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The OverAchiever: New feats of strength in Cataclysm
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we discuss the achievements most likely to drive you crazy in Cataclysm. "Wait a minute," you say, in your continuing quest to point out that I am one card shy of a flush. "We've already covered feats of strength." True. But we covered the ones that are becoming feats, most likely in patch 4.0.3. Are you still waiting for the Zulian Tiger to drop? Of course you are. I can't do anything to help you with that right now, so I figured I'd add to your misery by covering all the maddening stuff you'll find in the game later.
The OverAchiever: Reputation factions in Cataclysm
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we find ourselves the designated butt-monkey of several new factions. Hello again, fellow achievement-hunters. This week we're going to finish up with a look at the new reputation factions available in Cataclysm and a quick look at new world events. "There aren't any new world events," you point out. That's what makes it so quick. Although this goes without saying in any article discussing new achievements, there are a few spoilers in here discussing how you meet and work with various Cataclysm factions. If you'd rather stay unspoiled about upcoming quests, don't go past the cut. 45 Exalted Reputations This is now the highest reputation-related achievement in the game. Interestingly, there is not a new title associated with it; you'll still receive The Exalted at 40 Exalted Reputations, although it's possible that it's just a placeholder. Then again, if you already have 40 exalted reputations, getting 45 should be very simple during Cataclysm, as there'll be at least six new reputation factions available. I'm not sure a new title's going to be in the cards as a result.
The OverAchiever: Do them now!
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, it's time to get a move on. We've had some recent news concerning achievements in categories we've already covered, and my original intent this week was to play catch-up with that in addition to finishing off the new reputation, world event, and feat of strength achievements in Cataclysm. However, given equally recent news concerning achievements that are set to become feats (and may do so as early as patch 4.0.1), I thought it would be more sensible to cover the stuff that you'd want to do as soon as possible before it disappears. I've cross-checked the list of known Cataclysm feats of strength against the feats already present in game, and as far as I know, this should be a comprehensive set of current Wrath of the Lich King achievements that will become inaccessible as of patch 4.0.1, patch 4.0.3, or Cataclysm's release (or at least, a comprehensive list as of the current beta and PTR builds). I've written this list assuming the following: Although it hasn't been officially confirmed that all of these will disappear in patch 4.0.1 or 4.0.3 rather than the expansion itself, for the time being, I'm guessing it's one of the two patches you need to worry about. With the recent announcement of arena Season 8 ending on Oct. 12, 4.0.1 may hit in less than two weeks. Zarhym's post just made it clear that the season could end as early as the 12th, not that it definitely would, and there's still a lot of stuff to fix on the PTR and beta -- but every Tuesday from hereon is a potential patch day. Accepting Oct. 5 or 12 as possible patch dates, I've included an opinion on the feasibility of getting the following achievements done as quickly as possible.
The OverAchiever: More new and altered Cataclysm achievements
This week we're returning to a look at new and altered achievements to expect in Cataclysm, but today's outing is going to be a little murkier than our previous examination of general, quest and exploration achievements. While those seem within a stone's throw of being done, today's achievements -- dungeons, raids and professions -- concern content that's often been inaccessible or buggy on the beta. There's also the minor matter of raid content that's not yet been implemented, but we'll hazard a few guesses anyway. As with our earlier article, I didn't bother mentioning any achievement that's completely unchanged, but you'll find everything else here.
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: New and altered Cataclysm achievements
This is kind of an exercise in futility because so many things are still in flux, but I've been looking at achievements one by one to see what's staying, changing or getting axed. For today's column, I've gone through the general, quest and exploration achievements with a fine-tooth comb, teasing out any confirmed or likely changes and additions. If an achievement is completely unchanged and not likely to do so (e.g., Level 60 or Shave and a Haircut), you won't find it here; if I've confirmed a change or upgrade, or one's likely to occur, I've made some notes. Just for fun, I've also included a bunch of screenshots of some of the funnier moments I've had leveling so far, under the admittedly flimsy pretext that they all have something to do with quests.
The OverAchiever: Pimp thy ride
As you've probably already read, players will be able to purchase 310 percent flying speed from trainers in Cataclysm. While this is good news for people who hate raiding, think arena was shat into existence by the most sociopathic among the development team, or spent School of Hard Knocks trying to drown themselves in the nearest body of water, the bad news is that buying your way to super-fast flying will run you a cool 5,000 gold. Outrageous, says this dyed-in-the-wool cheapskate. For anyone else who'd rather die than part with a centavo of hard-earned gold, the good news is that having even a single 310 percent flyer in your stable is enough to get you the skill free. Fortunately, there's plenty of time to snag yourself one of these coveted mounts before Cataclysm hits, and just as fortunately, each mount is the reward (or subject) of an achievement. Strategy guides for obtaining each of the remaining 310 percent mounts is definitely beyond the scope of this article (although I'll probably devote an edition of OverAchiever to nabbing the Rusted Proto-Drake, above) but we can take a visual tour of the fast flyers that any hard-working player can still get in Wrath of the Lich King.
Cataclysm Beta: Guild achievements
The latest beta build, which somehow worked its way into the hands of MMO-Champion before appearing on the beta servers (let's be really clear: these changes are not on the beta servers yet), includes a host of new achievements, including the much-anticipated set of guild achievements. Also included, although not highlighted here, are the regular realm-first achievements, as well as the heroic dungeon achievements. Everything is pretty standard in that regard. But what's not standard? The guild achievements. After the break, we'll take a look at the top ones.
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements finale
Every so often, I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. Here it is, folks; the last two achievements in our hit parade of World of Warcraft's 25 most entertaining achievements. This is the full series, if you're catching up: OverAchiever: Pure Win The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #10-6 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #5-3 And today's post, the finale
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements #5-3
Every so often, I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. Today we're going to get close to finishing our series on World of Warcraft's 25 most entertaining achievements. This was originally supposed to be #5 through #1, but ... well, I think the last five achievements are all complete knockouts, so I devoted a bit more time to each. This is the full series, if you're catching up: OverAchiever: Pure Win The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #10-6 and today's post, the 25 most entertaining achievements finale, #5-3
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements, part 4
Every so often, I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. We continue our series on World of Warcraft's most entertaining achievements this week, and this is the full series if you're just joining us: OverAchiever: Pure Win The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #10-6 (today's post)
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements, part 3
Every so often, I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. This week we continue our series on World of Warcraft's most entertaining achievements. This is the full series to date, if you're just catching up with us: OverAchiever: Pure Win The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11 (today's post)
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements, part 2
Every so often I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. This week we continue our series on World of Warcraft's most entertaining achievements. Again, this isn't really a list of WoW's "best" achievements -- I think the term's too vague to be of any real use -- but I wanted to spotlight some of Blizzard's funniest, most compelling and most thought-provoking work. This is what we've done so far: OverAchiever: Pure Win The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16 (today's post)
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements, part 1
Back in May, we kicked around the idea of reversing gears after our series on "The 25 most evil achievements," and today I'd like to start the first in our series on ... well, I had trouble naming it. "Most fun achievements" is a bit awkward. "Best achievements?" Probably too vague, especially because we could all spend hours arguing over what constitutes a truly good achievement. "Least evil?" That doesn't do much to inspire readers. Finally I settled on "most entertaining achievements," and I hope that's a decent gloss on the series that will follow. Today we'll examine the first five, with more to follow next week. In a nutshell, I think these are the achievements that every WoW players should do, if only because they showcase some of Blizzard's best, most engaging or funniest work.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Midsummer Festival 2010 achievements
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you are looking for the updated 2011 guide, you can find it here. This year, the Midsummer Fire Festival will go live at 3:00 am server time Monday, June 21st and will run through 3:00 am Sunday, July 4th. While it doesn't outwardly appear to be a very time-intensive holiday -- the meta, awarding the Flame Warden title to Alliance players and Flame Keeper title to Horde players, consists of only six achievements -- three of them will have you trekking all over the world. We don't believe that the holiday has changed significantly from its 2009 incarnation (if it has, the information hasn't become available yet), but there have been a few changes to how you'll do some of the achievements, and the holiday's boss, Lord Ahune, also has an updated loot table. Consequently, I've updated and expanded our 2009 guide to reflect the changes we're aware of.
The OverAchiever: End of the Glory of the Hero
Welcome back to OverAchiever's Glory of the Hero guide. I honestly can't believe I started this series almost a year ago. Time flies when you're deliberately wiping Less-rabi over and over again, I guess. This is the full Glory of the Hero guide, organized by dungeon: Part I: Ahn'kahet Part II: Azjol-Nerub and Culling of Stratholme Part III: Drak'Tharon Keep Part IV: Gun'drak Part V: Halls of Lightning Part VI: Halls of Stone Part VII: The Nexus Part VIII: The Oculus Part IX: Utgarde Keep and Utgarde Pinnacle And today's guide, Part X: Violet Hold
The OverAchiever: The Glory of the Hero revolution
Greetings, fellow achievement hounds. This week we return to the Glory of the Hero series and tackle two dungeons at once: Utgarde Keep and Utgarde Pinnacle. This is the full Glory of the Hero guide, organized by dungeon: Part I: Ahn'kahet Part II: Azjol-Nerub and Culling of Stratholme Part III: Drak'Tharon Keep Part IV: Gun'drak Part V: Halls of Lightning Part VI: Halls of Stone Part VII: The Nexus Part VIII: The Oculus
The OverAchiever: Night of the Glory of the Hero
In 2009 I had started an OverAchiever series on completing Glory of the Hero that I wound up abandoning due to an influx of new holiday material. Because things are a little slow now while we're waiting for more information on Cataclysm and the final content patch, I thought it might be a good (albeit somewhat belated) time to revisit the series, especially because it's easy to get many of these achievements even in PUGs now. This is the Glory of the Hero series thus far, organized by dungeon: Part I: Ahn'kahet Part II: Azjol-Nerub and Culling of Stratholme Part III: Drak'Tharon Keep Part IV: Gun'drak Part V: Halls of Lightning Part VI: Halls of Stone Part VII: The Nexus And today we do everybody's favorite instance -- The Oculus! Get back here! You know perfectly well they're bribing us to stay with a goody bag these days.
The OverAchiever: Pure win
Every so often I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here, and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. The following is an entirely arbitrary set of five achievements that I personally believe are a hoot. Eventually, I'd like to expand this in the same fashion as the evil achievements series, and I'd welcome any comments or suggestions on your own favorites. Namely, what makes certain achievements fun? Is there any achievement you've made a point of getting on each of your characters?
The OverAchiever: Endangered achievements
With Cataclysm news ramping up lately, one of the things I've been thinking about is the possibility of certain achievements going bye-bye. While achievements have only been in the game since patch 3.0.2, we've already seen a few of them (and/or their rewards) go to that big MMORPG in the sky. Blizzard's tended to do this when an achievement would simply have been too easy past a certain point, or -- as with Timear Foresees -- when game changes rendered them obsolete. Below are four achievements that I think might be facing the firing squad as we ramp up to Cataclysm. (I'm sure there are more, but these were just the ones that occurred to me first.) I'll be revisiting this article later to see if I was correct about any of them.
