It's no secret that the Vale of Eternal Blossoms has become one heck of a mess and quite a bit has changed in patch 5.4. I'm not sure however, if people realize how all of these changes have effected the rares in this zone - and that they've added new rares (sort of).
Rare Champions:
The eight rares required for the Glorious! achievement, Major Nanners, Yorik Sharpeye, etc, have not really been effected. Every one of them (minus Sahn Tidehunter who moved in patch 5.3) are in the exact same locations as they were at the beginning of MoP. The only major difference you'll notice with them, is that their surroundings got uglied up.
"New" Rares in the Vale:
Before the Vale got all funked up, people working on Golden Lotus rep could get credit for killing powerful enemies at the end of a long arduous line of dailies each day. Although there were sixteen of them, only a few were available to kill on any particular day. All of these powerful enemies were (and still are) required for the achievement One Many Army.
All sixteen of these "powerful enemies" still exist within the Vale, but they have changed drastically. First and foremost, they have been made rare! Well, I should say "rare". Like just about everything these days
they are on fairly short spawn timers . You no longer have to wait days to see one either, all of them can (and will) show up every day - yay! It is also worth noting that they will all spawn in during a server restart.
Another important little detail is that many (but not all) of them have moved. I marked all sixteen of these fledgling rares with bright pink stars on the map below. Several of them spawn in caves/underground, and I have noted that on the map as well. If you scroll down below the map, I also have screenshots of each of them in their new locations.
What you get from killing them:
Killing these rares will give you 220 reputation with Golden Lotus (440 with bonus reputation). They each have a high chance to drop Treasures of the Vale and 2-3 Aged Mogu'shan Cheese, Aged Balsamic Vinegar or Ancient Pandaren Spices.
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| Elixir of Wandering Spirits - A ghostly Che Wildwalker with pet Kyo |
I would like to point out that a fun new item was added to Treasures of the Vale in the last patch: Elixir of Wandering Spirits. This elixir allows you to take on the form of a Golden Lotus Hero for ten minutes.
If you spent a lot of time doing Golden Lotus dailies pre-5.4 you may recognize some of these heroes. A ghostly version of Che Wildwalker (pictured on the right) or Leven Dawnblade, and a sha-touched Rook Stonetoe or Sun Tenderheart are just a few of the possible heroes you can pay tribute to.
You can cast and mount while shape-shifted, and the color/size of your mount will be effected as well. Unfortunately if you log out or use your hearthstone while under the effects the disguise will wear off.
So, without further adieu, here is a map showing where you can find each of these rares. As I mentioned earlier, the bright pink stars are all of the "new" rares. The small colorful circles are the original rare champions.
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| Click map to Enlarge |
Here are some screenshots of these rares in their new locations, with a brief description of their spawn points. I have also listed coordinates. Please be aware that the coordinates for any of the rares that are underground (such as the three in Guo-Lai Halls) will not make sense unless you are underground as well. This is because Guo-Lai Halls has it's own map when you enter it. The coordinates correspond to that map, not the one above. As always, just click any of the images to see a larger version.
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| Aetha - Spawns where the pond used to be above Mistfall Village, very close to Major Nanners. (35.0, 90.07) |
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| Bai-Jin the Butcher - He now spawns at The Five Sisters (17.05, 48.41) |
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| Baolai the Immolator - Spawns by the mountainside at the Ruins of Guo-Lai (28.6, 43.51) |
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| Bloodtip - In the pool at the back of the Guo-Lai Ritual Chamber in Guo-Lai Halls. (75.76, 47.59) |
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| Cracklefang - Found north of Tu Shen Burial Ground surrounded by a gory mess. (46.37, 59.25) |
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| Gaohun the Soul-Severer - Main room in Guo-Lai Halls. (53.44, 59.09) Entrance at (22.49, 26.9) |
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| General Temuja - Has a small patrol through Winterbaugh Glade (29.76, 57.74) |
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| Gochao the Ironfist - In the small cave at the top of Ruins Rise. (26.92, 13.05) |
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| Huo-Shuang - In the Hall of the Serpent (just beyond the door in Hall of Tiles) in Guo-Lai Halls (63.8, 19.26) |
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| Kri'chon - Spawns right in front of the door, at Gate of the Setting Sun. (6.21, 58.78) |
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| Quid - Found in what used to be The Summer Fields. (66.68, 39.60) |
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| Shadowmater Sydow - Found hovering over the small pond west of Mistfall Village. (30.61, 78.36) |
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| Spirit of Lao-Fe - Inside the small cave at the Tu Shen Burial Ground. (47.43, 65.63) |
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| Vicejaw - Sits by the bank of the now-dry Whitepetal Lake. (37.52, 51.14) |
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| Vyraxxis - Found on the wall at (7.93, 33.90) |
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| Wulon - At the very back of the Silent Sanctuary. (45.48, 76.23) Entrance is at (40.25, 77.14) |