Archive for October, 2008

Happy Hallow’s End!
October 18, 2008

Hallow’s End starts today and will go until November 1st.

“Observed by both the Horde and the Alliance, Hallow’s End is the celebration of the break between the Forsaken and the Scourge.” (from the official site).

I totally broke out my pirate costume again (now that I don’t have to carry healing and DPS gear around separately, I have space for important things such as this!):

Not much has changed with this holiday compared to last year.  The most important new piece to it is that you can now earn the title “The Hallowed” if you complete the Hallow’s End achievement: “Hallowed be Thy Name” which involves taking part in many aspects of the Hallow’s End event. You also can get a spiffy new mount.

Achievement: “The Hallowed be Thy Name”

Once you complete the 11 Hallow’s End achievements listed below, “Hallowed be Thy Name” will be completed and you will have earned the snazzy title “The Hallowed.”

Note: This will not actually take effect until patch 3.0.3 goes live, which should be some time before Nov. 1. You can still work on earning it before then.

  • Out With It
    Right click many times on a Tricky Treat candy until you get the “Upset Tummy” debuff. You get Tricky Treats from defeating the Headless Horseman in SM.
  • The Savior of Hallow’s End
    Help put out the villiage fires in Brill, Razor Hill, Falconwing Square, Azure Watch, Kharanos, or Goldshire.
  • That Sparkling Smile
    Use a toothpick. You can get a toothpick by talking to an innkeeper and selecting the “Trick or Treat” dialogue option (it’s a random “drop”).
  • G.N.E.R.D. Rage
    Get 50 honorable kills while under the effects of G.N.E.R.D.s.  G.N.E.R.D.s can be found in the buckets of candy throughout the world (though you can only loot each bucket once).  The G.N.E.R.D buff doesn’t persist through death.
  • The Masquerade
    Be transformed into each of the seven costumes from the Hallow’s End wands (skeleton, bat, wisp, ghost, ninja, pirate, and leper gnome). The wands can be found by trick-or-treating at inns and can only be used on other players (not on yourself).  Getting a costume from the “Random Wand” does not count toward this achievement.

Quests

We have the same quests this year as we did last year.

  • Summon the Horseman
    To complete this quest, you go into Scarlet Monastery Graveyard and “talk” to the pumpkin on the alter on the left side of the open graveyard area.  Then, you just have to bring the candle to the loose dirt mound to summon the Horseman.  Only one player in your group can summon him at a time.  You can do this twice a day.  The Horseman is a boss tuned for a group of 5 level 70s and has a number of interesting item drops.  More info below.
  • Candy for Orphans
    Go to the orphanage in Orgrimmar or Stormwind and an orphan there will give you a quest to go do various emotes at NPCs in your faction’s major cities (Alliance or Horde).  You will be rewarded with 30 Hallow’s End Pumpkin Treats.

The Headless Horseman Event

The Headless Horseman is an easy boss for a group of 5 level 70 players. He is located in Scarlet Monastery Graveyard.

Players in your group can take turns summoning him in the open graveyard section of the instance by “talking” to the pumpkin on the alter, the placing a candle at the loose dirt pile next to it.  Once he appears, DPS is focused on him until his head flies off.  Then you DPS his head until it goes back on.  Repeat until he is dead.  About a third of the way through the fight he start setting fire to random targets.  It can be easily healed through.  Toward the end of the fight, he will summon squashling adds.  Just keep DPSing your target and ignore them.  They will disappear when he dies.

Players can summon him twice per day their first day, then once per day after that.

The Headless Horseman drops the following items:

  • The Headless Horseman’s Mount
    This mount is identical to the one the Headless Horseman rides.  It will fly (if you have the appropriate skill, otherwise it works as a land mount). The drop rate is very low (~1%).  This item is new this year.
  • Broom Mounts
    There is one broom this year, but similar to the Headless Horseman’s Mount, it will travel at a speed corresponding to your riding skill (and even fly).  You have about a 1 in 4 chance of seeing a broom drop. Broom mounts only last 14 days.
  • Epic Rings
    The horseman drops three different rings. One is aimed at physical damage dealers.  The other two (Witches’ Band and the Horseman’s Signet Ring) have caster stats (for healers or DPSers).  They aren’t bad for player s new to 70 or who do not raid much. They have identical stats to rings available through badge rewards.  Each ring drops about a third of the time.
  • The Horseman’s Blade
    This one-handed sword, in addition to its other stats, will let the players summon pumpkin solders to help attack enemies. As it is a sword, it cannot be used by priests.  This item is new this year.
  • The Horseman’s Helm
    This is a plate helm with melee DPS stats that looks just like the one the horseman wears.  It can be used to make the wearer laugh like the horseman.  Priests can’t wear this item. The drop rate is low (~5%).
  • Hallowed Helm
    This novelty helm makes it appear that your head is a pumpkin. It’s cloth, so anyone can wear it. The drop rate is ~10%.
  • Weighted Jack-o’-Lanturns
    These items will make the target’s head appear to be a pumpkin.  The horseman will drop a handful of these each time he is defeated. The effect lasts an hour.

Other Shenanigans

  • Black Cats
    There are black cats (level 1 critters) in major cities, seemingly part of the Hallow’s End decor.  However, if you kill one, you get the debuff “Bad Luck.” It disappears after 2 hours or on death. The debuff is flavor only; it does nothing.
  • Candy Buckets
    These buckets are all over Azeroth and the Outlands.  You can only click each one once, but will receive xp and a handful of candy from each.
  • Candy Galore
    There will be vendors selling candy, innkeepers will be giving it away, and the aforementioned candy buckets will have it by the bucketload (ha ha).
  • Apple Bobbing
    Inns will have apple bobbing basins that will let you grab up to five apples (restores 2% of your health per second when eating).  The basins make for good hot tubs as well.
  • Masks
    When trick-or-treating with innkeepers, you will sometimes get a flimsy mask letting you be one of 20 different race/gender combinations.
  • Hallowed Wands
    This is another item you get from trick-or-treating.  It will let you put costumes on other players in your group.  There are eight different kinds of Hallowed Wands.

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