Become a Guardian of Hyjal with transmogrification
Players expecting the Cenarion Circle to show up in Hyjal might have been a little surprised to find the Guardians of Hyjal patrolling around up there instead in Cataclysm. These defenders of the world tree Nordrassil aren't actually the Cenarion Circle at all. While some may be members of the Cenarion Circle, the Guardians of Hyjal are their own organization in their own right. This is why you'll see druids roaming around as well as warriors in full plate standing guard at Nordrassil's roots.
The Guardians of Hyjal are actually a collaboration between the druids of the Cenarion Circle and the Green Dragonflight. They've banded together to protect Hyjal from any would-be villains and to ensure Nordrassil's survival. With the uprising of Ragnaros in the region, it would seem that the group is sorely needed -- and as a faction in Cataclysm, players can join up with these guys and cash in on reputation rewards.
And if you really like the look of Hyjal's plate defenders, it's actually pretty easy to replicate it with transmogrification!
This plate set is actually a recolor of the tier 5 raid set for warriors. With its distinctive shoulders and emerald color, it works wonderfully for warriors of Hyjal and allies of the Green Dragonflight. Because this is a recolor, any plate class can pick it up and wear it; there are no class restrictions on the recolored versions of old tier sets. And while a few pieces aren't available in the recolored version, we've found some other pieces of gear that make a reasonable enough match.
I hope you liked Outland, because that's where you're headed for the majority of this gear!
Head The warriors of Hyjal's Peak don't appear to have a helm at all, so you can simply turn that graphic off.
Shoulders These fantastic emerald pauldrons are the Pauldrons of the Wardancer. You can nab them by heading to Serpentshrine Cavern and murdering Hydross the Unstable.
Chest While you're in Serpentshrine Cavern, pay Lady Vashj a visit and end her reign.
You'll find the Krakken-Heart Breastplate on her corpse, and it's a perfect match to this recolored set.
Shirt No shirt needed with this particular look; your tabard will be covering all of that anyway.
Wrists Bracers don't need to be transmogrified for this look. The gloves will cover them entirely.
Hands For gloves, you'll want to find Kael'thas Sunstrider -- the living version, not the mostly dead one. You'll find him in The Eye of Tempest Keep. Look for the Royal Gauntlets of Silvermoon after you've defeated him.
Waist Look up your local blacksmith and have them craft you the Indestructible Plate Girdle to go along nicely with this set. The pattern drops in Ulduar, so not every blacksmith is going to have it lying around.
Legs These legs may look like mail, but they are definitely plate. You can find the Greaves of the Bloodwarder on High Astromancer Solarian in The Eye of Tempest Keep.
Feet Because there are no recolored plate boots that match this set, we can't really match the NPC exactly. However, look for a pair of Kraken Greaves -- they aren't an exact match, but they're definitely close enough to do!
Tabard You'd think that the guards would be wearing the Guardians of Hyjal tabard, but they aren't. They're actually wearing the Cenarion Expedition Tabard that can be obtained in Zangarmarsh. But there's a catch -- you need to be exalted with the Cenarion Expedition to purchase it. The reputation isn't really that difficult to grind out, however, so this tabard is pretty easy to obtain.
Weapon Speaking of the Cenarion Expedition, you'll definitely want to hit exalted for them. Not only do they have the tabard you're looking for, but they sell Earthwarden, a two-handed mace that is an exact match to the mace the Hyjal guards are wearing.
Just like the tabard, Earthwarden also requires exalted reputation to get, so you can kill two birds with one stone while making this look and work on your Guardian of Cenarius achievement while you're at it. In addition, being exalted nets you the opportunity to pick up a Cenarion War Hippogryph. While it's got nothing to do with transmogrification, really, it's still a pretty sweet mount.
It may seem odd that the Guardians of Hyjal are using armor from the days of The Burning Crusade, but the truth is, these really cool recolored armored sets didn't really see a lot of use back when they were current. It's nice to see them get some real use -- and it makes mimicking looks for transmogrification all the easier to do.
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!
