Don't Patrannache Me!

Patrannache was by far the most challenging of the tames I've performed since MoP came out. With my early success with Savage I had thought that all of the tames would be as simple. They were not.

Patrannache is the pink crane, the only pink crane in the game. Unlike Savage (who is although unique is almost indistinguishable from the grey Pandaren Tigers) and Glimmer (who is also unique but its hard to tell the difference) Patrannache stands out as being quite different. And Pink. Very, very pink.

Maps and info after the break.

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Glimmer

Glimmer is one of two level 85 rare hunter pets tamable by hunters in The Jade Forest, the other being Savage. Unlike Savage, who does not appear to walk through any phased areas, Glimmer's path is heavily phased, adding another level of difficulty to the taming process.

If you are looking at taming Glimmer and have not quested in the area, there is a method of camping him which, although time consuming, is effective. Map and Coordinates below the break.

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Chromaggus: Taming Guide

Chromaggus. For some of us the name will induce terror filled nightmares of endless wipes, for others it will be the hours of grinding for transmog gear.

But, one change that came when Cataclysm was launched was that it was now a tamable hunter pet!

Chromaggus was the 2nd to last boss of Blackwing Lair (BWL). He was perhaps more challenging than the end boss, Nefarian, due to the debuffs he can cast on players.

As a hunter pet he is beautiful. Although there is a rare spawn pet that now shares his skin, the best way to tame this beast is to simply head into the dungeon.

Chromaggus is also a challenge tame for two reasons: first, being the second to last boss in a raid, you must be in a raid group (all members must be level 60 or higher) and second, you cannot get past the first boss without at least one more player to help you out. Although every other boss in the raid is easily soloed be a level 80 hunter with a good tenacity pet, the first boss is quite a challenge, making this pet rather hard to come by.

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Coming Soon: Glimmer, Patrannache and Videos

Hello all,

It's been a busy few days. Not hours ago I just tamed Glimmer (the 85 Rare Water Strider in the Jade Forest) after 2 days of trying. Unlike Savage, both Glimmer and Patrannache seem to patrol through phased zones, making the tames extra difficult if you haven't quested much in the area.

I highly recommend that if you're leveling and wish to tame one of the new rare pets you begin questing in the appropriate zone as soon as you can to prevent phasing issues.

Also I'll be uploading some video guides for the tames which I hope will be helpful.

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Terrorpene

Terrorpene is a tricky character. There are actually quite a few creatures in the game with this skin but only Terrorpene is tamable. Although not technically a "Challenge Tame" I label him under Challenge Tames due to the damage you'll receive while taming him (see below). In addition, he is not a Spirit Beast so any hunter at a high enough level can tame him.

In the Wild Terrorpene has 111,561 HP and hits quite hard with his Burning Hatred Ability which does 10k damage every second. As an 81 Elite pet he is quite hard to tame if you are not 85. This pet appears to have been designed by Blizzard as something Hunters who were decked out in Epics from Wrath would be able to tame within their first few days of leveling.

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Anthriss

Anthriss is the last of the Challenge Tames that I've yet to tame, so I unfortunately cannot speak from experience. And I doubt I ever will, for two reasons.

The first is that Anthriss spawns in a very easy location to get to. As a result, any hunter happening to work on dailies, rather than Rare Hunters, will be able to see him, and probably kill him rather than tame him, as he is a little bit difficult.

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Skitterflame

Skitterflame is one of the new, yet Non-Unique Challenge tames added in Patch 4.2.  Please read my thoughts on these three Spiders, Skitterflame, Kirix and Anthriss here.

Skitteflame shares his skin with Cinderweb Spinners. This makes him somewhat less special than he otherwise would have been. Cinderweb Spinners spawn between the Forlorn Spire and The Widow's Clutch and are far easier to tame than Skitterflame (although he is probably the easiest of the Challenge Tames to grab). They have a 50% chance to spawn each day, so if you don't see them today, try again tomorrow. As I've previously said, these tames offer little prestige value to the outside community, as anyone could grab the Cinderweb Spinners and say they'd tamed Skitterflame. However, if you want to test your skills...

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Kirix

Kirix

Kirix is the first of the Challenge Tames I picked up in the Molten Front. And he is by far the hardest, unless you know the right strategy. After that he becomes quite easy.

NOTE: Kirix is not a unique skin. He shares a skin with Cinderweb Broodling which has a 50% chance to spawn in the Forlorne Spire area of the Molten Front each day. If you don't see them there today come back tomorrow and there's a good chance they'll be there. Any hunter could grab one of these and say that s/he tamed Kirix with none the wiser. As such, this isn't much of a prestigious pet to have running around with you.

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A Note on the Non-Unique Challenge Tames

I've seen a lot of Hunters lately going after the three Non-Unique challenge tames, namely Kirix, Skitterflame and Anthriss. I wonder why Blizzard put these tames in the game, made them so difficult, when a player can easily get the exact skin of these creatures with little or no effort.

I made the same mistake myself with Kirix and Skitterflame. I worked for hours to tame Kirix (Skitterflame took me only 1 try) and proudly touted him about everywhere (he was my frist non-spirit beast challenge tame) when I realized that Kirix shares a skin with Cinderweb Broodlings (grated these only have a 50% chance to spawn each day, so it makes them a little difficult to obtain).

So for all those hunters that want to have a unique pet, then don't bother trying for either of these three spiders. Their skins can be obtained much more easily (I'll go into each when I write the guides) by getting one of the somewhat less rare spawns in the Molten Front.

If, however, you wish to test your skills and tame a challenging beast, then please by all means go ahead. They are all quite difficult if you don't know what you're doing (Kirix being by far the most challenging of these three, though he pales in comparison to Deth'Tilac).

Just keep in mind that many hunters do go for the easier tame, so having either of these skins is not usually a sign of skill, as opposed to the two unique skins, Deth'Tilac and Solix. But then again, you'll know you did it, and that's all that matters.

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Solix

Solix is one of the new Challenge Tame Spiders added in Patch 4.2. He and Deth'Tilac are the only two unique spiders of the lot, as Kirix, Skitterflame and Anthriss all share skins with common spiders in the area. Solix actually shares a skin with Cinderweb Spiderling, but these are not tamable. So Solix is the only way you'll get a pet with this skin. And he's a tough one.

Solix appears to have a 7 to 12 hour spawn time, and will always spawn in the same location.

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Ankha and Magria

Ankha and Magria are the two new Spectra Sabres that were added in Patch 4.2. You will find them patroling up and down the regrowth, and are part of the Firelands Daily phase, meaning you much be in the right phase to even see them (The Regrowth phase).

They are technically challenge tames, though once you figure out the trick you'll see that they're quite easy. These share their skin (though different hues) with Gondria and are the only Spirit Beasts with the sabre skin.

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Karkin & Skarr

Today must be my lucky day! (See a Video of me helping a friend below)

Earlier today I tamed Deth’Tilac. I’d been camping for Karkin and decided to check Deth’s spawn point and lo and behold I tamed him. I went back to my old camping spot, and started writing the Deth post, when my NPCscan goes off. Tabbing back into WoW I see an Orc Hunter running around with Karkin as his pet. Bad form dude, but whatever. Well I thought, he must have just tamed him, so it’ll be another 12 hours. I logged off and continued to write.

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Deth'Tilac

Early today, at about 12PM Server Time (US-Alexstrasza) I finally tamed Deth'Tilac. Deth'Tilac is one of the 4 new challenge tame spiders that came in Patch 4.2 located in the Molten Core (the Firelands Daily zone), but is only one of the unique skins (the other being Solix, who does share a skin with Cinderweb Spiderlings but these are not tamable). Deth'Tilac is therefore a truly unique spider as there are no others in the game with his skin.

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Ban'Thalos

Ban'Thalos is one of the new "Challenge Tames" introduced in patch 4.2, and it has the added benefit of being a spirit beast, making it only available to BM specced hunters.

Ban'Thalos is one of the most desirable Spirit Beasts on my realm, and is the favorite of my collection.

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