Who's that girl? Singer

This is an odd one. In one of the earliest posts on this blog I talked about Gravis Slipknot, a human rarespawn found in the Alterac Mountains. Just like Gravis, the rare in this entry wears the garb of the Syndicate, the band of thugs and robbers created by dispossessed Alterac nobility. And just like Gravis, this rare has some... quirks concerning her status with the group. Read on and you'll see.

This post is about Singer.



Who is Singer and where can I find her?

Singer is a rare mob human found in the Arathi Highlands in the Eastern Kingdoms.



Northfold Manor is the main base of the Syndicate in Arathi, and true enough Singer can be found there. She spawns in a few different locations, all inside the buildings. The small shack on the edge of the central field is a possibility, as is the barn. She may also appear inside the small buildings, though I have personally never seen her there. Singer does not wander at all, just moving around her spawn point a few steps this way and that. She also has a rather distinctive appearance as she is the only mob around the area to wear a dress. Her respawn time is fairly short (I have observed her spawning more than one time per day) and will thus often be found alive.



As a side note, I never quite got why Northfold is called a "manor" when it is quite obviously just a farm. Sarcasm? Boasting?

Fighting Singer

Singer is an odd mob to fight. She has very little health, and her standard ability is just a warrior-like demoralizing shout. She then wades in swinging a blade in each hand. For any character high in level this is all there is to her, a mob with a name who dies very very fast. However, for characters of level 25 or lower, Singer can be a very different fight.



Singer possesses an ability called Dominate Mind which is effective only on enemies level 25 or lower (although there are some differing accounts on the exact level range, this is the value given by wowhead and I'll believe that) which mind controls the character. For characters trying to defeat Singer solo, this means she will most likely de-aggro and go out of combat. For characters with pets, being mind controlled while your pet kills Singer, this will make it impossible for you to loot her afterwards. This ability is pretty much the only real threat Singer poses, so be careful if you are of a level able to be affected by it.



Interestingly, while Singer does wear the orange bandana of a Syndicate member, Singer does not change your Syndicate reputation when slain. Neither does she drop the Mark of the Syndicate trash item. However, Singer has two unique drops to her, neither of which fit her at all. Her cloak and amulet are both items heavy in spirit, something which makes no sense considering her abilities as a melee-heavy enemy. Maybe her mind-dominating ability indicates that she's a priest of some kind?

Her cloak is actually quite pretty with very bold colors. If Singer spawns inside the small hut, there is also quite frequently a treasure chest right beside her as well. This may cause LoS issues, and even make her bug out, so be careful!

Singer's story

As noted, Singer wears the bandana of a Syndicate member but this is not supported by anything else in-game. Singer remains hostile even to those crazy enough to grind themselves up to Neutral with the Syndicate faction. This makes her a bit of an enigma. Who is she? Is she just some crazy person who's holed up here and dresses like the Syndicate for fun?



My explanation for this would be that Singer is, for lack of a better word, nuts. She's a somewhat deranged and violent young woman recruited by the Syndicate for her terrifying ability to control the minds of others. The source of this ability, be it corrupted divine magic or an arcane version, remains mysterious. Still, Singer seems quite happy to just carve people up with her blades, and thus if her mind control fails to impress an enemy, the Syndicate can always rely on her to go in with flashing steel as a backup plan. However, maybe she's just a bit too nutty to recognize friend from foe, which is why her affiliation is with the Syndicate is tenuous at best?



And hey, while I'm speculating, I like to think that her name comes from the fact that her song is the means by which she mind controls someone. Singing a mesmerizing song like a siren would be an interesting twist on it...

Singer is a pretty cool rare, with her own drops and a cool look. She's well worth seeking out for those interested!

Until next time, put cotton wads in your ears.

~Dragonshade

The Ongar - Chasing a slime for months

You can't tell because of how I structure the entries, but some rarespawns took me virtually no time at all to find, others eluded me for months (some still do as of this writing). Today's entry, another slime (thus untrackable by hunters), took me a very long time to track down. I visited Felwood a lot, but never quite managed to find it until a friend of mine accidentally stumbled across it and asked if I still needed to photo it. Quite a bit of luck for me!

This post is about the Ongar.



What is the Ongar, and where do I find it?

The Ongar is a rare spawn slime found in Felwood, on Kalimdor.



The Ongar appears in and around Bloodvenom Falls, in the center of the Felwood zone. As mentioned, the Ongar has no creature type and thus cannot be tracked by common means. This means you must use a rarespawn finder addon, manual targeting, or visual searching to locate it. The Ongar can spawn in several spots around the falls, several of which are wholly or partially underwater. A common spot to find it (as it is often killed when it spawns around the large pool by the road) is the smaller pool near the waterfall up near the eastern cliff face. Get there by going east from the southern end of the bridge and up the hill. Other spawnpoints include the small waterfall under the bridge and the large pool by the road, as mentioned.



It appears that the Ongar has a rather slow respawn timer, and is thus hard to find. I don't know the truth of this, but as it spawns in an area where there are a few quests, and since many people pass by here (the Horde flight point is nearby), seeing the Ongar may be a rare occasion. The Ongar does wander around a bit, so be patient and thorough when looking for it.

Battling the Ongar

As hard as it is to locate, the Ongar is a definite pushover in combat. Possessing no special abilities whatsoever, and little health. It is basically just a regular slime with a name. As such, any class can take it out easily, for that delicious extra loot.



While it has no unique loot, the Ongar does drop a couple of things of interest. First, it provides a slime sample for the Undercity questline to test the oozes of the world, which seems natural. Second, it has a somewhat high chance of dropping an Oozing Bag, the only source of the rare Disgusting Oozeling vanity pet. Be warned though, even if the Ongar drops the bag, the chance of it containing the pet is low as well. But sometimes the gamble pays off! I'm also amused that the Ongar often drops the trash item "Bubbling Green Ichor", as the creature is in fact not green.

On a somewhat odd note, one of the old patches contains the note that " Rare Felwood creatures should now have loot." Presumably at one point the Ongar and the other Felwood rares had poor or missing loot (similar to the situation with Ruul Onestone and some others still) but that this was corrected.

The lore of the Ongar

My personal belief is that the name of this slime is a pun on "hunger", referring to the devouring nature of ooze creatures. It might be totally wrong though, and if anyone has a better hunch, please let me know! I'll also assume the thing was named by someone, as I cannot imagine a slime being that sentient.



The slimes of Felwood are among the most heavily corrupted in any part of the world. They have become deeply tainted by the same demonic energies which have turned Felwood into a twisted, nightmarish land. As oozes are quite susceptible to these kinds of influences, it is a clear indicator of how much the surrounding habitat has been affected. In a way, slimes and oozes in World of Warcraft are indicator species, giving important hints about the state of their environment.



There's not much I can say about the Ongar as an individual, as that concept is hard to apply to a slime. I will say, however, that the blue-green color is quite nice, probably my favorite ooze coloration. Interestingly, the Ongar shares this color with Sludginn (which I covered here), an ooze found in an area not usually considered to be corrupted. Maybe the Ongar is a rare, uncorrupted Felwood slime?



In closing, I love this guy if only because of the enormous joy when I finally found it. I love the slime model and the color and the Ongar has a nice surrounding to slush around in. All in all, a nice rare to encounter.

Until next time, bring a change of clothes. You might get slimed.

~Dragonshade

When themes go bad: Magister Hawkhelm

I often speak of "themes" in my evaluation of various rare mobs. This is because there is so little about most of them that I look deeper, analyzing them in a way I never would otherwise. Oftentimes I note that they have an evocative, fitting name for what they are. This happens a lot, but not always. Some raremobs have oddly chosen or just weird names, which may refer to something I don't know about, or possibly just be chosen because it "sounds cool". Sometimes though, you get a weird incongruence between what a mob does and what it's named. And today's rarespawn is a good example of that.

This post is about Magister Hawkhelm.



Where to find the Magister

Magister Hawkhelm is a rare mob blood elf found in Azshara, on Kalimdor.



Magister Hawkhelm spawns in the small blood elf-controlled area near some ancient ruins called the "Thalassian base camp". She can be located in two places that I know of, and does not stray from her spawn point. Take note that one of her spawn points, located at the tallest cliff of the camp underneath some ruins, sometimes obscures her quite a bit from casual study, and makes her harder to spot visually.

Defying the sin'dorei

Magister Hawkhelm is (perhaps surprisingly) a hostile mob to both Alliance and Horde players. There are fewer rarespawns which are hostile to the Alliance only, for some reason, and Hawkhelm is not one of them. This has a good lore reason, which we'll get to in the next section. Suffice to say for now that anyone straying near (perhaps for one of the quests in the camp) will invoke Hawkhelm's wrath.



Now, here's the surprising part. Magister Hawkhelm has no magical abilities of any sort. I know that is a bit of a stereotype for a blood elf, but come on. She's named "Magister", a title usually only seen on spellcasters within blood elf society (it is related to the word "mage" after all). However, Magister Hawkhelm only attacks with a normal melee, a ranged bow attack and a multi-shot that hits all her enemies.



Because of these simplistic abilities, Hawkhelm is an easy kill for any class. She has no unique loot, providing only the generic reward in the form of a drop.

Sin'dorei stories

Actually, we can infer quite a bit about this woman from her location. She is clearly party of Magus Rimtori's expedition in search of long-lost Highborne artifacts, and works for the Magus in some capacity. Rimtori's thirst for arcane power drove her to betray the Horde, and she murdered the orcs accompanying the team. Rimtori's search for demonic magic and betrayal makes her a dangerous and hated individual, and Hawkhelm seems to be one of her loyal followers.



Of course, as I mentioned, with that name I fully expected Hawkhelm to be a mage herself, as are many of the traitor blood elves in the camp. However, with her purely mundane abilities it seems she may be a magister by some other means, perhaps by some form of knowledge or academic expertise? She would appear to have ranger training, though she still dresses in the simple robes of a spellcaster.



It's always great to see blood elves outside of the areas introduced in the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions. They're somewhat unexpected, and almost always have a specific story or purpose. Of course, it should be noted that prior to the release of Burning Crusade, Hawkhelm, Rimtori and the other elves here had quite different models (and much uglier ones) made from retooled night elf models. If you want to see what these look like firsthand, look into the Scholomance, where some students still bear this quite freakish model.

All in all, Magister Hawkhelm is amusing because of how her name and abilities don't match up. She has a nice little spot in lore, and is a quite cool rare in my book. With the enormous changes to Azshara coming in Cataclysm, this rare is quite likely to vanish forever, and thus now is the time to seek her out if you so wish.

Until next time, don't betray your allies over objects of power.

~Dragonshade

March of the silithid: Haarka the Ravenous

I think it's interesting to note that some creature types are a lot more frequently used for rarespawns than others. I'm not sure what motivates this, if it's related to the quality and look of the model itself, or if it's little more than the whim of the developers. At any rate, each zone on Kalimdor which has a silithid hive has at least one rare silithid, be it a tank or a wasp. I think it's really cool that almost every silithid hive has its own rare named silithid, it really adds some character to these creatures. Today we take a look at another of these rares!

This post is about Haarka the Ravenous.



What is Haarka, and where can I find it?

Haarka the Ravenous is a rare mob silithid found in Tanaris, on Kalimdor.



Haarka can be found in the Gaping Chasm in the south-eastern corner of Tanaris. This is the larger of the two silithid hives in the zone, and somewhat expansive with several tunnels. I found Haarka underground in the eastern-most underground area (the entrance being close to the cliff walls of the zone), but I have seen reports that it can spawn in other spots as well. A good hint for hunters seeking this mob who are not using a rarespawn tracking addon is that you can track creatures through the ground. Standing on the ground in a silithid hive lets you see any beast-type silithid beneath you on the minimap as well, which saved me a lot of time ins searching.

Hunting the silithid

Haarka is a straightforward melee mob, like other silithid tank mobs. Haarka attacks with a warrior-like sunder armor and Thrash, a very common mob ability which grants extra melee swings. However, despite these abilities, Haarka is an easy foe to defeat and little more than a normal silithid.



Since the revamp the Beastmastery, Haarka is a tameable creature. Classified as a Beast, it can be tracked down by hunters and tamed by those with the Exotic Pet talent. As Cunning pets, silithid tanks are very flexible pets which can be adapted to many situations. Their racial ability, Venom Web Spray, both immobilizes and causes damage, which makes them well-suited for PvP combat. Silithids are thus fairly popular pets.



Haarka uses the "green" silithid model (actually kind of a blue-green mix) which is not rare, but very nice-looking. If you are not a Beastmastery hunter you may choose to slay Haarka for its loot, which is the standard magic item. No unique loot or other drops to be had.

The lore of Haarka

Since Haarka is found in the Gaping Chasm, home to the Hazzali hive of silithids, it seems safe to assume it is part of that hive. Indeed, Haarka shares an appearance with some common silithids in the area. It is hard to kno whether silithids have enough sentience and sense of individuality to give themselves names, or if names are bestowed in them by others. "The Ravenous" epithet would indicate hunger, possibly why the creature has become notorious enough that its name is well known.



I would guess that Haarka is one of the more powerful silithid warriors of the Hazzali hive, and known and feared by the people of Tanaris for its hunger. Since there are quests which confirm that people have vanished into the silithid hives, never to return, such fears are probably well-founded.



All in all, Haarka is a nice little rare. Anything that you can tame is special in my book, and this particular look and coloration works great for this mob. It also has a cool name, which manages to be both alien and threatening at once. If you want to see Haarka yourself, do so before Cataclysm, as this rare will almost certainly no longer exist once the massive changes to Tanaris take effect!

Until next time, stay out of the hive.

~Dragonshade

A pirate's life for me! Kregg Keelhaul

Happy international Talk Like a Pirate Day, everyone! In honor of this most momentous of holidays, I'm presenting a bonafide pirate rarespawn. And no, I'm not going to type out this entry in pirate-speak. There's limits to what I think people will put up with from me. Anyway, on to the entry!

This post is about Kregg Keelhaul. Arrr me hearties! Sorry!



Who is Kregg Keelhaul, and where can I find him?

Kregg Keelhaul is a rare mob goblin found in Tanaris, on Kalimdor.



Kregg is a pirate, and in Tanaris the best place for a pirate to be is Lost Rigger Cove, a small secluded area on the coastline, south of Steamwheedle Port. Kregg can appear in several locations in this area, including on the two ships (one finished and one being built) and inside the larger building. He does not patrol to any extent, so it is fairly easy to locate him if he is alive. He is a goblin, and thus not hard to spot among the many pirates of other races.

Fighting Kreeg

The main problem with any mob in Lost Rigger Cove is the many potential adds. Since they will flee when low on health, it's important to control each fight so as to minimize extra adds joining in. This is of course only applicable for those of the proper level. This goes for Kregg as well. He wields a really big two-handed sword, which marks him as a melee mob right away.



Kregg is a fairly typical "warrior" type mob, with a cleave and a heroic strike-type ability. He's not a danger in and of himself. As is common with mid-range rare mobs from the vanilla WoW period, he has no unique drop. It should be noted, however, that he can drop a Southsea Pirate Hat for that quest, which amuses me greatly because Kregg wears no hat on his model.

The lore of Kregg

Actually, when it comes to this scurvy dog we have a tiny snippet of lore to go on. In and of himself, Kregg is just your average melee-focused mob. One would think that he is an enforcer for the Southsea Pirates (though curiously he does not seem to grant Gadgetzan reputation when slain).



However, the fun thing is that he's not the only goblin pirate named Keelhaul. Captain Keelhaul is a goblin captain with the Bloodsail Buccaneers, situated in his ship off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale. One questline leads you to slay him, along with the other leaders of the Bloodsail in order to stop their plans to raze Booty Bay to the ground. Since the Bloodsail and the Southsea pirates are similar in organization and purpose, it's not a far stretch to assume the two are related.



I think these two are definently related. I believe Captain Keelhaul to be the brother of Kregg, and the brighter and more driven of the two. He may even have put in a good word to get his brother a position with the Southsea pirates. Kregg, being more the type to bash someone with a sharp implement, would likely have jumped at such a chance. I love these little mini-scenarios, myself.

Unfortunately for those of you who want to see this rare, Lost Rigger Cove is a very well-frequented area, and he has a rather long respawn timer, so you may have to be lucky or visit during off hours to catch him alive.

In closing, Kregg isn't that interesting by himself, but his little snippet of lore and the fact that he's a pirate elevate him to a cool little rare!

Until next time, don't keep that cursed indian gold.

~Dragonshade

I WILL BREAK HIM! - Carnivous the breaker

You know, considering how hard the furbolgs of Kalimdor were hit by the Third War, there's still an awful lot of them around. Sure, most of them are corrupted by the demonic presence, but still, their numbers are fairly large in the adjoining zones of Winterspring, Felwood, Ashenvale and Darkshore. It is in that last area where we find the subject of this post.

Proudly presenting Carnivous the Breaker!



Who is Carnivous, and where can I find him?

Carnivous the Breaker is a rare mob furbolg found in Darkshore on Kalimdor.



Carnivous can be found in the furbolg encampments south of the Wildbend river in the southern part of the zone. He is completely stationary as far as I can tell, spawning in one spot and then just standing around unless aggroed. As the furbolg encampment here is not very large, looking for him is a quick affair, even if he doesn't have a very distinctive appearance. He's just your average dark-furred furbolg.



Combat and possessions

Carnivous is just as corrupted as his fellow furbolgs, and will attack anyone. He has a rather mean armor debuff (halving your armor value) and the common thrash ability which grants him extra melee attacks. However, given his low health he is only a threat to a very low-level character. No class should have an especially hard time taking him down if they so wish.



As is standard, Carnivous has no special drops, providing a generic magic item. However, if you can take him down around the appropriate level, a green item can prove either useful or give a little money when sold. Really, for any rarespawn entry, just keep in mind that even the generic loot is a way to make money.

The lore of Carnivous

Like most furbolgs in Darkshore, I would assume Carnivous comes from one of the larger tribes further inland. It's possible he is a Deadwood furbolg (suggested by WoWwiki), though there is no exact confirmation. None of the furbolgs in Darkshore help in the Timbermaw reputation grind, unfortunately, even if they are Deadwood furbolgs lore-wise.



As a corrupted furbolg with melee-based abilities, I would guess Carnivous is a champion or subchief of his tribe. He just gives me the impression of a creature adept at fighting, but maybe not a leader. And come on, I can't be the only one who thinks of Ivan Drago when seeing that name...



All in all, Carnivous is a rather average mob. The main thing he has going for him is his awesome name. With a rather low respawn timer, you should be able to find him fairly easily with a bit of searching, which may be fun considering the upheavals Darkshore will soon see...

Until next time, don't let the corruption blind you.

~Dragonshade

Rare felguard: Kaskk

Desolace is a zone about to get a heavy retooling with the release of Cataclysm. The now-shattered landscape seems to finally be getting some semblance of life back, which will be a very interesting change to watch. As it is currently (and has been ever since the original release of World of Warcraft), Desolace is one of those zones that is in the backwater of the world. There's not much happening here, nor does the zone have any particularily exciting lore or events. The best thing in Desolace is the utterly amazing dungeon instance Maraudon, one of my favorite old world dungeons. However, I must save a post about that particular place for a future post, and instead focus on the zone itself, outside Maraudon's gates.

This post concerns Kaskk.



What is Kaskk, and where can I find him?

Kaskk is a rare mob felguard found in Desolace, on Kalimdor.



Kaskk is located in the Mannoroc coven, a demon-controlled area in the lower half of the Desolace zone. Heading east from Shadowprey village or south from Nijel's Point will get you there, though the Horde flightpoint is much closer. Kaskk is a fairly stationary rare, and will not stray far from his spawn point. He can appear in a few spots across the coven, but is easy to spot due to his distinctive look. Kaskk carries an unusual blade for a felguard, one that always reminded me of the design for orc weapons in the Lord of the Rings movies. It's a brutal weapon, little more than a sharpened slab of metal.



The tactics of Kaskk

There's not much to say here. Kaskk has no special abilities of any sort. He will simply wade into combat, swinging that nasty-looking sword. As such, unless you are very weakened, he will not pose any form of danger, especially to a class with good ranged capability.



Kaskk drops the standard magic item. He will also allegedly drop the felguard blood required for the Desolace reagents quest, which is only appropriate I suppose.

The lore of Kaskk

Very little to say about Kaskk specifically. Felguards are mo'arg, just like the many Legion inventors and engineers seen in other places. However, felguards seem to be mo'arg who are utterly focused on combat, having no interest in contraptions or sophisticated strategy.



As felguards seem to have little initiative of their own, they're usually subservient to a master. I would suspect that Kaskk serves Lord Azretoch, the Doomguard leader of the mannoroc coven directly.



As a final point to this rather sparse entry, I should add that Kaskk seems to have a very long respawn timer, probably several days. As such, he is a very very rare mob to encounter due to the Mannoroc Coven getting some traffic of adventurers doing quests. While he may not have much in the form of personality, drops or abilities, Kaskk is notable for his scarcity alone.

If you stop by the Desolace, why not see if he's there? He's a sight most people won't have seen!

Until next time;

~Dragonshade