Paws

I know, it has been quite a while now.

I said it will, but days turned to weeks, and weeks accumulated to even more weeks.

At the moment, I have a tad more things to do than the usual, and I just can’t find the time to keep posting around. I mean, I could post about mundane topics, but I was always the type to do things right.

I actually came up with all the names for the Shaman achievements, but can’t dedicate myself to patch things up into a post. Work, hobbies and studies keep sucking all my time.

But this is simply a tap on the pause key. I’ll get back to play.

I just need some time off. Sorry guys, and see you soon I hope.

Bringing It Further

This post is part of the For the Record series, which suggests new ideas for Achievements.

Right, so it seems my post are going to be a bit more scarce in the upcoming time.

The reason? Well, I suppose Wrath of the Lich King is somewhat to blame (status: my Hunter is currently level 77), but also the fact that coming up with ideas for so many names is a tasking task.

You do however receive a high-quality post, and you do know that quality is better than quantity, right? Right?!

Yes well, that’s my excuse anyways, and that’s what you got.

So, back to topic. I am still working on achievements. This post is number five, in a series that should reach the total of ten posts (10 classes, 10 posts). This time, it is the Warrior that is getting my attention. It is the Warrior that is challenged with various missions, if he wishes to be known as the one that bring forth war, or more simply put, the Warbringer.

I know, some of the ideas are not as original as I would like them to be, but really, it is getting harder and harder to come up with something that is new. This is related to the fact that I have already invented over 50 different achievement, and the innovation pool is running dry.

Yet, somehow, somewhere, within this list, there are some achievements worthy for true Warriors, and come the day they might exist, those fighters will venture forth and try to complete them.

All Kinds of Warriors

Some Warriors like it safe, some have a fetish for weapons, while others are just angry all the time. But it doesn’t matter all that much, for there is a common core to all Warriors, a shared collective knowledge they all have.

Yet while they all know it, can they prove it?

Here is the list of all achievements, that every Warrior worth his salt should attempt to gain.

The Naked and the Dead

In any PvP environment, kill an enemy player after reducing his armor to zero.

This achievement requires applying Sunder Armor several times, before killing the enemy. It’ll probably only work on cloth wearers though.

I Rend, Your End

In PvP environment -

• Prevent a Rogue from entering Stealth mode, by using Rend.
• Have the periodic damage of Rend kill an enemy player.

A two requirement achievement, where the damage effect of Rend needs to unstealth a Rogue, and kill an enemy. If the Rogue dies as he tries to stealth, you got it cheap.

Caged Rage

Kill a level 80 or higher elite enemy, while keeping your rage below 100 at all times.

This achievement requires the Warrior to keep an eye on his rage bar, and keep using abilities before he reaches 100 rage. To complete it, he doesn’t have to fight alone, or either be the enemy’s target (yet not stand like a wuss on the side).
Once achieved, it leads to Rage Like a Machine.

Rage Like a Machine

While being the only source of damage, kill a level 80 or higher elite enemy, while keeping your rage above 0 and below 100 at all times.

Slightly harder than Caged Rage, this achievement requires the Warrior to be taking the hits from the enemy (but he can still be healed). It also requires the Warrior to keep at least some rage at all times.

Prancing Like a Pony

In any instanced boss encounter, use both Charge, Intercept and Intervene within the same combat.

Not much to add.

Don’t Say a Word

Interrupt the casting of 50 enemy players, of 150 enemy creatures, and of 5 raid bosses.

A cumulative achievement that encourages using Shield Bash or Pummel to interrupt spell casting. Once the target is interrupted, the respective counter increases, but only once per target (even if it is interrupted several times).

Have Revenge in This Life, Not the Next

• Land a killing blow on any instance boss, using Revenge.
• Get killed while your Revenge ability is available.

We’re trying to encourage the use of Revenge, so we’ll show the Warrior it can be used to kill, but also try to teach him to activate the ability as soon as he can, or risk dying (in other words – the second part of the achievement is received if the Warrior died before being able to use the skill).

You Called Down the Thunder, Now Reap the Whirlwind

Kill 4 enemies within 5 seconds from each other, using Whirlwind, while they are all affected by Thunder Clap.

This achievement goes like this – Thunder Clap several enemies, switch to Berserker’s Stance, bring the health of everyone down, then end their suffering with Whirlwind before the debuff fades.

Saved by the Yell

In any raid boss encounter, have your Commanding Shout grant an ally an amount of additional health, that without it he wouldn’t have survived some attack.

Wording is tricky, and I will explain – during combat, if any ally is wounded then has his remaining health equal the amount granted by Commanding Shout, we could say that the buff saved him. In such case, the achievement is complete.

Kill Frenzy

Kill 20 enemies in a row, striking each but the first using Victory Rush.

For this achievement, the Warrior must be on the move all the time, as he has to find his next target before his Victory Rush is no longer available. Also, all targets must grant experience or honor.

Where Do You Think You’re Going?

Land a killing blow on 10 enemy players while they are under the effect of Hamstring.

Pretty straightforward – there is no place to run to.

The Bodyguard

In any instanced or PvP encounter, prevent the death of an ally using Intervene, 5 times.

For this achievement to record, the Warrior must intervene an ally that would have otherwise been struck to death. Can be on different sessions.

Right Back At’Cha!

Kill 3 enemy players by having their spell reflected back at them.

The killing blow must be by the reflected spell, cast by the enemy player.

Drop Down Your Weapon!

Disarm an enemy using each of the following weapons – 1h axe, 2h axe, dagger, 1h mace, 2h mace, polearm, staff, 1h sword and 2h sword.

This achievement requires using disarm a total of 9 times. If enemy creatures don’t hold the information of the type of weapon they use, this is going to be a PvP achievement.

The Executioner

Use Execute as a killing blow on each of the existing mob types, and all the player classes.

Requires using execute in PvP on all the 10 classes, and in PvE on all the 8 mob types (beast, demon, dragonkin, elemental, giant, humanoid, undead and unknown).

Two For the Price of One

Kill two enemies at the same time, with Cleave.

The two must have their health reduced to 0 by the same Cleave attack.

Keeping Moral Low

Reduce enemy attack power by a total of 150,000 through Demoralizing Shout.

Yet another cumulative achievement, that tracks the total of reduced attack power. Once it reaches the goal – ka’ching.

The Center of Attention

• Force a total of 250 enemies to change their target using Taunt or Mocking Blow.
• Force 15 enemies to attack you at once using Challenging Shout. At least half the enemies must have another target before the shout.

The first part simply requires using Taunt on enemies that are not attacking the Warrior. The second part requires pulling many, then, while at least half the enemies are concentrating on targets that are not the Warrior himself, use Challenging Shout.

That’s Got to Hurt

Using 3 special attacks, reduce the health of an enemy player by at least 60% of his total health.

For this achievement the Warrior should use Recklessness, then strike with his most damaging attacks. The counter sums the damage caused by those, which must total 60% (might change to balance things) of the enemy’s total health.

Dodgers

Use Overpower and Revenge in the same combat.

No restrictions.

Are We Warriors, Or Are We Dancer?

Complete the achievements (1) Prancing Like a Pony, (2) You Called Down the Thunder, Now Reap the Whirlwind and (3) Dodgers in a single combat. Zone restriction is changed to any instance.

The Warrior will have to stance-dance a bit for this achievement, but it is otherwise quite straightforward (if tricky). Also, all three must be done in an instance, but it doesn’t matter on which mob type as long as it’s in the same combat.

Been Around the Block

In any raid boss encounter, use Shield Block to block an amount of damage that would have otherwise killed you.

In other words, prevent your own death in time.

And I Hope You Like Slammin’, Too

Kill a level 80 or higher enemy using only Slam and Shield Slam attacks.

Since a big part of the Warrior’s damage is melee autoattack, some white damage threshold will be allowed. Most of the damage however must come from the two mentioned abilities.

Rather Courageous

Prevent any fear effect from affecting you in any PvP content, instanced content and raid content.

The requirement for this achievement are to prevent any fear effect 3 times (using Berserker Rage of course): PvP, PvE dungeon and PvE raid.

Twenty Tally Yet?

Using Retaliation, engage in combat to have the buff fade with 3, 2 and 1 charges remaining.

For this achievement, the Warrior must spend almost all his Retaliation charges within the 12 seconds of its duration. It must be used 3 times – once for 17 charges, once for 18, and once for 19 charges (order does not matter).

Wall of Fame

Reach a total of 250,000 damage mitigated through Shield Wall.

Yet another accumulation achievement, where the counter sums the amount of damage reduced through Shield Wall.

Who Needs Healers Anyways?

• In any raid boss encounter, use Enraged Regeneration when having 25% of your total health or less, then survive for its entire duration.
• While in combat and at 10% of maximal health or less, use Intimidating Shout to gain enough time to apply bandages to yourself.

This achievement requires having Enraged Regeneration heal the Warrior from 25% or lower health, for the entire amount of 30%. The second part requires to apply at least 6 seconds of (probably the best) bandages to yourself, while the enemies are cowering.

Not the Most Heroic

Kill 15 fleeing enemies or enemy players using Heroic Throw.

For the purpose of this achievement, the Warrior must land a killing blow with Heroic Throw, either on an enemy player, or on a creature that is “attempting to run away in fear”.

Progress Through Strength of Arms

When you got the tool for the job, nothing can stop you from achieving what you want. Two examples.

Sweep Him/Her Off His/Her Feet

Using Sweeping Strikes, have the additional attack kill a male/female of the opposite faction.

Hopefully not too hard to get, this achievement will require males to kill a female, and vice versa. Love does not always find her way.

Mortal Combat

• In PvP environment, land 50 killing blow with Mortal Strike.
• Prevent a total of 100,000 healing through your Mortal Strike effect.

First part is pretty easy to understand, second one is a counter for 50% of all heals landing on the target of your Mortal Strike, while its debuff is active.

The Victor and the Fury-ous

They say never to deny something from an angry man. Furious are even worse, so here are a couple of things to ease their temper.

Blood Type: AB Positive

Gain 30% of your total health through Bloodthirst attacks on each of the following enemy players – Draenei/Blood Elf, Dwarf/Orc, Gnome/Tauren, Human/Troll, Night Elf/Undead.

In total, this achievement requires being healed by Bloodthirst 50 times (30 after the next patch), on each of the 5 enemy races.

On My Wishlist

While under the effect of Deathwish, land a killing blow on any 3 of the bosses in Naxxramas.

Requies landing a killing blow on any 3 Naxxramas bosses, while under the effect of the Deathwish buff. Does not have to be within the same raid reset period.

Pro for Protection

It’s no coincidence that Protection is spelled as it is.  It’s no wonder they have a pair more of challenges to face either.

Won’t Go Down Easy

In any raid boss encounter, remain at 1 hitpoint when your Last Stand buff fades, and survive for 5 additional seconds.

The idea is to lose the extra health points when those are all the Warrior has, yet stay alive for a little longer. Probably the easiest to attain when the buff fades just as combat is over.

Shock and Awe

• Stun a total of 250 elites using Shockwave.
• Deal a total of 250,000 damage through Shockwave.

Two cumulative achievements, the first is for elites only, the second has no restrictions.

…On the Next Episode

I will be discussing Shamans. I’ll warn you in advance though, it’ll probably take me some time to complete it.

Why is it that we bring war to your doorstep? Because we’d rather not have it the other way around.
– Anonymous lieutenant of the Wrath of Steels, during the War of the Three Vows

I’m just more occupied lately.
But it’s still coming, maybe even tomorrow.

What Does the Future Hold?

This post is part of the For the Record series, which suggests new ideas for Achievements.

Allow me to apologize for the long time it takes to bring up those posts. Quite surprisingly, it is a lengthy process to invent all those achievement names, and I sometimes find myself stuck several days before anything worthy comes to my mind.

Plus, I have also been caught up with the flu for a few days during the week (*sad panda face*).

Anyways, I have finally completed the task, and compiled a list of achievements for the Priest class.

So far, this has been the hardest post to write, which is something of a mystery to me. From what I have seen on Wowhead, Priests have the least number of skills in comparison to Druids, Hunters or Paladins, yet it was pretty hard to finish up this post.

The reason? As I’ve said, it is a mystery of sorts, but I do have some speculations. Priests have a vast number of healing skills, which I find harder to invent achievements for. In addition, all their skill names are, well, holy-like, and hard to word-play with.

And that’s another reason why it took longer than the usual.

Oh, and for those who have no idea what I am speaking off – I am a blogger on a mission to come up with class specific achievements for all the classes. My goal in mind is that when a player completes all those given achievements, he will be granted his special class-specific title.

For the Priest, this title will be, the Prophet.

And here’s what he must accomplish to get it.

All the Priests Together

As usual, I’m breaking up the post into a few sections. In the first one, I’ll present the achievements that every Priest, with any talents, should be able to complete. In the following ones, we’ll be seeing a couple of achievements that require a specific talent skill.

Now You’re Making Me Angry!

While having 33% or less of your total health, use Smite to land a killing blow on your enemy.

This is simply a humorous reference to Mr. Smite from the Deadmines. To accomplish this achievement, the Priest must be wounded and use his Smite spell to kill any enemy that grants him experience.

Pain is Worth a Thousand Words

Deal damage 1,000 times with Shadow Word: Pain.

This achievement should be gained passively, by using Shadow Word: Pain not too rarely. After it will tick for the 1000th time, this will be achieved.

The Shield

• In any instanced content, have your Power Word: Shield absorb an amount of damage that would have otherwise killed the target, 7 times.
• Absorb a total of 88,000 damage with Power Word: Shield on yourself.

This achievement has two parts – it requires using PW:S to save 7 allies in instances (does not require to be the same run), and also to total an amount of 88,000 damage absorbed, over any duration of time.

Shields Up, Weapons Online

While Power Word: Shield is active on yourself, kill 5 enemies.

For this achievement, the Priest must cast Power Word: Shield on himself, then before the buff fades (either due to duration expiration or total amount absorbed), kill 5 enemies that grant experience or honor.

All Your Mind Are Now Belong To Us

Use Mind Control on each of the opposite faction’s classes.

This simply requires casting the spell on all the 10 classes, of the opposite faction.

I Believe I Can Fly

Drop from 100 yards without dying.

Levitate is the way to go for this one.

Inner Fire, Don’t Forget

During the same session, kill 100 creatures while having Inner Fire active at all times.

The idea is for the Priest to remember to recast his Inner Fire buff. It is of course allowed to cast it again before it expires, but never to reach a state where it is absent. Logging off will reset the timer. Only creatures granting experience count.

Multitude of Fortitude

Grant a total of 100,000 extra Stamina to friendly targets, through your Power Word: Fortitude and Blessing of Fortitude.

This achievement will have a counter, calculating the total of stamina the Priest has granted through his buffs. Casting the spell on a target that already has it, will not count (but casting a higher rank will count the difference).

Keeping the Skeletons in the Closet

Shackle a total of 100 Undead, and at least 20 different types.

This achievement asks you to use Shackle Undead, but also to keep in mind not to keep shackling the same one. Type of undead refers to its name (e.g. Skeletal Constructor != Skeletal Fiend).

No Fear

Resist through immunity the fear effect of a Priest, Warrior and Warlock. Also, grant courage to your party members to resist fear in instances, for 10 times.

For this achievement, the Priest must resist both Intimidating Shout, Fear and Psychic Scream, using his Fear Ward on himself. He must also use it on his allies while instancing, to prevent them being feared.

We Can Make It If We Try

Use Binding Heal while you and your target are below 50% health, while in combat in any raid encounter.

As stated.

Farewell, Magic

Using Dispel Magic, remove the effect of 50 harmful effects from allies, and the effect of 25 beneficial effects from enemies.

Requires using Dispel Magic both for cleansing, and for purging.

Holy Supernova

Without additional help, kill 25 creatures of level 75 or higher within 10 seconds from each other.

The trick is to use Holy Nova repeatedly to AoE all the enemies down, and at the same time keep yourself healed.

I Spy

Through Mind Vision on a hostile target, reach your enemy flag room in Warsong Gulch, and your enemy general bunker in Alterac Valley.

For this achievement, the Priest must cast Mind Vision on an enemy, and hope he’ll reach the above locations. Casting this on the target while it is at the location should also do (might be too random to get otherwise).

Group Discount

In combat, use Prayer of Healing without overhealing any group member for more than 10%.

This achievement requires using Prayer of Healing on a very good timing, in such a way that none of the party members will be overhealed too much.

Mending Go Round

In any raid boss encounter, have your Prayer of Mending jump for all its 5 stacks.

Requires the raid to take enough damage, in order for the buff to keep jumping before its duration runs out.

Skedaddle!

Using Psychic Scream, fear each and every class, and all enemy types excluding the undead.

Required targets for this achievement are the 10 classes, plus beasts, demons, dragonkin, elementals, giants, humanoids and unknown (the oozes and insects for example).

Greatest Heal

Within the same instance, beat your previous highest Greater Heal record, 5 times, and while in combat.

Wording on this achievement might be tricky, and I’ll explain. While the Priest is in the instance, he must start casting Greater Heal. Each time his total heal is greater than all previous such heals in the instance, the counter increases by one. The counter must reach five. Only counts if being done in combat.

Not On My Shift

Complete the Heigan the Unclean encounter while [some requirement regarding damage by his disease effect].

This achievement will require the Priest to act quickly with his Disease removing skills. As I haven’t ventured in Naxxramas yet, I am not overly familiar with the encounter, so I’m leaving the details vague.

It Won’t Fade

In any instanced encounter, and while in combat, use Fade while your rest of the party are dead or not participating in the fight.

This is simply a humorous achievement, to remind the Priest that Fade is useless when there is nobody else on the threat list.

Blast to the Past

In Caverns of Time: The Culling of Stratholme, use Mind Blast to land a killing blow on Mal’Ganis.

I hope this achievement isn’t too tricky, since Mind Blast has a cooldown. Nevertheless, as a small pun, it requires traveling back in time, to have a “blast from the past”, with Mind Blast.

It Burns Us

Kill 5 enemy players using Mana Burn.

Requires that the killing blow will be by the burn effect of Mana Burn.

Black & White

Land a killing blow on any level 80 creature, using Shadow Word: Death, while the periodic damage effect of Holy Fire is active.

Requires casting Holy Fire, then killing the target within the next 7 seconds with Shadow Word: Death.

NOM NOM NOM

Gain a total of 50,000 health points back through Devouring Plague.

Overhealing will not count.

Worst Case Scenario

While having less than 2% of your mana, use your Shadowfiend to land a killing blow on any level 80 enemy.

The idea behind this, is that even the Shadowfiend can kill something when the situation is really bad (though I suspect there are better methods). In any case, the Priest must really be out of mana when the fiend lands the blow that kills.

Flash the Flesh

Use Flash Heal a total of 1,000 times.

Heal, and heal, and heal…

Dead Searious

Use Mind Sear to deal a total of 1,000,000 damage.

Simply an accumulation achievement.

All Fight Long

In any raid boss encounter, keep Renew active on any target, during the entire fight.

For this achievement, the Priest must simply remember to reapply the Renew heal over time effect on any target, for the entire duration of the fight. Might be annoying with lag, but feasible if the other healers do some extra work.

Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt

In any instanced content, use Divine Hymn to incapacitate at least 8 enemies, and heal at least 5 allies.

The 5 healed allies can include the Priest. Just overhealing does not count.

Zip, Zilch, Nada

Using a single Mass Dispel, remove the effect of at least 10 magical buffs and/or debuffs.

For this achievement, it doesn’t matter how many dispelled effect are beneficial or harmful, but their total must be 10 (I hope there are encounters where this is feasible, I suspect it is).

Just the Discipline

A couple of achievements that are reserved for Discipline Priests.

Min Payne

In every Naxxramas boss fight, use Pain Suppression on a target that takes damage.

Does not require to complete in the same raid lockout week. The target must take damage while Pain Suppression is active for the achievement to record.

Bolts of Light

• Kill 20 enemy players using Penance.
• In any raid boss encounter, use Penance to heal an ally for 75% of his total health or more.

Requires to land the killing blow with Penance, and heal for a net total of 75% (i.e. the target must have 25% of her total health or less before the heal).

Only Holy

Achievements that are only for Holy.

Desperado

In any raid boss encounter, use Desperate Prayer while having 20% or less of your total health.

The prayer has to be pretty desperate for it to count.

A Worthy Sacrifice

• In any instanced boss encounter, have your party/raid kill the boss while your affected by Spirit of Redemption.
• In any instanced content, or during PvP play, prevent 5 deaths with Guardian Spirit.

This achievement requires the Priest to die, yet keep his party alive long enough to kill a boss, and to use Guardian Spirit on someone that is about to die, either in PvP or while instancing.

Shadow Solo

And last but not least, for the Shadow ones.

I Am Darkula

• Regenerate a total of 1,879,000 health to yourself through Vampiric Embrace.
• Regenerate a total of 1,931,000 mana to yourself or your allies through Vampiric Touch.

I know the numbers seem high (they are also Dracula references), but if you do some math, you’d realize they can easily be achieved through a few hours.

Dust in the Wind

Avoid a total of 150,000 damage through Dispersion.

Best achieved in PvP I suppose, this achievement required using Dispersion while taking damage, and having the 90% damage reduction sum up.

In The Not-So-Distant Future

More achievements await! In the future, I foresee a Warrior.

A seer can only foresee the future of others, for the same reason one could never see his own face.
– Foretelling explained by Tu’uref

Shifting Higher

This post is part of the For the Record series, which suggests new ideas for Achievements.

If you read one of my two previous posts, there is really no need for another fancy exposition. If you haven’t, you are really forcing my hand. But well, I guess I have to give a short reminder anyways.

Achievements.

Ok, that might not be detailed enough…

Class-specific achievements.

Still vague?

Achievements, that having completed all of them, would prove your fellow players that you have mastered somewhat your class. It indicates you know where your various skills are, and are not afraid to use them, even when sometimes the achievement requires you to use them in a silly way.

Heck, it’s just another method to have some fun, and spend those dead hours when you don’t have anything better to do.

Did I mention it might grant the Archdruid title?

Those are achievements for Druids by the way, and they are coming up after this link.

It Takes All Forms

Following are achievements that can be completed by any Druid, of any spec. Yes, they will require to shapeshift quite a bit, but none assume having any non-baselined skill. I’m not saying they will be easily attained by any spec, but up to some gear-change, all should be feasible.

Gifted

Use Gift of the Wild in each of Northrend’s instances, and all the Battlegrounds.

Quite simply, use it to buff your party/raid in all 70+ instances and all PvP Battlegrounds.

Navy SEAL

Complete the [some quest requiring swimming] in [some short time] while not in a group.

This achievement will require using Aquatic Form to complete the quest fast. So far, only the quest The Way to His Heart… comes to my mind, but there might be another.

Catfight

While in Cat Form, land a killing blow on a Cat-Form-Druid from the opposite faction.

You have to kill another cat, while also shifted as one. Can be in any Battleground, Arena or also world PvP.

Raining Cats and Bears

• While in Bear Form or Dire Bear Form, fall 65 yards without dying.
• While in Cat Form, fall 80 yards without dying.

Basically, this achievement mirrors the Going Down? one, but with a higher distance for Cat Form as it has the Feline Grace passive skill.

Half-Troll, Half-Bear

Regenerate a total of 100,000 health through Frenzied Regeneration.

This achievement requires using Frenzied Regeneration multiple times, until the counter reaches 100,000 healed health points. Obviously easier to get as Feral, but with some effort by any other bear too (or is it troll?).

Can’t… Stop… DANCING!

In any capital city, dance in each of the following forms.

• Night Elf / Tauren (faction dependent)
• Cat
• Bear or Dire Bear
• Travel
• Moonkin
• Tree

Ok, so I lied. This is the only achievement that does require you to respec in order to achieve. You must use the /dance emote in a place that everyone can see you, in all the different forms. Only because this is so much fun.

From Ashes to Ashes

While in combat, resurrect an ally using Rebirth, to have him die again within 10 seconds.

In order to gain this, the Druid must bring an ally back to life using Rebirth, only to have him die 10 seconds later (counter starts once the player is back alive).

I Scratch Your Back…

Kill 5 level 80 creatures, while using only attacks that require you being behind your target, and the Maim finishing move.

The achievement permits using Ravage, Shred and Maim solely. Can be gained anywhere, but will probably be easier while grouped. Some auto-attacks will also be permitted.

Say No to Durability! Use Tranquility!

In any instance encounter, and while in combat, use Tranquility when all your group members are below 50% of their maximum health.

Nothing more to add really…

Mass Swipe

Use Swipe to hit 25 level 75 or higher creatures at the same time.

This achievement will require some good Bear positioning, in order for the Swipe ability to wound a large amount of creatures simultaneously. Can be done anywhere.

Maul Rats

Exterminate 50 Rats using Maul.

Any rat would do, as long as the deed was done with Maul.

Herd Rage

Land 25 killing blows while under the effect of Enrage.

I suppose I could restrict it to instances in order to make it more challenging, but that means it would be a pain for non-Ferals to gain. Hence, this can be done anywhere.

Root Cause

In any instance, affect a total of 50 creatures with Entangling Roots.

The counter will not reset between instances. This achievement is here to encourage Druid Crowd Control.

D*A*S*H

While under the same effect of Dash, get caught in 10 consecutive land mine explosions in the Sparksocket Minefield.

This achievement is similar to the Mine Sweeper one, although you got to have the Dash buff active during the whole time. If it proves not to be feasible, the number of explosions will be reduced.

Use Your Pouncezerschrake

Use both Pounce and Rake on any siege engine in PvP.

Although I assume siege engines are immune to bleed effect, this achievement requires using both on the same one. Any vehicle in Wintergrasp or the Strand of the Ancient Battlegrounds will do.

I Like to Move It

Dispel the effect of 100 movement impairing effect through shapeshifting.

This achievement can be gained anywhere, and is cumulative. It simply requires shapeshifting while having a movement impairing debuff active (hence dispelling it).

Beam Me Up, Scatty

Use Teleport: Moonglade 9 times.

A simple and silly achievement, only because you have to teleport for every life.

Bless My Bark

Accumulate a total of 250,000 damage done, 250,000 damage taken or 250,000 healing while under the effect of Barkskin.

This achievement is tailored for the different Druid specs. It requires using Barkskin while doing your job.

Oh! Hello Kitty!

Strike the first hit, from stealth mode, on each of the opposing faction’s classes.

Requires striking with any attack, while being stealthed, on all the 10 classes. Does not require to be during the same Battleground or Arena.

Wrath of the Real Thing

In every Northrend instance, land a killing blow on any of the instance’s bosses, using Wrath.

I hope this achievement won’t be too painful to get, as statistically (assuming 3-4 bosses per instance) it shouldn’t be. The goal is to have the damage of Wrath kill at least one boss, in all the instances of Northrend. I am aware it is much more difficult to gain for any spec besides Balance, and I hope that with some group effort everyone will be able to get it.

Gotta Bloom Them All!

During any raid boss encounter, keep a full stack of Lifebloom on 4 different pary/raid members, for 7 seconds.

To gain this achievement, the Druid must time his Lifebloom casts in a way to keep a full stack on 4 players, then keep up the good work for 7 seconds. It means however that the Druid will not be able to do anything else (due to Global Cooldown constraints, unless talented otherwise).

You Got to Keep ‘em Lacerated

In any instance, keep a full stack of Lacerate on 3 different creatures, for 10 seconds.

Similar to Gotta Bloom Them All, but with the Dire Bear Form’s Lacerate. A bit of a hassle for non-Ferals, but assuming the tank has enough threat on the targets, it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Black Thorns

Accumulate a total of 100,000 damage caused by Thorns cast by you.

This achievement simply requires the Druid to remember casting Thorns on the tank, or on himself while soloing, and wait for the damage counter to reach its goal.

Take One For The Team

In any raid boss encounter, cast Innervate on a raid member (not yourself), while you have 10% of your maximum mana or less.

This achievement requires the Druid to innervate someone else while he is truly low on mana. Sometimes, you have to be selfless.

Gone With the Wind

• Kill 250 creatures using Hurricane.
• Kill an enemy player within 5 seconds of him being affected by your Cyclone.

The first part of this achievement simply requires using Hurricane a lot, and encourage somewhat AoE grinding. The second part is meant for any PvP fight (Battleground, Arena or World PvP), and requires the Druid to cast Cyclone on an enemy, then have his team kill him 5 seconds after the effect fades (I know the wording can be confusing).

Bloody Mess

Land a killing blow on a level 80 or higher elite creature, using Ferocious Bite, while Tiger’s Fury is active, and the enemy is afflicted by the bleed effect of Rip.

This achievement requires some combo-point coordination, as the Druid has to time his Ferocious Bite just so that he still has his Tiger’s Fury buff active, and the enemy is still under the duration of Rip.

Mens Sana In Corpore Sano

• Complete the Grand Widow Faerlina encounter, while her Poison Bolt Volley doesn’t tick more than [some reasonable number] times.
• Complete the Noth the Plaguebringer encounter, without having any of the raid affected by his Wrath of the Plaguebringer.

Similarly to the Paladin’s Don’t Be Tense, Just Cleanse achievement, this one requires the Druid to use his dispel abilities fast.

Wam, Bam, Thank-You Maim

Kill any level 80 or higher creatures while it being stunned and/or incapacitated 50% of the combat.

For this achievement, the Druid must cleverly use Pounce, Bash and Maim, to kill his target as quickly as possible, in order for it to be unable to react most of the fight.

Petting Zoo

While not being in combat, and standing no farther then 10 yards away, Hibernate a level 75 or higher Dragonkin or Beast.

In order to complete this, the Druid will have to Soothe Animal his target, come closer, then Hibernate it.

The Sky Is Not Falling. Oh Wait…

Land 15 killing blows with Starfire, while your Moonfire debuff has 5 seconds or less on the target.

For this achievement, one must have good debuff/casting time coordination, for the Druid must cast his Starfire before the Moonfire effect fades, and still kill the creature. Can be done both in PvE or PvP.

The Roaring Game

In any instanced content, use Demoralizing Roar, Challenging Roar and Savage Roar, during the same combat.

This achievement is reserved for dungeons (or raids if the Druid insists), and requires using all the three roars during the same fight. Having the target resist Challenging Roar doesn’t count.

The Whole Nine Yards

In any raid boss encounter, cast Nourish on an ally, while he is also affected by your Regrowth, Rejuvenation and your Lifebloom effects.

Simply as stated, the target must first be affected by the 3 healing over time effects, then have Nourish cast over her.

Balance

Two things only Balance Druids can try.

The Treeminator 3: Rise of the Treants

Have your Treants accumulate 50 killing blows.

This achievement requires the Treants from Force of Nature to land the killing blow, either in PvP or PvE, but obviously only on targets that grant experience or honor.

Kalimdor Frenzied Chicken

In any PvP environment, and while in Moonkin Form, reach 50 killing blows, with any critical strike by any of your spells.

This achievement simply requires staying in Moonkin Form, and hoping for the killing blow to be a critical strike. The counter does not stop at the end of the PvP combat, but accumulates.

Feral

A couple of tricks only the Ferals can do.

From All Mangles

Accumulate a total of 250,000 damage from bleed effects, while the target is under the effect of Mangle.

This achievement can be completed in PvE and PvP, and both in Bear or Cat Forms. Shred counts as a bleeding effect for the purpose of this achievement. If the number is too high for non-Ferals to attain, it will be reduced.

Meooooooooow!

In any PvP environment, kill 5 players while they are under the Daze effect of your Feral Charge (Cat).

It might be tricky, but to gain this the Druid must kill his enemy within 3 seconds of the charge. This is a cumulative counter.

Restoration

A duet of feats, only the keen of Restoration can attempt.

Stat!

In any raid boss encounter, use Swiftmend and Nature’s Swiftness to heal a target having less than 20% of her total health.

I could have written this achievement as two bullets, but I was lazy. So to confirm, the Druid does not have to use both “stat” skills in the same raid encounter, but he does have to use them on a target that is really low on health in both occasions.

Tree-Mend-Ous

In any raid boss encounter, and while in Tree of Life Form, maintain any healing over time effect on 10 targets at the same time.

In order to gain this, the Druid should use all his skills – Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Lifebloom and Wild Growth – in such a way that at least 10 raid members will have at least one effect on them. This might sound hard, but since Wild Growth simultaneously applies a HoT on 5 targets, it should be doable.

What’s Next

I’m not 100% sure yet, but I think my next post will be dedicated to Priests, and what they can achieve.

Gardening, but in a much larger scale.
– Ga’orlen, humorously describing the daily task of Arch-Druids

Crusade for Ascension

This post is part of the For the Record series, which suggests new ideas for Achievements.

The wheels are now set in motion. There is no way back.

Champions are marching the frozen plains, from Fjords and Tundras, up until they shall reach the Citadel.

They will face mortal perils, but also create tales of victory with their passage. It is during this journey, that from champions of different causes, they shall become true heroes.

On my previous post, I have detailed an extensive list of the different feats a Hunter must complete if he desires to prove his surroundings that he is a true Stalker.

The idea is pretty simple – one must show he has mastered the different skills, as only through those class mastery can be attained.

On this post, I will reveal my plans for the Paladin. What must he do to achieve a higher presence? Where should he fight to gain ascension? When will the day come, when one of his class can be named, Crusader?

The list of achievements follows.

Universal Crusading

Here are achievements that are available and obtainable by all Paladins. Sure, some of them require healing that some specs are not used to giving, but it should still be feasible. At worst, in order to gain some of the listed below, small gear shifts might be required (e.g. from DPS to Healing gear).

Holy Lite

In any instanced content, use Holy Light 20 times without exceeding 15% overhealing.

For this achievement, the Paladin must reach a total of 20 uses of Holy Light within the same instance (Arena/Battleground apply), but each must not overheal more than 15% of the amount. If the Paladin overheals, it simply doesn’t count for the total.
Cheating with Life-Tapping Warlocks would somehow be forbidden, don’t ask me how.

To Be, Aura Not to Be

While having Aura of Frost/Fire/Shadow Resistance active, have one of your party/raid members resist spell damage of the appropriate school, that would otherwise have killed him.

This achievement must be obtained for each of the 3 spell schools (Fire, Frost and Shadow). It is given once a party/raid member resists an amount that is bigger than his remaining total life.

Bursting Your Bubble

Land a killing blow in PvP while under the effect of Divine Protection or Divine Shield.

Rather straightforward – landing a killing blow while the buff is still active.

Ghostbuster

• Land a killing blow on 50 level 80 undead using Exorcism.
• Turn Undead on each of the Lich King’s minions.
• Using Holy Wrath, kill 10 level 75 or higher undead at the same time.

This achievement has quite a list to complete. The first bullet is simple, while the last requires some damage coordination so the AoE of Holy Wrath will kill all the mobs at the same time. The second bullet will be supplied with a list of specific Undead all over Northrend (and maybe other lands as well), that the Paladin will have to fear.

Indecent Flashing

Use Flash of Light on every class of your faction, in any instanced content.

To gain this achievement, the Paladin must use Flash of Light on all the 10 existing classes, as long as this is done inside any instance. It does not require to be the same instance.

Nailed Ya!

Land 15 killing blows in PvP using Hammer of Wrath.

As stated. The enemy player can be fleeing for his life or fightning valliantly, he must be killed by a Hammer of Wrath to the face.

Can’t Touch This

Use Hammer of Justice to interrupt flag capping in Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm or Alterac Valley, or to stop a flag carrier in Warsong Gulch or Eye of the Storm.

This achievement either requires stunning (using Hammer of Justice) a single enemy player while he is attempting to cap a flag, or to stun a player who is carrying one.

Premature Intervention

Use Divine Intervention while not in combat.

Rather noobish, but you’ll be getting an Achievement for this. Sacrificing yourself doesn’t cause durability damage, so this only costs a reagent to get. Simple.

Divine Timing

In any raid boss encounter, use Divine Intervention on the last raid member alive (not including yourself), when he has less than 50% of his total health.

This might be tricky, since it requires the Paladin to be alive, and his only standing ally to take enough damage to reduce his health below 50%, yet still live. It saves the wipe almost at the last second, and grants an achievement.

Ten Past Redemption

Bring back 10 players to life using Redemption.

As simple as that.

Bubble Trouble

Use Divine Shield to Hearthstone safely, while in an enemy city.

I’m giving full credit to Sacer from Bloodfeather (EU) for this idea, although I have changed its name. Hearthstone takes 10 seconds to complete, Divine Shield lasts 12 seconds, it should be just enough to fly-bye-bye away while enemies are trying desperately to stop you.

Spiritual Fulfillment

Gain a total of 10,000 mana from Spiritual Attunement.

A rather plain and passive achievement, that is somewhat more relevant to Protection Paladins I suppose. In other words, it requires being healed for 100,000 health by an external source (as Spiritual Attunement grants mana in a 1:10 ratio).

Judge Dread

Judge every possible Seal and Judgement spell against a single enemy in combat.

Not a very difficult achievement, yet might require a slightly longer fight to attain. Paladins have 3 basic Judgements, and 5 different Seals (6 for Retribution). This requires changing the seals in-combat, and judging differently on each ready cooldown (for example: Seal of Righteousness, judge Light; Seal of Vengeance, just Wisdom; Seal of Wisdom, judge Light; Seal of Light, judge anything; Seal of the Martyr, judge anything).

Lightbringing

In a single raid boss encounter, heal over 10,000 health using Judgement of Light effect.

To gain this, the Paladin must keep the Judgement of Light debuff active on the boss, and hope his allies will gain the required amount of heals from attacking the boss. The number might be altered if proven too easy/hard to attain.

Learning from the Wise

In a single raid boss encounter, regenerate your allies a total of 10,000 mana using Judgement of Wisdom effect.

Same as Lightbrining, but with Judgement of Wisdom and Mana respectively.

Speed Limit Enforcer

In PvP, lower the movement speed of an enemy using Judgement of Justice.

For this achievement, the Paladin must judge any enemy that is moving faster than running speed, with Judgement of Justice. Mounted players, movement increasing talents or abilities all count.

It’s For Your Own Protection

In any raid boss encounter, use Hand of Protection on an ally who has reached 100% threat, or in Arena or Battleground, use it to protect an ally from enemy players.

The requirement to achieve this, is to have the said ally be under attack by the raid boss or an enemy player.

No Messing with the Blessing

Grant a total of 250 Blessings in Battlegrounds.

Simply buff a total of 250 players with a Blessing, during any Battleground, to gain this.

I Wish I Had an Angel

Land a killing blow on any raid boss while under the effect of Avenging Wrath.

As stated. The Paladin must be under the effect of the buff and be the player landing the killing blow.

They Can Take Our Lives, But They Cannot Take Our…

In Warsong Gulch or Eye of the Storm, use Hand of Freedom on the flag carrier.

The flag carrier can also be the Paladin himself.

Don’t Be Tense, Just Cleanse

Complete the [Maiden-like encounter] without having any harmful debuff damage any ally.

The idea of this achievement is for the Paladin to be super-fast in Cleansing his allies. I am not familiar with Wrath of the Lich King raid encounters, but if there is anything like Maiden, where she afflicts players with a debuff that ticks every second or two, the Paladin will be required to Cleanse so fast, it doesn’t have the chance to cause any damage.

No Trespassing

Kill 100 creatures with Consecration.

The enemy must die from a Consecration tick in order to count for this achievement.

A Nice Touch

Using Lay on Hands, heal an ally back to 77% of his total health.

This achievement will probably require some research. Since Lay on Hands heals a fixed amount, the idea is for the Paladin to calculate when to use it, for his target to end up with 77% of her total health. This does not require to be in combat.

Damnation! Salvation, Yet No Donation

In any dungeon or raid instance, use Hand of Salvation on 5 allies that have reached 100% threat.

Does not require to be on the same ally, or within the same time period. The only requirement is for the target to have 100% threat when the buff is cast on her.

Sacrificial Lamb

While you’re under the effect of Hand of Sacrifice, become Polymorphed.

This achievement can be done both in PvE and PvP, but requires good timing in both. The Paladin must first be under the effect of his Hand of Sacrifice (i.e. cast it on someone else), then become Polymorphed by a hostile.

May I Have More Mana, Plea?

Regenerate a total of 100,000 mana using Divine Plea.

Since Divine Plea regenerates 25% of the Paladin’s total mana, to gain this achievement the Paladin will have to use it quite a few times. Do note that having the spell regenerate mana while the player’s reserve is full does not count.

With a Silver Platter

Use Shield of Righteousness to land a total of 15 killing blows in Battlegrounds or Arena.

This achievement will obviously be easier to attain as a Protection Paladin, which probably hits for more with the ability. Hopefully, both Holy and Retribution don’t find it to hard to obtain some killing blows with it. If they do, the number will be toned down.
Doesn’t require to be in the same battleground/arena, the achievement simply uses a counter until it reaches 15.

Sacréd Bleu!

In PvP environment or in any instanced boss encounter, use Sacred Shield to absorb damage from an ally, that would otherwise have killed him, then ensure his survival for at least 6 seconds.

This achievement requires the Paladin’s Sacred Shield to absorb an amount of damage that is higher than the target’s remaining health. Once this triggers, the same target must remain alive for another 6 seconds in order for this to record.

Holy Crusading

Achievements for those who took some points inside the Holy tree.

Shocking Behavior

Use Holy Shock on each of your faction’s and the opposite’s classes, in any instanced content.

Requires using Holy Shock to heal the ten existing classes on the Alliance, and also to damage the ten classes on the Horde. Doesn’t require to be in the same instance.

Beacon and Legs

In [some encounter with hazardous grounds], use Beacon of Light to heal your allies, and don’t get wounded once from the [hazardous grounds].

Again, I am not familiar with the level 80 raids, but the plan is to complete an encounter similar to Heigan the Unclean (I just read about him *smile*), without being wounded once from his Ground Eruptions. To manage the raid heals while staying mobile, Beacon of Light comes to the Holy Paladin’s aid.

Crusade for Protection

Stuff that can only be achieved by those who took some points in Protection.

The Avenger’s

Land 3 critical hits with the same Avenger’s Shield attack.

Simply have the bouncing shield crit on each of its three targets. Can be done anywhere.

Inconceivable!

Engage combat with at least 5 level 80 creatures simultaneously, without being reduced below 85% of your total health. Also, be a good sport, so don’t directly heal yourself (you got to give them a chance you know…).

For this achievement, the Paladin must be in combat against at least 5 enemies. He must defeat them all, while during the entire fight remain above 85% of his total health. Direct heals are not allowed, but using Holy Shield and Hammer of the Righteous with Seal of Light, he should make it.

Crusade by Retribution

… And some that can be gained only by Retribution Paladins.

8th Commandment

In Eye of the Storm or Warsong Gulch, kill an enemy player holding your faction’s flag, using Seal of Command.

The killing blow must be struck with Seal of Command (either a hit or a judgement) for this achievement, and the enemy must be the flag carrier. To ensure such a deadly blow, the Paladin is likely to use Repentance, in order to have the judged seal crit.

The Calm After the Storm

Kill 4 enemies of level 75 or higher with a single attack of Divine Storm.

I didn’t want to repeat the killing blow idea again, but the plan is to have Divine Storm be the last thing hitting the enemies, before they hit the ground.

Incoming

Next time, we’ll be discussing Druids. I just need to prepare a bit.

There are personal crusades, and organized ones. But don’t be fooled, every organized crusade is also its leader’s personal one.
– Beric the Crusader

More Than Just a Hunter

This post is part of the For the Record series, which suggests new ideas for Achievements.

Champions! The time has come! The time for each of you to show his own worth! The time to achieve the titles you were born for.

The time for me to suggest class specific achievements. Such achievements, I hope, that can be implemented in a way that only those who know their classes well, will be able to attain them. And maybe, if Blizzard feels generous enough, achievements that, once completed, will grant the player his class-specific title.

I am going to start with the Hunter, for this is the class that yours truly knows as well as the palm of his hand. At least, it is the class I know the most from all the (now) ten options.

My plan is to create a list that encompasses most of the class’ skills, and even some of the talents. I suppose there will also be an achievement that requires achieving all the lesser ones, in order to gain the sought-after title.

Now, with no further ado, I shall present you with what a true hunter must reach, in order to become, the Stalker.

For All the Hunters Out There

Following is a list of achievements that should be possible by every Hunter, disregarding their spec.

Bullet Time

Kill 3 enemies within 1 second from each other.

This achievement works everywhere, and the plan is to “proc” it using Multi-Shot.

The Tame Game

Tame a pet from each of the 3 different pet categories.

The Hunter must tame a Tenacious, Ferocious and Cunning pet to get this achieved.

Scare da Bear

Cause fear in the heart of all the bears in the world.

This achievement will have a list of bear mobs from different levels, that the hunter will have to fear using Scare Beast.

The Kite Runner

Kill a level 80 elite enemy without it causing any damage, and while being the only source damaging it.

The Hunter will have to “kite” the mob in order to achieve this. If the enemy will deal damage to anyone, or be dealt damage by anyone but the Hunter or his pet, the achievement will be void.

Keep it Steady

Use Steady Shot 100,000 times.

A simple achievement – the Hunter only has to spam his main ability again and again.

Neither Mage nor Enrage

Using Tranquilizing Shot, dispel an enrage and a magic effect.

To gain this achievement, the Hunter must dispel both an enrage and a magic buff. The two don’t have to be within the same time period.

Give Them a Volley

Kill 50 enemies in 25 seconds (hint: Volley).

As hinted, this is gained after killing 50 mobs using Volley (or anything else, but would probably be less effective), within 15 seconds from entering combat.

Dazin’ n’ Blazin’

Kill 20 creatures using Steady Shot, while they are dazed.

Achieved by landing killing blows with Steady Shot, after afflicting mobs with the Daze effect from Concussive Shot.

Melee Hunter

Kill a level 80 enemy using only melee attacks.

Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite (also Counter Attack for Survival Hunters) are your friends for this one.

Not Your Average Melee Hunter

Kill a level 80 enemy, without being wounded, but without using any ranged abilities.

In addition to the skills used to gain the previous achievement, the Hunter should now use his traps to further damage his enemy, and combine avoidance through Aspect of the Monkey and Deterrence, or kiting through Wing Clip, to gain this. Having the pet tank doesn’t count.

Run Cheetah! Run!

Cross the [to be determined zone] while using Aspect of the Cheetah at all times, and without being dazed.

This achievement requires the Hunter to smartly maneuver an area with mobs while aggroing as little as possible, and cleverly use slowing abilities and pet threat to prevent being hit.

Hyper Viper

Complete Naxxramas without dropping below 50% mana, and dealing at least 10% of the total damage in each boss encounter.

In other words, to gain this achievement the Hunter must preserve competitive DPS, but still keep his mana bar half full during the entire instance.

Sniper

Land a killing blow from 50 yards away.

This one should be achieved using Kill Shot.

Mark of the Beast

While using Aspect of the Beast, use Hunter’s Mark on 5 types of creatures, within 2 minutes.

This one is a mini-game of sorts. The Hunter must mark 5 different mob categories (e.g. Undead, Beast, Humanoid, Giant and Elemental) in 2 minutes, so he must find an area where those are not too scarce.

Wasn’t Me

In a raid and in combat, use Misdirection on any other non-tanking class.

Requires using Misdirection on an ally that is not the tank. I think that determining a non-tank can be done through some parameters such as health and defense rating, but it might prove to be tricky.

Watching Mana Dry

Using Viper Sting, reduce an enemy to 0% mana.

Can be achieved either in PvE or PvP, so shouldn’t be too hard to gain. Obviously, only works on enemies that have mana to begin with.

Die Dead Enough

Get killed while under the effect of Feign Death.

The Hunter must still be feigning and take mortal damage in order to gain this achievement.

Death by Natural Causes

Kill an enemy using natural damage.

The idea of this achievement is for the Hunter to kill his enemy using Serpent Sting, Serpent Trap and Chimera Shot (Marksmanship Hunters) only. Some white damage will be accepted, but only up to some maximal threshold (maybe 20%).

Death by Unnatural Causes

Kill an enemy using fire and arcane damage.

Similarly to the last achievement, but this time using Explosive Trap, Immolation Trap, Arcane Shot and Explosive Shot (Survival Hunters) only.

It’s a Trap! Again!

Afflict two enemies with your Freezing Trap or Arrow at the same time.

Two enemies must be Crowd Controlled at the same time for this to be gained, probably for at least one second.

Alpha Dog

Let your pet kill a level 80 elite enemy, while you are not using any damaging attacks.

The Hunter won’t be receiving any experience or loot from the kill, but if his pet does the entire work alone, he will receive the achievement.

Stuffed Animal

Feed your pet 500 meals.

Gained after using Feed Pet 500 times.

Exposure

Uncover a stealthed enemy in each of the battlegrounds.

The enemy must be under some effect of stealth or invisibility, and afflicted by the Flare debuff, in order to achieve this. This must be done in all the 5 battlegrounds.

Not a Scratch

Have your pet survive the [some intensive AoE attack] in [some encounter].

I haven’t figured the details for this one yet, as I haven’t experienced many WotLK encounters yet, but the idea is for the pet to endure a strong attack such as Murmur’s Sonic Boom (probably even something stronger), without dying.

For the Lovers of Beasts

Here are a couple of achievements for Beast Master Hunters.

Unleashed

Land 2 killing blows in PvP while under the (same) effect of The Beast Within.

While the Hunter is a red-mean-killing-machine, he must land the death blow on two enemies in any battleground or arena. The two blows must be while under the same effect.

Barks and Bites

Land a killing blow on an enemy stunned by Intimidation.

Either the Hunter or his pet must land the killing blow, on the stunned enemy.

For the Lovers of Ammo

Now a couple for the Marksmanship Hunters among us (*raises hand*).

Ready for Anything

Afflict three enemies with your Freezing Trap or Arrow at the same time.

Similar to “It’s a Trap! Again!” but with three Crowd Controlled targets.

Silence! I kill you!

In arena or battlegrounds, kill an enemy player using Silencing Shot, when he is casting a spell.

The achievement requires the Hunter to silence his target, and have the damaging effect of Silencing Shot kill it.

For the Lovers of Life

And finally a couple for the Survival ones.

Letting the Bed Bugs Bite

Kill 10 enemies while they are under the sleep effect of Wyvern Sting.

To gain this, the Hunter must hit his sleeping target with a killing blow (otherwise the next attack will be on a no-longer-sleeping target).

Rambo

In arena or battlegrounds, damage 3 enemy players with a single Explosive Shot.

As Explosive Shot has an AoE element, one of its three ticks must damage 3 targets. Having each tick damage a different target is not enough.

… Next Time

In my next post, I will give ideas for achievement for Paladins.

A beast stalking another beast. That’s a good hunter.
– The Lord of Paths

*pick pick pick*

There are two reasons why I am deviating from the topic I started previously. Wrath of the Lich King, and… Herbs.

Yesterday, I picked up my Wrath copy, and have been glued to my computer ever since. While I did take some breaks for the bear essentials, I did pass most of my time either in the Howling Fjords or following the (most excellent) Death Knight starter quest chain.

So far, this expansion is something extraordinary. I did enjoy The Burning Crusade very much, but on Northrend everything seems much more enjoyable.

The freshness in the air, it is truly exhilarating. Everything is taken as something that was never seen before, and the key word is fun. Quests, fights, professions… Everything is so much fun!

I’ve been playing on my Dwarven Hunter for quite a bit, but haven’t leveled past 70 yet. I think I did like 40 quests so far, and also ran through Utgarde Keep once, which brought me to 90% to level 71 or so. As a short break, I started a brand new Death Knight (also a Dwarf, because they just rule), and the quest chain until you join the forces of the Alliance is non-arguably one of the best the game has to offer. It ends with a movie-style ~2 minute scene which should never be missed, that even has voice acting!

What was it that prevented me from questing further, and reaching levels never seen before? The answer is often green, and has often a strong smell. No, it is not a filthy Horde Orc. The answer is herbs. But why did I prioritize herbs over experience?

Because I’m mad about herbs.

Want to know more?

So my Hunter is just crazy about herbs. Truly, he’s mad about Alchemy, which caused him herbal insanity. He has to know all the recipes, and to get that, he has to discover. Discoveries cost herbs. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

I set my foot in Valgarde, a friendly Northrend landing zone, and the first thing I do is spend my hard earned money on training the new professions.

There are quite a few recipes on the trainer’s list. One of them is Northrend Alchemy Research. It can be done once a week, and it results in a new recipe discovered.

I must catch them all! And I need the herbs to support this.

And hence I set my feet and backpack to a journey in search of herbs.

*pick pick pick* Some Goldclover in my backpack.
*pick pick pick* Some Deadnettle in my pouch.
*pick pick pick* Skill not high enough.

WHAT?! This cannot be! I will not tolerate herbs that refuse to be picked off the ground.

*pick pick pick* Requires 400 Herbalism.

I have to level my skill.

So I started a journey from the Howling Fjords, into the Grizzly Hills, and even into Dragonblight, in goal to raise my skill to 400.

I have met vile creatures. Manifestations of evil that I was not prepared to fight (reminder: I am still level 70). My only option, was to sneak about.

And sneak I have. Using my superior acting skills, I have bluffed mobs into thinking I am dead, only to run again, with fresh herbs stuffed up my fat pockets. I have used my traps cleverly, both to delay and stop those who try to prevent my picking. I even disengaged from combat, only to escape as fast as a cheetah, into herbal freedom.

Until I pick-pick-picked my way into the skill level of 4-0-0.

But that was not enough. I craved for more herbal power. I had to learn more.

But knowledge was hidden in more dangerous places. So I ventured into Zul’Drak.

The stories I told were not believed. Myself, I still doubt the truth of what I have seen, for it has been beyond what a common mind can grasp. Creatures never seen before, of immense size and power. My best tricks were hardly enough this time, and I had to grow even more clever. I had to be ready for anything, and pull my best cunning skills twice in a row for them to work. In cases of dire need, I even had to call my good friend Humar to protect me, then flee while he distracted my pursuers.

Yet craved power has no end.

From Zul’Drak, I decided to find more exotic places, until I finally arrived to The Storm Peaks. It was there that I finally found what I sought. The journey was perilous, but the outcome was worth it.

*pick pick pick* Your skill in Herbalism has increased to 450.
And I was the first in my server.

But the story does not end happily. The events occurred last night, but when I logged this morning, there was no trace to my achievement.

Mystery.

(Mystery Unfolds: After several days and tickets with GMs, it has been revealed to me that me being Server First! was actually some sort of mistake. I indeed didn’t hurry to pick those herbs, and someone did manage to complete this feat a good 20 hours before I did.
T’was fun to see this feat of strength on my list though, even if only temporarily.)

It is being investigated, but the epic journey of the crazed dwarf seeking herbs will never be forgotten.

Scent for glory. Your aim my own. Seek the fate of tales of old.
Sight for fame. My aim as yours. Find the truth in this old lore.
Grasp for Honor. Our aims the same. Search the answer for which we came.
– Anonymously used by the Guild of Explorers

Achieve a Record

One was how to escape in PvP. Two was how to heal differently. What will three be?

Three will be a little different. It will be about a game within the game. About achievements.

People are going crazy about those. With over 700 different things to do, players can keep themselves busy for a long time.

While I think the number 700 is pretty hefty, offering enough to do for now, I must say I was rather disappointed that the big list has nothing that is class specific.

Sure, while proving the world that I am diligent enough to collect pets, recipes, mounts, tabards or money is something I could set my mind to, I would also like to prove the world I am a diligent [enter class here] too!

But for now, it seems Blizzard has kept the achievements as generic as possible. There is nothing class specific, and furthermore, nothing profession specific (except for the 3 secondary ones that everyone can have). Everyone can achieve from the same list, which is good in a way, but we could make it more fun.

I think they do plan to add class/profession specific achievements in the future (implied here and here), so I will spend some of my time for now, trying to figure out what those might be. If I bingo one of them, I demand a cookie!

In this post, I will warm up by inventing various achievements that are semi-class specific. In further posts, I plan to come up with a list of achievements each class can have for herself, specifically.

Read on.

Semichievemnts

But why did I say semi-class specific? Because in WoW, there are 10 different classes, but only 3 different roles. Classes fulfilling the same role can contend for the same achievements, which isn’t specific for a class, but specific for a role.

Here are some ideas. Format is [Achievement Name] as heading, a paragraph detailing how to gain it, and an italic paragraph with technicalities.

Can’t Tank This

On any raid boss encounter, reach 100% threat on the boss, causing him to kill you.

This is normally reserved for non tanking classes, but since all tanking classes can respec to a Healing/Damage Dealing role, this achievement will be available to all.

First of your Class

Within one raid lockout period, defeat every boss in Naxxramas on (Normal/Heroic) Difficulty, while causing the most damage in each encounter.

This will obviously require Blizzard to come up with damage meters of their own, which will probably increase server-client traffic, so I’m not sure this is feasible.

Town Boyscout

Heal an ally who has less than 75% of his total health points.

This achievement works anywhere, and can be completed using any skill that heals, including bandages. Once achieved, it leads to Clinic Nurse.

Clinic Nurse

In combat, and within any instanced content, heal an ally who has less than 50% of his total health points, recovering the ally to at least 65% of his health.

This achievement works in dungeons/raids and battlegrounds/arenas, but only during combat, and can be completed using any skill that heals, including bandages. Once achieved, it leads to Field Medic.

Field Medic

In combat, and within any instanced content, heal an ally who has less than 25% of his total health points, recovering the ally to at least 40% of his health.

Same as Clinic Nurse, but can only be gained via the use of healing spells (not including racials). Once achieved, it leads to Hospital Doctor.

Hospital Doctor

In combat, and within any raid boss encounter or arena, heal an ally who has less than 10% of his total health points, recovering the ally to at least 25% of his health.

Same as Field Medic, but the restriction is now to raid bosses and arena only. Once achieved, it leads to ER Surgeon.

ER Surgeon

In combat, and within any raid boss encounter or arena, heal an ally who has less than 2% of his total health points, recovering the ally to at least 15% of his health.

Same as Hospital Doctor.

Doctor Doolittle

In combat, and within any instanced content, heal a pet who has less than 2% of his total health points, recovering it to at least 15% of its health.

Similar to Field Medic, but the target must be a pet (not restricted to beasts).

The Good Samaritan

Grant a buff to 500 allies.

Does not include oneself. Only proper buffs such as Arcane Intellect count, hence is available to certain classes. Buffing the same player repeatedly during a short duration should not count, but I am not sure the required implementation for such a restriction is worth the effort.

Don’t Despair, Repair

Reach a collective repair bill of 1/10/100/250/1000 gold.

This achievement will gradually upgrade to the next gold sum, according to the player’s repairs.

Dodging the Bullet

During a raid boss encounter, avoid being hit while having 1% of your total health left.

Could be available for all classes, but more relevant to tanks. Full block, dodge, parry or being missed all count as avoidance.

Savior of the Day

Within any raid boss encounter, land a killing blow while being the only raid member alive.

In other words, prevent the wipe.

15 Seconds of Fame

Kill a level 80 creature in 15 seconds or less.

The achiever must be the only one to deal damage and/or debuff the target. Once achieved, it leads to 10 Seconds of Fame.

10/5/3 Seconds of Fame

Kill a level 80 creature in 10/5/3 seconds or less.

Similar to 15 seconds of fame, only in a shorter duration of time.

Weapon of Mass Destruction

Kill 20 level 75 or higher creatures within 25 seconds.

Reserved for classes with an Area of Effect ability. The achiever must be the only one to deal damage to the targets. Numbers might change to reflect the strength of abilities better.

A Tankful of Mobs

Tank 20 creatures at once, for at least 15 seconds.

Can be achieved while grouped and/or while being healed. The single restriction is for the tank to be the target of all the mobs, all the time.

Sheepbreaker

Break the effect of 50 spells of Crowd Control.

The counter is cumulative, and does not have to be during the same session. Only spells that prevent the target from performing any action are counted towards this achievement.

It’s Just a Flesh Wound

Take a hit for 10,000 damage, and survive.

Should be reserved for tanks, but can also be available for anyone willing to risk his hide. Taking a bigger hit would also count obviously. Numbers might change to reflect encounters better, and the total health of players.

… And Much More

I could keep up with ideas, but it was getting harder to come up with something original, and this list can be endless if you simply tweak some numbers only to call it another achievement.

The more interesting part, that I’ll be posting in the following weeks, would be class-specific achievements, where every player can show his worth.

As a side not, it could be neat if completing all your class achievement would grant the class-specific title that Blizzard reserved for server-firsts (but has canceled that idea since).

In other words, there is more to come!

A fancy title is nothing more than an acknowledgment for others to forget your real name.
– William Tharos, a philosopher

Well, that was the plan at least.

In practice, I have learned alot how the different classes heal, and also where they lack. Somehow, during this healing journey, I have come up with different skills that could complement each of the healing specs.

In retrospect, some skills are perhaps better than others, but I think they are all useful in some way, and most important, different than anything else healers have so far.

I feel, that what makes a game fun, is the choice of options, and giving classes another something they can use, instead of something they should always use, is a step in that direction.

Similarly to my previous series, I have summarized all the posts in a single page, and a link to it can be found on the right (or simply here), under the name Healing Inspection.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this series as much as I have enjoyed creating and writing it (although it was exhausting at times), and now is the time for yet something else.

I am thinking achievements…

While a man can always look back at what he has achieved, the best vantage point is usually at the end of every journey.