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Transmogrify your character into a dark ranger, take 1

Anne Stickney
Updated ·5 min read

Sylvanas' dark rangers first popped up in WoW during Wrath of the Lich King. These ladies aren't quite hunter, and they aren't quite rogue -- they're a mix somewhere in between. The first models we were shown were over in Howling Fjord, where a group of dark rangers handed out quests to leveling Horde members. These rangers are in leather gear suitable for a rogue -- and it's easy enough to obtain their look. Since rogues are losing their ranged slot in Mists, this is a limited time opportunity to snag the look of a dark ranger, bow and all.

Of course as with most NPCs, there will be bits and pieces of the look that you simply cannot obtain. Obviously the dead, pale skin and glowing red eyes are right out, and unfortunately, the boots are out as well; the one look-alike that existed for those boots was available in the original 40-man version of Naxxramas, and it was removed from the game when Naxxramas was moved. The hood is also an NPC-only model, but fear not! There's another hood that is just as suitable, in a place most players have long forgotten about.



  • Shoulders There are a couple of options for these. The easiest is to find a leatherworker who has the Stormshroud Shoulders pattern. If you can't find a leatherworker with that pattern, nab a pair of Flamescarred Shoulders from Magister Kalendris in Dire Maul.

  • Back The cloak pictured here is the Cloak of the Black Void, which can be crafted by

    tailors. If you can't find a tailor with the pattern, there are plenty of look-alikes out there as well.

  • Chest This sleeveless version of the Stormshroud Armor is the Tombstone Breastplate, which you can snag from Darkmaster Gandling in Scholomance.

  • Shirt No shirt needed with this outfit!

  • Wrists Bracers for this set don't matter so much, because they are hidden. You can use whatever you've got handy, no worries!

  • Hands These gloves are the Stormshroud Gloves. Again, the pattern for the gloves is no longer available in-game -- however, there should be leatherworkers running around with this recipe.

  • Waist Have your leatherworker whip up a Guardian Belt while they're at it; it's an exact match to the dark ranger's belt.

  • Legs The legs here are the Stormshroud Pants. Luckily, the pants pattern is purchasable from a vendor, so you can still get it in game, unlike the rest of the set.

  • Feet Since we can't get exact look-alikes for the boots the NPC is wearing, I've gone with simple black boots -- in this case, Shadowstep Striders, which drop from Harbinger Skyriss in The Arcatraz.

  • Main-hand weapon For the main-hand weapon with the delicate hook, the Cruel Barb is a decent enough match. For dagger-sporting rogues, any simplistic dagger will do. With this outfit, it's more about the ranged weapon than the weapons you carry, anyway!

  • Ranged weapon This is the Ancient Bone Bow -- it's a random drop from any of the final six bosses before Gandling in Scholomance. It's got a pretty unique look, and it's a gorgeous model -- there's even an heirloom version of it. For Horde players who don't feel like farming, you have the option of picking up the Marksman's Bow from Thrallmar. However, it'll cost you 159g 99s 84c before any reputation discounts. It also requires exalted reputation with Thrallmar.

  • Helm Don't think I forgot the helm in all of this! The helm pictured is the Skystalker's Shroud -- a leather hood that you can only get through a unique event out in Blade's Edge.

For the helm, you'll need to travel to Bash'jir Landing in northern Blade's Edge. Every two hours, the Skyguard will launch an assault on this location, and players who successfully defend the assault will unlock vendors, one by one. The final vendor is Aether-tech Master, who sells a Large Silver Metamorphosis Geode for four Apexis Crystals. Crack open the Geode, and you'll find a Skystalker Shroud that has a random assortment of stats on it.

The easiest way to get the Apexis Crystals is to feed 35 Apexis Shards to any of the giant crystals in the center of Apexis Relics. Then you'll want to deliberately mess up on the Simon Says to spawn an Apexis Guardian. The Guardian drops Apexis Crystals pretty much every time he's summoned. As for the shards, you can farm those from any of the mobs in the Ogri'la area. This does take some farming to obtain, but it's easy enough to get your hands on. The hood is a perfect match to the Stormshroud look, and well worth your time.

Though the look isn't an exact match to the dark ranger outfit, it's close enough to cause a second glance or two! For rogues or druids, this look is pretty simple to obtain. It just requires a little farming and a little hunting down as far as the leatherworking patterns go. But dark rangers aren't really rogues, are they? They've got elements of hunters, too -- which is why when I return, we'll be looking at that other dark ranger model, and seeing if we can construct a mimic for our mail-wearing friends.

Patch 4.3 lets you transmogrify your gear to look like any other gear your class can wear -- but you have to collect it first. Check out our coverage of transmogrification and start running those old dungeons!