scarlet Monastery: Library [-]
Scarlet Monastery: Armory [Ravager]
Scarlet Monastery: Cathedral [Aegis of the Scarlet Commander]

My journeys have been full of mystery and wonder, but nothing compares to the strangest occurrence I've ever encountered.

I was relaxing in The Broken Tusk inn in Orgrimmar. When out of NOWHERE, this blue rectangle crashed down through the ceiling and crushed poor Gamon underneath it. Everyone was in high alert, weapons drawn, teeth bared, bloodlust rising. A comrade (I used this lightly, as Gamon had fits of drunken rage where -everyone- was at risk), had been killed in our very home!

A man stepped forth from the rectangle. He didn't look anything special. He was wearing one of those.. uhh.. Penguin suits. With stripes.. Pinstripes. He was human, but no one moved. He pulled a pair of spectacles from his inner coat pocket that stirred a few blades, but he carefully placed them on his nose, glanced around the room until his eyes stopped on me.

He nodded once and beckoned me over. Glances shot my way, heads shaking warily, but I've always been inquisitive, so I went to the human. He placed a small hand on my shoulder and whispered something in a language I didn't understand with my ears, but my mind knew exactly what he wanted.

I was to go with him. And leave this place behind.

I stole a peek around the room, but saw no familiar faces holding me back. I sneaked a glance at Gamon and saw one of his legs twitch, which forced a grin. I nodded to the man and followed him back into the blue rectangle, with something written in what I could only assume was that garbled mess of Common.

As the doors of the rectangle slid closed, I saw through the windows of the box as the inn began to vanish in front of my eyes. Then a severe case of vertigo hit my stomach and I clenched my teeth and lurched over, keeping my lunch where it was supposed to be. Heaving gasps hissed through my teeth. The man said nothing, only stared forward.

Almost as quickly as it had begun, the vertigo stopped and I heard the sound of wood breaking, a loud thump, and angry howls. He pushed the doors open and out we stepped..

Into the Broken Tusk inn in Orgrimmar.

The man smirked at my jaw-dropped expression, patted my shoulder, whispered something in my ear and stepped back into the machine. Which faded away and vanished completely.

What he said? "Welcome to Lothar."

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.

Signing off on journal entry three, Kutira,

P.S. I think this indicates a need for a new journal..