Spotted nightsaber: Duskstalker

There are a large number of tameable cats in World of Warcraft, and for a long time nightsaber cats have been a popular first pet for night elf hunters, since these cats are found in large numbers on Teldrassil. Cats come in a variety of colorations and fur patterns, but the spotted type is one of the less common. Easily found as low-level mobs in Teldrassil, these cats are often discarded for more "exotic" looking felines later. Still, in Teldrassil they are common enough to have a rarespawn all their own.

This entry is about Duskstalker.



What is Duskstalker, and how do I find it?

Duskstalker is a rare mob spotted nightsaber cat found near Lake Al'Ameth on Teldrassil, in Kalimdor.



Duskstalker is not very hard to find. It prowls the area south of Lake Al'Ameth, and can be found almost anywhere directly south of the lake. Doing a quick sweep east-west should allow you to spot the beast, and since it is on a very short respawn timer, Duskstalker is almost always found there.

Story of the spotted cat

As with most rarespawns, there is little lore to tell us anything about Duskstalker. As I mentioned, the spotted variety is not seen very often. Generally this cat skin can be found in three areas (with the odd possible exception): Teldrassil, Stonetalon Mountains and inside the Black Morass instance in the Caverns of Time.



Now, fur patterns on carnivores usually act to obscure the outline of the animal in its natural environment, acting as camouflage, which is useful when stalking prey. Since all the spotted nightsaber varieties that can be found in World of Warcraft occur in densely wooded areas, it would seem that the spots act as camouflage among the dense undergrowth of older forests. Likely, the spotted sabercats split off from the striped variety through natural variation.



Duskstalker is likely an older specimen of spotted sabercat which has been named by the night elves of Teldrassil. Since it seems to keep some distance to the bigger congregations of regular cats, it may be an older male which prefers solitary hunting. Nightsabers do not appear to be pack hunters, or at the very least maintain only a very loose social structure. This is actually quite common in real-world felines found in forest regions as well. How various animal species got to this artificially created tree has not yet been revealed, but it seems likely they were intentionally transported there.

A nightsaber of your own

As with most cats, Duskstalker can be tamed. It is not unique in color, though, and actually looks exactly like any other spotted cat found on Teldrassil. If instead you chose to fight it, you will find it is an easy fight, with no really threatening ability. Neither does Duskstalker possess any special drops.



If anything, I would recommend seeking out and taming Duskstalker (or one of the identical spotted cats) just because it is very rare to see a hunter with one these days. It may be that people consider the skin to be too "plain" as it is found in a starter area, something which applies to a lot of hunter pets. For cats, you see many many people with King Bangalash or Pitch, but few with the "ordinary" cats.



Finally, it is interesting to note that the offspring of the troll goddess Har'koa appear as black spotted nightsabers with glowing red eyes when they are cursed. When uncursed they appear as their parent.

Until next time, chose a pet you like, not a pet that everyone talks about.

~Dragonshade