Feast of Winter Veil (Dec 15 – Jan 2) Guide

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Feast of Winter Veil is hitting servers in the early morning so get prepared to drink some  Egg Nog, sit by your  Cozy Fire, and open your  Stolen Present–wait, what? Is that a new type of present we’ve found in the database? That’s right, like many holidays as of late, Blizzard’s changed the classic Winter’s Veil into their new format featuring a daily queue and some new prizes. There’s also a new holiday gift waiting for you under this year’s tree, so this is one holiday you don’t want to miss!

2011 Changes

World of Warcraft’s version of Christmas has been more or less the same for several years now minus the unique gift every year is known for. This year it has been changed fairly significantly so before we get started with the guide, we’d like to get these out of the way.

There are likely to be even more undocumented changes that we can only tell on the live server, so we will update these as the event goes live, but here’s what we know from datamining.

If you’ve done the holiday in the past, you’ve likely saved Metzen the Reindeer a few times from a band of intrepid Iron Dwarves who kidnapped him or a group of marauding pirates in Tanaris depending on your faction. This year, however, he’s become kidnapped by The Abominable Greench who decided to upgrade from past year’s petty larceny to kidnapping everyone’s favorite Blizzard employee–I mean reindeer.

As such, the questline  You’re a Mean One… has accordingly become a daily, in which you save Metzen each day for a  Stolen Present which has a chance to presumably contain holiday items as well as an extremely rare chance to contain  Lump of Coal which can summon  Lumpy. We’re not sure if this is a dungeon queue or if you still trek to Hillsbrad for this exchange, so we will update as we find out.

Another change is that the seasonal pets from this year and the past as we previewed a few months back got some holiday cheer. They now have animations when out of season to hearth ( Green Helper Box), melt away (Snowman Kit), and be less festive ( Jingling Bell). Presumably this means they have special animations for the season as well, so be sure to take those guys out–remember, they no longer cost a  Snowball to summon so you have nothing to lose!

Last but not least, this year’s reward from underneath the tree in your faction’s capital city is a  Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater. Oh, Blizzard. And if you don’t want it, you can always exchange it through the optional quest  Thanks, But No Thanks. This sweater also comes with its own achievement to serenade enemy capitals ( A-Caroling We Will Go).

Table of Contents

• Festivities
• Become a Little Helper!
• Snowball Fights
• Hunt a Winter Hat
• Crafting Recipes
• Gift-Giving
• Quests
• Seasonal Goodies
• Food & Drinks
• General Goods
• Patterns
• Achievements

Festivities

All of Azeroth and beyond have gotten into the spirit of Winter Veil! Winter Revelers can be found inside inns throughout the world located under a sprig of mistletoe. Simply /kiss a Reveler (it doesn’t matter which gender) and you will be rewarded with a token of their gratitude. You can only /kiss a Reveler once every hour, as you will receive a debuff along with whatever gift they’ve granted you, which can include:

•  Mistletoe
•  Fresh Holly
•  Handful of Snowflakes

These items are used in various Winter Veil achievements (as detailed below).

Become a Little Helper!

In addition to the Smokywood Pastures vendors located inside the cities, the goblins have set up strange PX-238 Winter Wondervolt machines which can be used to change your character into a festive Little Helper! The buff lasts for 30 minutes but is removed by shapeshifting or death (another sad holiday to be a druid). You can refresh the duration of the buff at any time by stepping into the Wintervolt machine. You can also do this to change gnomes costumes until you get one that you like. This disguise is required to complete the achievement  With a Little Helper from My Friends.

Snowball Fights

Everyone’s favorite annoyance (now knockdown-free, remember), the  Snowball can be purchased from vendors or looted from piles of Holiday Snow found on the ground in the Alterac Mountains, near where you fight The Abominable Greench.

Hunt a Winter Hat

During the Feast of Winter Veil, certain humanoid bosses now sport a festive holiday hat! The following bosses will drop a  Green Winter Hat or  Red Winter Hat upon their defeat:

• Jedoga Shadowseeker in Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom –  Red Winter Hat
• Mage-Lord Urom in The Oculus –  Green Winter Hat
• Grand Magus Telestra in The Nexus –  Red Winter Hat
• Corla, Herald of Twilight in Blackrock Caverns –  Red Winter Hat
• High Priestess Azil in The Stonecore –  Red Winter Hat
• Admiral Ripsnarl in The Deadmines –  Red Winter Hat
• Drahga Shadowburner in Grim Batol –  Green Winter Hat
• Lord Godfrey in Shadowfang Keep –  Green Winter Hat

The winter hats also have an extremely low chance to drop from any humanoid mob in the world; I wouldn’t hold your breath but who knows–you could get lucky! In previous years, both heroic bosses (but not normal ones) in Northrend and Cataclysm dropped hats–it should follow the same trend in 2011. If you’re unlucky winning rolls, seems your best bet is to try to solo a Northrend heroic boss.

Crafting Recipes

Players with  Leatherworking,  Tailoring or  Cooking may find that they’ve received mail from Greatfather Winter written on festive stationary. Oddly enough, the Alliance Greatfather sends the gifts to both factions – a free recipe! Tailors will receive either  Pattern: Green Winter Clothes (Horde) or  Pattern: Red Winter Clothes(Alliance), Leatherworkers will receive  Pattern: Winter Boots and Cooks will recieve  Recipe: Hot Apple Cider. There are certain skill level requirements for each recipe to be mailed, but if for any reason you did not receive a recipe, don’t worry–the recipes can be purchased at vendors in the major cities, as listed below.

Gift-Giving

The most exciting part of Winter Veil comes near the end when we get our presents! The presents under Greatfather Winter’s tree can be opened from December 25 to January 2. There are a total of six presents that can be “opened” by completing the quest given by the gift itself under the tree –  A Carefully Wrapped Present,  A Festive Gift,  A Gaily Wrapped Present,  A Gently Shaken Gift,  A Ticking Present and  A Winter Veil Gift. Every year has brought a new special gift in the  Winter Veil Gift! What’d we get this year? A [ Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater! (And if you’ve missed out on previous special gifts, check out toy vendors like Jepetto Joybuzz–they sell replica items like  Red Rider Air Rifle and Blue Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer Controller.)

Each of the gifts contain an assortment of special holiday items:

Festive Gift	Wand of Holiday Cheer
Gently Shaken Gift	Winter Veil Roast or  Winter Veil Eggnog
Carefully Wrapped Present	Winter Veil Cookie
Ticking Present	Preserved Holly,  Mechanical Greench,  Schematic: Snowmaster 9000,  Formula: Enchant Weapon – Winter’s Might,  Pattern: Gloves of the Greatfather,  Recipe: Elixir of Frost Power,  Pattern: Green Holiday Shirt or  Plans: Edge of Winter
Gaily Wrapped Present	Green Helper Box,  Jingling Bell,  Red Helper Box,  Snowman Kit
Winter Veil Gift (Special)	Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater

Quests

This year Winter Veil was updated to have some new quests, so be sure to check it out. The The Abominable Greench has been changed this year and we’ll update the guide more as we find changes on live.

All Winter Veil quests can be obtained in your faction’s major city (Orgrimmar or Ironforge). Other than start/end NPCs, the quests are essentially exactly the same for both factions.

•  Great-father Winter is Here! or  Greatfather Winter is Here!
  Start: Kaymard Copperpinch or Macey Jinglepocket
  End: Great-father Winter or Greatfather Winter
  This quest’s objective is pretty self-explanitory–simply obtain the quest from the Smokywoods Pasture vendor in any major Horde or Alliance city (except Darnassus) and head to your faction’s major city to complete it. Horde players turn the quest in to the orc Great-father Winterin Orgrimmar, and Alliance players to the dwarf Greatfather Winter in Ironforge. A new quest will become available:

  •  Treats for Great-father Winter or  Treats for Greatfather Winter
    Start & End: Great-father Winter or Greatfather Winter
    Another pretty simple quest provided you’ve trained Cooking and don’t mind grabbing the materials for the  Gingerbread Cookie – just bring him 5 cookies and a glass of  Ice Cold Milk (which can be bought from vendors). As a reward, you will be given a Smokywood Pastures Gift Pack which contains some low level tradeskill materials, so it’s up to you whether its worth your time to give the man his cookies and milk!
•  Stolen Winter Veil Treats or  Stolen Winter Veil Treats
  Start: Kaymard Copperpinch or Macey Jinglepocket
  End: Strange Snowman
  The following quest is obsolete as of 2011, but there’s most likely a similar breadcrumb quest in place to help you find Strange Snowman. This quest asks you to travel out to the Alterac Mountains to find a missing Smokywood Pastures investigator who was sent out to search for a missing shipment of treats. Just head out to Alterac Mountains and search for the Strange Snowman [35,72]. Upon discovering his location, he will give you another quest:

  •  You’re a Mean One… or  You’re a Mean One…
    Start: Strange Snowman
    End: Kaymard Copperpinch or Wulmort Jinglepocket
    Turns out that the The Abominable Greench has stolen the treats! Slay him and retrieve the  Stolen Treats so that the Smokywood Pastures guys can get on with the holiday festivities! In past years, the Greench has about a 5 minute spawn, and was heavily camped for the first couple days of the festival. Now that he’s required for a daily group quest, his spawning mechanics may be different. Stolen Present is a new reward for turning in this quest–it has a small chance to contain  Lump of Coal which summons  Lumpy! Remember, it’s a daily quest in 2011 now, so you can have a shot every day at this pet.

    Once you have turned in the  Stolen Treats, you will receive another quest:

    •  A Smokywood Pastures’ Thank You! or  A Smokywood Pastures’ Thank You!
      Start: Kaymard Copperpinch or Wulmort Jinglepocket
      End: Great-father Winter or Greatfather Winter
      Simply speak to the Great(-)father and claim your reward! You will receive a  Smokywood Pastures Special Gift which contains a seasonal tradeskill recipe! This is the only way you can get these recipes, and the recipe you receive is random so you may be able to trade with other players or guildmates for one you might need. If you don’t get the recipe you want, you can always check the Auction House or wait until next year.

      Open the special gift to get one of the following recipes at random:

      •  Recipe: Elixir of Frost Power (Alchemy)
      •  Plans: Edge of Winter (Blacksmithing)
      •  Formula: Enchant Weapon – Winter’s Might (Enchanting)
      •  Schematic: Snowmaster 9000 (Engineering)
      •  Pattern: Gloves of the Greatfather (Leatherworking)
      •  Pattern: Green Holiday Shirt (Tailoring)
•  The Reason for the Season or  The Reason for the Season
  Start: Furmund or Goli Krumn
  End: Sagorne Creststrider or Historian Karnik
  This short quest chain intends to explain the lore behind the Feast of Winter Veil. The questgiver is located near the bank in your faction’s major city, and he will send you to another NPC located within that city. Once there, you will receive a new quest:

  •  The Feast of Winter Veil or  The Feast of Winter Veil
    Start: Sagorne Creststrider or Historian Karnik
    End: Baine Bloodhoof or King Magni Bronzebeard
    The questgiver will give you a book entitled  The Feast of Winter Veil to read, which contains some insight into the different races’ celebrations of the holiday. Once you have read the book you are asked to bring it to either Baine Bloodhoof in Thunder Bluff or King Magni Bronzebeard in Ironforge, who will reward you with 500 reputation with their respective city and 125 with each other faction city–a considerable amount of reputation!

Seasonal Goodies

There are a number of items that are only available during the Feast of Winter Veil. Smokeywood Pastures vendors can be found in all major cities selling a variety of holiday goodies, including a plethora of food and drink items, wrapping paper, and even some seasonal recipes! Please note that the three of the recipes are Bind on Pickup, and as such (of course) cannot be sold or traded. This means that it is not easily possible for Horde players to obtain  Pattern: Red Winter Clothes or for Alliance players to obtain  Pattern: Green Winter Clothes.

However, since the vendors are enterprising goblins, belonging to the Smokywood Pastures “faction,” they are all friendly to both Horde and Alliance. This means that the most intrepid reveler can manage to sneak into the opposing faction’s city and purchase all recipes. You can even stay mounted up while purchasing them, for a quick getaway.

If you aren’t a crafter or you’re not very keen on flying around the other faction’s city, the holiday clothes are not Bind on Pickup (or even Bind when Equipped) and therefore can be bought, sold and traded via the Auction House.

Food & Drinks

Smokeywood Pastures food and drink vendors can be found located near a faction’s Auction House in every major city. Copperpinch vendors can be found in Horde cities, and the Jinglepocket vendors can be found in Alliance cities. An additional Copperpinch vendor can be found in Shattrath City, Olnayvi Copperpinch.

• Vendors found in Alliance cities include Macey Jinglepocket, Guchie Jinglepocket, Bessbi Jinglepocket.
• Vendors found in Horde cities include Kaymard Copperpinch, Jaycrue Copperpinch, Morshelz Copperpinch, and Whulwert Copperpinch.

They sell the following items:

•  Blended Bean Brew
•  Green Garden Tea
•  Sparkling Apple Cider
•  Holiday Cheesewheel
•  Graccu’s Homemade Meat Pie
•  Spicy Beefstick
•  Honeyed Holiday Ham
•  Steamwheedle Fizzy Spirits
•  Greatfather’s Winter Ale

General Goods

Smokeywood Pastures “general goods”-style vendors can be found right next to the food/drink vendors. Copperpinch vendors can be found in Horde cities, and the Jinglepocket vendors can be found in Alliance cities. An additional Jinglepocket vendor can be found in Shattrath City, Eebee Jinglepocket.

• Vendors found in Alliance cities include Wulmort Jinglepocket, Khole Jinglepocket, Wolgren Jinglepocket.
• Vendors found in Horde cities include Penney Copperpinch, Hotoppik Copperpinch, Seersa Copperpinch, Nardstrum Copperpinch.

They sell the following items:

•  Snowball
•  Blue Ribboned Wrapping Paper
•  Green Ribboned Wrapping Paper
•  Purple Ribboned Wrapping Paper
•  Holiday Spices
•  Holiday Spirits
•  Candy Cane
•  Recipe: Gingerbread Cookie
•  Recipe: Egg Nog
•  Recipe: Hot Apple Cider

Be sure to stock up on the holiday wrapping paper, as it’s the only time of the year you can buy it! Otherwise, you’re stuck with  Red Ribboned Wrapping Paperand  Blue Ribboned Wrapping Paper from General Goods vendors throughout the year.

Patterns

In addition to the seasonal goods listed above, the vendors located in the two major cities (Orgrimmar and Ironforge) will also sell a tailoring pattern to create festive winter clothes and a leatherworking pattern to create matching boots!

Penney Copperpinch in Orgrimmar or Wulmort Jinglepocket in Ironforge sell:

•  Pattern: Green Winter Clothes (Horde)
•  Pattern: Red Winter Clothes (Alliance)
•  Pattern: Winter Boots

Achievements

With each event comes new achievements every year, like  A-Caroling We Will Go! There’s also a player title granted to those who can obtain 11 core achievements–Merrymaker! Some are easy, and others more of a challenge, but here’s everything you need to know to be on your way to becoming that much more festive.

•  Merrymaker or  Merrymaker
  This achievement can be found in the main World Events achievement category and is awarded upon completion of all but one of the Winter Veil achievements. This achievement awards the player title ‘Merrymaker’ and is a requirement towards completion of  What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been (Alliance version), which rewards  Violet Proto-Drake.
•  A-Caroling We Will Go or  A-Caroling We Will Go
  Use your Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater to carol in enemy capital cities during the Feast of Winter Veil.
  Note: This achievement is not required for  What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, as the  Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater is only available during 2011’s Winter Veil. It has its own Feat of Strength:  Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater.
  This achievement requires you to use your 2011 gift to carol in four enemy capital cities–it can only be completed during Winter Veil. You can fly into most of the enemy cities without dying or aggroing any guards. Make sure you don’t complete  Thanks, But No Thanks, or else you’ll get  Scrooge’s Payoffinstead of your fashionable sweater!
•  BB King or  BB King
  Pelt the enemy leaders listed below.
  Note: This achievement is no longer required for  What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, as the  Red Rider Air Rifle was only available during 2009’s Winter Veil. A recent Feat of Strength was added,  Red Rider Air Rifle. 
  This achievement was added in 2009’s Winter Veil and can only be completed with a  Red Rider Air Rifle (obtained from the 2009 Winter Veil gift). You must use the gun to pelt each of the opposing faction’s leaders – how mean! First snowballs, now BBs? What ever happened to respecting authority? Thankfully, this achievement is not required for any other achievements. It an also be purchased (as well as pellet refills) from Jepetto Joybuzz!
•  ‘Tis the Season (Detailed Guide)
  During the Feast of Winter Veil, wear 3 pieces of winter clothing and eat Graccu’s Mince Meat Fruitcake.
  This achievement must be done during Winter Veil. You can wear any three pieces of the Winter Garb (a chest, boots and hat). The  Green Winter Clothesand  Red Winter Clothes can be crafted by Tailors, the  Winter Boots can be crafted by Leatherworkers and the  Red Winter Hat and  Green Winter Hat are instance drops from three different bosses in heroics or very rare world drops (see above). The  Graccu’s Mince Meat Fruitcake is contained within a gift package received within 24 hours of completing either  Treats for Great-father Winter (Alliance version) or  You’re a Mean One… (Alliance version)!
•  A Frosty Shake
  During the Feast of Winter Veil, use your Winter Veil Disguise kit to become a snowman and then dance with another snowman in Dalaran.
  For this achievement, you must obtain and use a  Winter Veil Disguise Kit to become a snowman and /dance with another snowman in Dalaran. This achievement must be done during Winter Veil. The  Winter Veil Disguise Kit is obtained in the mail within 24 hours of completing the quest chain starting with  You’re a Mean One… (Alliance version).
•  Bros. Before Ho Ho Ho’s or  Bros. Before Ho Ho Ho’s
  Use Mistletoe on the Horde/Alliance “Brothers” during the Feast of Winter Veil.
  To complete this achievement, Horde players must use  Mistletoe on the following NPCs: Brother Malach (Undercity), Durkot Wolfbrother (Borean Tundra), Brother Keltan (Icecrown). Alliance players must use Mistletoe on the following NPCs: Brother Kristoff, Brother Crowley, Brother Benjamin, Brother Joshua, Brother Cassius (all in Stormwind City), Brother Nimetz (Northern Stranglethorn), Brother Wilhelm (Goldshire, Elwynn Forest), Brother Anton (Nijel’s Point, Desolace) and Brother Karman (Theramore, Dustwallow Marsh). Mistletoe can be obtained randomly from /kiss’ing Winter Revelers.
•  Crashin’ & Thrashin’
  Gain 25 crashes with your Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer during the Feast of Winter Veil.
  This achievement requires you to have obtained the  Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer Controller from the Winter Veil presents, available on and after December 25th. To complete this achievement you must “crash” 25 other racers. The controller functions similar to a  Crashin’ Thrashin’ Robot, only with a single ability:  Racer Rocket Slam! Out-slam another player’s Racer to earn a kill towards the achievement. You can battle against the same Racer multiple times to count towards this achievement, the car is (of course) not destroyed or damaged in any way and simply must be re-summoned. (If you really like collecting achievements, purchasing a  Blue Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer Controller from Jepetto Joybuzz and fighting will award it too!)
•  Fa-la-la-la-Ogri’la
  Complete the Bomb Them Again! quest while mounted on a flying reindeer during the Feast of Winter Veil.
  For this achievement, you must be able to do the Sha’tari Skyguard quest  Bomb Them Again!. Complete this quest while mounted on a flying reindeer during the Feast of Winter Veil. You can change your flying mount into a reindeer by using either  Fresh Holly or  Preserved Holly, obtained from /kiss’ing Winter Revelers or from quests detailed above, respectively.
•  He Knows If You’ve Been Naughty
  Open one of the presents underneath the Winter Veil tree once they are available.
  This achievement was awarded retroactively to players who had items or achievements related to any previous years’ gifts (such as the  Clockwork Rocket Bot feat). To obtain this achievement, simply log in at any point from December 25th to January 2nd and obtain a gift from under the Winter Veil tree in either Orgrimmar or Ironforge.
•  Let It Snow
  During the Feast of Winter Veil, use a Handful of Snowflakes on each of the race/class combinations listed below.
  During the Feast of Winter Veil, use a  Handful of Snowflakes on the following race/class combinations:

  	Orc Death Knight	Tauren Shaman
  	Undead Rogue	Gnome Mage
  	Blood Elf Warlock	Human Warrior
  	Night Elf Druid	Troll Hunter
  	Dwarf Paladin	Draenei Priest

  Simply look around in any major faction city, or a battleground, and you’ll probably end up with all of the combinations needed.  Handful of Snowflakes can be obtained randomly from /kiss’ing Winter Revelers.
•  On Metzen!
  Save Metzen the Reindeer.
  This achievement is awarded upon completion of the quest  You’re a Mean One… (Alliance version). See the ‘Quests’ section above for more information.
•  Scrooge or  Scrooge
  Throw a snowball at Baine Bloodhoof / King Magni Bronzebeard during the Feast of Winter Veil.
  Both tauren and dwarf take Winter Veil very seriously, so what better way to show your complete lack of holiday cheer and respect than by smashing eitherBaine Bloodhoof or King Magni Bronzebeard in the face with a  Snowball during the Feast of Winter Veil.
•  Simply Abominable
  Complete the quest to retrieve Smokywood Pastures’ stolen treats and receive a Smokywood Pastures’ Thank You.
  This achievement is awarded upon completion of the quest chain starting with  You’re a Mean One… (Alliance version) to slay The Abominable Greenchand free Metzen the Reindeer. See the ‘Quests’ section above for more information. In 2011, this quest is now a daily group quest and rewards  Stolen Present, which has a chance to contain  Lump of Coal.
•  The Winter Veil Gourmet
  During the Feast of Winter Veil, use your culinary expertise to produce a Gingerbread Cookie, Egg Nog and Hot Apple Cider.
  For this achievement, you have to cook  Gingerbread Cookie,  Egg Nog and  Hot Apple Cider, the latter of which requires 325 Cooking skill. Recipe: Gingerbread Cookie and  Recipe: Egg Nog can be purchased from Smokywood Pastures vendors, and  Recipe: Hot Apple Cider can either be purchased or received as a gift from Greatfather Winter, provided you have high enough Cooking skill. Be prepared to grind your Cooking skill up if you haven’t already in order to get this achievement. For information on leveling Cooking, I recommend the Cooking/Fishing guides found at El’s Extreme Anglin’or profession guides found at our very own guide page.
•  With a Little Helper from My Friends
  Earn 50 honorable kills as a Little Helper from the Winter Wondervolt machine.
  For this achievement you must earn 50 honorable kills while transformed into a Little Helper from the Winter Wondervolt machine. Remember that the disguise is lost upon death or shapeshift, so this achievement might take a few tries to accomplish, but thankfully the killing blows are cumulative –just be ready to visit the Wondervolt between battles if PvP isn’t your forté.

This guide is courtesy of wowhead.com