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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.
Nibuca's route for picking up candy
Unfortunately, even though I really want "The Hallowed" on my Paladin, he's not quite 80, so going to face the Headless Horseman will be a problem for me. But I may still run around and pick up all of the candy quests, now that they're up and running during Hallow's End. They're only a part of the big meta-achievement, but it might be worth getting them out of the way anyway, and the XP is supposed to be pretty good (especially if you're getting the Heirloom bonuses, which I am).If I do go, I'll be using Nibuca's handy route to all of the candy buckets -- she went through for you and figured out the quickest and easiest (or at least a quicker and easier -- it may not be perfect, as she says, but it works) way around to all of the candy quests in old Azeroth and Outland. You'll have to do Northrend on your own, but you may want to wait on that anyway, as it's supposed to be slightly bugged. If you are planning on getting all of your just desserts this year, Nibuca's route should be extremely helpful.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Hallow's End achievements
It always starts the same. You stand in the graveyard of the Scarlet Monastery. You take a candle and carefully place it upon the Hallow's End altar."Horseman rise," you say, "your time is nigh. You felt death once. Now, know demise!"He rises from the distance -- a little to your right, actually, as you face the tomb. The cackling voice and flaming horse make it clear the Horseman has risen again. "It is over, your search is done!" he warns. "Let fate choose now, the righteous one!"While this well-known and titular fight against the Headless Horseman is probably the most recognizable portion of Hallow's End activities, it's far from the only one. Let's take a look behind the cut at what you need to do to become "The Hallowed."
The Queue: Shoo fly, don't bother me
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.To kick things off today, I actually wanted to add something to one of Adam's responses yesterday. Spiraea was looking for a title that would fit their Priest. Adam suggested The Immortal, but me? I'm all about the Hallowed. You can't get it until October, which makes getting your hands on it tough... but it'll be worth the wait! It's my favorite title on my Priest. When I get a new raid title I switch to that for awhile, but always go back to Hallowed.realt asked... I have a question regarding in-game voice chat (or Ventrilo). Our guild has never used voice-chat when raiding. So far we have done pretty well with clearing all 10man content, including Sartharion+1D, without it. Now we are progressing into 25man. At which point do we really need starting using voice chat you think or isn't required at all? I haven't been in many other raiding guilds besides this one so I am curious how others are handling their communication.
Realms are up
The realms, they're back to workin'. After you've download patch 3.0.3, which is only 20 megs, you can log into the game and play around with some of the new features. We are not expecting very many realm problems tonight, since this was mainly a bug patch which fixed several outstanding issues.However if there are connection problems tonight, we'll keep you updated with all the latest news from Blizzard.So as long as you're able to get in and play, you'll quickly notice that the best part of the realms being up is that everyone and their cousin Niko is sporting the new Hallow's End title, "the Hallowed." If you weren't able to finish off everything necessary to get the achievement and accompanying title you'll need to wait until next year.Of course you could always start worshiping the Ori. I hear they're pretty hallowed as well.
Breakfast Topic: The elusive achievements of Hallow's End
I have to admit. Achievements were a pretty bright idea. Holiday achievements, even more so. Now I have something to keep me focused through the holiday seasons, keep my eyes on the prize so to speak. For example, with Hallow's End fully underway, I've been racking up the achievements on my Hunter, looking to get that title. It's a nice goal to strive for. It's a good thing that the A Mask for All Occasions requirement will be off Hallowed Be Thy Name in 3.0.3, or I'd be in trouble. Collecting one of each different mask? Please. Actually, I haven't even managed to collect one single mask, leaving The Mask Task woefully undone. I'm not sure what it is, but even doing 3-5 Trick or Treats a day, I have not managed to get one of those flimsy things on my Hunter. In past Hallow's Ends, I seemed to be destroying masks constantly, saying not nice things under my breath. This year, I pray for one, and instead have to deal with Penny Pouches and Candy Corn and costumes and no sign of a Mask. The random number generator just hasn't been kind to me. As it is, I was afraid that the toothpicks would do me in. I didn't even get a set of Tooth Picks on my Hunter until yesterday. The other item I need to finish out my Hallowed Title is the Hallowed Helm, which comes both from the Headless Horseman and Trick or Treating. I've seen it drop from the Horseman a few times, but I've always lost the rolls. But it's a rare drop, a low drop rate and a bit of luck should be expected to be needed for this stuff. But here's the funny thing: I have actually found Hallowed Helms while Trick or Treating. The problem is, I got them on 2 of my alts, my Paladin and my Warlock. Not exactly useful for my Hunter. But I keep trick or treating, praying my Hallowed Helm luck will strike one more time, and in the meantime admire how badass my Warlock looks with a pumpkin head. How goes your achievement hunt? Do you have one or two Hallow's End Achievements that just keep eluding you? For that matter, how's your luck on the Headless Horseman? I know that despite having done a run a day on him, I have yet to see a sword, a horse, or a flying broom, so I'm interested to find if anyone is seeing those in abundance.
