Ravage, eject. Operation: Information gathering.

It may seem like I'm currently doing a "beast" theme for the blog, constantly bringing up new rare beasts. This isn't actually intentional, honestly. Mostly I just pick out a rare I feel fits for the day, according to my own draconian ways of deciding such things. Regardless, I do like covering beast rarespawns a lot, for not only are they often quite cool-looking, they are also of special interest for anyone playing a hunter and looking for ideas for a new pet.

And fitting in well with that idea, today's rarespawn is Ravage.



Operation: Seek out

Ravage is a rare mob hyena found in the Blasted Lands in the Eastern Kingdoms.



Ravage can be found roughly in the center of the Blasted Lands zone, spawning on either side of the road leading to the Dark Portal. Ravage does not wander very far, it just meanders around a small path where it spawns. This rarespawn is extremely easy to locate visually, because it has a deep purple color which stands out among all the pale snickerfang hyenas common to the zone.



Operation: Combat

Ravage is a hostile mob, but not very tough to defeat in combat. Something of interest is that Ravage has not only Infected Bite and Poison, both of which cause nature damage over time. Now, mammals do not usually have poison, but in this case there is a very good explanation. In the real world, hyenas are very resistant to bacterial infection, and can even carry rabies without developing any symptoms. Therefore, I posit that Ravage's "poison" bite is just a nasty case of septic, bacteria-filled saliva.



Unfortunately, Ravage does not have any unique drops, so a better use for it is to tame it. Hyenas are ferocity (Aka DPS) pets, and tameable by any hunter. They eat only meat, which is a nice detail consistent with real-world hyenas. Their unique ability is Tendon Rip, a semi-useful ability which lowers the enemy's movement speed. As usual, Petopia has all the information you need about taming hyenas.



While not a unique specimen, Ravage shares its appearance with only a few other mobs, and all of them are found quite a far way away. The only common purple hyenas are found in the Thousand Needles, and apart from that the only other one is a Barrens rarespawn, which we have not yet covered as of this writing. I really like the rich purple color on Ravage, and think it makes a very nice-looking pet for that reason alone.

Operation: Fact retrieval

Right, some of you are probably wondering what's up with the titles. Well, it's generally believed (but impossible to verify of course) that the hyena Ravage was named and designed after the Transformer Ravage, a decepticon. Ravage's thing was that he transformed into a cassette carried around by Soundwave until needed. When the action started, Soundwave would toss out Ravage or one of his buddies with commands like "Ravage, eject. Operation: Destruction". It was a pretty memorable part of the cartoon, and fondly remembered by geeks like me.



(And no, I will not explain what a 'cassette' was to those too young to remember it)

Apart from the reference, not much can be said for Ravage. It is likely just another powerful scavenger in a zone filled with them, and we cannot even be certain of its gender. Interestingly, hyenas are not really related to dogs (being more closely related to civets), yet in WoW you can occasionally see a mob with the hyena model tagged as a "hound" or even "mastiff". I like to think that this is just a "stand-in" to save time and money, and not that these creatures are actually hyenas.



I really like how the various idle animations look on the hyena model. Something about them scratching their ear is just neat.

A cool name, a fun nostalgic reference, and a great look ensure that Ravage is a rare I like a lot.

Until next time, don't be fooled by any robots in disguise.

~Dragonshade

The Buzz About Buzzards: Spiteflayer

When we last visited the Blasted Lands we saw one of that shattered region's sentient inhabitants, the ogre Mojo the Twisted. This time we're taking a look at a type of creature that can make a living in a devastated area like this... a carrion bird.

This entry is about Spiteflayer.



What is Spiteflayer, and where can I find it?

Spiteflayer is a rare mob carrion bird found in the Blasted Lands in the Eastern Kingdoms.



Spiteflayer looks exactly like the other carrion birds in the zone, making it hard to spot without nameplates on. Spiteflayer patrols from the edge of the Dark Portal crater up to the Serpent's Coil, flying rather slowly and meandering a bit as it goes. I have never seen it elsewhere, always in the eastern area north of the Portal outskirts.



Dangerous pets

Not that much to say specifically about Spiteflayer. It's a large carrion bird, much like the Bonepickers and Black Slayers found in the same area. It unusually possesses a curse (The somewhat common mob ability Curse of Blood which increases physical damage) but is not much of a threat, nor does it have a unique model or drops.



Once upon a time, carrion birds were considered very efficient PvP pets due to the fact that they came with an ability to interrupt enemy spellcasting by knocking them down. This was considered good enough that you saw many many hunters with carrion birds in the Battlegrounds. Eventually this was considered too good, and was removed. Today carrion birds instead come with the ability Demoralizing Screech. As usual, Petopia has more information on carrion birds as hunter pets.

Living off death

As I mentioned, I think it makes perfect sense for the Blasted Lands to be filled with various carrion birds, including Spiteflayer. Since the area underwent a rather quick ecological disaster with the opening of the Dark Portal, most of the local fauna and flora died out, rapidly or slowly. The remaining creatures even now struggle for survival against eachother and the many deadly threats introduced to the region, and corpses are common.



The carrion bird model in World of Warcraft has the telltale naked head and neck of a scavenger, which in the real world is useful for birds which stick their heads into carcasses (feathers only get in the way). Therefore these creatures must be the vultures and buzzards of Azeroth, picking clean the kills made by more dangerous predators. To have gained a name, Spiteflayer must have made an especial nuisance of itself, and whoever named the other birds in the Blasted Lands seemed to have a healthy respect or fear for these animals.



As ecologically sound as Spiteflayer and its brethren are, I have to say that I just don't like this bird model, built on the same basic frame that also created various birds of prey. It doesn't animate very well (the flight animation looks especially wonky) and is rather low-detail and dull. Some recent improvements have created birds like the Dragonbone Condors in Northrend, which look much better. Mayhap this means the older birds can also get a bit of attention and a sprucing up.

Until next time, wash that carrion before you eat it.

~Dragonshade

Ogres are everywhere: Mojo the Twisted

You may have noted that sometimes I mention that a particular type of creature occurs mostly on one of the continents in the World of Warcraft setting (Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend or Outland), but some species are much more widespread. One such exceptionally far-flung type of creature is the ogre.

Today's entry is Mojo the Twisted.



Who is Mojo the Twisted and where can I find him?

Mojo is a rare mob ogre (not to be confused with the frog of the same name) that can be found in the Blasted Lands in the Eastern Kingdoms.



Mojo can be found in or around Dreadmaul Hold, a small ogre base (seemingly taken over from the Horde judging by the tattered banners) in the north-western corner of the zone. Mojo can spawn in three locations that I have seen: Inside the hold itself, patrolling around the outer ring of the building, behind the hold by the rear wall, or up on top of the burned watchtower in front of the hold.

A short story of ogres

The reason for the enormous geographical spread of ogres is because they are intelligent creatures who once came to Azeroth while allied with the orcish Horde. According to legend, ogres arose on Draenor (the planet which later became Outland) as lesser scions of the monstrous immortal gronn. The ogres have a long history of being enslaved by smarter and more powerful beings, and many still are to this day. After the First War, Second and Third war various groups of ogres had deserted from the Horde or found new masters, and spread across Azeroth. Today they are a common sight everywhere but Northrend.



Under the influence of arcane or demonic magic, ogres may mutate and grow two heads instead of one. While two-headed ogres often have problems with the personalities of their heads not getting along, a few have exceptional spellcasting potential and become the much-feared ogre mages. The combination of magical ability and the ability to rip up a small tree is nothing to be scoffed at. Some two-headed ogres may also be warlocks.



Mojo appears to be an ogre warlock, as he uses the standard shadowbolt as his main attack, as well as a shadowbolt volley which strikes many enemies at once. Despite these powers he is not a very dangerous enemy since he can easily separated from the rest of the ogres in the hold.

What's his story?

The Dreadmaul ogres are somewhat special from most other ogre clans in Azeroth in that they directly serve a demon. Having long since defected from the Horde, the Dreadmaul leader Grol pledged his allegiance to the ambitious Dreadlord Razelikh. With demonic power coursing through his veins, Grol quickly enslaved other beings to do his biddings and made his ogres a dangerous force in the Blasted Lands.



Most likely Mojo acts as a warlock and general magical advisor for Grol, presumably being fanatically loyal to the clan's demonic master. Since he always spawns close to Grol, Mojo may be his most trusted magical advisor.

Anything else?

Mojo does not have blue skin or the two-part name (one for each head) common to many ogre mages and warlocks. If killed he yields only a generic uncommon item, and he has no other special traits. All in all a rather average rare mob ogre, who is made cooler by having one of the more interesting and original clans in the old world.



Until next time!
~Dragonshade