WoW Rookie: Rares, elites and nameds
by Lisa Poisso 
Jul 8th 2009 at 5:00PM
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.What's with the curlicue dragon graphic wrapped around the portrait of that mob? Aren't they usually gold? This one's silver. Hmmm ... And whoa, why does that Gnoll over there have a name? He's got one of those gold dragon things, too. Do you think -- CRUNCH!
Special names, special graphics ... Special attacks, special ZOMGWTFBBQ levels of health ... It's unobtrusive little details like these that might, just might, have something to do with the fact that you just got epicly pwned. Make no mistake: these are special mobs, the elites, nameds and rares of Azeroth and beyond.
WoW Rookie would never allow you to wander about the wilderness unaware of the dangers that lurk. Let's go over a few signs that suggest you may want to look before you leap.
Named mobs are just that: monsters that have names. Most of them play key roles in quests, and their names serve no more than to alert you that this is who you've been searching for. Others, though, may be rare or elite mobs that will clean your clock if you attack them before you're prepared for something ... more. If a named mob is larger than average, you can usually (but not always) bet that he may be a little more difficult to kill. You can usually count on named mobs to drop better-than-average loot.
Elite mobsIs this monster ever going to die? Elite mobs are the tough guys: dungeon bosses or their flunkies, quest line finales, any mob who should (and does) make an impression. Elites have more special fighting abilities than the average mob; in technical terms, their Hit, Crit and Miss rates are calculated as if they were three levels higher than the level they appear to be.
The hallmark of an elite, however, is not its abilities but its potentially shocking high number of hit points. Most outdoor elites have about 30% more hit points than usual; indoor/instance elites have even more. These mobs take time and firepower to kill. Unless you have solid gear for your level and are quite comfortable with your fighting skills, you'll probably have trouble killing an elite by yourself. You'll definitely want to pick your elite fights carefully, ensuring you have preparation time beforehand and recovery time afterwards.
Elite mobs give more XP and sometimes better loot than usual.
Elite mobs are usually larger and more intricate than the monsters around them -- but not always. There is one sure method of picking out an elite mob: look for the gold curlicue dragon graphic that wraps around its portrait in your target window.
Rare mobsRare mobs are always named but are never part of quests. They may or may not be elite. They often have an extra special ability or two but aren't generally much tougher than average monsters. (Exceptions do exist, and some rares will relentlessly pwn you before you even realize what you've attacked.)
The thing that makes rare mobs rare is, well, their rarity. They spawn less frequently or predictably than normal mobs – and yes, that means they have better-than-average loot. Outdoor rares usually drop uncommon (green) loot, while instance rares may drop rare (blue) items that are frequently bind on pickup (BoP). Rare mobs in Outland (The Burning Crusade) drop only rare, bind on equip (BoE) items.
You can identify a rare by its silver curlicue dragon graphic around the mob portrait. A regular rare will feature a silver, wingless dragon; an elite rare will show a fully winged silver dragon. (Scroll back to the top of this page for a side-by-side comparison of elite, rare and rare elite graphics.)
What's this guy got for me?
Now that you're armed with a workable identification system for these unique monsters, we're going to send you into the field to gain great renown and loot fit for a king -- or perhaps nothing more than a whimper and a jot of XP. Some named monsters figure prominently in the lore of the area you're exploring, while others remain puzzlingly mysterious. Some rares inspire hours of patient tracking and incite all-out warfare when they do spawn. There's no formula for knowing which are important and which are not ... That's for you to discover! It's all part of the variety and mystery of the World of Warcraft.
WoW Rookie feeds you the basics to get you off to a good start in the World of Warcraft, from game lingo through joining your first guild and even what to do when you finally hit level 80.Filed under: Tips, Features, WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Krick Jul 8th 2009 9:00PM
Silverpine Forest (another Horde Zone) has 7 rares, which I think is a lot for a zone that isn't that big.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com
Nathanyel Jul 8th 2009 6:13PM
It has already been pointed out that Rares can actually be involved in quests, as in starting them through a drop, but another blurp caught my eye:
> Elites have more special fighting abilities than the average mob; in technical terms, their Hit, Crit and Miss rates are calculated as if they were three levels higher than the level they appear to be.
Aren't you mixing up Elites and Bosses here? As far as I know, you only need the standard 5% crit reduction to be uncrittable by level 80 Elites. You might've meant damage values, though I think this hasn't been the case since at least Burning Crusade anymore - heard of a rule of thumb in Vanilla that an (outdoor?) elite hits about as hard as a mob 10 levels above him, but a level 60 Outland dungeon Elite probably hits harder than a level 70 outdoor mob.
Anaughtybear Jul 8th 2009 7:46PM
Don't forget that elite's health varies widely. Outland elites in particular have immense amounts of health. For instance, Marticar absolutely destroyed me around level 63 or so. Fel Reavers are still tougher than most Northrend elites of ten levels higher.
Another thing, don't be a greedy little piglet. If you see Humar or the like, see if there are hunters there for a tame before you kill him for his crappy green item.
Krick Jul 8th 2009 8:11PM
Overlord Ramtusk in Razorfen Downs has two Razorfen Spearhide elite guards with him that have silver portaits. They're always there, so they're not rare spawns. I think they must have improved their loot table recently or something because I don't ever remember getting anything blue off of them in my many, many, RFD farming runs....
http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=4438
Alverian Jul 9th 2009 7:03AM
There are a bunch of Rare mobs in the Barrens area, saw a group of lvl 25 Night Elfs last night near Crossroads that were rare.
ra1330 Jul 9th 2009 3:07PM
With regard to non-rare, non-elite named mobs, my experience (to the best of my recollection) has not been, as the article says, that "[y]ou can usually count on named mobs to drop better-than-average loot." Rather, I've gotten the impression that such mobs aren't worth the time to kill if you're not on their quest, as they often drop nothing more than an associated quest item (which you won't get. I could be misremembering, I suppose.