"Getting Back Into It" with some Rare Tames

[swordoath]

I've been away from the game for a while now. It was mid-Cataclysm era when I had to put it down, and as time went on my interest started to wane a little and I stopped thinking about coming back. The announcement for Warlords, though, changed all that. I had been a fan of Warcraft before WoW -- I played a lot of Warcraft II as a kid and enjoyed Warcraft III as well. Warlords excites me because I get to go back and see these characters I know in a new light.

So, when Mists went on sale for the holidays, I decided it was time to jump back in and prepare for this exciting new expansion. I've been playing for a couple weeks now and enjoying the feel of things. I like the changes and the streamlining that's happened and it's nice to reconnect with people I knew.

In the past few days, I started getting the itch to go after some of the rares I hadn't tamed. There were a couple added in Cataclysm that I was interested in, and a few in Wrath that eluded me during that time. I felt it was time to start building my proper stable. I won't go into a lot of details because the majority of it was just waiting things out, but I've gotten my hands on a number of new pets in the last little while.

The most notable one is King Krush, which I was really happy to finally have after my only other time seeing one in the wild ended with a steal-and-kill from another player back during the height of Wrath.

Another one I'm really happy with is Terrorpene, which is interesting because I didn't like his look much from still images but after seeing him in game I decided I needed to get him. He's now one of my favorite pets just because of the personality he has over some of the other guys.

Other tames that have occurred within the last couple days include Acroniss, Toxx, and Chromehound. Each of these isn't as exciting, but they're all interesting and great-looking tames that I was excited to have as a part of my stable. Overall I've been really happy with the stuff I've managed to get in the past little while. I'm about halfway to dinging 90 right now, and when that happens I'm going to start getting after the bigger game.

[GormanGhaste]

Welcome back! Kalliope has a nice summary thread of MoP rares called Where the Wild Things Are.

[swordoath]

Thanks! Yeah, I've been looking at some of the information about the new rares and how to go about taming them. I do like that they're making the search for rare pets more like an actual "hunt" now -- that you have to track them down rather than just wait for them to show up somewhere.

I dinged 90 a couple days ago and had the cash on hand to purchase Pandaria flying, so I'm about to embark on some hunts within the next little while. Definitely want to get Savage if I can find him, and maybe Portent if I can come across the blue skin. I'd also like to try and get Furyshell if I can somehow convince everyone not to just outright kill it on me.

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UPDATE!
After a couple days away due to other obligations, I've just been on my first hunt for a Pandaria rare. Went after Savage today, and after losing the trail at the river and then picking it up again on the other side -- and going in the other direction -- I knew I was on top of him. I popped a flare and watched as he appeared ... and then promptly disappeared, as he was right on the edge of the flare. ARGH.

After beating a few of the red tigers away, I had to briefly re-find the trail. It took a bit of time, but soon I was following him again, and quickly caught up. Throwing another flare, I was able to mark him then -- only to be aggroed by another tiger. I sent my Loque to deal with it while I kept my sights on Savage, then dismissed Loque when his work was done. Quickly, I began the tame, only to watch Savage step outside maximum range on tame just as it was about to tick over.

I ran up and engaged the tame again from right next to him, and ...

WHEE! I have to say, I love this new style of rare hunt. It's pretty exhilarating to have to actually track your quarry in the bush, and it makes the reward all the sweeter.

Next, I headed out to the Timeless Isle for the first time, on the lookout for Furyshell the turtle. Seems everybody wanted a piece of him this evening, as the beach was full of people killing his friends to make him show up. I ran up and down the beach skinning the killed turtles in an attempt to have him spawn faster, but he appeared and died three times because someone else was closer. I was worried he'd be a hard tame because of the possibility of loot, but I never expected to see him bite it so many times.

Then, suddenly, a second Furyshell spawned just as the previous one died. I rushed in immediately, confident that the rest of the people in the area were sated from the death of the previous one. I began the tame and ...

This tame was harrowing! This is a neat way to spawn rares, although I know it was lucky that I grabbed him within a couple hours. It wouldn't have surprised me if I'd been out there for days waiting for enough of a lull in the traffic to look for him.

Side note, I also managed to get the mail shoulder token from the first lockbox I opened on the island! I also had a ring, bracers and a neck slot item for myself by the time I was done. My random numbers came up lucky tonight.

Next stop, Portent! Hopefully I can find the blue one.

[swordoath]

Here's today's update for those of you who might be interested.

I spent the last couple of days camping for a blue Portent. My first three tames were the three other colors -- first green, then red, then purple. I had hoped this would mean he'd cycle into blue next, but no such luck. Over the next day, I would leave and do something in another zone for about an hour, then zoom back to check his new spawn. Purples, greens, reds. No blues. I had originally said I'd settle for red if blue never showed, but looking at the red model in-game made me reconsider; it just didn't have the punch of the blue one. The embossed gold on dark cobalt, the flaming red eyes -- I wanted the blue one and only the blue one.

Deciding to take a break for a bit, I turned and flew north, heading for the Isle of Giants. There were a few people milling about, killing Dinomancers, but I was able to get in a few kills of my own despite my less-than-stellar gear. After about half a dozen kills, I found my Tome of Dinomancy! Not sure which color I liked most, I ended up taming one of each color of Direhorn to see them next to me in game. It was a hard battle between a few different colors, but it was the brown one that finally won out. He's just so stylish.

From there it was back to the Vale for more Portent chasing, but I still couldn't get my hands on a blue one. Green ones, red ones, purple ones, over and over. I was beginning to lose hope that the blue one would ever appear. But then, finally, I found him in an area miles away from any place I had seen him before, close to the Mogu'shan Palace instead of by the Five Sisters (where I had found him every single time before). I popped a flare and nearly fell out of my seat with excitement as the blue Portent came into view.

I'm so happy that he finally showed up. This is the feeling I love after successful hunts.

[Tsiya]

I did the same thing when I came back a couple weeks ago. Although, I did already have all 4 Portent colors...my quilin addiction is coming along well. I now have the 4 natural skins, and several long-lost pets I have had to give up over the years due to space constraints. And all 3 colors of sporebat!

[GormanGhaste]

that's my favorite color of Direhorn too

[swordoath]

Tsiya: I'm finding that a lot of my tastes have changed since coming back to the game and I'm looking at a bunch of pets and families I wouldn't have tried when I used to play. Gives me a chance to try new things, though, so I'm all for it.

GormanGhaste: Definitely looks fantastic. I like the red color too, but something about the brown just spoke to me.