It’s dangerous to go alone, so for the Warlords of Draenor, we’re being given a brand new companion involved in a lengthy achievement called An Awfully Big Adventure. To complete it, you just need to bring your tailor-crafted Elekk Plushie along on Forty-No-That-Is-Not-A-Typo-Freaking-FOUR different tamer battles. Adding insult to injury, your squishy little friend does absolutely no damage or healing. All its attacks are powered by imagination and stuffing. You essentially have to complete all 44 of these pet battles with just 2 pets.
Here’s the list of all the battles you’ll have to complete for the Awfully Big Adventure in alphabetical order with links to either full entries, or just a video guide for simpler fights. The video-only entries will be denoted with (v). Most normal XP carry strategies will work as an Elekk Carry Strategy, so many of these videos & entries will just outline a standard leveling carry. The one difference from a typical carry is that, in order to get credit for this achievement, you do not have to swap your Elekk Plushie into the fight. Just being on the team is enough. But, it’s occasionally quite preferable to let the Elekk soak a big hit, stun, etc.
A warning: several of the more difficult carries listed here use pets I would never suggest in most normal strategies due to rarity, cost, etc. and many of them are excessively fussy in a style I don’t typically adopt. I apologize for this to a certain extent, but this achievement is by leaps & bounds the most difficult challenge handed to us thus far. These strats use any means necessary.
Tarr is an ogre after my own heart. He’s hanging out in New Nagrand by the Ring Of Blood, which features a whole bunch of Ogres thirsty for each others’ blood. They’re all locked in gladiatorial combat, vying for Best PVP Ogre NA 2014, while Tarr is busy training up his battle pets.
I can relate, Tarr honey, but I’m still going to ruin your day.
Here’s the team:
As a constant for tamer fights, Cecil The Elekk Plushie is on the team. For this fight, dealing Undead damage is the way to do it. Because of the swaps Tarr makes, and because I just gotta do me, I enjoy a DoT-heavy moveset, specifically involving Curse of Doom. The real MVP on this team is the Bone Spider. The force swap mechanic and DoT moveset on this spider combine with deadly results. You can do something similar with a pet with a dodge, like the Restless Shadeling.
A Crawling Claw is probably preferable to the Lost Of Lordaeron, but the latter is found in the Undercity and the former is just… don’t even talk to me about Tol’vir archaeology combines. I do like to make sure the Curse of Doom pet has a straightforward Undead damage dealing ability, like the Lost Of Lordaeron’s Shadow Slash, so keep that in mind if you’re swapping for, say, the Creepy Crate. For the purposes of an Elekk Carry it doesn’t matter too terribly much because your Elekk can just run out the clock while you wait for DoTs to tick, but not so much for a typical two-pet carry.
Tarr’s team in general is a little gimmick-laden. He’s one of the few tamers who makes a lot of swaps, and that’s largely because of his first pet’s Falling Murloc ability, which causes damage and a self-stun.
Tarr will always swap to a different pet when Gladiator Murkalot is stunned, so I like to lead off with that Lost of Lordaeron & a Curse of Doom, then swap off to the Bone Spider.
The Bone Spider is excellent here because it’s extremely speedy. Gladiator Deathy uses a stun and then will charge up his Deep Breath during the stunned turn. As a result, the Bone Spider is un-stunned by the round Deathy unleashes that Deep Breath, but will go first on that next turn. By using your Force Swap, it essentially interrupts Deathy so you don’t take that rather considerable damage.
An alternate tactic is to use a pet like the Restless Shadeling with a dodge (Phase Shift), though in this case you want your pet to be faster than Deathy to ensure you get your dodge off before Deep Breath pops.
The other super annoying thing is that Murkalot will occasionally cast Shieldstorm, which puts up a shield on all the pets on the team to absorb the next hit they take. Just be cognizant enough of this to not waste your Curse of Doom on that nonsense.
When Murkimus finally enters the fight, our speed puts us at a bit of a disadvantage because of Counterstrike. Murkimus also has Heroic Leap, which functions like Lift-Off, Dive, etc.
I like to swap to my carry pet during the first Heroic Leap, to eat that 500 or so damage. As such, I like to keep these carries to level 10 or higher. If possible, get a Curse Of Doom up before the first Heroic Leap to run out the clock more quickly. Alternately, this is another good place to use that Restless Shadeling’s dodge, if that’s the route you chose.
We’re kind of pet battling compadres & all, but having all those rare Blizzcon pets made me kind of excited to beat him.
I guess this kind of makes me Best PVP Ogre NA 2014, right?
Like all of the denizens of the Spires of Arak, Vesharr’s story is a tragic one. He holds some artifacts you’ll recognize while questing through the area. A construct used by the Arakkoa for defense, now useless. A black bird used for relaying important messages, quickly and quietly. The tiny avatar of their god; a god which no longer answers them.
At least maybe you’ll bring Vesharr a little bit of entertainment. He needs it, now that his life was shattered along with his wings.
These Draenor tamers are dark, y’all.
The team:
This is a level 1 2-pet carry, so this strategy also works quite well for an Elekk Carry. The Nether Faerie is my Flying killer glass cannon of choice, but there are a couple others that will work too. The Emerald Proto-Whelp is fairly key because of that Lift-Off avoidance move, though there are a couple other dragonkin in this boat. You are going to be taking a lot of damage here, so Dragonkin are definitely preferable.
Vesharr’s 1st & 3rd battle pets are Flying with flying damage, so we’re real heavy on the Dragonkin pets. The name of the game is the blitz. The one big issue is that Vesharr’s 3rd pet is Mechanical. However, it casts this weird buff:
So that magic damage will still be a good pick. The one big thing to watch out for with that 2nd pet is Root, which just deals a lot of damage after a turn to charge up. It will be cast more frequently than the Emerald Proto can Proto-Strike to avoid it, but with that & the heals you should be able to make quick work of the first 2 pets.
The 3rd pet self-buffs on its first turn, so that’s your chance to put in your level 1 carry pet. After that, he will unleash a huge set of attacks, which is why I like to use the Nether Faerie Dragon. Life Exchange works as a great equalizer after you’ve withstood a barrage of attacks. Once Darkwing gets below half health & loses that Flying speed boost, you’ve pretty much won.
Vesharr is also a vendor, so make sure to take the last few birds they have left, trained by one of his friends who was stabbed in cold blood.
9/25/2014: This fight is now up to date for Warlords of Draenor. For an Elekk Carry, simply use the advice for a regular carry.
Nishi was the laughingstock of the Pandaren tamers for a good long while. Most player tamers could solo her with nearly any level 25 battle pet. Located in the heartland of Pandaria’s Valley Of The Four Winds, she made an easy target even for those level 86 alts.
However, a bug fix in 5.4 gave her claws.
The abilities her pets avoided using in order to make her such a pushover were suddenly back in full force. Luckily, like most of the other tamers, as long as you know your counters, you are good to go.
The Strider has a lot of very strong aquatic offense and a weather effect. I’ve used frogs in this slot too. Either is fairly reliable as long as you make sure to switch in that weather effect. The crab is pretty much just there for cleanup. I’ve used mechanicals in that slot, because this battle pet will be facing Nishi’s beast, but if my first pet goes down early this can make for bad times because the rest of Nishi’s pets are elementals. A Flying with Lift Off or the Anubisath Idol makes for a good anchor too.
The biggest chunk of your strategy begins immediately. Nishi’s Siren has Solar Beam, which hits very hard normally, but tacks on an extra big hit if it’s in Sunny weather. So of course the first thing Siren does is cast Sunlight. You need to change the weather, now. You have an intervening turn where Siren casts a heal on itself before it’ll explode your pet’s face off. If your first battle pet is above Siren’s speed (280) you can put in your carry pet off the bat and enough time to change the weather. However it’s important to note that if your pet is at or below 280 speed you won’t, so you’ll need to start with your first ‘real’ battle pet, and then swap in the carry pet further down the line. In this case I usually switch in the carry during Toothbreaker‘s Sons Of The Root, and make sure my carry is above level 8 or so. Either way is fine, but you just need to be aware of it before you start.
After you change the weather, beating Siren ain’t no thing. The very first thing the next pet, Toothbreaker, will do is submerge and start hitting you with Sons of the Root while he’s immune. When I use the Strider, I use these turns to do things like heal (by casting my weather again) and set up Pump. You really just have to wait a handful of turns while you take a bit of damage. Just stay calm and take your turns. Then, when he surfaces, beat him up. His offense isn’t all that strong.
Last pet, Brood of Mothallus, is a Beast with Burrow and Acidic Goo. That combo together can produce some devastating results. With the crab as long as I keep up heals and that shield I’m good to go, especially since Brood’s 3rd ability, the reflexive heal, is Undead damage. If I use an Anubisath, I use Stoneskin and Deflection to counter Burrow, and that’s all she wrote. With a Flying I use Lift Off when he Burrows and boom goes the dynamite. If I use a mechanical you know what I’m kind of running out of idioms to say I win, so let’s just say I win.
Now help me figure out how I’m going to steal this melon before Nishi sees me.
The Whispering tamer is in a very picturesque spot of Pandaria. She overlooks the area shrouded in fog where Nazgrel, Windsor and Chen Stormstout fought in the Mists of Pandaria trailer, and it’s just breathtaking, even if it does make her hard to find. All those stupid pillars in the Jade Forest look exactly the same to me. I usually look for the fog because it has an absurdly long draw distance, and then look immediately west, and there she is.
Oh, hi there. I’m here to hopefully make you cry real tears. But if you can’t, since you’re made of wind and all, maybe you could like, pretend for my benefit. That would be fantastic.
The thing is, Whispering has a really big weakness, which makes her a total walkover if you exploit it. Let’s see if you can pick it out after I link the team:
One pet to be leveled, and 2 dragons.
Funny story. All the attacks of all her pets are Flying. Every last one. Seriously. So as long as you pick a couple dragons, you win. My Emerald Whelpling Emilia is a really good choice as a tank, with her Emerald Presence shield ability, and her heal Tranquility, which I as a druid especially enjoy. It’s a very similar setup to my crab. Stella the Celestial Dragon also has a lot of staying power with a self heal, and a unique combo group heal/group nuke on a long timer.
The celestial dragon may not be available to a newer collector, but don’t worry. Almost any team of 2 dragons will work. I’d definitely consider switching her out for someone with a bit more firepower like a Spawn of Onyxia.
This particular setup is a sure thing, but takes a while to win. There are no backrow abilities either, but for these tamers I like to start a bit higher, because that first attack almost kills them even at level 8. Regardless, this is a relatively easy fight and a great place to start your spirit taming journey. Even though I’m writing this walkthrough third. Whatever.
The leadoff pet is Dusty, a moth which is somehow a critter. (NOTE – After 5.4, Dusty is now properly a Flying battle pet, not a critter. However, the strategy as follows is still otherwise accurate).
Against Stella, Dusty’s name is
weak, weak, weak.
If you do opt to use an Onyxian Whelpling or some other dragon with a big nuke on a timer, be mindful of the timer on Cocoon Strike, which can absorb that nuke. Otherwise, meh.
The second pet is Whispertail the dragon. Whispertail has 3 abilities. Guess what they are.
weak, weak and weak. He does have an armor shatter ability, but it just makes his damage go from yawn to yawners. Meh. He doesn’t have any dodges or blocks like Dusty, so just beat him down until he’s on the floor.
It’s kind of weird. Neither Whispertail nor Dusty have an analogous pet a player is able to have, as far as I know. Dusty closely mirrors the abilities of all moths, but is a critter. Not that either would be a huge asset to our stables, I’m just saying. It’s odd compared to what we’ve seen before.
The last in the lineup is the Air Spirit. Like the others, all her attacks are
weak, weak.
The difference here is that the Air Spirit also has a rather annoying heal, which is why she only rates 2 out of 3 weaks. I switch to Emilia (even if Stella hasn’t gone to the Great Gold Hoard In The Sky) and make sure to use her Emerald Presence ability, because all the Spirit’s attacks are bundles of smaller attacks. I only use Tranquility when I get below 800 HP or so because otherwise I’ll spend every 3rd turn refreshing it, and dude I have other things to do today.
The Whispering Spirit Tamer’s proximity as the crow flies (druid pun) to the Vale and Black Market Auction House make her a good target to hit while you go about your day. I find beating her quite relaxing before going off and killing orcs or biting virmen in the face. Because after all, look at that view.
If you’re here to go on an Awfully Big Adventure with your Elekk Plushie, this strategy is completely valid. Just swap in your Plushie where you would your carry pet.
The video below shows a carry using my Elekk Plushie.
BattlePetRoundup.com 