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The OverAchiever: Dungeon and raid titles, Part 2
After taking a two-week detour into guides covering the Love Is In the Air and Lunar Festival holidays, we're going to return to the list of titles available from dungeon and raid achievements. You can find part one here, covering everything from Argent Defender to Grand Crusader. This week, we'll pick up where we left off. Herald of the Titans (requires an Algalon-10 kill under special circumstances) or Starcaller (requires Observed -- 10 player) Herald of the Titans, much like its ToGC-10 counterpart Argent Defender, requires you to kill Algalon in Ulduar-10 without padding the difficulty with gear from higher-level raids. The result is arguably the coolest Algalon-related title apart from Celestial Defender, but it won't come without a ton of planning and a lot of skill. Starcaller is the same deal, minus the gear requirement.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Lunar Festival achievements
The Lunar Festival runs this year from Sunday, Feburary 14th at 9:00 am server time through Sunday, March 7th at 9:00 am server time. That's right, folks; you've got three weeks to get everything done. The basics of the holiday involve talking to a number of Elders to honor them, receiving Coins of Ancestry in return, and then using the Coins to purchase fun holiday items. The To Honor One's Elders meta-achievement is also a requirement for What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. In general, this is not a difficult holiday, but it is time-consuming; you'll need to hunt down a lot of NPCs. Because of the mileage you'll rack up doing this, it'd be a good time to do World Explorer if you haven't already done that, or pick up flight paths that a character doesn't yet have. We've updated and expanded our 2010 guide to include exact coordinates for every Elder in the game, and I've also arranged them in what I hope to be the most straightforward way to reach them all. Let's get started.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Fool for Love achievements
The in-game holiday Love Is In the Air begins Sunday, running February 7th (3:00 am server time) through February 21st (3:00 am server time) this year. Doing most of the achievements related to the holiday will reward you with the meta Fool for Love, the title "the Love Fool," and one more notch in the long trek toward What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. Love Is In the Air has been markedly changed for 2010; Blizzard's eliminated much of the painful RNG that drove players up a wall in 2009, and right now you can expect a rather cool and fun little holiday that's not entirely unlike Brewfest in its approach to achievements. You can do dailies and other quests for Love Tokens, and buy holiday items from vendors in addition to enjoying some stuff that's just for fun. But you're here for the meta, right? We all know you want that drake. Before we get started, I would advise reading our FAQ article on Love Is In the Air if you're not already familiar with the holiday.
The OverAchiever: Dungeon and raid titles
Titles; they are cool, they are wonderful, and in a not-inconsiderable number of cases, they are very hard to get. Almost without exception, every single title in the game is also linked to an achievement. Today we're going to examine how you can get (or, in some cases, how it was possible to get) about half of the 19 titles currently available from dungeons and raids. Next week, we'll cover the last half, going in alphabetical order. If you're a skimmer, the two toughest achievements are actually at the tail end this week, and if you're currently in Icecrown Citadel, there's two currently-unobtainable titles that may interest you here (in addition to another set next week).
The OverAchiever: 5 lucrative achievements
Last week we discussed a set of achievements likely to drive the average player to the poorhouse. This week, in the spirit of consoling people who may not necessarily have a Traveler's Tundra Mammoth in their immediate future, I'd like to present a series of 5 achievements where at least one of the following is true: They're an unusual means of making gold in a way people wouldn't necessarily expect, or: It would be almost impossible not to make a pile of gold while doing them. Now, a disclaimer; the most obvious picks here would be achievements like Got My Mind On My Money or The Bread Winner, but they're more a record of your previous looting and questing rather than being something you really have to go for consciously. I'm on the lookout for slightly more interesting ways to grow rich from achievements that are not so directly concerned with moneymaking:
The OverAchiever: Straight to the poorhouse
As a general rule, achievements are more oriented toward raw effort than deep pockets, and that's one of the things that's nice about them for newer players. However, some achievements are all about your ability to fling giant wads of cash around, like monkeys at a zoo flinging...things that are usually not money. If you're sitting on an overly fat wallet and ever thought to yourself, "You know, I'd really like to experience being a poverty-stricken (class) begging for gold on a mailbox somewhere," say no more. Buy your way to the following achievements, and we'll have you /dancing on that mailbox in no time. For the purpose of our discussion today, I'm classifying anything that costs 1,000 gold or up as a reasonably expensive purchase. While there are other achievements that will probably cost you a great deal of gold to get (Working Day and Night comes to mind if you've power-leveled professions like Jewelcrafting or Inscription), how much you spend on them is usually subject to how quickly you want to do them. By contrast, the achievements below are entirely dependent on your ability to amass a huge pile of gold and then use forklifts to distribute it to NPCs in return for achievement points. And if you want all of them? The sum total of the 6 achievements below will probably run you somewhere in the region of 48,000 to 62,000 gold.
The OverAchiever: 5 of the best lore-related achievements
Let's be honest; the best lore-related achievement is without question Loremaster, which requires you to do the vast majority of the game's quests. But that's pretty self-evident -- "To get the best lore experience in-game, do the quests, which contain virtually all of the actual lore!" -- and thus kind of a cop-out from my perspective. So what I'm going to do with this edition of OverAchiever is pointedly ignore the fact that Loremaster is the most important thing you should do as a dedicated lore junkie, and turn to some other options that tend to be overlooked. As with our article on Twenty-Five Tabards, this is not an exhaustive guide on how to do each achievement, but simply a starting point if you're either interested in Azeroth's history, or interested in your character becoming more deeply involved in the developing story. As an early warning, 1 of the following 5 achievements is no longer doable, but I've decided to include it as I think the inability to do it at this point in time could be considered part of Azerothian history.
Still time to win the Twelve Days of Grunty contest
With so many sites and stores promoting commercialism and spending, it's always refreshing to see fansites run contests that are in the true spirit of the season -- altruism (and ad traffic, of course). In this case, WoW-Achievements.com is getting into the Winter Veil spirit with their Twelve Days of Grunty contest! From December 13th to December 25th, the site is presenting one new WoW trivia question each day. A winner is chosen randomly from those who answer correctly, and each day a Grunty the Murloc Marine pet is awarded. No registration is necessary, and the questions are easily answerable with a quick Google search. If you didn't get to go to BlizzCon '09, or if you didn't order the livestream from DirecTV, this might be your only shot at getting Grunty in your digital stocking, save asking Santa. And I don't think Santa does the whole eBay thing. If you know of other sites running holiday contests, please let us know so we can make sure everybody gets a chance to cash in on the season of giving!
The OverAchiever: Guide to Winter Veil
Looking for our 2010 Winterveil Guide? You'll find it here! Winter Veil is one of the more immersive and fun holidays that World of Warcraft offers over the course of the year; it grants you the chance to ride something a little "different," turn into a snowman with a cute /dance animation, and receive gifts containing noncombat pets if you've been good and Coal if Santa RNG thinks you've been bad. Before anyone asks, Winter Veil runs from Tuesday, December 15th to Saturday, January 2nd in 2009/2010, and this is article is about what you'll need to do in that period to complete the meta (and earn the title) Merrymaker. Unlike November's holiday, Pilgrim's Bounty, Merrymaker is required for the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, so don't slack on this one if you want that violet protodrake! On Metzen! Saving Metzen for the achievement On Metzen! is a short but fun questline that starts with an NPC in front of the Ironforge bank (if you're Alliance) with Metzen the Reindeer, or an NPC in front of the Orgrimmar AH (if you're Horde) with Metzen the Reindeer. The quest ends in either Searing Gorge or Tanaris, whichever is more convenient to you. Either zone you hit, try to do the Metzen quest first, as you'll need rewards from it for two of the following achievements.
The OverAchiever: Hail to the Chef
With so many players now sitting on high Cooking skill after Pilgrim's Bounty, I thought it might be cool to do Cooking's meta-achievement, Hail to the Chef. If you've leveled Cooking solely through the Pilgrim holiday, your character's probably sitting on around 350-ish Cooking, give or take, and completing the meta is well within your grasp with some hard work and perseverance. Grand Master Cook You'll need at least 350 Cooking Skill to train up the last rank, but as soon as you do, achievement -- simple as that. The Cake Is Not A Lie For better or for worse, getting the Delicious Chocolate Cake recipe is pure RNG (and until recently a buddy couldn't complete the meta purely because she hadn't gotten it to drop after more than a year). It's a random reward from any of the Outland or Northrend Cooking dailies, so you can increase the odds of getting the recipe by doing both every day and just hoping it eventually shows up. Once you've learned it, you'll need the following: 8 Simple Flour: Purchased from any Cooking vendor. 4 Ice Cold Milk: Purchased from most innkeepers and lots of food vendors across classic Azeroth. 4 Mild Spices: Purchased from any Cooking vendor. 8 Small Egg: For Alliance, the most convenient place to farm these is off the moonkin in the caves east of Auberdine (Darkshore). For Horde, the most convenient place is off the dragonhawks in Eversong (outside Silvermoon). 1 Flask of Port: Purchased from most bartenders or alcohol vendors -- hit the closest tavern. 3 Mageroyal: Herbalists can get these on their own, but otherwise, just hit the auction house. All set? Bake it up, and you've got your achievement.
The OverAchiever: The Keymaster
Hot on the heels of a much larger achievement we've recently covered (Twenty-Five Tabards), I've decided to do The Keymaster in this article for two reasons: I recently watched Ghostbusters. Do I need another reason? Actually, the other reason is that if you've done Twenty-Five Tabards, Keymaster is usually pretty easy because you've likely got some Burning Crusade faction rep under your belt. I could tack on a third -- I'm constantly surprised at the number of players who aren't keyed for some of the old-world dungeons, and by "surprised," possibly I mean "irritated," because I keep getting pestered to go open doors. Happily, just about all of these keys can be soloed at 80 for most classes, and none of them are particularly time-intensive (with the possible exception of the Scholomance key due to insane travel time) to get.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Pilgrim's Bounty 2009
UPDATE: Pilgrim's Bounty is now live on my server as I write this at 4:30 AM EST Sunday, and this guide has been updated. We've also written a Pilgrim's Bounty FAQ to answer the more common questions we've seen concerning the holiday. Pilgrim's Bounty is a brand-new holiday that in 2009 will run between 1:00 am server time Sunday, November 22nd and 11:50 pm server time Saturday, November 28th. Because it's new, expect to see this post updated extensively in the 24 hours after the holiday goes live. We'll have new information on quests, items, and vendor locations, plus screenshots of WoW's newest holiday. As an FYI, Pilgrim's Bounty is not part of the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, so if you fall short on any of the achievements below, you're not running the risk of having to wait another year for a crack at a violet protodrake. However, you will miss out on the Pilgrim title and plump turkey pet that are rewards for completing the Pilgrim meta. Let's get started! "FOOD FIGHT!" (Alliance) and "FOOD FIGHT!" (Horde) This is a pretty simple achievement. The Bountiful Tables located around each capital's feasting area (all of them are very large and easy to spot) are actually vehicles. Each of the 5 chairs at the tables is dedicated to one of the specific dishes (mouse over them and you'll see them named "The Stuffing Chair" or "The Turkey Chair"), but for this achievement you don't need any particular food. Take a seat, target a fellow player at the table, and use the first option (to "pass" a dish), and rather than passing the dish you'll smack them over the head with it and get your achievement.
Breakfast Topic: Achievements and you
Ah, achievements, that funny little meta-game where everything's made up and the points don't matter. Why, oh why, do we flock to World of Warcraft's achievement system so? Of course, we all look forward to achievements with particularly lucrative rewards (or at least interesting titles), but many of the game's achievements, the only reward to look forward to is achievement points. And while you can certainly take some joy from watching those numbers build up, the points, essentially, don't matter. So what is it that keeps us hungering to complete even the silliest of achievements? Is it a passion for completism that prevents you from leaving these lists undone? Is it a need to prove yourself better or more dedicated than your fellow player? Is it the faint hope that some day Blizzard will reward your tedious labors with appropriately awesome swag? Is it the sense of accomplishment whenever an "achievement complete" alert pops up? Tell us -- what keeps you achieving?
The OverAchiever: Twenty-five tabards
Twenty-Five Tabards is one of the cooler achievements to do -- not only does it reward a pretty neat-looking tabard in the end, but having the reputations necessary to pull it off (unless you're cheesing it with a lot of TCG tabards) is going to help you a lot while going for The Exalted. The first thing I'd like to point out is that you don't need to do what I did while getting pictures for this article and run around like a headless chicken collecting tabards from all corners of the world. The easiest way to re-collect any tabards you've previously owned is by visiting Elizabeth Ross in Dalaran or a tabard vendor in any major city. I do need to mention that they sell tabards for the currency each faction uses (e.g. you still have to pay 10 Glowcaps to purchase a Sporeggar tabard from them) so if you don't have the currency on you at the time, you'll still be making a field trip to collect it. For this guide I'm assuming that you do not necessarily have access to now-unobtainable tabards like Competitor's Tabard or Tabard of the Protector, so if you do have pieces like this sitting around your bank, you're just that much closer to the achievement. As mentioned previously, you can fudge Twenty-Five Tabards by getting TCG tabards like Tabard of Nature or Tabard of Frost, but I'm also assuming you don't have access to any of these. This achievement is very much doable with a little hard work and a pinch of luck, so let's get rolling.
The OverAchiever: What Feats of Strength can you get now?
One of the easier ways to distinguish an older character from a reroll or alt is the presence (or absence) of a Feat of Strength. Feats of Strength, remnants of "the past glories of Azeroth," are among the most difficult achievements to get, and that's when they're even possible at all. Most, like the presence of an old-school PvP title, one of the original 100% mounts, or the Vengeful Nether Drake, are impossible to get these days, and are a sign that the person who has them is an experienced player. But with a little luck and a lot of elbow grease, even a new player can accrue some of these supposedly "past" glories. I started playing WoW shortly after Burning Crusade launched and didn't expect to have a shot at most Feats, but a surprising number of them are still available. After getting The Fifth Element recently and being surprised to discover that: a). It's a Feat, and b). The original quest isn't even in the game anymore (man, I'm glad I'm such a quest packrat), I started nosing around the list of Feats to see what else a player could do even if they're new to the game. Moreover, there are two achievements you can get right now that will become Feats in 3.3, so let's get cracking.
Patch 3.3 PTR: New and updated achievements on the PTR
There's been a few achievements that have been added in the latest patch 3.3 build. As you can guess, taking down the Lich King has its rewards. If you manage to defeat Arthas in Icecrown Citadel in 10-player heroic mode, you will henceforth earn the title "Bane of the Fallen King." A new faction for you to earn reputation with will be established as well. The Ashen Verdict, if you manage to earn exalted with them, will grant you a title reward that adds "Of the Ashen Verdict." No serious details yet on how to grind out rep, but when I was on the PTR clearing trash to Festergut, I noticed I was gaining Ashen Verdict reputation by killing various mobs. They're similar to the rates players earned rep with when working through Black Temple for the Ashtongue. Arena players have a new title and a Frostwyrm pet to look forward to for season 8. Good luck on earning the Wrathful Gladiator title! The players who are more into battlegrounds will be experiencing change as well. The achievements to gain exalted with Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley factions have been removed from their Meta-Achievements. You'll gain special titles if you manage to reach exalted with the factions at least. Glory of the Hero Meta-Achievement has been slightly changed. The Party's Over achievement which involves killing Prince Taldaram on Heroic with under 5 people is no longer part of that particular meta. Although, personally I don't think it's that difficult to take out that boss with 4 players. Lastly, in case you missed the news earlier, Master Angler of Stranglethorn has been changed. It will be changed to Master Angler of Azeroth instead. You can gain this achievement by winning the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby or the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Patch 3.3 PTR: New UI function lists completed quests
Over on the WoW LJ community, poster Honem has pointed out something that made me sort of squeal with glee when I first read it: The latest PTR build includes a couple very interesting new functions, as reported by official forum MVP Iriel: NEW - QueryQuestsCompleted() requests that the server send the client a list of completed quest ids. Once the list is received the QUEST_QUERY_COMPLETE event is fired. (There is a limit on how frequently this can be called) NEW - tbl = GetQuestsCompleted([tbl]) populates a table (creating one if necessary) with the ids of completed quests.
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 Hallow's End Horseman will be ready for you
>>Click here for WoW.com's Guide to Hallow's End 2009<< We've been getting a few queries from you readers lately about the upcoming Hallow's End holiday (it starts this Sunday) and what's new, but honestly, we haven't heard anything solid yet. You can assume that the usual festivities will be happening, so you can definitely plan to run the Horseman and go around getting your candy, but if anything else is new, we haven't heard it for sure yet. There is one tidbit -- Bornakk has confirmed that, like Coren Direbrew, the Horseman will be set for level 80s. And we can assume that means that there will be some new loot to obtain as well. But other than that, anything else that goes down for Hallow's End this year will be a surprise.Not that we won't tell you about it -- of course we'll have coverage up as soon as we see anything new, and if you need help getting any of the achievements or quests done, we'll have help for you there, too. Just a few days left until our favorite holiday in the game -- can't wait!
The OverAchiever: Guide to Brewfest 2009 achievements
Officially-sanctioned drunkenness ahoy! The Brewfest boss Coren Direbrew has been updated for level 80 players and we'll see the return of the wolpertinger quest, but apart from that, the beloved holiday is back in all its judgment-impairing glory. Read on for a complete guide to the Brewfest achievements and getting the Brewmaster title. As with most of Azeroth's holidays, successful completion of the holiday meta is required for What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, and many players will be getting their violet proto-drakes immediately after completing Brewfest 2009. Myself? All that stands between me and my giant purple drake is School of Hard Knocks. I didn't think I could hate anything in the game as much as I hated the old Tauren cat form, but I may possibly have been incorrect. Oh well. Two days into the holiday and my main will be too sloshed to care.Brew of the MonthIts former incarnation involved drinking each of the 12 brews mailed to your character over the course of the year, but after much hue and cry, was changed to its significantly more forgiving current form. I would just like to state for the record that around this time last year I wrote a thoroughly detailed and explicit article on why you needed to join the freaking club early in order to get the meta-achievement, but apparently not everyone was paying attention. Honestly, people.Joining the Brew of the Month Club will run you 200 Brewfest tokens for the membership form and a trip to Orgrimmar or Ironforge to turn the membership in to Ray'ma or Larkin Thunderbrew respectively. Turn it in, and you're all set.
