Basilisks (Tamable in MoP) Get a Makeover

With the addition of basilisks as a new hunter pet family in Mists of Pandaria, a very large number of them across the world will be getting face-lifts. This change will affect at least four rare basilisks including Scale Belly, Hissperak, Hellgazer and Deatheye.

Not only do each of these rares get a nifty new look, but it also looks like they will each be getting their own unique look. I personally like these new skins and am quite fond of the pinkish-purple accents they'll be getting. For anyone who preferred the old skins, they will still be available elsewhere. 

Here are the before and after models of each of these rare basilisks:

Scale Belly - level 31, Cape of Stranglethorn

Map of Rare Pandarian Champions by Type

Below is a map showing where each one of the rare Pandarian Champions needed for the Glorious! Achievement can be found throughout the continent of Pandaria. I have color coded them by their type (see legend on bottom left). For example, all Pandaren Champions are marked in yellow, all Mantid Champions in pink, etc. On the right I have them separated out by zone, the zones are in order by level from lowest to highest.

Map is quite detailed...pls click to enlarge

(To see an even larger image of this map you can also right click the image and view it in another tab. From there you should be able to zoom even further.)

Below I've listed links to posts covering the rare champions in each zone in greater detail. These posts each have a detailed map, screenshots of each rare, where they can be found, each rare's abilities, what their special drops are, etc.

• The Jade Forest
• Valley of the Four Winds
• Krasarang Wilds
• Kun-Lai Summit 
• Townlong Steppes
• Dread Wastes
• Vale of Eternal Blossoms

Rare Pandaria Hunter Pets - A New Kind of Challenge

If there were one thing in MoP Beta that I had been biting my nails in anticipation for, its rare hunter pets. Well, we've finally got em' ...and with a fun new twist! These pets need to be tracked down...literally. These beasts have long, windy patrol routes where they will leave tracks behind them as they walk. Each rare has their own unique track, and here's the kicker...the pets are completely stealthed.

The only way these beasts will become visible is for them to walk through a flare. Hunters Mark can be applied to them while they are in the flare to help aid in tracking for that particular hunter. Another interesting thing to note, is that both tracks and the pets are only visible to hunters! (Hunter's prayers have been answered by the gods of WoW!) ^-^

Their tracks do not stay up indefinitely; the furthest ones behind disappear one by one as new tracks are created where the beast is walking. Currently the tracks are a bit buggy. On Beta right now nearly all tracks need to be followed BACKWARDS in order to find the beast making them. Some of the tracks also spawn in under ground, and others float strangely over the terrain making them even more difficult to find.

The most difficult tracks for me to follow were Patrannach's Barely-Visible Tracks and Savage's Bloody Tracks. The reason for this was because they blended in so well with the terrain, and because each had occasional missing tracks. One thing that help out a LOT when looking for any of the tracks was to put ground clutter on the lowest setting.

So far there are nine pets altogether, with at least one in each zone. They range in level, with the lower level ones naturally residing in the lower level zones. They are currently classified as elites with golden dragons around their portraits, and although they do hit hard most people shouldn't have trouble with them. (I tamed Savage with a level 85 hunter, and he still didn't get me lower than 60% health without a frost trap or deterrence up.)

So without further adieu, let me introduce these new pets in order by zone. ~

Click on the name of the rare to be taken to the page on that particular pet with extra screenshots, maps, video and far more information.

Jade Forest

Name: Glimmer (Water Strider) **Exotic pet
Track type: Flooded Tracks
Rough location: Near The Arboretum and down past the Temple of the Jade Serpent

Glorious! Achievement & New Rare Champions in Jade Forest

 

Quick beta update here: With the re-opening of the Jade Forest I was able to hunt down the last few rare Pandarian Champions needed for the Glorious! Achiement. I can confirm that as of right now there are a total of 56 rare Pandarian Champions that can be found across Pandaria. (See screenshot below.)

The rares added in the Jade Forest each drop a Small Bag of Goods, a nice blue bop piece of armor, and an epic item level 420 weapon. All of the weapons I found were bop, except for the Fishsticker Longbow which is bind on equip and drops off of Sarnak, a Saurok that spawns in a cave on the eastern coast.

Sneak Peek: Special drops from Rare Champions of Pandaria

Each of the rare champions in Pandaria drops a nice piece of blue bop gear and a chance to drop Small Bag of Goods. Several of them also have a special item unique to that particular rare. These special drops include fun vanity items, trinkets, companion pets and items that will be very useful in pvp.

I've put together a list below of each one of these super fun items sorted by the zone they can be found in, along with screen-shots and which rare drops the item.

I will be updating this post (which will more than likely become it's own page at some point) as new items/information are available. Also, don't forget - you can click on the images to see larger, more detailed images. Until then, enjoy!

Dread Wastes

Ai-Li's Skymirror - Drops from Ai-Li Skymirror (Pandaren)

Elixir of Ancient Knowledge - Drops from Krol the Blade (Mogu Warrior) 

Eternal Warrior's Sigil - Drops from Gar'lok (Mantid) 

Golden Fleece - Drops from Omnis Grinlok (Saurok)

Videos of each new type of Rare Champion in MoP

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!! Mists of Pandaria Beta Post:

After days of searching, I'm pretty sure I've found every new rare champion that currently can be found on the beta. (The Jade Forest is still offline.) That includes the Saurok as well, which are not yet included as part of the Glorious! Achievement.

The achievement as seen in the screenshot above, will definitely be changing in the near future I'm sure. Not only are Saurok missing, but there are two rares (Kal'tik the Blight and Urgolax) that are listed twice. When all of them are added in there will be over 50 rares! =)

I've gotten pretty familiar with fighting each type of champion, and I can say the toughest ones for me as a hunter were the Panaren and the Jinyu. Well, the Pandaren were not necessarily difficult as much as they were annoying. With only one silence, if they got two heals off in a row their health would reach full again and the fights would just last forever.

The Jinyu I found difficult because not only do you need to interrupt a spell that will kill whatever they are targeting, but they hit pretty hard as well. The lower level Jinyu that I came across weren't that bad, but the higher level ones I had to try often more than once to get them down. I also had to blow every cd. One of the fights I actually finished with about 1% of my health left. Yikes!

Anywho, I thought it would be nice to actually show you guys how each of these rares actually fight instead of just writing about it. So without further adieu, here is each type of rare pandarian champion in action:

New Rares & Achievements Implemented in last MoP Beta Patch!

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!! Mists of Pandaria Beta Post:

I was pretty ecstatic this weekend when I logged into the beta to find that a massive amount of new rares and rare related achievements had been added in the most recent patch. There are three achievements related to a handful of rares that can be found in each one of the Pandaria zones. (That's a handful of rares in EACH zone, there are quite a few new rares! I counted 49 total on the list in the achievement tab - not all rares are currently listed on the achievement in beta.) 

The new Mists of Pandaria rare achievements are:

A Worthy Opponent - Defeat one of the powerful champions of the Pandarian races that wander the continent.
Could We Find More Like That? - Defeat one of each type of Pandarian champion.
Glorious! - Hunt down and defeat each and every one of the Pandarian champions.

Sha of Anger - MoP World Boss

The Sha of Anger, the physical manifestation of rage, has escaped from the Shado-Pan Monestary in Kun-Lai Summit. Amid the brutal conflicts gripping Pandaria, the dark entity has grown ever more powerful. recently, the sha has been seen wandering Kun-Lai, using negative energies to corrupt everything the being encounters. -Dungeon Journal

Like Galleon, the Sha of Anger is a rare world boss requiring a raid to down. He spawns in Kun-Lai Summit, and currently has 218M health on the beta. This boss will have a few achievements associated with it including Settle Down, Bro (I forsee a lot of people linking this in trade in the future), Sha of Anger Guild Run, and of course the achievement very few will see: Realm First! Sha of Anger.

8/17/12 Update: According to the dungeon journal, it looks like the Sha of Anger will drop the mount Reins of the Heavenly Onyx Cloud Serpent.

Grand Expedition Yak & Grey/Blonde Riding Yak Preview

Grand Expedition Yak, aka the new Traveler's Tundra Mammoth

Yeah, it's not a rare spawn I know. Heck, it's not even a rare drop, but I just love mounts like this and wanted to share because I'm super excited about it. The Grand Expedition Yak is the Mists of Pandaria version of the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth. It comes with two vendors, and when the vendors are ejected it can carry two additional passengers.

The Grand Expedition Yak can be purchased from Uncle Bigpocket the Used Yak Salesgrummle at the Grummle Bazaar in Kun-Lai Summit. His pockets need to be big because this mount is looking like it's going to be another massive gold sink - which I totally approve of by the way. =)

Uncle Bigpocket, Yak Vendor

Salyis' Warband & Galleon - MoP World Boss

(Updates toward bottom of post.)

Chief Sayis' Warband, Blizzard did a wonderful job on this model!

After maintenance this morning I logged into the beta to do a few quests in the Valley of Four Winds before going to work. The moment I logged in I noticed people in general chat looking for more to help down a rare world boss. Naturally I was curious and offered to join in.

It turns out this boss is actually an entire war party called Salyis' Warband. The party is made up of several saurok (reptilian humanoids) who man two huge cannons on top of a kodo-like beast called a mushan named Galleon. The party is led by Chief Salyis (seen standing on Galleon's head).

I'm not sure yet if the War-band spawns in any other locations, but when our group attempted downing them we found them on the Rumbling Terrace shooting cannonballs over the river. I put a red dot on the map below to show where we found them.

Alani The Stormborn - the New Aeonaxx/TLPD of Pandaria?

(Updates toward bottom of post.)

The new Aeonaxx/TLDP of Pandaria?

Flying high above the Vale of Eternal Blossoms glides a gorgeous majestic dragon named Alani, The Stormborn. (Perhaps a reference to Daenerys Targaryen, mother of Dragons, aka. Daenerys Stormborn from GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire series?)

Alani is a level 92 silver dragon leading me to believe that we may just be seeing a glimpse of the next Time-Lost Proto-Drake/Aeonaxx. At least that's what I'm hoping for because WOW would this make an amazing looking mount!

Look at that Gorgeous Face!

Alani has 1264k hp. I watched her fly around the zone for about 15-20 minutes with my eagle eye and she patrolled all the way from the most eastern side to the west, making it a very large patrol area. She was generally flying fairly high in the air, but did occasionally dip down low enough to the ground that she probably would have been within range to hit with a ranged spell.