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Guide to Hallow's End 2014
Hallow's End 2014 begins on Saturday, Oct. 18 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 1 this year. As with most of the game's holidays, Hallow's End is required for the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been that grants the Violet Proto-Drake. Completing the required Hallow's End achievements will also award the title the Hallowed. In 2011, Blizzard added some major updates and improvements to the holiday, changing Tricky Treats from edible confection into a form of currency that players can use to buy pets, masks, and wands. This year has some new loot available -- three costumes for your pug pals, and a new costume for players as well, the Exquisite Costume Set: "The Lich King." And for all you pet collectors out there, this year you'll find the usual Creepy Crate, Sinister Squashling and Feline Familiar as well as Widget the Departed and Cursed Birman, two new ghostly kitties to add to your collection. Toy collectors will want to make note of the Little Wickerman and add him to your Toybox if you haven't already. As with most of our holiday guides, I've arranged the achievements in the rough order they should be completed, noting which achievements are required for the meta and which aren't.
Guide to Hallow's End 2013
Hallow's End 2013 begins on Friday, Oct. 18 and runs through Friday, Nov. 1 this year. As with most of the game's holidays, Hallow's End is required for the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been that grants the Violet Proto-Drake. Completing the required Hallow's End achievements will also award the title the Hallowed. In 2011, Blizzard added some major updates and improvements to the holiday, one of which completely eliminated the hassle behind one of WoW's most hideous RNG nightmares, and one of which left us with two very cool non-combat pets. In short, Tricky Treats -- once vomit-inducing but otherwise useless items that dropped in spades from the holiday boss, the Headless Horseman -- are now a form of currency that players can use to buy pets, masks, and wands. And for all you pet collectors out there, you'll really want to pick up a Feline Familiar, a Beast-type pet with an unusually useful moveset. If you didn't get around to the holiday last year, please note that there's an additional 10 points available in the form of Tricks and Treats of Pandaria.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite Halloween content?
October is just about the best month ever for MMO gaming in my opinion, because that means that Halloween content is upon us. Developers seem to relish putting their utmost efforts into constructing the holiday and players certainly flock for some good ol' virtual trick-or-treating. It's hard to say what my favorite is. I was always amused by Mad King Thorn's horrible jokes in Guild Wars, I absolutely loved the Haunted Burrow in LotRO, and I spent many hours tackling the Headless Horseman in World of Warcraft. Last year's Cat God content in The Secret World was no slouch, either. So what's your favorite Halloween content and are you going to be playing it this year? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
My holiday discontent
I don't like WoW's in game holiday events. I never really did. In general, I'm not a big pet/mount/special cruft kind of collector, although I'll admit I've always wanted the Great Brewfest Kodo on my Alliance characters, just because I miss kodo. They're one of my favorite mounts. But be it Love is in the Air, Hallow's Eve, the Harvest Festival, or the Lunar Festival I just don't like the in-game holidays. What ends up happening is this: a lot of people do a lot of stuff, then there's a dungeon I can run once a day for special rewards I either don't care about or won't get, and then it's over. Now, you could point out a few things here. First off, that it's okay if I don't like the content as long as I'm not forced to do it and I'll agree with you. The content is eminently avoidable. I do like that. I like not having to do any of this stuff. I don't have to rescue reindeer or go fight the Greench, but for some reason I find the holiday events annoying and I won't even pretend I know why I find them annoying. I just admitted I can avoid them. Why, then, do they bother me so much? And here's another weird but true fact: they annoyed me a lot less when you could chain-farm them. Ever since they put holiday bosses like Coren Direbrew, The Headless Horseman and Ahune on the dungeon finder and made them drop one special bag a day (for your first run) I've found them far, far more terrible and annoying even though it means I can run them less. I actually find myself looking back fondly on the day that I ran the Headless Horseman twenty-seven times, as everyone in our group of five switched to every max level alt they had to get another shot at the fellow. I don't even understand that one myself. I just said I don't like the holidays, and that I like being able to utterly avoid them, and now I'm saying that I don't like that I can run them less now?
WoW Archivist: The ghosts of Hallow's End
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Yesterday, Hallow's End went live for the seventh time! The holiday began as a modest one, but it has evolved into one of WoW's most elaborate. Over the years, it has endured more controversy and intrigue than any other holiday. Let's take a look back! The first Hallow's End The original incarnation of Hallow's End went live in October 2005. The files were included with patch 1.8. It was a far cry from the elaborate holiday we know today with its quests, achievements, vendors, masks, and ghosts taunting us with awful poetry. Here is Blizzard's 2005 introduction: When the decorations of Hallow's End light up Azeroth's cities, you know there's mischief afoot! Seek special vendors in Orgrimmar or Ironforge and get your hands on treats! Aid a sick orphan in a little trick-or-treating! Darkcaller Yanka, attending the Forsaken's Wickerman Festival, and Sergeant Hartman of Southshore are seeking your aid in keeping the enemy out of their holiday affairs - are you up to the challenge? The first Hallow's End wasn't much to write home about. Towns were decorated with pumpkins. The inns got apple bobbing. In addition, the holiday made three quests available. The first was to collect candy from capital cities for your faction's kids. The other two were faction specific -- and were the focus of intense forum-griping.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Hallow's End 2012
Every week, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. Today, our yearly sugar rush. Hallow's End 2012 begins on Thursday, Oct. 18 and runs through Wednesday, Oct. 31 this year. As with most of the game's holidays, Hallow's End is required for the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been that grants the Violet Proto-Drake. Completing the required Hallow's End achievements will also award the title the Hallowed. Last year, Blizzard added some major updates and improvements to the holiday, one of which completely eliminated the hassle behind one of WoW's most hideous RNG nightmares, and one of which left us with two very badass non-combat pets. In essence, Tricky Treats -- once a vomit-inducing item that dropped in spades from the holiday boss, the Headless Horseman -- are now a form of currency that players can use to buy pets, masks, wands, and other holiday items. 2011 also introduced a new set of quests associated with Hallow's End, one of which sends you into an enemy city without the fear of ugly death. Bottom line: If you weren't around for last year's holiday, a lot of stuff may interest you this year. If you were around for last year, you'll still be interested, as the Headless Horseman's set of dropped epics are a lot more compelling at the beginning of an expansion. Hardcore achievement hunters will also be pleased to note an additional 10 points in the form of Tricks and Treats of Pandaria. As with most of our holiday guides, I've arranged the achievements in the rough order they should be completed, noting which achievements are required for the meta and which aren't.
Mists of Pandaria: Hallow's End loot updated
In addition to all the other things Wowhead has found in the latest beta patch, we're apparently getting updated Hallow's End loot as well. At ilevel 470, these epic rings are slightly superior to the blue items dropping in Mists' heroic dungeons. What are we looking at so far? The Band of the Petrified Pumpkin, a strength DPS ring. Seal of Ghoulish Glee, an agility DPS ring. The Horseman's Ring, an int ring with hit on it. That's caster DPS, right? I'm going to assume that's what it is. Wicked Witch's Signet, a caster ring with spirit on it. That's for healing, right? There's also an updated Horseman's Horrific Hood and the Horseman's Sinister Saber, but both are slighly lower in ilevel (463), so we're not sure about them yet. All of it seems to suggest that the plan is for Mists to come out before Halloween, which I suspect most of us already believed. 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!
Check out the DC Series 8 and Premium Series 4 action figures
Blizzard sent the WoW Insider offices a batch of the brand new DC Series 8 and Premium Series 4 action figures to play around with. As a guy who is currently typing words on a World of Warcraft blog, you can imagine that I appreciate the occasional action figure. I've been impressed with the detail on the DC series in the past, especially the Garrosh and Lady Vashj figures, and was excited to see these up close. Check out this gallery of shots that I took at an expensive studio space in a trendy area in Brooklyn. DC WoW action figures series 8 includes: Confessor Dhalia Brink Spannercrank vs. Snaggle The Black Knight DC WoW premium series 4 includes: Moonkin: Wildmoon Hallow's End Nemesis: The Headless Horseman %Gallery-150480% Also, since I used to be a huge fan of ToyFare magazine and Twisted ToyFare Theater back in 1999, I went ahead and did my own.
Breakfast Topic: Are you ready for Hallow's End?
Hallow's End 2011 is upon us this morning, and with it comes a lot of new content. There's new loot to grab from the Headless Horseman, new pets to get from quests and vendors, and new daily quests to run. Unsure of where to start? Remember, our Hallow's End Achievement guide is always here for you. I have to say, the Headless Horseman may very well be my favorite WoW villain. He's classic, he's spooky, and his voice and gimmick are a whole lot of fun. I'm almost sad he's only around for a few weeks every year. This year, I'll definitely be after his helm so it's there as a transmogrification option in patch 4.3. I'll also be grabbing the new pets for sure, and hopefully one of each mask so I can finally get that silly achievement done. I'm also really hoping the new Gilneas vs. Undercity subplot provides some new lore for our sadly neglected furry friends. So how about it -- are you ready to get started? Will you be aiming for a set of Reins and the Hallowed title this year? Are you after a couple of pets? Are you excited to visit your old crazy friend in the Scarlet Monastery every day? Or are you just taking it easy?
New Hallow's End content for 2011
Hallow's End is nearly upon us, and this year looks like it's going to have a whole bunch of fun new things to keep us occupied, from new pets to new loot to new quests. To start with, the famous wickerman of Undercity will now have a Stormwind equivalent, maintained by the Gilneans. Alliance and Horde will have a chance to honor their own wickerman or douse the one that belongs to the opposing faction. In addition, you'll be able to go on a stink bomb run over Stormwind or Undercity, or clean up after the other sides' bombing. You can read up on all of these quests, which are dailies, in Allison's Hallow's End Achievement Guide. The Headless Horseman will once again lurk in the Scarlet Monastery graveyard, with his usual outlay of rings, his helm (perfect for transmogrification), and his sword, all of which will now be ilevel 365. His Reins will also be a possible reward from the first kill each day, of course. Again, you can find a complete list of his loot in our Hallow's End Achievement Guide. Tricky Treats, those annoying things that you couldn't destroy fast enough in years past, will now buy you stuff. Vendors this year will sell every single Halloween mask for two Tricky Treats each, and two different pets, the Feline Familiar and the Little Wickerman, for 150 Tricky Treats each. Tricky Treats will be awarded from various quests or Hands of Treats from trick-or-treat buckets in inns around the world. The holiday officially starts Oct. 18, so get ready! There's lots of new stuff to do this year, and not much time to do it in, especially if you're not about to tear yourself away from BlizzCon, even for a flying horse.
The OverAchiever: Mountain O' Mounts from holidays
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we still have yet to meet anyone with the Big Love Rocket. There aren't many mounts available from WoW's annual holidays, but they're a pretty interesting example of how Blizzard's changed content through the years in an attempt to make things -- words fail me -- less annoying. Three of WoW's annual holidays will cough up rides, and your chances of getting them -- with the benefit of the "goody bag" system implemented in patch 3.3.3 -- are much better than they used to be. Long-time players will remember the hell of farming holiday bosses with a bevy of guild alts in order to maximize the number of boss kills per day for all the mains who wanted special drops. Sometimes you got lucky. Sometimes you were everyone else. Also read: Combining The Ambassador and Mountain O' Mounts Mountain O' Mounts in Outland Mountain O' Mounts in Northrend Mountain O' Mounts in 5-man dungeons Mountain O' Mounts in raids Mountain O' Mounts from achievements Mountain O' Mounts from PVP Mountain O' Mounts from professions
The Queue: Veronica Day
Welcome back to The Queue, our daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Fallout: New Vegas has been my poison of choice for the last few days (in between playing World of Warcraft, obviously). Do you know how weird it is to be running around a post-apocalyptic wasteland for hours with an NPC voiced by someone you've met in person? I'll give you a hint: It's really weird. dawnseven asked: Now that we're practically on the eve of release, have there been any real changes to fishing in the Cataclysm beta? At last year's BlizzCon, Blizzard said it wanted to make it more interesting. Is there anything new besides new fish and new dailies? Is it still the same ol' boring thing?
Know Your Lore: The peculiar tale of the Headless Horseman
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Prepare yourselves, the bells have tolled! Shelter your weak, your young and your old! Each of you shall pay the final sum -- CRY for mercy! The reckoning has come! He was introduced with Patch 2.2.2 in 2007, his gruesome shade sending players frantically scurrying for water buckets to put out buildings he'd set on fire. The Headless Horseman has been around ever since, providing a fun holiday break from the usual Warcraft grind -- but few people knew the origins of the new boss. Other than a brief note by the orphan matron who begs players to put out the fires, the character of the Headless Horseman seemed to have little story behind him. The Warcraft Legends manga series introduced a story about the fearsome rhyming foe in issue number 5 released in September of 2009. Though the Horseman's story had been fairly short until that point, the manga told the whole tale of the Horseman's origins, why he haunts the streets setting buildings ablaze -- and why he prefers to speak in those peculiar poems rather than simply saying what's on his mind. It's a sad story, taking place before the fall of Lordaeron, and it begins with a paladin named Sir Thomas Thomson. Please note: The following post contains spoilers for Warcraft Legends Vol. 5. If you wish to remain unspoiled, run away little girl! Run away ...
Headless Horseman and cogwheel crash workaround
If you're one of the many players who is having issues with the Headless Horseman pumpkin locking up your game client or any other cogwheel type item doing the same sort of thing, there is now a workaround while they look into fixing this bug. Kill your tooltips. That's right, tooltips are the cause behind this rash of client crashes. There are two ways you can get around this particular issue. One is to just disable tooltips. You can do this by setting up a single macro and putting it on your action bars. Stickied post by player Deyneth of Wyrmrest Accord (US-H) /script GameTooltip.Temphide = function() GameTooltip:Hide() end; GameTooltip:SetScript("OnShow", GameTooltip.Temphide) /stopmacro [btn:1] /script GameTooltip:SetScript("OnShow", GameTooltip.Show); source This will disable tooltips when you left-click the button and re-enable them when you right-click the button. An alternative is a simple addon called CogFix which disables the simple addons which are causing this issue, but will allow complex tooltips (like when you mouse over a player or NPC) still remain visible. Any custom tooltip addon could possibly protect you from this bug, but your mileage may vary. The developers are working on permanent a fix for this issue, but have to test things to make sure that the fix doesn't cause issues elsewhere.
Headless Horseman pumpkin shrine crashes game
When the Hallow's End decorations went up, many people were excited about the possibilities of the rare Headless Horseman mount, finishing up What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been and just generally playing around with one of the favorite holidays in the game. When the first players started doing the Headless Horseman event in hopes of Sinister Squashlings, they quickly noticed a rather harsh bug. There is about a 50/50 chance when mousing over the pumpkin to summon the Headless Horseman that the game client will lock up and/or disconnect you. Ever since patch 4.0.1 hit the live servers, there have been reports that world items that give the gear icon to let you know it is clickable have been causing a similar crash, and this is likely related to that. One of the reasons this bug is especially hurting groups is that the people to usually click on the pumpkin are the tanks, who are then disconnected, leaving the groups to fend for themselves until they get back. As a precaution, have a DPSer be the one to click on the pumpkin and allow time to reconnect afterward so that the tank and healer can keep the rest of the group alive. If the fight is over by the time the DPSer gets back, the loot roll and bag of goodies should be ready and waiting. Update: Orlyia (Blizzard customer service representative) posted a list of known issues and work-arounds for Hallow's End in the customer service forums. They've said that they're aware of the mouse-over issue and the developers are looking into what is causing it.
Breakfast Topic: Hello, Hallow's End!
Hallow's End falls upon Azeroth once again, and it's the same old, same old. But the same old thing actually never gets old, because this is quite possibly the most fun yearly event in the game. It's that time of the year where the typically empty and unloved Scarlet Monastery graveyard gets more than its welcome share of visitors and its summoned inhabitant gets farmed endlessly for his drops -- or I should say, one particular drop. At this point in the game with Cataclysm on the horizon, pretty much everybody has gotten what he needs from the Headless Horseman, who drops mostly ilevel 200 gear. With just a few weeks to go before players level past 80, there isn't anything that won't be obsolete. That said, I have a sentimental attachment to the Horseman's Horrific Helm, which I have macroed to use with my Hammer of Wrath, which I have to admit is terribly annoying (and extremely spammy now in 4.0.1). I think I'll be paying the horseman a visit again this year, even though the only thing I really want off him is his horse. What are your Hallow's End plans? Is this the only holiday you need to finally get that 310 percent mount speed? Perhaps you want that Sinister Squashling pet? Are you complete with all your achievements for this holiday -- on all your alts? Tell us your plans for this holiday, one of the last yearly events we'll see in old Azeroth.
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: Zarhym clarifies new holiday boss mechanics
So one of the new changes coming in Patch 3.3.3 is that one will be able queue up using the dungeon finder in order to fight world event bosses such as the Crown Chemical Trio or the Headless Horseman. However, the actual extent of the changes is a bit more involved, as Zarhym clarified in a recent forums post. Here's the rundown:
Hallow's End was exactly random enough
Now that Hallow's End is over for another year, it's time to settle up. We already asked whether you got what you wanted, but according to the informal polls (and the feedback I've been hearing), quite a few people didn't actually get everything they were trying for. As we mentioned on the podcast the other week, many people who said they did everything they could probably didn't (did you really go trick-or-treating every hour of every day during the holiday?), but it's not too far a stretch to suggest that maybe the drop rates for some of the hardest items to get (the Horseman's helm and the Sinister Squashling pet seem to be the toughest, though I heard a lot of stories about hard-to-find toothpicks, too) are a little bit lower than they should be for fairness. Not so, says Bornakk -- he said while the holiday was ongoing that the drop rates were fine, and now that it's over, he says they're still fine. That doesn't mean Blizzard won't change it for next year, but it does mean that they don't have any current plans to change the holiday at all. "The randomness," as he says, "can win sometimes." Our condolences if you were trying for an item and didn't get it -- even on a 50/50 coin flip, there's still a chance to see one side 1000 times in a row. We sincerely mean this one: better luck next year.
Breakfast Topic: Hallow's End ends
This is it, the end of Hallow's End. Let's make today's Breakfast Topic a quick one... how did your Hallow's End go? Were you able to obtain everything you needed? It took me logging on every hour on the hour (alright, on the hour when I remembered it, anyway) to get the Hallowed Helm which I didn't manage to pick up last year. Along the way, I lined my bags with an assortment of wands, loads of ridiculous masks that still didn't complete A Mask for All Occasions, and enough Tooth Picks to make a family of sharks sparkly clean. I finally got it with forty-something hours to spare, after five straight tricks from Innkeeper Gryshka. How did you fare? Did you manage to get The Hallowed title on all your characters? Were you able to beat the Headless Horseman into coughing up more candy? Did you go around making those emotes just to get treats for those kids? Time's run out on this World of Warcraft holiday, so share your in-game stories about this past week or so.
The best of WoW.com: October 13-20, 2009
It's that magical time of year in Azeroth -- pumpkins adorn the inns, players are chowing down on candy like crazy, and a deep rhyming voice echoes throughout the world, originating from somewhere in the Scarlet Monastery. Yes, it's the in-game Hallow's End holiday again, and the Headless Horseman is terrorizing newbies and veterans alike. Head past the break for all the information you need about trick-or-treating your way through Azeroth.
