5 stupid-awesome uses for the Glyph of Disguise

Last year, we examined the curious possibilities of the remarkable Potion of Illusion, introduced in Cataclysm and hailed for its potential as a tool for amusement and mayhem. Potions of Illusion were my guild's go-to ingredient in what were otherwise boring waits for raiding to start, and my guild thoroughly enjoyed playing around and seeing what different kinds of effects we could mimic. Although the days of Cataclysm are over, the Potion of Illusion still has its uses. And in Mists of Pandaria, the possibilities have opened just a little wider due to the introduction of a glyph that works hand-in-hand with the Potion of Illusion.

In Mists, rogues were given the Glyph of Disguise. This minor glyph allows rogues to copy the appearance of an enemy, simply by pickpocketing it. Sadly, the Glyph does have its limits -- rogues can no longer pickpocket Durn the Hungerer, a source of endless hours of amusement in beta -- but that doesn't mean the glyph is devoid of all fun. In fact, there are plenty of cool mobs out there in the world, waiting to be mimicked.

5. Purple dragonkin on fire

How would you like to be a purple dragonkin? Not so much? What if we upped the ante -- how would you like to be a glowing, purple dragonkin bathed in purple flame who is clearly a member of the Twilight Dragonflight and therefore evil beyond all reason? I thought so. This is a Cataclysm-era model, which means it's a little nicer looking than all those dragonkin you'll find wandering around Blackrock Mountain.

This mob is the Corrupted Elementalist, found in the southern part of the Twilight Highlands, near the terrifying metal spire that apparently houses Cho'gall's lair. There are several different models of this particular mob but the dragon is the best, followed closely by what appears to be an undead blood elf in tier 1 shaman gear. Why is the elf undead? How can the elf equip class-specific gear belonging to a class they can't learn? Who knows? It doesn't matter -- the only thing that matters is that they look really, really cool.

4. Fancy frolicking Frost Nymph

You know what else is cool? Dryads. Some of the best models for dryads are hanging out in Northrend, just waiting to be robbed of all valuable goods as well as their appearance. The dryad pictured above is a Frost Nymph, located in the Frozen Glade at the northern end of Howling Fjord. While the model is quite lovely, it doesn't have any kind of jumping animation. However, popping sprint while you're in dryad form is pretty hilarious.

And if the Frost Nymph isn't your cup of tea, there's always the Unbound Dryads up in Crystalsong Forest. These unique models look like they've been carved out of the same purple crystals that make up the strange floating trees in the area. While smaller than the Frost Nymph, their unusual appearance tends to turn heads just as easily.

3. Sra'thik Hivelord

The mantid were introduced with Mists of Pandaria, and include some of the coolest models we've seen in game yet. While even the everyday mantid you find roaming around the Dread Wastes are pretty cool, it's the ones with the armor that really stand out. And although pickpocketing the super-sized boss mantid won't yield any results, you can still find mantid of unusual size to copy, if you know where to look.

The Sra'thik Hivelord is decked out in some of the prettiest armor the mantid have to offer. And lucky for rogues, you can copy his appearance with no issues at all. Simply make your way to Sra'vess, and look for the cavern entrance on the north-eastern side of the island. You'll find the Sra'thik Hivelord lurking all by his lonesome down below. Be careful not to aggro him, however, or you'll lose your disguise and have a very angry level 90 elite on your hands.

2. Magnificent Magnataur

But if you're looking for something really big, look no further than the icy mountains of northrend, home to the magnataur. These monstrous brutes look like distant cousins of the centaur in the southern continents, but they're far, far larger. There's nothing more satisfying than stomping around your hometown and towering over wee citizens who have absolutely no idea what's going on, and the magnataur offer the perfect opportunity to indulge in this flight of fancy.

Although Northrend is crawling with magnataur, not all of them can be pickpocketed. The one shown above is the Garm Watcher, a level 77-78 mob that hangs out east of K3 in the Storm Peaks. Personally, he's my favorite, mostly because I like the color blue. However, there are a variety of magnataur scattered across Northrend, of varying colors -- the Borean Tundra has more than enough wandering around with an earthier hue.

1. Oathsworn Captain

I don't even know what this thing is, but let's try to sum up -- it's a giant lion carved from stone with a pair of awesome wings and some sort of weird wolf face that may or may not be a mask. It's a cat-dog-bird rock Tol'vir ... thing. We don't know. We don't really care. We just know that this is hands-down one of the coolest models in game, and we enjoy stealing it, because it ticks every box on the "What the fel is that thing that just stomped past me" box, and then some.

The Oathsworn Captain can only be found in one place -- the Lost City of the Tol'vir. Head to the instance, zone in, and you'll immediately see one of these monstrous beauties patrolling the path to your right. Just stealth past the mobs, pickpocket the captain, head back to the entrance and hearth to wherever you'd like to go. The best part about the Oathsworn Captains is that they even have a jumping animation, so even hopping around is graceful ... well, as graceful as a giant cat-dog-bird rock can get.

These are only five of what is very much an endless parade of mobs to pickpocket and mimic. The Glyph of Disguise may have its limits -- a five minute duration, no mounts, and it disappears when you enter combat -- but all of these disguises can be copied by a Potion of Illusion. Even if the disguise disappears, you can keep up an endless chain of disguises simply by chaining Potions from friend to friend, until you either get bored, or the Shrine gets overloaded by a small fleet of tromping cat-dog-bird rocks, dryads, magnataur, or whatever else you happen to find.

It's nice to see that the Potion of Illusion has not outlived its potential for useless fun, and even nicer to have the option to copy some of Azeroth's most exotic species. While these are my personal favorites, I'm sure there are plenty more amazing models out there to choose from. Share your favorites in the comments, and remember -- new patches mean more new models, and more potential mayhem.