Kun-Lai Summit Rare Champions

The rare champions in Kun-Lai Summit each have a chance to drop some very interesting items - from strictly vanity to the quite useful. We really do see a mix of everything from these guys. Fireworks, killer pug puppies with hats, an item that will raise your reputation with each of the factions of Pandaria by 1000 (and can be sold to other players) and even an item that can dismount unsuspecting players - ha ha. Each of these items are listed below next to the rare that can drop it. You can also see some screenshots of each of these items in action in this post: Sneak Peek: Special drops from Rare Champions of Pandaria (just scroll down to the Kun-Lai Summit section).

The rares in this zone are all level 88, with health pools around 2.4M. They each have a 100% chance to drop item level 430 rare quality bop bracers of a random armor type and a small chance to drop a Small Bag of Goods.

As I have stated in a previous post - they all seem to spawn in around the same time, so if you run across a corpse or someone else fighting one of these rares it wouldn't hurt to check the rest of the spawn points to see if any others are up.

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Ahone the Wanderer (Pandaren)

Ahone spawns under the small pagoda structure to the northeast of Shado-Pan Monastery. If you're having phasing issues with her, try completing the quest Beyond the Wall. Also, make sure you have completed Where are my Reinforcements?, as this quest phases out the zone. If your still having phasing issues, it is possible to have a friend take her out and still get credit so long as you are grouped and within range.

Like other Pandaren Ahone's three abilities are Chi Burst, Healing Mists and Spinning Crane Kick. The most important thing to know when taking her down is to interrupt Healing Mists, and run away from Spinning Crane Kick. Ranged players should also stand within 15 yards of her to avoid her Chi Burst which deals some pretty massive damage.

Ahone has a small chance to drop Pandaren Firework Launcher. It shoots pretty fireworks. Kind of useless for most I guess, but I love this sort of thing.

Winterspring - Tamable Rares added in 5.1

Patch 5.1 was very kind to Winterspring, adding 10 new tamable rares to the zone. This brings the total count of rares in this zone to seventeen! I covered the other seven rares in Winterspring in this post: Winterspring Rare Spawns.

Among these new tamable rares are some real beauties. Several of them even have brand new unique skins. Iceclaw, the level 50 "ice cat" has a totally unique look. She has the "hunched" cat model, with the blue and white "icy" coloration that was previously only found on the Frostsaber Stalkers model.

Manas, the silver-grey dragonhawk, is the first ever tamable dragonhawk in this color. He even matches the mini-pet Silver Dragonhawk Hatchling perfectly. Quetzl, the wind serpent, also has a unique look - and in my opinion a very appealing one. He has the spiked wind serpent model previously only found in Outland and Northrend, and a beautiful, totally unique green, grey & orange coloration. 

The rest of these new rares are not unique, but it can certainly be worth finding and taming them - especially on low level hunters. Manas, the blue runed demon dog, shares the same look as the demon dogs in Borean Tundra and The Nexus - meaning if you like this model you can now have one almost 20 levels earlier! 

Norissis and Ronak, both chimaeras, each share the exact same coloration and model as another rare. Norissis has the blue and purple armored chimaera look that was previously unique to Nuramoc in Netherstorm. With Nuramoc's long spawn timer and the introduction of cross-realm zones it can probably prove to be difficult finding him; the introduction of Norissis will give hunters wanting that skin another option. The same can be said for Ronak, who shares the exact same model and coloration as The Razza in Feralas.

Although all of these pets are in the 50 - 54 level range, do keep in mind that several of them are exotic and cannot be tamed until at least level 69. These include each of the rhinos, both chimaeras and the Jormungar (The Deep Tunneler).

None of these rares have large patrol routes, and each one can be found out in the open - except for The Deep Tunneler, who is all the way at the end of the cave in Mazthoril. Their spawn timers, like most of the new rares added in 5.1, seem to be several hours. Be prepared to camp for a while if your hunting one of these guys down.

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Here are some screenies of what each of these guys look like untamed, in order by level. (Simply click on the images to enlarge them for a better view.)

Elwynn Forest - Tamable Rares added in 5.1

When patch 5.1 went live there were quite a few new rares added across the world. Most of these rares were beasts, making them tamable by hunters. These new rares range in level and can be found in starter zones all the way to Outland, giving leveling hunters some fun new pets to seek out along the way!

There were six new rares introduced into Elwynn Forest in patch 5.1, bringing the total number of rares in this zone to thirteen. I will only be covering the new rares in the zone in this post. For the rest of the rares in this zone please see this post: Elwynn Forest Rare Spawns.

None of these new rares have new or unique skins, but a couple of them should stick out as low level pets. Lamepaw the Whimperer has a very interesting brown and grey bi-color skin, which until patch 5.1 could only be found on Ironjaw in Terrokar Forest and Halycon in Blackrock Spire. Bushtail's appealing arctic fox coloration was previously only found in the Pandaren and Worgen starting areas, as well as Winterspring.

I've marked on the map below where you can find each of these new rares. ~

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Here are some screenies below of these guys as you'll find them in the world, in order by level. ~

Bombyx - Trackable Hunter Pet (Silkworm)

Bombyx is the tenth trackable hunter pet that we've seen in Mists of Pandaria. He is a level 90 purple silkworm, and is considered an exotic beast - therefore he is only tamable by hunters in Beast Mastery spec. He was introduced in patch 5.1, and is a little more difficult to find than the previous nine.

The other nine trackable hunter pets in Pandaria walk in predictable paths leaving footprints that eventually lead us to the beast making them. Originally all of their tracks were backwards, several have since been fixed when patch 5.1 went live. These beasts are completely stealthed, and the only thing that will make them visible is for them to walk through a flare. A Hunter's Mark placed on the beast will keep it visible to the hunter that placed the mark until the flare wears off.

Like the other nine beasts, Bombyx is stealthed and leaves tracks that can only be seen by hunters. His tracks however are unlike anything we've seen so far. He doesn't leave actual footprints as tracks, he instead leaves a trail of Heavily-Chewed Silkweed (pictured on the right in the screenshot below.) Unfortunately because these "tracks" are basically a small tuft of flowers (and look just like a smaller version of the Silkweed herb), they do not point in a particular direction. This makes determining the direction that Bombyx is travelling incredibly difficult.

As if not knowing which direction he were moving weren't difficult enough, he also moves VERY sporadically. He twists and turns, doubles back repeatedly and even stops in place for lengthy periods of time. In the screenshot below you can see there are Heavily-Chewed Silkweed tracks all over the place. Where does one even start looking for this guy?!

Where to Find the Riches of Pandaria

Looting Lost Adventurer's Belongings

In addition to the fun new content and rares added in 5.1, there were also several new achievements snuck into our logs  - very similar to the Lost and Found/Is Another Man's Treasure Achievements. These achievements are granted for finding grey items (that generally sell for around 100g) and gold from chests hidden throughout Pandaria. These items have existed since the release of MoP - they just haven't counted toward anything until now. (Any treasures that you found before the achievements were implemented should still be accounted for in your achievement log.)

The achievements are: Treasure of Pandaria, Fortune of Pandaria, Bounty of Pandaria and Riches of Pandaria. Although achievements are great, there's more to be had by finding these items than just the achievements themselves. Finding all of these items should land you about 1,800 gold. There are 18 items that count toward the achievements and each one is worth around 100 gold - whether it be actual gold from a chest or what the vendor will pay for the grey item.

Looting these items also grants a huge amount of experience to leveling characters. In the screenshot on the right you can see my level 88 hunter received 283,800xp (mostly non-rested) when she looted Lost Adventurer's Belongings. At level 89 while rested, she received 539,000xp from looting Ship's Locker. That's worth more than two quest turn-ins!

I have marked on the map below where you can find each item needed for the Riches of Pandaria Achievement in red, along with a brief description further detailing the area in which each object can be found. I have also added in the locations of other various items that do not count toward any of the achievements, but do give some gold/xp. These additional items are marked in yellow.

How to Kill Alani The Stormborn (Reins of the Thundering Ruby Cloud Serpent)

My last Alani post was written and edited throughout various points during mop beta and ended up being sort of a timeline of discoveries, rather than a straight forward, this is how to Kill Alani and get an awesome mount post. I figured it was about time to condense everything into one clean spot for her - so without further adieu:

Like the Time-Lost Proto-Drake, Aeonaxx, Poseidus and even that pesky mysterious camel figurine before her, Alani the Stormborn is Mist of Pandaria's rare that drops a mount. Unlike her predecessors, the method of killing her and obtaining the mount she drops is far different from anything we've seen until now. 

Alani has a 100% chance to drop the Reins of the Thundering Ruby Cloud Serpent. She can be found flying high above the Vale of Eternal Blossoms protected by a Nimbus Shroud, which completely protects her from any type of harm.

Rares in previous expansions required us to wait around for hours, days, even weeks on end waiting for them to show up. Many of us would afk with our volume turned up so that if our coveted rare did spawn we'd hear the blazing horn of npcscan and drop whatever we were doing for a chance at downing them. Often times a lucky person questing on an alt would just happen to run into said rare only moments before we could tag them, destroying all hope of obtaining what we had been waiting for for so long. 

Well Alani changes the game entirely, making sure that only those that really truly want her are going to get her. Anyone looking to get their hands on the Reins of the Thundering Ruby Cloud Serpent are going to have to farm for it plain and simple. The only thing that will break Alani out of her Nimbus Shroud and make her attackable is a Sky Crystal. A Sky Crystal is created when ten Skyshards are fused together.

Skyshards will drop from pretty much any mob in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The drop chance is incredibly low though (roughly anywhere from .01 - .4%). Mobs with lower health pools that respawn quickly make a good target for farming these things. In the screenshot below you can see my friend Reinoverall farming Stonebark Tricksters in Ruins Rise for his very last Skyshard.

Doctor Theolen Krastinov - Krastinov's Bag of Horrors

Using Krastinov's Bag of Horrors

That's right, The Doctor is in! If there's one thing that I just can't get enough of, it's fun transformation items. My bags are always overflowing with those darn things, but I just can't stop collecting them!

Well for those of you who also have a strange addiction to transformation items - Doctor Theolen Krastinov, a rare spawn in Heroic Scholomance, drops an incredibly fun one called Krastinov's Bag of Horrors.

Doctor Theolen Krastinov <The Butcher>

Doctor Theolen Krastinov has approx. 4k hp and can be found in the room right after Rattlegore. The couple of times that I've fought him he's yelled "Time for a little open-heart surgery!" as our group engaged him in combat. He has no special abilities really worth noting. He could almost be mistaken for a trash mob if you weren't paying attention.

New 5.1 Rare Faction Champions in Krasarang Wilds - A Closer Look

As I had mentioned in a previous post, there were a bunch of new rares that were going to be added in patch 5.1. Well the patch is here, and so are they! I've spent a lot of time over the past week camping these rare faction champions, and I figured I'd share some of the information I've learned.

First of all unless you've completed the initial couple of quests (starting with Meet the Scout -> A King Among Men/Meet the Scout -> The Might of the Warchief) at your faction's base camp you will not be able to see these rares. Completing those initial quests and their follow-ups will toss you into a new phase that will change your zone map significantly and allow you to see both the Horde and Alliance base camps: Lion's Landing and Domination Point.

Each base has three rares, for a total of six rare champions in the zone (of course you'll only be able to attack three of them, as your own faction rares will appear friendly to you). There are three different types of rares: the warrior, rogue and healy-type. Each base has one of each type. When you've killed all three champions in your enemies base, you will be awarded the achievement I'm in Your Base, Killing Your Dudes. (Origin: In Ur Base.)

Each rare has one piece of loot unique to them, and the rest are shared. The shared loot that you could possibly get from them (in order of most likely - least likely) is:

- around 10 Domination Point Commitions (Alliance)/Lion's Landing Commitions (Horde)
- Honorable Commendation of Operation: Shieldwall (Alliance)/Honorable Commendation of the Dominance Offensive (Horde)
- Small Bag of Goods (Both Factions)
- and the reason why these guys are so highly camped: Blood-Soaked Invitation (This item will grant you access to your faction's Brawler's Guild.)

These rares also grant +400 reputation with The Black Prince up to Revered.

The Commendations are by far the most common drop. Let's just say I've gotten a LOT of honor over the past few days. I now have each of the trinkets and have seen a couple of them more than once. I have yet to see the Blood-Soaked Invitation, or know of anyone who has received it. If you don't want to spend incredible amounts of gold on the Black Market Auction House though this is the only means of acquiring it at this point.

Spawn timers on these rares are very fast. The longest spawn I've seen was about an hour, but I've also seen them respawn in as little as a half hour.

(For Alliance Players) Horde Champions at Domination Point:
 

Champion of Arms: Kar Warmaker

Abilities:
- Heroic Leap/Heroic Leap He will use this if your over 15 yards away, it will knock out 40% of your health. Don't get to far from him!
- Cracking Blow (pictured left) This is the killer right here. This ability he smashes straight in front if him, and it will cost you 60% of your max health if hit. The best way to avoid this is to run right through him as fast as possible or try to sidestep it.
- Sunder Armor self-explanatory

Loot unique to Kar: Steadfast Footman's Medallion