Entries in shadowmoon valley (1)
Achievementology: Skyshattered (Now with 3.3 Nerf)
pixiestixy on Friday, January 15, 2010 - Post a Comment Tags: burning crusade, dragonmaw, nerf, netherwing, patch 3.3, shadowmoon valley, skyshattered 
I got the unfortunate notion last week that I wanted more flying mounts. Specifically, those glowy, bright Netherwing dragons that look awesome as they streak through the sky, leaving a luminescent haze in their path. So for the past 4-5 days, I've been questing in southeastern Shadowmoon Valley and soaking up a dose of that Burning Crusade content that I missed out on during my break from WoW in 2008.
And so, this is how I came across the Dragonmaw race questline. It starts with a race against Oldie McOld. You, upon your epic flyer (and disguised as an orc upon a netherwing) must fly within range of your opponent and not get dismounted as he weaves around crystals and twists through the sky, heaving pumpkins at you all the way. The races get progressively more difficult, and so does dodging whatever your opponent throws at you -- be it skulls, lightning or meteors. If you successfully get through all six races, you earn the Skyshattered achievement.
And now thanks to a 3.3 change, the achievement is much easier to get. I read right over this change in the 3.3 patch notes and didn't think much of it:
- Knockbacks no longer dismount players. If on a flying mount, you will be knocked back a short distance before being able to resume flying.
As it turns out, the change is huge to this particular questline, which used to be probably the most difficult quest while flying in the game. Now it can still be a bit tricky, but as I understand it, not nearly as much as before. So those of you who have avoided this rep grind or even this achievement in the past have reason to try again.