Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - Bitten By Frost

Happy Thursday hoarders! It's been a long while since I've done a publication of Hoarders: Azeroth Edition and I apologize for that. You see I've been on the hunt for several elusive somethings as of late, but we're not going to get into the details of that of that this week. Oh nononono...we're going to be covering another beast known as the Frostbitten achievement.


The last topic that Hoarders covered prior to Brewfest was Bloody Rare. The plan was to continue on with this rare theme and also cover Northrend's version, Frostbitten. Today my friends we follow through with this plan. Let's get on with the list, shall we?


First, you need some weapons.
 Addons
- Download NPCScan, fly over zones, profit. If a rare pops up on your screen (big noise, the screen will flash red) it will give you a little image of what it just saw, along with the name. If you click on that image (near the bottom of your screen, center) it will target the mob. Thanks to the handy-dandy new targeting system there should no longer be any crazy guess work with finding the mob.
- Download NPCScan Overylay, fly over the colored zones of the rares you have not killed yet, profit. Go into options and enable the ability to always track all mobs. If you accidently cache a mob (tamed hunter pets such as Nuramoc will do this even in cities such as Stormwind or Orgrimmar) and do not have this feature enabled, where a mob's patting area is located will be lost to you. Unless of course you have a super memory.
- Clear your NPCScan cache often! Directions are on the download page.

Tips and Tricks
- The last I knew rare spawns were tied to their own zones. This means that a rare spawning in Borean Tundra will not affect the spawns in Storm Peaks. There are theories claiming otherwise, but my gut tells me to stick with the theory that timers are attached to their own zones, not to each other.
- It is highly possible that more than one spawn can be up at a time per zone. It is also highly possible to have spawns happen within minute of each other. There have been reports done by a few people that claim to have seen Dirkee and Vyragosa up at the same time, so I assume that it is possible for it to happen in other zones as well.
- Most rares in Northrend have an independent spawn timer with the exception of Vyragosa and the Time-Lost Proto Drake, who are purposely tied to one another.
- It is possible that each zone has a rare spawn "cap", limiting the number of rares to pop in a zone to two. This is a theory of mine based on the fact that I haven't heard of more than two rare spawns being killed in a zone during a certain window (most spawn windows are 6-8 hours minimum).
- It is possible that many mobs can despawn after a given amount of time if left unkilled/tamed. I have no personal confirmations on this information,
- On occasion a hostile mob who patrols too closely to a town *may* get killed by NPCs. This is rare though, as far as rare events happening to rare mobs go.
- Group up and farm with a friend or two. Not only is it socially fun, but it allows you to cover more ground much more quickly. Time is money friend! It's also a killer.
- While it is by no means necessary, the faster the flying you have the better. Top of the line training + class/spec speed boosts + guild movement speed increases = a much quicker and smoother farm. As I said in the previous bullet, time is money and can make or break your kill.
- Don't just camp one place unless you're down to your last rare. Jump between spawn points of the rares that you need on a regular basis. If you do it one by one, you may call Outland home for ages.
- Take breaks! I know first hand how stressful and consuming rare hunting can be. You will go bloody bonkers if you don't take regular breaks. Do your best to only farm x amount of hours a day/week to prevent burn out and to save your precious sanity. Though if you're going for Bloody Rare and/or Frostbitten you may be half off your rocker anyways.

Yes, much of these tips/tricks are copied and pasted from the Bloody Rare post. I'm being a tad bit lazy, but I believe these tips to still be valid.


Now you need the knowledge.
Borean Tundra
Fumblub Gearwind
Old Crystalbark
Icehorn (tamable, does not keep his graphic)

Sholazar Basin
Loque'nahak (tamable)
Aotona (tamable)
King Krush (tamable)

Howling Fjord
Perobas the Bloodthirster
King Ping
Vigdis the War Maiden

Zul'Drak
Griegen
Zul'drak Sentinel
Terror Spinner (tamable)
*Gondria (tamable)

Grizzly Hills
Grocklar
Syreian the Bonecarver
Seething Hate
*Arcturis (tamable)

Dragonblight
Crazed Indu'le Survivor
Tukemuth
Scarlet Highlord Daion

Storm Peaks
Vyragosa (Shares a spawn timer and patrolling path with TLPD; only one will spawn.)
Dirkee
*Time-Lost Proto Drake (Shares a spawn timer and patrolling path with Vyragosa; only one will spawn.)
*Skoll (tamable)

Icecrown
Hildana Deathstealer
Putridus the Ancient (Huuuuuuge targeting range. I've had NPC Scan go off in Dalaran/Crystalsong Forrest and other areas far outside of his patrolling area.)
High Thane Jorfus

*Denotes notable rares that are not required for the Frostbitten achievement.

As I've said before and I'll say it again, these guys are called rares for a reason. While you may get lucky and get some of these on your first try, many of these rares will make you wait. Patience, the will power to keep going, and a touch of insanity will serve you well with working on this particular achievement.

Before you head out on your mission please button up your jackets and slip on your favorite pair of warm mitties. Whenever you finally return to the nice warm inn that you call home have yourself a cup of hot cocoa for a job well done. Happy hunting out there hoarders, and try not to get to frost bitten!

2 comments:

  1. I hated Vyragosa! But boy was I glad when I finally got her for my Frostbitten. All those TLPD campers drive me nuts! Good article for all those Frostbitten wannabes out there - however, be prepared for some cranky times!

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  2. I have "seen" Vyra on Saz twice now. By seen I mean once I found her corpse and the second time NPC Scan picked her up, I targeted her, but I couldn't find her. A few minutes later someone announced that they had just killed her. However, I killed her on my hunter when she passed my camping spot for Skoll...

    Cranky times indeed. I have yet to buckle down on this achievement, but I think I'll be tackling it along with Northrend Loremaster. Should be fun, to say the least : P

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