The title “Elder” is appropriate for this World Event achievement, because you sure feel old by the time you’re done with it.

Okay, maybe this isn’t the most difficult meta-achievement to get.  Really, it’s alot like the Midsummer Fire Festival in that you have to fly all over the damn place to honor/worship/pee on things (desecrating flames, not Elders.  Don’t pee on your Elders kids.)  But unlike the Midsummer Fire Festival, you have to fly ALL OVER THE WORLD!  Sure, you don’t have to go to Outlands like you did in MFF.  But Outlands counted for only fourteen flames you had to visit, and you didn’t have to go to Northrend or the Cataclysm zones to get the meta-achievement.   Plus, those flames were just sitting out in the open.  The Lunar Festival had Elders hiding in THIRTEEN DIFFERENT DUNGEONS!  I MEAN WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING IN THERE?!

But I digress.

The criteria needed to complete the meta-achievement for the Lunar Festival is to gain the following achievements:

Elders of Cataclysm
Elders of Kalimdor
Elders of the Horde
Elders of Northrend
Lunar Festival Finery
Frenzied Firecracker
Elders of Eastern Kingdoms
Elders of the Dungeons
Elders of the Alliance
50 Coins of Ancestry
The Rocket’s Red Glare
Elune’s Blessing

As I said, the meta wasn’t overly difficult to get.  It started off easy enough; like any good party you have to set off explosives.  In this case, you have to show the Elders some love by blowing shit up with Frenzied Firecrackers and The Rocket’s Red Glare.

I love you Grandma!

With that out of the way, it’s time to grab some Preparation H, find a comfy saddle for your flying mount, and get to flapping.  Like I said before, you don’t have to go to Outland.  But since it probably take less time to fly across that than it does to clear Northrend from end to end, you might wish you had.

I was starting from Orgrimmar, but since it’s always easier to come home than it is to leave home (no, 30-year olds still living in your parent’s basement, this does not excuse you) I crossed the ocean and started off by visiting all the Elders of Eastern Kingdoms.  I also popped in on Elder Darkcore in Undercity for the Elders of the Horde achievement.  This also let me get most of the dirty business done by visiting two of the three Elders of the Alliance.  Stormwind was easy since the Elder was chillaxing outside the gate.  But I guess Elder Bronzebeard in Ironforge thought he was in a mall and just started wandering around to the back of the place.

Dwarves kill me every time, and not in the “ha ha” kind of way.

After working my way down to Booty Bay, I hopped the boat and crossed the sea once again.  The hemorrhoids were still tolerable so I went south to north and visited all the Elders of Kalimdor, including Elder Bladeswift in Darnassus to finish off the Elders of the Alliance achievement as well.  I also stopped in Thunder Bluff and wrapped up the Elders of the Horde achievement by sharing cookies and blood tea with Elder Darkhorn in Orgrimmar.

That, my friends, is a shitload of flying around.  Consulting my checklist left me with a sensation of being kicked in the balls by a Tauren.

Elders of Cataclysm
Elders of Kalimdor
Elders of the Horde
Elders of Northrend
Lunar Festival Finery
Frenzied Firecracker
Elders of Eastern Kingdoms
Elders of the Dungeons
Elders of the Alliance
50 Coins of Ancestry (I got this at some point.  It was all just a blur.)
The Rocket’s Red Glare
Elune’s Blessing

I should have felt better about everything I’d accomplished.  But I still had to cross the Great White North to visit the Elders of Northrend, and then go back and visit all the Elders who’d decided it was a great idea to wander into the dungeons of Northrend, Kalimdor, and Eastern Kingdoms.  And they didn’t just step in and wait by the front door.  Oh no, they got their mall walking shoes on and MADE TRACKS!  Some of them stopped a third of the way in.  Most decided that halfway was good enough.  A few took their vitamins with their Geritol and hauled ass to the deepest part of the dungeon.  THIS IS WHY WE DON’T COME TO VISIT YOU, ELDERS OF THE DUNGEONS!

Don’t judge me!

At 85, the dungeons were easy enough to handle solo.  Like I said, it’s not difficult.  It’s just tedious and time-consuming.  The Elders of Cataclysm achievement was a snap once I was back in Orgrimmar, and with a sack of coins I went back to Moonhold and got my hands on a nice black pants suit to fulfill the Lunar Festival Finery achievement.

Elders of Cataclysm
Elders of Kalimdor
Elders of the Horde
Elders of Northrend
Lunar Festival Finery
Frenzied Firecracker
Elders of Eastern Kingdoms
Elders of the Dungeons
Elders of the Alliance
50 Coins of Ancestry
The Rocket’s Red Glare
Elune’s Blessing

Aside from a couple of dungeons, that only left Omen left to visit.

Nice Doggy!

Omen is a pain in the ass, but not a terrible one.  He doesn’t insta-regen like most mobs do once he kills you.  Technically you could solo him if you kept throwing yourself at him, burning him down a piece at a time before he killed you.  Luckily there’s a Spirit Healer nearby so you’re always quick to your corpse.  It doesn’t matter who kills him, though.  When he dies, a beam of light emerges from his corpse.  Just stand in it and you’re credited with the kill to receive Elune’s Blessing.  It’s like bathing in the blood of your fallen enemy, but cleaner and less creepy.

Always a nice option for face painting, too.

So after handing in Omen’s quest,  I ran through my final dungeons and got the double big payoff:

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some senior’s discounts I’m hoping to cash in on.