January 13, 2012

Lunar Festival Guide 2012

Another year, another chance to finish those big achievements you didn't manage last year. Lunar Festival 2011 was pre-blog (so pre-motivation for me) but it's been taunting me ever since. Damn my laziness.


Lunar Festival is a celebration of our (virtual) ancestors, held by the druids in Moonglade. This year it will be running from 22nd January - 11th February. You can collect Coins of Ancestry by visiting the 84 Elders scattered throughout the lands of Azeroth, then use these to buy festive outfits, engineering schematics, tailoring patterns and two new companion pets (thanks to commenters Shoryl and Esdala for the correction!) - Lunar Lantern for Alliance and Festival Lantern for Horde. The coins don't disappear when the festival ends so check your banks for stragglers that you might have held onto from last year, and keep any spares for next year if you don't get everything you want!


If you're looking to complete this meta, it would be a lot easier at level 80 or above as there are 9 Elders within the Cataclysm 80-85 zones and some of the dungeon Elders are hidden away in Northrend dungeons. Those with friends and guildmates happy to summon/help them will be able to complete these at a lower level though!

Currency earned: Coins of Ancestry
Maximum possible this year: 84
Number required to complete meta: 5

Achievements needed for the meta:
  • 50 Coins of Ancestry
  • Frenzied Firecracker
  • The Rocket's Red Glare
  • Lunar Festival Finery
  • Elune's Blessing
  • Elders of the Alliance
  • Elders of the Horde
  • Elders of Eastern Kingdoms
  • Elders of Kalimdor
  • Elders of Northrend
  • Elders of Cataclysm
  • Elders of the Dungeons
Total achievement points up for grabs: 160

So, let's get onto the good bit - snagging a title, 160 a/p, some snappy clothes and a new pet!


50 Coins of Ancestry

The only way to get the coins is to honour those ancestors! You'll get this whilst visiting Elders for the other achievements.

Frenzied Firecracker

Set off 10 Festival Firecrackers in 30 seconds or less! You can buy these for 3 silver each from Lunar Festival Vendors. Bind them to a hotkey, find a place for your server that's low/no lag and face your camera downwards. Firing each one sets off the GCD, which is why it's best to go to a low lag area. An easy way to make sure you're doing it right is to track the achievement in your Objectives list - find it in the achievements interface under World Events, click the box marked 'Track' and boom. Literally.

The Rocket's Red Glare

Very similar to Frenzied Firecracker, set off 10 Red Rocket Clusters in 25 seconds or less. You can buy these for 1 silver each from Lunar Festival Vendors. Bind them to a hotkey but this time, you'll have to be in the festival area of a major city to find the cluster launchers for firing them. You can track this in the same way as the Firecrackers, so just stand next to a launcher and play with pyrotechnics until you get it.


Lunar Festival Finery

Buy yourself a lovely Festive Dress or Pant Suit to wear for 5 Coins of Ancestry. Job done (and looking snappy, I must say)!

Elune's Blessing

Pick up the quest Elune's Blessing from Valadar Starsong in Nighthaven, Moonglade. You must summon Omen, defeat him and receive Elune's Blessing to complete this quest.


Summoning Omen is simple. Throw some cluster rockets into the launchers near the Stormrage Barrow Dens at the southeast edge of Lake Elune'Ara. A giant, two-headed dog appears!


There were many reports of level 85s soloing him last year but if you're going as a group, taking a 'tank' and healing capable class along is probably helpful. He cleaves and does a regular Starfall AoE but shouldn't present any more of a challenge than holiday bosses like Frost Lord Ahune do.
If you don't fancy soloing Omen, it's quiet in Moonglade when you have time at 4am or you just can't get a group, don't panic! Actually engaging him in combat is unnecessary, if you catch him upto 5 minutes after defeat. This is because Elune's Blessing is received by walking into the pool of moonlight falling on his corpse, so if he's there and already defeated, just hop under the moonlight and go hand the quest in.


Elders

I'm going to split all the Elders into blocks based on location - Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Northrend, and new Cataclysm locations. Dungeon Elders are in the list for the continent they're on - so you don't miss an Elder in a zone and have to go back for it - as are Elders of the Alliance/Horde.

Some of the dungeon Elders can be hard to find. If you're struggling to find them, you're more than welcome to tweet or email me and I will help as much as I can. You can also try their Wowhead comments for help - as the holiday progresses people are likely to put their tips and tricks up for others!

Eastern Kingdoms
Morndeep
Blackrock Mountain, Blackrock Depths, Ring of Law
Stonefort
Blackrock Mountain, Blackrock Spire, near Hordemar City
Bellowrage
Blasted Lands, Dark Portal
Rumblerock
Burning Steppes, Dreadmaul Rock
Dawnstrider
Burning Steppes, Flame Crest
Goldwell
Dun Morogh, Kharanos
Windrun
Eastern Plaguelands, Crown Guard Tower
Snowcrown
Eastern Plaguelands, Light’s Hope Chapel
Farwhisper
Eastern Plaguelands, Stratholme, enter through main gate, in Festival Lane
Stormbrow
Elwynn Forest, Goldshire, behind Blacksmith shop
Highpeak
Hinterlands, Creeping Ruins, north of Altar of Zul
Bronzebeard
Ironforge, Mystic Ward
Silvervein
Loch Modan, Thelsamar
Starglade
Northern Stranglethorn, Zul’Gurub entrance
Ironband
Searing Gorge, far SW corner, outside Blackchar Cave
Obsidian
Silverpine Forest, The Sepulcher
Hammershout
Stormwind, outside the front gates
Starsong
Swamp of Sorrows, Sunken Temple, inside entrance to the left
Graveborn
Tirisfal Glades, Brill
Darkcore
Undercity/Ruins of Lordaeron, old throne room
Winterhoof
Vale of Stranglethorn, Booty Bay, on top of the bank/AH
Meadowrun
Western Plaguelands, off road into EPL, inside Weeping Cave
Moonstrike
Western Plaguelands, Scholomance buildings
Skychaser
Westfall, Sentinel Hill, top of tower

Kalimdor
Riversong
Ashenvale, Astranaar
Skygleam
Azshara, Ravencrest Monument
Starweave
Darkshore, Lor’danel
Bladeswift
Darnassus, Cenarion Enclave
Splitrock
Desolace, Maraudon, Zaetar’s Grave area
Runetotem
Durotar, Razor Hill
Nightwind
Felwood, pillars east of Bloodvenom Post
Mistwalker
Feralas, Dire Maul, in arena area
Grimtotem
Feralas, Lariss Pavillion, north of Camp Mojache
Bloodhoof
Mulgore, Bloodhoof Village
Windtotem
Northern Barrens, Ratchet
Moonwarden
Northern Barrens, The Crossroads
Darkhorn
Orgrimmar, near zeppelin docks
Bladesing
Silithus, Cenarion Hold
Primestone
Silithus, The Crystal Vale
High Mountain
Southern Barrens, Vendetta Point
Dreamseer
Tanaris, Gadgetzan
Wildmane
Tanaris, inside Zul’Farrak by Gahz’rilla pool
Ragetotem
Tanaris, Valley of the Watchers
Bladeleaf
Teldrassil, Dolanaar
Morningdew
Thousand Needles, F & P Speedbarge
Skyseer
Thousand Needles, Freewind Post
Wheathoof
Thunder Bluff, Elder Rise
Thunderhorn
Un’Goro Crater, middle of the Slithering Scar
Stonespire
Winterspring, Everlook
Brightspear
Winterspring, Lake Kel’theril

Northrend
Pamuya
Borean Tundra, cliff north of Warsong Hold
Arp
Borean Tundra, D.E.H.T.A
Igasho
Borean Tundra, The Nexus, in Singing Grove before Ormorok
Northal
Borean Tundra, Transitus Shield, Coldarra
Sardis
Borean Tundra, Valiance Keep
Skywarden
Dragonblight, Agmar’s Hammer
Nurgen
Dragonblight, Azjol-Nerub, down long drop after Hadronox
Thoim
Dragonblight, Moa’ki Harbor
Morthie
Dragonblight, Star’s Rest
Whurain
Grizzly Hills, Camp Oneqwah
Kilias
Grizzly Hills, Drak’Tharon Keep, near King Dred
Lunaro
Grizzly Hills, Ruins of Tethys
Beldak
Grizzly Hills, Westfall Brigade Encampment
Jarten
Howling Fjord, Utgarde Keep, near Njorn Stair
Chogan’gada
Howling Fjord, Utgarde Pinnacle, under stairs after Skadi
Sandrene
Sholazar Basin, Lakeside Landing
Wanikaya
Sholazar Basin, Rainspeaker Rapids
Stonebeard
Storm Peaks, Bouldercrag’s Refuge, base of hills north of Snowdrift Plains
Muraco
Storm Peaks, Camp Tunka’lo
Fargal
Storm Peaks, Frosthold
Yurauk
Storm Peaks, Halls of Stone, in Crystalline Quarry before Krystallus
Graymane
Storm Peaks, K3
Bluewolf
Wintergrasp, in the Keep
Ohanzee
Zul’Drak, Gundrak, by Drakkari Colossus at Tomb of the Ancients
Tauros
Zul’Drak, Zim’Torga

Cataclysm
Deepforge
Deepholm, Stonehearth
Stonebrand
Deepholm, The Temple of Earth
Evershade
Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil, by the Stormwind portal
Windsong
Mount Hyjal, Sanctuary of Malorne
Darkfeather
Twilight Highlands, between Thundermar and the river
Firebeard
Twilight Highlands, Dunwald Ruins
Sekhemi
Uldum, The Ruins of Ammon, in front of west statue
Menkhaf
Uldum, Khartut's Tomb, to the east of the statue
Moonlance
Vashj’ir, Biel'Aran Ridge

I'll be taking pictures and making notes as I run through it for myself and will share anything useful I find on my travels. Are you going for it this year as well? Let me know how you're getting on in the comments!

Thanks to Anne Stickney over at WoW Insider for linking this guide! I hope new readers found something useful in there - feel free to leave any feedback/comments below!

14 comments:

  1. Yep definitely going for it this year! I do it every year, but this year I've changed my main to my Priest, and she needs all of it! :o

    Did you find out if they had a new pet for the event? MMO-Champ said they data-mined something that MIGHT be for it, but no one knew for sure.

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  2. Best of luck to you! It's a time consuming one, for sure.
    I haven't heard anything. A bit of digging is showing nothing new on any of the normal sites (Wowhead, MMO-C database) but I'll keep a sharp eye out now and update if I discover one at launch!

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  3. I've already got it, but I'll need the new Elders of Cataclysm achievement.

    As far as the new pet is concerned, Warcraft Pets seems to believe that there are two new pets, the Festive Lantern and the Lunar Lantern. They're currently filed under the "unlisted" section because they haven't been verified in game, yet. I'm really hoping that they are there, as I've been saving my coins for something useful to spend them on.

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  4. Right! Duly noted. I hope they are too in that case, even if I can only get hold of one this year (though you'd hope both would be obtainable within the 84 coins). Wait and see time :)

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  5. Great post and grats on the Link Love from WoWInsider Ara!

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  6. I flew everwhere in the temple of the earth and couldnt not find the elder as well as each other place and still cannot find any elders.
    Could someone help please??

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  7. Hi there! The festival doesn't start until 22nd January, so the Elders haven't appeared yet :) I'll go round the Cataclysm ones and confirm them as soon as they do appear, so check back here when it starts if you can't find any of them!
    Hope that helps ^.^

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  8. Also if you check out battle.net and look at your characters companions section, In the not collected tab you can see the two lanterns. They can be purchased for 50 coins each. to bad you can only get 84 coins a year. Sadly I deleted the 80 coins from last year to make bank space.

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  9. Ah, thanks for the tip Esdala! I've just had a bit of an explore - it seems that looking for holiday related pets turned up blank because Wowhead hasn't linked them with the Lunar Festival in that way. Mental note: try searching from more angles next time :)

    It's a shame that you can't get both in a year though. I think the Lunar Lantern is my choice this year!

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  10. Thanks for your tips Shoryl and Esdala, credited at the top now :)

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  11. Can someone tell me what TBC means on the elders lists?

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  12. Nice Guide there Ara and Grats on being linked on WoW Insider :)

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  13. @Jonathan - TBC just means 'to be confirmed' as I need to check the locations of these elders for myself later today :)

    @Cymre - Thanks very much!

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