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The OverAchiever: Guide to Winter Veil 2010
Winter Veil 2010 runs from Wednesday, Dec. 15 through Sunday, Jan. 2 this year. Unlike November's holiday, Pilgrim's Bounty, the Merrymaker meta is required for What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. If you've already got a Violet Proto-Drake or just don't care about the meta, Winter Veil will also give you the opportunity to turn your mount into a reindeer, become a snowman with a unique dance animation, and get noncombat pets and snowballs. Of course, if Santa RNG thinks you've been bad, you'll just wind up with Coal. Though not always. Keep at it! Even Santa RNG has a heart. Past the cut, I've revised and expanded our 2009 guide for anyone looking to complete the meta (and earn the title) Merrymaker. Cataclysm has almost certainly affected how you'll do this holiday, but unfortunately, there's no hard information yet as to how. I doubt that Blizzard had the time to tinker extensively with Winter Veil in the crush of work surrounding a new expansion, but we'll see. As always, I'll be around as the holiday goes live to check and update the article. For the moment, I've included some commonsense speculation on likely changes (such as when an NPC's probably changed locations due to city/topography upheaval).
The OverAchiever: Guide to Pilgrim's Bounty 2010
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. Today, we're running a special holiday guide for all those interested in stuffing themselves on turkey. The Pilgrim's Bounty holiday was introduced to World of Warcraft just last year, so it's still fairly new. This year, the event will run from Sunday, November 21st through Saturday, November 27th. On my EST server, the start and end times on both dates will be 4:00 am, but you'll want to check the times on your own realm. Pilgrim's Bounty is not part of the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. That's not to say that the holiday's without its share of rewards, though; doing the Pilgrim meta will grant both the Pilgrim title and the plump turkey pet. However, the holiday has an unbeatable side benefit; it's the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to level cooking to 350. Pilgrim's Bounty is tailor-made for anyone who needs to level cooking on a bunch of alts, or anyone who never got around to doing it on his/her main. Pilgrim's Bounty hasn't appeared at any point on WoW's PTR or beta since last year, so we're assuming for the moment that the holiday hasn't changed from its 2009 incarnation beyond a few bug fixes (that and the developers are probably working at breakneck speed on Cataclysm still). I've updated and clarified our 2009 guide past the cut, and will also be around as the event goes live to ensure all the information here is accurate.
WoW Insider's Guide to Hallow's End 2010
Hallow's End begins at 4:00 a.m. server time on Monday, Oct. 18 and runs through 4:00 a.m. server time Sunday, Oct. 31 this year. The holiday is part of the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been rewarding the Violet Proto-Drake, and completing all required Hallow's End achievements will also award the title "the Hallowed." This year's incarnation of Hallow's End is notable for arriving less than a week after patch 4.0.1, which disheartened a lot of players who had been expecting to complete the yearlong meta as the holiday arrived and felt cheated out of free 310 percent flight. Happily, Blizzard's decided to continue awarding the 310 percent flight proto-drake for the achievement, so if you nab What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been this Hallow's End but didn't already have a super-fast flyer, you should be grandfathered into the 310 percent flight skill without having to pay for it. Hallow's End is also subject to the new rules implemented this past year requiring players to queue for holiday bosses through the dungeon finder. You'll find a full guide to the holiday achievements past the cut!
WoW Insider's Brewfest FAQ
Within 24 hours, Brewfest will have begun on all servers regardless of location, and if you're new to the holiday or just need some extra information, we hope this FAQ will be helpful! Help! Where do I go to get started? There will be special holiday-related NPCs parked around most major cities to direct you to the festival, but if you want to skip directly to the main event, head to Ironforge (if you're Alliance) or Orgrimmar (if you're Horde). The festival areas are located outside the main gates of each.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Brewfest 2010 achievements
Brewfest 2010 runs from Monday, Sept. 20 (3:00 a.m. server time) through Wednesday, Oct. 6 (again, 3:00 a.m. server time). We don't anticipate any major changes to the holiday this year, but how you get to the holiday boss (Coren Direbrew) has changed slightly. I've updated and expanded our coverage past the cut. While I organized the achievements alphabetically in 2009, this year, I've put them in the order I feel they should be completed. There are a few that are definitely easier to do at the beginning of the holiday than at the end. While I've included all of the achievements attached to the holiday, only six are actually required for the meta, and they've all been marked as such. As always, I'll be around when the holiday goes live to see if there are any unannounced changes. If so, the guide will be updated.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Noblegarden 2010
Mercifully for those of us occupied with a big day of family events and chocolate this Easter, the Noblegarden holiday doesn't appear to have changed from its vastly improved form in 2009. No changes appeared on any of the PTRs over the past year, and as far as we're aware, there hasn't been any data-mined information on new items or bosses. Noblegarden will run this year from Sunday, April 4 (this Sunday) through Sunday, April 11. If you've never done Noblegarden before or only done its fairly low-key, pre-2009 version, it helps to know that Noble Gardener (the holiday's meta) is part of the year-long What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been achievement that rewards the 310% speed Violet Proto-Drake. What I've done here is collected our resources on Noblegarden into one easily navigable guide, updated and clarified where necessary, and also added some frequently asked questions that we received during last year's holiday. If you have any other questions, please drop them in the comments below, and I'll make sure they get answered. As with all WoW holidays, we'll be around as they go live to make sure any updates or changes are covered here!
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: 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: 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.
