G4 - Feature - World of Warcraft Secrets

Azeroth can be a dangerous place, full of monsters and warring clans and races. But it can also be a land of great wonders and undiscovered treasures just waiting to be claimed by adventurers brave, smart, and patient enough to uncover them. Or, then again, you could just read these tips and skip all of that work.

Easter Eggs

TREKKIE REFERENCE: In Booty Bay, just outside the inn, you’ll encounter Chief Engineer Scooty manning a teleportation device. If you have a quest that takes you through the device, you’ll find a character named Sprok and his away team.

MATRIX REFERENCE: On your way to the Ironforge Auction House, ask one of the guards the location of the alchemy trainer. One of his answers will be, “why, oh why didn’t I take the blue potion?”

FIGHT CLUB: Further into the Undercity, in the War Quarter, there’s an honest to God Fight Club where you’ll find two NPC fighters named Edward and Tyler.

GHOSTBUSTERS REFERENCE: Another movie reference can be found in the Mage Quarters of Stormwind. There, you’ll find three mages-in-training talking shop. Hang around long enough and one of them will say “wouldn’t that be bad, like crossing the streams bad?”

STAR WARS: The Shimmering Flats. Peek around a bit and you’ll find a goblin race team with a very familiar looking vehicle—Blizzard’s version of Sebulba’s podracer from Episode I. Do a little more exploring and you’ll also find a wrecked podracer which smacked into a canyon walls.

CONAN: In the Badlands around the middle of the map is a semi-hidden crypt. Enter the crypt and you’ll see a decomposed guy sitting on a throne with a sword to his side. It’s a scene from the first Conan movie.

BRUCE CAMPBELL TRIBUTE: In Dun Mo-rogh, just south of Kharanos, there’s a small camp where a group of dwarves are taking target practice. Hang around long enough and you’ll hear one of the dwarves scream out: “This is my boomstick!”

BOOK REFRERENCES: In the upper levels of Booty Bay, there’s a clothing shop named “A Tailor to Cities,” an homage to Charles Dicken’s A Tales of Two Cities. And in the Undead capital, the Undercity, you’ll find Algernon at the alchemy trainer’s holding a flower. This is a nod to Daniel Keyes’ novel Flowers for Algernon.

MEMORIAL: Blizzard designers also left a tribute to fallen comrade. In the Barrens, atop a hill just southwest of Crossroads sits a small shrine. Here, you’ll find a memorial dedicated to an Orc with the initials “M-K.” In the real world, M K was Michel Koiter, a Blizzard illustrator who passed away during production of World of Warcraft.

To reach the memorial, follow a ridge to the southeast and half-way up the hill you’ll find the base of a mound. Go up the short trail to reach the shrine. As a little bonus, if you visit the memorial in spirit form you’ll find a spirit healer named Koiter.

GAME REFERENCES: While fighting your way through the Deadmines to get VanCleef’s head you’ll encounter a Goblin Shredder. Take it down and look at the dashboard and you’ll see a familiar face: Kerrigan, The Zerg Queen from Starcraft: Brood War. She appears to be the ruler of the goblins as well. Other goblin shredders can be found in Strangle-thorn Vale and Gadget-zan.

In northern Un’goro Crater, there’s a place we’ve started calling “Camp Nintendo.” Two residents of the camp are the feuding brothers, Larion and Muigi. If those names sound a bit familiar, they should, they’re anagrams of Mario and Luigi; and the battling brothers are even decked out in red and green overalls.

Deep in the Uldaman instance, you’ll find a friendly refuge manned by three dwarves: Baelog, Olaf and Erik “The Swift.” Dedicated gamers should recognize these dudes from The Lost Vikings—the first game Blizzard created for the Super Nintendo back in ‘92.

RARE PETS

LIL' TIMMY: Lil’ Timmy is one of the game’s best pet dealers. Timmy doesn’t spawn often, but when he does, he wanders the streets of Stormwind trying to sell his one and only white kitten. This animal costs sixty silvers, but can be sold for five gold.

Even we couldn’t determine exactly when Timmy materializes, but we discovered that he spawns at the end of the canal between Old Town and the Trade District in Stormwind. You can camp at the bridge between the two districts and work on your fishing skill while you wait for him to come by.

Once Lil’ Timmy appears he wanders along the canal outside Old Town and Dwarven District. If you don’t catch him before he passes through Cathedral Square and turns right, poof!--he’ll be gone....

TINY CRIMSON WHELPLING: This beastie must be farmed from the gameworld. Your grinding begins in the Eastern Wetlands where you have to kill Crimson, Red and Flamesnorting whelps to find the drop. The drop rate of Tiny Crimson Whelplings is about one in a thousand (we got ours in 30 minutes). These little guys are worth much more then their weight in gold. If you decide to sell your rare pet, he’ll fetch about 40 gold pieces at auction.

TINY EMERALD WELPLING: In the southwest corner of the Swamp of Sorrows you’ll find Dreaming Whelps. Farm these badboys long enough and eventually they’ll drop a Tiny Emerald Whelpling.

HIDDEN QUESTS

THE CHICKEN QUEST: Head to Sal-deans’ Farm in Westfall and find a chicken. To unlock the secret you have to do the “Chicken Dance” for the chicken about a hundred times. Set up a macro to enter the command easily--bring up Options, select Macros, choose the icon you want and enter the command "/chicken". Then put the icon in an action bar.

Soon you’ll see the message, “Chicken looks at you quizzically. Maybe you should inspect it?” Accept the quest and purchase the special chicken feed from Farmer Saldean. Return to the chicken and type "/cheer" before feeding the chicken. Do this right and the chicken will lay an egg. This egg is your new pet, a prairie chicken.

ZELDA TRIBUTE QUESTS: This is only available when you reach level 47. Head to Un’Goro Crater and in the marshlands you’ll find a wrecked raft and a faded photograph. This find will initiate the quest “It’s a Secret to Everybody” (a quote from the original Legend of Zelda).

There is a Link counterpart in Marshal’s Refuge named Linken, whom you’ll be helping find his lost memories. This quest has you trekking all over Azeroth completing a chain of 13 tasks. Eventually the trail will lead you back to Un’Goro and the final part of the quest, “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone”.

The next tribute can be found by beating Blazerunner at Fire Plume Ridge. Blazerunner is a level 56 elite (we whupped him by pairing up with a paladin and casting Fire Resistance Aura, then having another party member use the Silver Totem of Aquamentas to take down Blazerunner’s protective shields). After he’s beaten, pick up the Golden Flame in the back of the cave, which looks like a piece of the Tri-Force. Now return to Linken in Marshal’s Refuge and claim your reward--Linken’s Sword of Mastery and Linken’s Boomerang.

G4 - Feature - World of Warcraft Secrets