This Spirit Beast was added to World of Warcraft during Wrath of the Lich King and quickly became one of the most sought after hunter pets in the entire game. He’s a beautiful, giant leopard spawning in Sholazar Basin who looks like he must have accidentally inhaled a will-o-the-wisp; this is possibly because he’s related to the loa, specifically he’s the mate of Har’koa, the loa leopard goddess in Zul’Drak.

A particular mythology has grown up around the hunk for Loque’nahak; but I’m not here to dispel any of those notions, but to attempt to best compile them into a resource that people can use when seeking this beautiful pet.

• There are 7 known spawn points for the cat across Sholazar Basin (see map);
• The spirit beast spawns and lasts only 10 minutes at a time maximum (if not killed or tamed);
• He’s on a 6-hour spawn timer—although this is complicated by a 3 rares in Northrend limit giving it the possibility of being 8 or 12-hours as well;
• It is believed that he shares a spawn timer with King Krush and Aotona (although there’s enough evidence this may not be the case);
• Do not try to capture him until you can fly in Northrend, flight is too important for the hunt to miss out;
• Set your hearth to Nessingwary’s Camp so that if someone spots him in the zone you can jump to the center and then get to him as quickly as possible;
• Recruit friends as often as possible and spread them across the zone; in fact, if you can get other people in the zone to help you look by chatting them up it might help;
• Get an addon like _NPCScan or Rarefinder and install it; this will allow you to go about your business (grinding, questing, camping, patrolling) without having to constantly mash a search macro button.

To camp or patrol, that is the question

[ad#Helvetica Left-align]When hunting Loque’nahak there’s an enduring sensation of strategy involved in planning and execution. The reason for this is because the spirit beast is extremely rare and excessively competed over, thus making it one of the most extraordinary pets in the game.

Two tactics for capturing the elusive critter have been developed: spawn camping and zone patrolling.

If you’re going for a spawn camp, there are three tactics that people have pinned down that they enjoy. Although, get ready for the long haul: camping a spawn point can be a long, boring process with very little interaction (except maybe grinding mobs or herbs.)

• You can camp the eastern gorilla spawns. There are two primary spawn points in the east that are full of gorillas—and thus a great deal of leather and herbs for gatherers—and they’re very close together so they’re easy to path between;
• You can also camp the three western spawns. There are three spawn points, a bit further apart, along the wall filled with rhinos and sabers for gatherers;
• Finally there are two spawn points in the north, much further apart from each other, and one of them is north with the birds. Not exactly popular, but it’s possible to do.

If you aim for a patrol there’s also three major tactics that have been developed by users. The idea of a patrol is just to fly around the zone along a particular path with intermittent dips to the ground to grab herbs or mining nodes. Since Loque’nahak can spawn across the entire zone (usually by the walls) but not within the Scourged area, it can become necessary to fully patrol the entire Basin.

• You can attempt to patrol the entire Basin by flying along the edge, passing each spawn, and keeping up the circuit; this is particularly boring, and each pass can take between 7-15 minutes depending on the speed of your mount.
• You can patrol only the southern zones by crisscrossing up the east wall, down past the Skyreach Pillar, past the Base Camp, and then along the western wall. Doing this you can vary it up in an invinity-symbol path.
• Others have aimed for an eastern patrol that goes up the east wall, across the north spawns, and then back down into the Base Camp spawn with visits to the Skyreach Pillar. For this one, you can even just land on the Mosslight Pillar (or Skyreach Pillar) and use those high vantage points with Eagle Sight to see spawn points and save pathing time.

Preparing for the tame

When on the hunt, it’s also important to prepare.

Make sure that Tame Beast is in your action bars—if it’s not, and you waste precious time scanning through your spell book for it, you’ll kick yourself. Have some food handy, the boost in hit points will be sufficiently helpful to survive the tame: the cat hits really hard.

Most people report a sudden trill of excitement when they finally find Loque’nahak. Best thing for you: Don’t panic. You have just sighted a colossally elusive beast and if it’s time to tame, you should have this down pat. Stay focused. Get in, get your trap laid, and hit the tame button—from there you’re in your element. You’re a hunter.

Good luck everyone.