How to get the Long-Forgotten Hippogryph Mount

The devs have done it again. Every expansion they always have some awesome rare mount that can be found out in the world, usually with a little dedication (and sometimes luck), and the ways to obtain them keep getting more interesting and (in my opinion) quite fun.

In Wrath of the Lich King we had the Time Lost Proto-Drake, in Cataclysm we had Aeonaxx and Mysterious Camels, in Pandaria we had Alani and then in Draenor we had to find those crazy portals to get the Voidtalon of the Dark Star. Well now we've got something completely different on the Broken Isles, and I find it to be one of the most unique and exciting mounts to find yet. It's basically a cross between a treasure hunt and a race!

The "Time Lost Proto-Drake" of Legion is called the Long-Forgotten Hippogryph, and I love it - IT'S SO PINK!

The magnificent Long-Forgotten Hippogryph

How to get it:

So here's the skinny on this mount - in order to obtain it you'll need to be the first person to find and click five Ephemeral Crystals when they're up in Azsuna. They are a bright pinkish/purple color when found in outdoor areas. When found in caves and under water they look a little less bright and more purple in color. These crystals can only be found in Azsuna on The Broken Isles, and have many, many spawn points (over 100) all over the zone. 

How to get the Fathom Dweller Mount & Hungering Claw Pet

If you've been following this blog for a while you'll know that I LOVE mounts. Mounts and pets are the thing I care about most in game. Hands down. Gear comes and goes, but mounts and pets are forever. <3

Well, when I first laid eyes on the Fathom Dweller mount, I knew I just had to have to have it. I mean, just LOOK at this thing! It's one of the few underwater mounts we can obtain, it'll give you a 108% increase in swim speed, it also looks totally gorgeous and unique.

Fathom Dweller Mount

Thankfully the amazing community over at Wowhead came together and figured out how to obtain it recently, and it's quite different from anything we've done in the past.

How to get the Mount:

Hungering Claw Pet

The mount itself is a reward from the world quest: DANGER: Kosumoth the Hungering. (The same world quest also rewards the very cool looking Hungering Claw battle pet - the reward alternates periodically between the two.) In order to see this world quest and pick it up you'll need to go through an attunement process.

The attunement will require you to set aside a few hours to run all over the Broken Isles finding small pinkish-looking orbs and clicking them in the correct order. There are ten orbs altogether, but before you can start clicking orbs you'll need to talk to an orc named Drak'thul and pick up an item on The Broken Shore (more detail in next section).

On the map below you can see exactly where each orb is located and they are numbered so you know which order to click them in. The starting point, relic you'll need and location of the final world quest are all on there as well.

Bulvinkel - Spirit Moose

If there's one thing I always look forward to with each new expansion, it's the ability to tame new pets with new looks. As usual, with Legion we have a multitude of new pets to hunt down and add to our stables. This expansion offers some particularly beautiful new pets, from gorgeous Mana Sabers to badass mechanical pets and everything in between. (You can see a full list of all the new creatures added in Legion on Petopia.)

I was beyond excited to find out that we would be able to tame moose this time around; seriously moose are awesome. I finally saw one in real life for the first time in like 20 years a few months ago, and they really are majestic animals. They're big, powerful, awe inspiring, and now we can have them as pets!!! /SQUEEEE!

Well, as if that weren't awesome enough, the devs went and threw in a spirit moose as well! Be still my beating heart!

Meet Bullwinkle Bulvinkel:

So here's the deal with this lovely moosey. He's in game for hunters only, killing him will only get you a Crystalline Tear of Loyalty. There's nothing to taming him really. No special challenge, no tracking, no hoops to jump through at all as far as the tame itself goes. You can even tame him right at level 100, because like nearly everything else on The Broken Isles, he scales to your level. It's getting to him that can be a little tricky.

How to get to Bulvinkel:

Voidtalon of the Dark Star & Edge of Reality Spawn Locations

 

Who doesn't love having the rarest of rare mounts, and on top of that, a good challenge getting one? I knew as soon as I heard about the elusive Voidtalon of the Dark Star and how it would be obtained, I just had to have it.

There are several mounts you can get from rares throughout Draenor, but the Voidtalon of the Dark Star is by far the rarest, hands down. This mount is also totally unique in that it is found unlike any we've come across in the past. Forget everything you know about the Time-Lost Proto Drake, Aeonaxx, or even that Mysterious Camel Figurine - that won't help you here.


How to find the Voidtalon of the Dark Star:

In order to obtain this beautiful mount you'll need to find and enter an Edge of Reality portal. These portals can be found in various places throughout Dreanor, typically near level 100 areas where apexis crystals drop off of mops. Only one portal will ever spawn in on a particular server at a time, and the spawn time between them can be lengthy. On top of that people are still finding new spawn locations periodically, so there could still be unknown spawn points out there.

The map below will give you a rough idea of where the current confirmed spawns are located. (Scroll further down this post for much more detailed maps and screenshots of each portal location.)

Ironstevo Finishes the WoW Ironman Challenge (Again)

 

This incredible rendition of Ironstevo and his trusty blueberry minion Belnak was created by the talented @hugshot

Well guys n' gals, Ironstevo has done it again. He's reached the next level cap of the WoW Ironman Challenge as it currently exists. It was a long and wild ride to level 100, and a MUCH different experience than getting from 1 - 85 three years ago. He was also the first warlock to finish during this expansion, and the only one to finish without having either shadowmeld or feign death (two highly used life-saving abilities by many irons).

 

I'm not going to get all wordy here, because I'm about to do that in the transcript you can clearly see below. This is from the WoW Challenges podcast episode titled "Knowing is half the Battle," where I was asked to talk a bit about my experience with the challenge. Wall of text, yeah I know, at least I was kind enough to put the questions in bold to break it up a bit.

 

 

1. Tell us a little about yourself - the player behind the characters!

Bored? Check out the WoW Iron Man Challenge(s)!

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Are you a veteran WoW player who is tired of garrison chores? Raiding got ya down? Leveling alts just not holding your interest right now? Well, I've got just the thing for you - the WoW Iron Man Challenge!

Let's face it, these past several years we've gotten used to running from one quest objective to the next as quickly as possible. Pulling as many mobs as we can at a time, mowing everything down in our paths with no real sense of danger. Between the addition of heirlooms, talent changes and the world around us things have gotten so easy that leveling has become (at least to me) a bit of a bore.

Well this challenge will turn that experience right back around. It is quite difficult, and adds a real sense of danger back into the world of leveling. Clearing paths to a named mob, carefully planning out routes of escape, feeling your heart beat rise as you make your way through a cave (hoping nothing respawns in your face), wiping the sweat off your brow as you make it through another fight with only 27hp left - these are all things commonly experienced by iron man challengers. As difficult as this challenge is, I have always found it fun and very rewarding, both from a gameplay perspective, and for the community formed around it. It'll also really make you appreciate the small things in game. ;)

That being said, the WoW Iron Man challenge is still around and thriving. Since I last posted regarding the adventures of the Iron Steves, there have even been two new challenges created in addition to the original. :D

What is the Iron Man Challenge?

For anyone unfamiliar with the WoW Iron Man challenge, it is a player-created challenge with the ultimate goal of trying to make it to max level in only grey/white gear, with no spec and without dying. (See link for full set of rules.)