Alani-tagging is back to how it is supposed to be. I'm glad the issue got sorted so quickly!
Old post
Just a head's up:
If you're one of those people who grinded sky shards for hours, and finally created their crystal, be mindful when you decide to pull Alani.
I feel very sorry for this guy, you can hear his disappointment in his voice - I mean, grinding these shards for hours and then getting her stolen away like that...
If this isn't a bug, here's two things to pay attention to:
Don't announce in trade/general/even guild that you're going to use the sky crystal.
Find a quiet time on your server, early hours etc., find a spot that's away from the daily hubs, and then pull Alani.
Thanks to a dedicated beta player named Esinar, we have a video showing how he uses the sky crystal to remove Alani's protective shroud and kills it.
The crystal already removes a portion of Alani's health (it's a short channeling spell) which should tag the cloud serpent to the player using it (it would make sense!)
It will take time and effort to earn this pretty mount. You can't just camp for it to spawn, you have to work for it. But you also know that sooner or later, you will have ten sky shards to summon it. What happens after you use the crystal, and you disconnect, someone kills you or even Alani kills you...) we'll find out. I hope it doesn't mean starting from 0, but with the time-lost protodrake and Aeonaxx, the exact same thing could happen to you! If you just found this post and have no clue about sky shards and where to find them, please click on the Alani tab at the top of the site.
Portent spawns just like Madexx, in one of four random colours, but he is not a colour changer.
He travels from the very western wall through the entire zone and ends north-west of Mogushan Palace. My map is based on a map done by TheDoomcookie (Petopia Forums), as he goes into phasing when you haven't unlocked the August Celestial dailies. Portent's tracks are now spawning correctly, no need to follow them backwards anymore!
Don't be me and search for this guy until you have unlocked the Golden Lotus dailies! The spot he spawns in is phased, if you see no mobs, you won't find Urgolax. He's to the east of the Golden Stairs area, right near the big gate to Kun-Lai Summit, in Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
You'll find this guy surrounded by elite lvl 90 hozen on top of the mountains bordering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and Valley of the 4 Winds to the south of Mistfall village.
Yorik, a cute hooded figure sitting on the eastern edge of the lake surrounding Mogu-Shan palace, near a wooden bridge, with a small ship and a chest near him.
Just as evil as the mantid rares are, this charming guy guards the entrance of the Gate of the Setting Sun, in the west of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
The Aqua Jewel turns you into a stealth-like, shimmering figure, similar to a hunter's camouflage spell. This stays for the duration of the buff, regardless of which form or mount you're currently in/on.
Horde players can kill Alani from the safety of the horde shrine. If you're on a PVP realm and horde, it might be a good idea to pull Alani from there (thanks to Blueprint for the info)
Careful: Bug or not, using the crystal doesn't automatically tag Alani to you!
I've been stubborn and levelled to 90 in the Beta... I really wanted to be able to fly and search for these rares, but as far as we know, there's only Galleon, the Sha of Anger, which both are the rare elite world bosses, and the mysterious Alani, a normal rare up to this day.
A fellow Petopian, TheDoomcookie found an npc sitting tucked away on a mountain, that tells us more about Alani.
Loh-Ki watching as Alani glides past
Loh-Ki, the Storm Watcher
Hmm, so we need to harness the very essence of the sky...
TheDoomcookie also found some more information on this on WOWDB:
But exactly where we get the shards from, and what happens when we remove the shroud that keeps Alani safe so far, noone knows yet. Will she be the new time-lost? Will we have to collect the crystals and wait till she spawns? Will we have to mount her and fight her like Aeonaxx ?
I'm looking forward to finding the answer!
Edit:
On the Beta, a game master has given the crystal that removes Alani's shroud to a player.
The following video shows the fight, but no loot has been implemented yet.
What we need to find out now: Is this a zone drop? A lucky world drop? Does it drop off specific quest mobs, any mobs, in any zone? Maybe more players will come across a sky shard as they quest in the newest beta build. However, so far, the shards are bind-on-pickup, so if you want to get ten to forge the sky crystal, it might take a while!
Edit 3:
Pockethealer, a player on the beta, told me that he's in possession of two skyshards as I write this. One shard dropped from an elite hozen near Major Nanners in Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
The other dropped from 'tiny men" during brew dailies in the Valley of the Four Winds.
Another skyshard dropping during dailies. The screenshot belongs to Highlanddevil (Petopia Forums)
by Highlanddevil
This screenshot shows the skyshard being looted from a dailies reward bag, also by Highlanddevil (Petopia forums)
Himmelssplitter = Skyshard
So far, we can assume that skyshards only drop from level 90 dailies- and regular mobs (like the elite hozen), but they're not zone specific.With mobs, I mean those that are meant to be killed by level 90 players.
Edit 4 (25.08.2012)
Thanks to Esinar and his dedication of farming the ten sky shards, we have a confirmation that Alani in fact drops the Thundering Ruby Cloud Serpent as we thought he would.
Esinar's excellent kill video is below:
Future questions:
If the crystal is consumed upon removing the shroud, what happens if Alani kills you?
What happens if you get disconnected during the fight?
