How to get a Hopling pet

No, I still don't care about pet battles. But I do still think the Virmen are the second coolest race in Mists of Pandaria (just behind mogu, just ahead of mantid) and when I found out that it was possible to get a little virmen pet, I leapt on the chance. Above you see me standing with my new hopling pet. How did I get him? By completing the Stormstout Brewery achievement Ling-Ting's Herbal Journey, with help from both Wow Insider and Wowhead commenters. First off, commenter loopnotdefined tipped me off that you could complete the achievement after the dungeon had been cleared in yesterday's Stormstout Brewery tanking post.

From there, I went to Wowhead, which had a guide to the location of the Golden Hoplings posted by Shirah2003, which was very helpful. Then I noticed commenter Savagekrosa had a handy macro for helping to find the hoplings, which I modified by making the hoplings my focus target, which puts a dot on my map giving me their exact location. So after a clear of the Brewery, I ran back to Auntie Stormstout, bought 5 of Ling-Ting's Favorite Tea, and went back through the place using the macro from Savagekrosa to find the hoplings. And now I'm the proud companion to a little virmen hopling of my very own.

Thanks to everyone involved in making it possible, and whether you just want a new friend or are a pet battle fanatic, the hopling is waiting for you to come find him. Or her. Looks more like a her to me.

It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!