So, what is Winter Veil?
Winter Veil is a festival in WoW occurring from December 15th to January 2nd. It culminates on the Christian holiday of Christmas, December 25th. In-game there are two minds on Winter Veil; the goblins use it as a chance to peddle treats and toys for money, while some more traditional folks enjoy it for what it is; a great time to drink and eat and have fun with friends.
When you log in today, tomorrow, or anytime before the 2nd, you'll immediately notice some differences. Trees, tinsel, mistletoe, reindeer, and some guy in a funny suit named Greatfather Winter are all hanging about. You'll notice some quests too. Go ahead and pick them up; they're fun! But, you're reading this for achievements, so here we go.
Simply Abominable
This is following the main questline of Winter Veil to its conclusion. You begin with "Stolen Winter Veil treats" from a goblin near the Greatfather. This sends you to Alterac, where you meet a snowman and get "You're a Mean One..." The objective is to kill the Greench. While he's only a level 36 elite, the main problem is the sheer number of people around. Even early this morning (at like 10:30) there were 30-40 people hunting the Greench. For the love of Greatfather Winter, PLEASE group up for this. The Greench spawns all around the rocky outskirts of Alterac. You'll see a lot of people in his spawn locations. After you finish this quest, head back to the goblin, then talk to Greatfather Winter. You get a gift box and the achievement; my gift box had the frost enchant inside. Yay!
The Winter Veil Gourmet
An easy quest if you're a cook (and yes, you'll need to be a cook to do this. You just need to cook up a batch of Gingerbread Cookies, eggnog, and hot apple cider. The total ingrediants for these are:
2x Small Eggs (drops off low-level birds or dragonhawks)
3x Holiday Spices (available from seasonal goblin vendor)
1x Ice Cold Milk (available from any general vendor)
2x Holiday Spirits (available from seasonal goblin vendor)
1x Holiday Cider (available from seasonal goblin vendor)
Note: The hot apple cider requires 325 cooking; the other two recipes are substantially lower. Also note that small eggs will cost you an arm and a leg off the AH. The best place I have found for farming them is off the dragonhawks in the Blood Elf starting zone. They often drop two, and they are all over the place. Alliance might head to Loch Modan; the southeast area, up in the mountains near the lodge, has some vultures with a decent drop rate. Keep in mind that to do one of Greatfather Winter's quests, you'll need 5 Gingerbread cookies, so 6 eggs total.
Scrooge
Simple quest. Toss a snowball at Magni or Cairne. You can buy snowballs from the goblin vendors, or find them in piles in Alterac.
On Metzen!
Save Metzen the Reindeer! He can either be in Tanaris or Searing Gorge. I personally went to Searing Gorge and found him without a problem. I bet he's in both places to make it easy for both factions, but I can say for sure SG is ok. The enemies around him are about level 40. Just talk to him and click the option to set him free. Your reward is some preserved holly, which will be needed for other quests.
With a Little Helper From My Friends
Outside IF, Orgrimmar, Gadgetzan, and inside Dalaran there is a machine called the Winter Wondervolt that turns you into a winter gnome graphic. This achievement requires 50 HKs with transformed. It may seem like a lot, but keep in mind
1. You have a few weeks to complete this. You can practically do one kill a day.
2. You don't need to get the killing blow, just be in the area.
There are some drawbacks, however. The buff disappears when you die, so staying in a group is best. And you cannot shapeshift; you'll lose the buff. Feral druids are going to dislike this... I know I am.
The best advice? Get into a group in AV, stay near the back, and heal if you can. And remember: you do have a few weeks to do it.
Fa-la-la-la Orgi'la
Remember that preserved holly you got from freeing Metzen? Use a sprig of it on your flying mount in Outland and head to Blade's Edge Mountains. Do the daily like normal. Keep in mind that if you get hit you'll be dismounted and need to use another spring (I believe) to get the reindeer graphic back. Note: you will need to have unlocked the Ogri'la/Skyguard dailies to do this quest.
'Tis The Season
Ah, the classic "dress up and eat/drink something" quest. The hardest part is getting the costume.
Boots: Made by a leatherworker (285), requires 1xcopper bar, 1x bolt of wool cloth (from a tailor), 4x rugged leather, and 1x rune thread (from any tailor vendor).
Clothing (red or green): Made by a tailor (250), requires 4x bolt of runecloth, 1x bolt of woolen cloth, 1x rune thread, and 2x red/green dye (depending on the color you want).
Hat: The tough part. Previously this was available off of bosses, and nothing has changed... except they are Northrend bosses now.
-Red Hat: Grand Magus Telestra in Nexus. Level 70 boss normally.
-Green Hat: Mage-Lord Urom in the Oculus. Level 81 boss normally.
The bosses can be done either heroic or normal, and they wear the hats they drop. Cute, huh? :D
The Fruitcake reportedly comes in the mail a day after freeing Metzen or giving Greatfather Winter his treats.
Crashin' & Thrashin'
This year's bot, you also get a fun Feat of Strength for getting one. Available from the 25th on, when you open a present under a tree you can get one of these babies. Then just bash them again other ones. Wheeee!
Let It Snow
Throw Snowflakes on characters and classes! The combinations are:
(Horde)
Orc Death Knight
Tauren Shaman
Undead Rogue
Blood Elf Warlock
Troll Hunter
(Alliance)
Human warrior
Draenei priest
Gnome Mage
Night Elf Druid
Dwarf Paladin
Note, you need to do all ten. The best way to get the opposite faction is to hang around the Greench's spawning area in the first few days and check out all the other side folks. Alternatively, get into a big BG like AV or Wintergrasp, and try not to get hit for a couple of seconds while throwing the Snowflakes.
Oh, Locke, but how do you get the snowflakes?
Snowflakes, Holly, and Mistletoe is all gotten the same way; by blowing kisses to revelers that are under the mistletoe in every inn. They /cheer at you and give you a random item (well, 5 of the random item). You also get an hour-long debuff that prevents you from getting anything from them again until it's over. I have heard a rumor this doesn't work in Dalaran, but I'm guessing that person might have been blowing kisses to people not under mistletoe.
Here is a neat trick. And I doubt you'll get banned for it :-P Make this macro:
Quote:
/kiss
/targetlasttarget
/kiss
/targetlasttarget
/kiss
Under all the mistletoe stand two revelers. Target one, then the other, then push the macro. You will get two of the item (and two debuffs, but they both last an hour). You can get twice the amount this way. Again, I doubt you'll get in trouble for this; it's Winter Veil, for goodness sakes! Spread the love!
Bros. Before Ho-Ho-Ho's
Easy enough. Get the mistletoe, using the technique above, and use it on the brothers. Horde have this much easier; only three guys compared to the Alliance's nine.
Here's a quick runthrough of the Alliance brothers, courtesy of Aristodamos on wowhead:
Aristodamos wrote:
1.
Start at Goldshire. Brother Wilhelm (40.5, 65.2) is standing at the back entrance of the Blacksmith
2.
Ride to Stormwind's Cathedral
3.
Brother Kristoff (45.8, 38.7) stands next to the statue at the Cathedral Square
4.
Get inside the Cathedral
5.
Brother Benjamin (41.1, 28.6) is walking up and down behind the right pillars
6.
Brother Joshua (38.7, 26.8) is standing at the end of the corridor
7.
Brother Cassius (43.3, 26.8) is inside the right room
8.
Brother Crowley (41.0, 26.1) is at the entrance of the RIGHT catacombs. That's next to the entrance of the room Brother Cassius was.
9.
Take the Gryphon to Rebel Camp, Stranglethorn Vale
10.
Brother Nimetz (37.9, 3.6) is at the west side of the Rebel camp
11.
Take the Gryphon to Booty Bay, Stranglethorn Vale
12.
Take the Boat to Ratchet, The Barrens
13.
Take the Gryphon to Theramore, Dustwallow Marsh
14.
Brother Karman (67.3, 47.4) is supervising the Practicing Guards (Theramore Combat Dummies) - he's between the "A" and the "M" on the map. Right next to the entrance of the north-east building
15.
Take the Gryphon to Nijel's Point, Desolace
16.
Brother Anton (66.5, 7.8) is standing at the balcony of the Inn
He Knows If You've Been Naughty
You'll get this achievement anyway when you unwrap your rocket racer. On or after December 25th, loot and unwrap a present under one of the giant trees.
A Frosty Shake
A day after you finish the Stolen Goods questline, you'll get a message in the mail containing your very own winter veil disguise kit! Insert a snowball, purchasable from any seasonal goblin vendor, and turn into a snowman. A lot of folks may still have theirs from previous years, and yes, they still work. To finish this achievement, simply use the kit in Dalaran next to another snowman, and the /dance.
Conclusion!
Well, that's all folks. The reward for these is the title "The Merrymaker." Keep in mind a couple of the achievements won't be available until Christmas and beyond, so you have a fair bit of time to go before you see the title show up on your servers. Happy Winter Veil!
Edit: Used quote tags instead of bold tags for some achievements. Oops!
Edit2: Added the runthrough for "Bros. Before Ho-ho-ho's"
Edited, Dec 15th 2008 1:28pm by LockeColeMA
Edited, Dec 15th 2008 6:00pm by LockeColeMA