Hippogryph Hunting

I've been sitting on this blog post since the beginning of the month. The reason I haven't talked about it sooner is that it still feels like a fresh wound. I was so close to something and lost it. Of course it's nothing that important, but for a collector like me, it feels that way. I'm talking about the Reins of the Long-Forgotten Hippogryph. Since the finding of it a while back, every time I'm in Azsuna I take a little time to look. This usually turns out with no findings, but on two separate occasions I've gotten semi lucky.

My first crystal sighting was on September 15th. The crystal findings were still pretty new, and not very many varied locations had been found. I searched all the locations that were discovered and ran around the area, but I had no luck. It bothered me, and the crystal stayed up all day! So I guess no one else was lucky in their findings either. I found that a bit strange, but since it was still new I just dismissed it. Maybe the thing was bugged at the time and only one spawned? Who knows, but it did light a spark!

location: 59,37

I didn't find another crystal until a few weeks later. It was late on a Sunday evening and I had just finished my world quests. I decided to take a little trip to  Azsuna before logging off for the night. Then I saw it, sitting perfectly still under the water, damn. I knew I wasn't going to bed any time soon. I was somewhat prepared this time as I had downloaded TomTom and now had some macros for points set. Slowly I started finding them... very slowly. In fact, I started around 10:30 PM and decided to stop looking at around 2:00 AM. I was only able to find 4 out of 5 crystals. So with sore eyes that could barely stay open and a heavy heart, I went to bed.

(mouse over each image for coordinate locations)

So the next morning I reevaluated how I went about things. While checking WoWhead comments I saw that about 30 minutes after I called off my search, someone on my server found all of the crystals and left a comment. I would say that I was happy for them, but I was more disappointed in myself because I was so close to it! Sadly I had not kept up to date with many of the new spawn points. In fact, one of the crystals I found were at one of those locations. Another one of my downfalls was I play with graphics settings all maxed out. This coupled with the tiredness definitely inhibited me from seeing ones that spawn in areas that are very grassy. I know better now, and I won't make the same mistake again.

To be honest, that was the last time I bothered looking for the crystals. Since then, I've been avoiding Azsuna at all cost except for when Court of Farondis is the daily emissary. I think this week I will start up again since I'm beginning to get the itch once more. I know I will get it. I just can't get discouraged, and I must remain patient. Of course once it's mine you can expect another post. This definitely won't be the last time I talk about this one.