Merry Winter Veil, everyone!

Happy holidays, everyone!


Where the Wild Things Are will be back in 2013, so be sure to stick around for the rest of the 4.2 rares. :)

Where the Wild Things Are: Gorishi Grubs

Just three weeks after the discovery of the tameable amber parasites, another unique-skinned worm has come to light: the Gorishi grub. Though these may not have necessarily been intended either, they do have a burrow animation and otherwise seem more "finished" than the amber parasites.

Update 1/11/13: Patch 5.2 will make these untameable, so tame yours before that patch arrives!


Transcription:

Hey everyone! It's only been three weeks since the amber parasites were discovered, but there's already a new giant worm in town: the Gorishi Grub.

These grubs are similar to the parasites in that both are unique appearances for the worm family, and like all silkworms, both inherit the two crocolisk death animations. But that's where the similarities end. The grubs have the new silkworm burrow animation, which the parasites still lack. However, unlike the parasites, who are always present in the Dread Wastes, the grubs are spawned by a rare spawn.

Clutchmother Zavas, a level 54 rare silithid, makes her home in the silithid hive in southern Un'goro Crater. While in combat, she will randomly lay Gorishi eggs, which hatch to spawn Gorishi Grubs. The grubs will die two minutes after they hatch, giving hunters a limited, but decent-sized window in which to tame them.

For hunters looking to tame these as a group, it's easy for one player to hold aggro on Zavas and kite her away from freshly laid eggs. Another hunter can easily grab aggro on the new grub when it hatches, making for an easy tame without any danger of killing the clutchmother. Any eggs and grubs present when Zavas is reset by feigning will remain where they are, which makes it easy for the tanking hunter to tame without risking an accidental kill.

While we don't have an accurate spawn timer for Clutchmother Zavas, our best guess is that it's around four to six hours like other Azerothian rares post-Cataclysm.

At the time of this recording, we don't know whether we'll get to keep these worms as pets either, though the fact that the amber parasites are still here is encouraging.

For the most current information on the Gorishi grubs and other hunter pets, be sure to visit Petopia and the Petopia forums.

From Un'goro Crater, this is Kalliope, showing you where the wild things are.

Where the Wild Things Are: Ban'thalos

Our journey back through the Molten Front starts above the Sanctuary of Malorne with Ban'thalos, the loyal green spirit owl. We'll also be taking a quick detour to Darnassus to visit his fellow spirit owl, Dori'thur, as well as taking a look at their origins. Next week, we'll be moving a bit to the northeast to visit the Regrowth.


Transcription:

Hey everyone! I'm here above the Sanctuary of Malorne in Mount Hyjal, hanging out with the shiny green spirit owl Ban'thalos.

This level 85 spirit beast is often the first challenge tame that players encounter upon properly phasing into the zone's daily quest hub. Since he's exotic, hunters need to spec as beast mastery to tame him.

Ban'thalos has the same three tamed abilities as other spirit beast pets. The first, spirit beast blessing, is a mastery raid buff that scales with the hunter's level, maxing out at 3000 at level 90. The second, spirit mend, is a targetable heal over time which scales with the hunter's ranged attack power. The third ability is spirit walk, which allows the beast to enter stealth mode with a 50% movement speed penalty, but grants a 20% damage bonus to his first attack from stealth.

Ban'thalos was the first flying spirit beast introduced to the game and at the time of this recording, is still the only tamable one. Dori'thur, Tyrande Whisperwind's companion, looks exactly like Ban'thalos, but is not flagged as a beast.

Both come from the line of green scout owls introduced in Warcraft III. According to Noah, the developer who came up with the challenge tames, the spirit owls are named for families that had huntresses who fought in the Third War. This is why Dori'thur belongs to a Whisperwind. Ban'thalos means Nightwing, but as the huntresses of that family are gone, he roams freely without a home. As the spirit owls are drawn to places of druidic magic, Ban'thalos flies in a circle high above the Sanctuary of Malorne.

Since he spawns so high up, the trick to taming him is getting him to a safe taming location without you dying or him evading and resetting.

The safest method involves perching on top of an incredibly thin treetop, then pulling Ban'thalos down to it. A freeze trap will protect you from his Harsh Moonlight ability and at the right height, you won't even take any falling damage. The hardest part is actually landing on top of the tree.

The other method is a lot riskier. It involves pulling Ban'thalos and disengaging before hitting the ground. There are lots of ways to die attempting this method, but it can work if you are having trouble with the tree. The engineering cloak enchant or other slow fall effects can help, but the tame can be executed without one.

Ban'thalos spawns around every 8 to 12 hours.

For the most current information on Ban'thalos and other hunter pets, be sure to visit Petopia and the Petopia forums.

From the skies of Mount Hyjal, this is Kalliope showing you where the wild things are.

Where the Wild Things Are: An Overview of the 4.2 Challenge Tames

In the first KPoP flashback series, we'll be visiting the Molten Front and all ten of the challenge tames introduced in patch 4.2.


Transcription:

Hey everyone! This is Kalliope, here to give you a quick look back at the ten challenge tames of patch 4.2.

On June 28th, 2011, a daily quest hub was added to Mount Hyjal, connecting into a larger quest hub in the Molten Front. Hunters had the added bonus of being able to tame 10 new beast rares - three spirit beasts, five lava spiders, one cat, and one crab. Between them, there are eight unique taming challenges. Each challenge pushes hunters to figure out the mechanics for each tame, then successfully execute them.

The challenges test different hunter skills, but they all have two things in common: their level - 85 - and their deadly nature. Though the tames can now be overleveled and are therefore a lot safer for the hunter, a few of them will still one-shot the unprepared, while others will require an even lighter touch than before to keep the beast alive.

I'll be showing you all the beasts and their taming mechanics in subsequent videos, each with helpful tips and tricks to taming them.

For even more in-depth information on the Molten Front rares and other hunter pets, be sure to visit Petopia and the Petopia forums.

From the front lines of the Molten Front, this is Kalliope, inviting you to stick around and see where the wild things are.

200k views!

With the discovery of the amber parasites, the KPoP YouTube channel passed 200k views! I'm just in awe of how many hunters there are out there who are interested in these discoveries.

Coming up soon, I'll be delving into the first KPoP flashback series. I've been looking forward to spotlighting these particular rares for a long time, since they're the reason I started doing this sort of reporting in the first place.

A video that speaks to the hunter's heart

Balthazar and Frostheim released a song that sums up many hunters' relationships with their pets. It's something that likely applies to anyone who reads this blog, so definitely give it a watch:



Yes, Ursa, Ursa Minor, and I are in there. :) There are a number of Petopians featured as well. If you're like me, recognizing other hunters and their pets just on sight adds an extra layer of depth to the song/video because it's all so true.

Where the Wild Things Are: Amber Parasites

Patch 5.1 revealed a most likely unintended tameable maggot-skinned worm. Whether hunters will get to keep them as pets remains to be seen, as they share a skeleton with silkworms. Stay tuned for updates!

Update 12/2/12: You do NOT need the daily to get the parasites to spawn. Having the daily makes it easier to find the beasts that will spawn parasites, but it's not required.

Update 1/3/13: Patch 5.2 will make these untameable, so tame yours before that patch arrives!

Transcription:

Hey everyone! Kalliope here in the Dread Wastes with a likely unintentional, but still exciting new worm tame.

You'll need three things to do this tame: level 90, a beast mastery spec, and the Klaxxi daily quest "Infected." With this quest, certain beasts in the southeast corner of the Dread Wastes will have a yellow cloud around them. When damaged, these beasts will randomly spawn amber parasites in groups of three, any of which can be tamed.

Your newly tamed worm will have really low health, so either be prepared for him to die to the remaining beasts or take the exhilaration talent to heal him to full immediately after taming.

Don't to get too attached to your new buddy just yet, since at the time of this recording, we don't know whether we'll get to keep them as pets. For the most current information on the amber parasites and other hunter pets, be sure to visit Petopia and the Petopia forums.

Hoping for the best in the Dread Wastes, this is Kalliope, showing you where the wild things are.