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Did you miss in Pandaria?: BFFs with Huggalon
Looking to build toward 150 toys for the Toymaster achievement? There's an easily obtainable toy in Townlong Steppes, but it's quite hidden, and also ... kind of disturbing. In the caves beneath Niuzao Temple lurks an ancient watcher, apparently from the same Titan brand as Archavon. His name is Huggalon the Heart Watcher. He looks just like the Wrath-era raid boss, if you ignore the giant purple bow on his head. And you should. To find him, enter the caves on the west side of the island. Take the first right and follow the right-hand walls. Just before you pass through an entrance lit by glowing beetles, you'll see a small passage up and to the right. At the end of this passage, Huggalon waits. You won't see a rare icon on your map because he is not a rare spawn. He's easily soloable in Siege of Orgrimmar gear, but feel free to bring friends if you might need backup. He does hit hard against cloth and has a decent chunk of health. Or, you can give this lonely giant the hug he yearns for and walk away. If you opt for murder, you'll be rewarded with the B.F.F. Necklace. You can place it in your toybox and then choose a player to be Friends Forever! with once per day. But honestly, who wants to be friends with a cold-blooded killer like you? While you're in the cave, keep an eye out for Fragment of Dread, part of the Riches of Pandaria achievement.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Timeless vendors
I've spent so many hours on the (now ironically named) Timeless Isle that I thought I knew everything about it. I was researching how I could help Golganarr to spawn to finally complete the Timeless Champion achievement, and I realized I'd missed something. I never thought to look for anything interesting by the Celestial Court itself. I figured it was static, like every other quest hub in the game, more or less. I thought the two vendors standing next to the emperor were the only ones who sold anything of note. Then I stumbled across Whizzig <Merchant of Time> in Wowhead's excellent Timeless Isle guide. I was sure I'd seen this snail-riding gentlemen before. But it never occurred to me that he was, in fact, a "rare vendor." He sells four different vanity items for your Perky Pug, such as Dread Pirate Costume. He also sells Magical Pet Biscuits and (for some reason) a glyph recipe. All of his items cost Timeless Coins. If you've got thousands of extra coins laying around, you might as well spoil your pup. Once I made this discovery, I took a closer look around the court. There are so many NPCs and so many of them sell useless things that it's easy to overlook things you might actually care about. At this point I also found a pandaren boy named Ku-Mo <Hand-Made Kites>. He sells the Sky Lantern pet for 7500 coins and a consumable Golden Glider for 1000. The latter works just like the engineer's version, but it only works on the island -- if you're willing to risk your neck on a makeshift glider a little kid cobbled together. You can't help Golganarr to spawn, by the way. You just have to get lucky. Fortunately he has a zone-wide announcement like the Dread Ship Vazuvius, and he takes much longer to kill than the average rare.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Hopling hunt
Stormstout Brewery is all about the beer, but the coolest item from this dungeon actually involves tea. Specifically, you'll need Ling-Ting's Favorite Tea, which "may cause the user to see strange things." Who is Ling-Ting? What is she into? We don't know, but we can guess. You can buy this tea from Auntie Stormstout at the beginning of the dungeon for 5 gold. I recommend buying more than one if you're going to try for this achievement during a run, since the buff only lasts 5 minutes. However, it's probably best to complete the dungeon first and go back so you aren't holding up the group. With the buff active, you can see Golden Hoplings scattered around the dungeon. Turning on nameplates allows for easier hop-spotting. Track Humanoids abilities also reveal the hoplings on your minimap. Another way to find them is to target and mark them with a macro: /target Golden Hopling /script SetRaidTarget("target",4) (Credit to Rakenaid on Wowhead.com) You need to find 30 hoplings. The final one sits underneath the mask of the defeated Yan-Zhu the Uncasked, assuming you've cleared the place. Once you find them all, you'll earn the Ling-Ting's Herbal Journey achievement, which is required for the Glory of the Pandaria Hero meta. You'll also receive the excellent Hopling pet in the mail. The only other way to get a virmen battle pet is to collect 250 pets for the Going to Need More Leashes achievement, which is much harder if you don't already have a large collection.
Did you miss in Pandaria? Gold from lost treasures
Looking to increase your liquid assets before Warlords of Draenor launches? A little treasure hunting now can help you prepare for expansion expenses. Mine smarter, not harder The Ancient Pandaren Mining Pick grants more than just the basic +10 to mining bonus that any ordinary pick provides. It also gives you a chance to mine gems from ore nodes in Pandaria. The pick is part of the Lost and Found achievement chain that eventually asks you to find 20 lost treasures. To find it, you'll need to travel to the Jade Forest and search the Greenstone Mine. It can spawn in several locations throughout the cave, either leaning against a wall or embedded in a vein of jade. Even today, the pick is one of the more highly sought lost treasures. I recommend choosing a character you don't use very often and parking him or her in the mine to check for the pick every so often. Just note that you can't see any lost treasures unless your character is at least level 85. This ancient tool is bind on account, so you can mail it to your miner after you unearth it. Swiftness of the swarm While you're mining (or doing anything else) in the Dread Wastes, the Swarmkeeper's Medallion can help you get around the zone faster, increasing your income per hour. Look for a tiny necklace on a mound of dirt in a marshy area just north of Kypari Zar. Unlike the pick, the medallion is bind on pickup. Make sure the character who loots it is the one who can use this speed boost to best effect.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: The (other) Butcher
The Diablo series has a boss called The Butcher who's been more prominent lately with his appearance in Diablo III. But let's not forget that WoW has its own. Doctor Theolen "The Butcher" Krastinov was a boss in the original version of Scholomance. Upon engaging him, he would let you know that "The doctor is in!" You had to kill him to summon the optional boss Kirtonos. Like many other bosses, he was removed from Scholomance during its revamp. Or was he? Now, Krastinov is actually a rare spawn that has a small chance to replace one of the trash packs following Rattlegore. He only spawns in the level 90 heroic version of Scholomance. Krastinov has the same abilities as his first incarnation: a bleed, a stun, and a self-Bloodlust effect. He only has one item on his loot table, with a 100% chance to drop. Krastinov's Bag of Horrors is a transformation item that lets you sport the doctor's fashion, including his trademark bloody cleavers, for 10 minutes. It's a tribute to the quest item of the same name from classic WoW's Ghosts of Caer Darrow chain. We never knew exactly what was in that bag, and we never wanted to. For you collectors out there, the bag has already been flagged as a toy in Warlords of Draenor.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: The broken burner
Not long ago, Blizzard unveiled the action-packed Warlords of Draenor cinematic, a worthy follow-up to the one for Mists of Pandaria. But did you know there's an achievement that ties in to the Mists trailer? Restore Balance sounds like it's just for druids, but anyone can earn it. The achievement asks you to "Visit the Shrine of Fellowship in the Jade Forest and follow in the footsteps of Chen Stormstout." What these cryptic instructions really mean is to find the in-game location where the Mists trailer happened. Head northeast from Grookin Hill toward the mountain on your map. When you see Shrine of Fellowship pop up on your screen, you're in the right place. It's a flat, misty plateau with a prominent jade bell (it was featured in the cinematic). Look for the Broken Incense Burner. You'll notice it's a bit crooked, just like in the trailer before Chen straightens it. Click on it to "restore balance" and you'll earn the achievement. I wonder if there will be a similar achievement for the Warlords trailer...
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Shado-Pan Geyser Gun
The latest build of the Warlords beta shows a number of achievements for toy collecting. You can earn a "Robo-Gnomebulator" (whatever that is) when you amass 150 of them. For those dedicated collectors, one of the most obscure toys in Mists is the Shado-Pan Geyser Gun. To earn it, you must return to the Throne of Thunder raid. You can queue for the Forgotten Depths section of ToT's LFR if you can't convince your guild to clear to Tortos. Once your LFR group has defeated Ji-Kun, you can return to the Tortos area by clicking on a feather and flying into the red portal above. Make sure you don't aggro any leftover trash on the way back! The geysers in ToT have a hidden minigame. Standing on top of one gives you a stacking debuff called Spray Water. Continue riding the geysers until the debuff stacks to 250, which takes both practice and patience. There's no achievement for this, so look for the "new mail" icon instead. You'll receive a message in your mailbox from Taoshi of the Shado-Pan congratulating you on your "ninja-like geyser-jumping abilities." She includes the geyser gun as a reward. Now you can douse friend and foe alike in lukewarm water that smells strongly of Tortos. If you want to be a really awesome person, you can earn the gun for several friends at once by allowing them to ride on your mount while you deal with those fickle geysers. Good luck!
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Carefully packaged rodents
As we approach the end of Mists, you may have characters with a vast pile of Lion's Landing/Domination Point Commissions from patch 5.1's Krasarang war clogging up your bags. Temporary world PvP boosts probably aren't of much interest these days, so here is a great way to spend them that will give you a more permanent reward. The Rodent Crate costs 2000 commissions. But what does it actually do? The tooltip doesn't specify. Using it will spawn Sumprush Rodents for one hour that can be battled and captured by anyone wandering by. Like other battle pets, they have a chance to be rare when you engage them. The crate is the only way to get this particular pet. If you haven't heard of these beaver-like rats, that may be because they are not part of the Pandaria Safari achievement. They have different abilities and colors than the similar Bucktooth Flapper from Jade Forest. Be sure to tell your friends when you're releasing the rodents so everyone can get one. The actual crate is so cute and weird when you place it down, I hope it becomes a Toybox item someday.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Lost treasure of Old Man Thistle
As we reach the end of the Mists era, it's a great time to finish up some of the achievements and questlines we may have missed. Like the Pinch King, this questline is hidden. No marker indicates it. But you are given clues. Once Fish Fellreed gets to know you better, she will tell you the story of Old Man Thistle, a farmer who found a secret cave full of treasure. It collapsed behind him after his mushan Bobo smashed through a wall, but he drew a map to its location. Unfortunately, the location of the map, like the cave, has been forgotten. In order to start the questline, you need to be exalted with the Tillers faction and Best Friends with all of the Halfhill Market characters. You'll know you're done when the Friends on the Farm achievement pops up. There's no quest for this, but you should head to Cattail Lake and hunt the Enormous Cattail Grouper. Be careful, though -- he's big enough to swallow you whole. (These groupers are also the target of the Gift for Haohan daily.) If you meet the requirements, the grouper will drop an Old Map and launch you on a brief but lucrative adventure.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: The Pinch King
A few days ago, I was fishing along the coast of the northwestern Dread Wastes and something caught my eye: a red-named mob pathing back and forth behind a rock. It was a pretty obscure location, and the only enemies nearby were swimming in the water, so I decided to investigate. It was a makrura named Odd'nirok. It wasn't considered a rare spawn or a quest objective. Curious, I killed him. He put up a tougher fight than I expected, though by no means difficult. He dropped Odd'nirok's Clamshell and a book called Troubles From Without. The book reads as follows: Brothers and Sisters, We need to keep our eyes beyond our shores. The mists have fallen. We, the Shado-Pan are the next and final line of defense. The first to come, as you know, were the Horde and Alliance. While they have not shown themselves to be hostile, we continue to follow them with a wary eye. The next to come did not arrive by air, but from beneath the sea. The makrura have shown increased activity on our shores, which suggests a possible future attack. I will highlight a few high-priority targets to look out for. As I read through the book, it became clear that I had stumbled upon something awesome, and also something very much hidden. No skull marker or exclamation point indicates this "quest." No achievement hints at it. You just have to find one of these makrura, like I did, and then you're off. I was determined to find the five others that the book identified and see where this crazy clamshell led me.
