Into the Pit

Okay - one of those things I've been meaning to write/type up for the past couple of days, it's been a hard juggle though - much like the when you have money there's no time when when you have time there's no money type scenarios.

About one of the hardest tames I've ever done as a hunter in WoW. I've always looked for a challenge when playing my hunter. Getting into those corners where the unique pets may dwell, or going on the hunt to find the perfect pet for questing in game.

I can honestly say I've learned a lot from this and it gave me a solid goal to shoot for in game.

With all the changes recently however the pet/hunter world has gone through some major adjustments. Barzai, the black owl that was a challenge to tame so long ago, even though it was only a few months ago it feels like much longer, has been released back into the wild as their skills have changed. (the aoe screech has been replaced with a weapon disarm - which doesn't have near the functionality, even if it is easier on the ears).

So these past few weeks have had me taming more than I have in the past few months. Nether Rays, Sithilds, Devilsaurs, Worms - yes worms, Wasps, just to name a few. Even tried a Green Core Hound from the Shadowmoon Valley. It was during this time while researching out the many possibilities that I decided to see if I could find and tame an Ancient Core Hound from Molten Core.

I've never been to Molten Core before, in fact I've only heard stories about it and seen the name come up while researching for other items. So about a week ago I went in search of the core, spending hours under the Blackrock Mountain in one of the old endgame instances looking for a raid portal hidden in the back end of nowhere.

I was just about to give out, call it quits and go look for something else to tame when I changed the tact on my research and found a link to pictorial record of how to get there and complete the 'attunement quest'. I was thrilled to find the portal (completing the quest was a bonus by this point).

A guild mate was nice enough to be in my raid of 2 which got me in. What I was in for though is another mess all together.

To elaborate, Molten Core was geared to be and end game raid instance when the lvl cap was set to 60. A raid instance on the small side is 10 and on the large side is 40 - - Molten Core is one of those in the middle for 20-25 players. To provide a challenge to these intrepid invaders the mobs (monsters/attackers under computer control) have been souped up to hit harder and live longer with other nasty enhancements to keep things challenging.

Just inside the portal is a large cluster of very large giants and elementals. Although their lvl is green to a 70 they still hit hard and trying to solo them will cause one to die a quick, if not painful death. After a few deaths I had to go back for further research.

I learned how to get deeper in, closer to my quarry, the Ancient Core Hound. Even tried a tame or two, but even at lvl 62 elite, he hit harder and did more dmg than many lvl 68 elites I'd tamed in the past with worse gear.

In the end it took 4 of us. A healer, lock, another hunter and myself - we died once clearing a path to the hound - but finally got it. I think this is one of the few if any animals I've ever needed help to tame. Even the taming was a trick - finally had to shoot the hound to keep their attention and complete the tame.

With all the effort that went into this one I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to get rid of the beast. Now the trick is to level the pup up so he can show just how bright lava can shine.