Video Footage of the Fight

Well, I finally got Aeonaxx on my hunter a couple of days ago. I was able to fraps everything short of the actual spawn in the process. I was tabbed out of the game, yet again, working on some boring ass meeting minutes when NPCScan nearly gave me a heart attack. I tabbed back in and instantly started frapsing. This is the first thing I saw when I tabbed back in:

I was camped between the NW1 and NW2 spawn points (as you can see from my mini map), and Aeonaxx spawned at the NE spawn point. Luckely my view distance was maxed out so NPCScan picked him up. I nearly had a heart attack flying over there to snag him, those seconds felt like minutes. As you can see from the video below the fight is easier than ever with some decent gear. I only saw two whelps during the whole length of the fight and I was able to one-shot both of them. Also, note that at the end of the fight I slowed down my dps in order to make sure that Aeonaxx's corpse landed somewhere nice and flat so that I wouldn't have any trouble looting.

Yippie Skippie! Here's the vid:

Update: A Couple of Close Calls & Some SilverDragon Info

Aeonaxx Unmounted above Quartzite Basin (Click image to zoom)

So I haven't posted in a while, mainly because I've been pretty busy working on my other blog WoW Rare Spawns and I haven't been looking for Aeonaxx too seriously. I have been camping on and off here and there for the past few months though. I've had a couple of misses (all of which I was nowhere near the computer to even see), last night however I was tabbed out of the game working on my other blog when the good old NPCScan horn sounded. I was in windowed mode, so I can absolutely confirm that being tabbed out in windowed mode will still allow you to hear NPCScan go off. Fullscreen still = bad. Aeonaxx spawned in the Quartzite Basin spawn point, and although I immediately tabbed back in and headed straight for him a mage who was camping a bit closer got to him first. Luckily though, I was able to get everything on video. From the unmounted Aeonaxx circling above Quartizite Basin to the kill.

Aeonaxx switching over from un-engaged to engaged (Click image to zoom)

I also recorded something that I thought was worth sharing and that is the use of the SilverDragon addon while camping for Aeonaxx. If you look at the two screenshots above and to the right you can see that SilverDragon (on the default setting) will show you the difference between un-engaged Aeonaxx and Aeonaxx already in combat. Not only do both id's get cached, but it actually tells you right in the pop-up box which one it is. I have found this to be incredibly helpful, especially for camping while not being right there at the computer. A couple of times I have come back to my computer with the NPCScan alert screaming at me, but instead of frantically flying around looking for Aeonaxx I could see right in the SilverDragon window that I only picked up engaged Aeonaxx while someone in-combat flew by. If you would like a little more info on SilverDragon you can check out the SilverDragon post on my other blog.

So anywho, here is what I caught on video last night (notice how incredibly fast Aeonaxx flies once engaged). Grats again Icarium!



Blood Seeker Update:

I'd like to add one other update as well, this one having to do with pesky lil Blood Seeker. For the past few months I have noticed that Blood Seeker has not been gracing us with his presence for nearly as long as he used to when he spawns in. About a week ago I actually witnessed him spawn in and then disappear again in probably less than ten seconds. A few other times I have had SilverDragon alert me of his presence and I just wasn't able to find him before he disappeared again. Not sure if this is really helpful information or not, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Aeonaxx Spawn Timer & Phasing

Spawn Timer


From evidence presented thus far, the spawn timer on Aeonaxx seems to be between 6-22+ hours just like the Time-Lost Proto Drake / Vyragosa spawns in Storm Peaks. What this means is that if Aeonaxx (or Blood Seeker) spawn that neither will spawn again for at least 6 hours and could be up to 22 hours or longer.

So, if your NPCScan goes off and you miss Aeonaxx or find the dreaded Blood Seeker in his place you can take a break for 6 hours!!

Phasing


For a while Aeonaxx campers thought that being in different phases within the zone affected whether or not you could see Aeonaxx or if NPCScan would go off if Aeonaxx spawned. This is not true. Not matter what phase you are in you will be able to see Aeonaxx, and if you are within range your NPCScan should go off. So if you haven't completed a single quest in Deepholm or you have completed all of them, it will not make a difference.

NPCScan

NPC scan is an absolute necessity if you plan on finding Aeonaxx. You can download it from Curse.com. I also highly recommend downloading NPCScan.Overlay as well. (NPCScan.Overlay adds an overlay to your map which displays where rare mobs patrol.) What NPCScan does is track rarely seen mobs in the game by proximity. When a rare npc is found npcscan checks your creature cache and the mob becomes "cached". It is extremely important that you clear your cache often. Npcscan will NOT be able to find a cached npc again until your cache has been cleared. Although kind of annoying, clearing your cache is relatively simple.

To clear your cache:

1. Exit World of Warcraft.
2. Delete the “Cache” sub-directory inside your World of Warcraft folder.  For example on a standard Windows XP installation, you would delete the folder “C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Cache”.
• Advanced users can delete “C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb” specifically to improve log-in times, where enUS is your language code.

When npcscan finds a rare spawn it will alert you with a loud sound. (I prefer to keep mine on the default setting.) Your screen will also pulse red and an animated button will appear displaying the name of the rare spawn and a small picture of it. When you click on the animated button npcscan will attempt targeting the rare spawn. I made a short fraps video testing the found alert below.

When you download npcscan it will have one npc ID for Aeonaxx, which is 50062. The ID 50062 is the one for Aeonaxx when he is still friendly before being mounted. Once mounted Aeonaxx's ID will change to 51236. Make sure you add this ID under the Custom NPCs tab. Put in the number 51236, world is optional (I put "Deepholm" in mine) and in the name field you can put in Aeonaxx. Be sure to hit the little + sign to add it to the list.

Another ID you are probably going to want to add is 3868. This ID is for Blood Seeker. Blood Seeker is a non-elite level 15 bat that torments us by sharing a spawn point with Aeonaxx. Blood Seeker spawns exactly where Aeonaxx spawns. If your npcscan goes off, and it's Blood Seeker that you've found you can be sure that Aeonaxx won't be spawning again for several hours. Here is a screenshot below of the pesky Blood Seeker in the Quartzite Basin Aeonaxx spawn location.

VIEW DISTANCE:

Make sure you have your view distance set to "ULTRA" when you are camping for Aeonaxx. If your video card can draw Aeonaxx your NPCScan will go off. If your settings are too low you may not see him if he spawns.

When you're ready to begin the hunt for Aeonaxx your Npcscan should look just like the one in the screenshot below. Note how all three NPC IDs are included: 50062, 51236 and 3868. Also notice how there are no red x's under the cached column.

Remember, DON'T FORGET TO CLEAR YOUR CACHE!! If Aeonaxx spawns and has been cached npcscan will not go off.

One Other very important piece of information I'd like to add is IF YOU TAB OUT OF THE GAME YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HEAR NPCSCAN IF IT GOES OFF. If you're planning on sitting your character on a spawn point and then tabbing out and browsing the web, this is not an option if you want to find Aeonaxx. This happened to me once when I was camping on my husbands toon. He had tabbed out of the game to research something on the web. When we got back into the game Npcscan's animated Aeonaxx button was right there in the middle of his screen, the alert was going off, his screen was flashing red and general chat was all about who downed Aeonaxx. We won't make that mistake again...

Videos and Coordinates of Each Aeonaxx Spawn Point

After massive research and seeing him spawn in one of the locations myself, I've put together some short fraps videos of each one of the spawn locations. The place where my character is hovering in each of the videos is approximately where Aeonaxx spawns give or take a few yards.

NE1 (51, 43):

NW1 (42,47):

NW2 (44, 43) This is Where Aeonaxx Spawned When I got him:

SE1 (52, 64):

SW1 (42, 60) This is the Most Highly Camped Location on my Sever:

SW2 (47, 57):

Although these are all approximate spawn points where Aeonaxx spawns, I did not camp him in any of those exact spots. I always camped roughly between two locations so that NPC scan would have a better chance of going off and if he spawned at either location I'd have an equally fast chance of getting to him before someone else.

Where Aeonaxx Spawns and Where I Found Him

When people originally began camping Aeonaxx they believed that he spawned in several different locations around deepholm and from the spawn location began to fly in a circular pattern around the Temple of the Earth. This was incorrect.

Aeonaxx has a total of six spawn locations as you can see from the map below~

The most popular camp point on my server is just above Quartzite Basin, circled in red below. This is commonly referred to as SW1 (42,60). Most times I began camping here someone would inevitably park their toon right on top of me moments later. Sometimes I would come back to my computer to see three or four people hovering around so I decided it was time to move.

Aeonaxx spawned for me in the location circled in green below, this location is commonly referred to as NW2 (44,43). I camped this spot for several weeks before my npc scan finally went off, and in that time I only ever once saw another camper at that location. If your on a high population server or your noticing a lot of other campers around Quartzite Basin I'd definitely recommend this particular spawn point. It is very close to another spawn point (npc scan should sound if he spawns in either location.)

When Aeonaxx spawns he will not fly in huge circles around the temple of the earth. When I saw Aeonaxx just after he spawned I observed him for a short time and his flight pattern. Aeonaxx was flying upward in small tight circles, never moving very far at all from the original spawn point. So if you think you can just leave your toon parked at one of the spawn points and eventually Aeonaxx will fly by, it's not a guarantee that you will see him or your npcscan will go off if he does spawn somewhere in the zone. Granted this was how I found him, but I happened to get lucky. Before I actually nabbed him I wouldn't be surprised if I missed him spawn once of twice because someone camping another spawn point got him first. If you aren't going to afk camp you'll have to be sure to check all spawn points regularly.

My Personal Aeonaxx Experience

How Long I Camped:

I spent a great deal of time camping for Aeonaxx before I finally snagged him. When I say "time" I mean time mostly afk while my toon flew near one of the spawn points with my volume turned way up so that I could hear NPC Scan go off if Aeonaxx were to appear. I personally recommend this method as sitting there staring at your screen waiting for him to fly buy would likely drive you insane. Every 15 min or so I would just tap my space bar as I walked by the computer. Most of my camping time happened while I was watching movies/TV or doing household chores within the vicinity of the computer. This method I'm sure took longer than someone who is continuously there, but it did work and I really wasted none of my own time.

Where I Camped:

I started off camping at what is currently the most popular (and most camped) spot, the Quartzite Basin. Once that became the official first confirmed spawn point people started to cluster there on my server. Any logical person could come to the conclusion that if Aeonaxx were to spawn with multiple people right on top of him your chances of snagging him would lower significantly. After much research I decided to change my regular spot to just NE of the entrance to the Stonecore. This had been reported as a spawn point and was close to another reported spawn point.

Use an Extra Account if you Can:

I also want to point out that sometimes I used TWO accounts to camp. Often times when my husband wasn't home I'd leave his toon parked NE of the Stonecore entrance, while I'd leave mine in the Quartzite Basin. I found this helpful as when I did find Aeonaxx my husbands NPC scan went off, and while I could see the spawn point from my own toon I couldn't see Aeonaxx and my NPC scan had not gone off. If you have access to an extra account the extra coverage is very nice.

The Spawn and Kill:

My husband's NPC scan went off around 2pm on a Friday. I had his Paladin flying just NE of the Stonecore entrance. Aeonaxx spawned a little lower then the height of the entrance itself and was flying upwards in small circles. I pondered jumping on my own toon who was in Quartzite Basin to head over there and grab him but I didn't want to miss the opportunity if someone else were to come along while I was heading there. I used my husband's pally to mount Aeonaxx and the fight took quite some time as he is a prot pally. The whelps didn't hit very hard at all and were very easy to kill, they pretty much died from aoe just seconds after they spawned. As Aeonaxx's health got low I paid attention to where my character was so that I'd be killing him in proximity to my own toon. (In other people's experience they could roll on the mount if grouped and close enough.) I finally got him down and although my character was very close when I downed him it was NOT CLOSE ENOUGH. I could not loot or trade the reins when they dropped.

Don't Give Up!

Not wanting to give up I decided to open up a ticket on both accounts explaining what had happened. I was told by numerous people that Blizzard wouldn't do anything about it, but I opened those tickets anyway. Well, I'm glad I did because 7 hours later I was contacted on my husbands account by an extremely friendly GM who said he would rectify the situation. He had me log off of the paladin and upon doing so the reins would disappear from his bag and the reins would be in my character's mail. I did as he asked and 5 minutes later the Reins of the Phosphorescent Stone Drake were mine! I was a happy camper! The GM did note however that just because he did this for me then, that it didn't mean that this was policy or could be done again. So do be aware that being grouped and closeby is not a guarantee you'll be able to loot the reins. You need to be very close apparently in order to do so.

Quick Overview of Aeonaxx and Fight

Like the Time-Lost Proto Drake, Aeonaxx is a rare-spawn who drops a very highly sought after flying mount, the Phosphorescent Stone Drake. Unlike the Time-Lost Proto Drake however, Aeonaxx will appear friendly to players until they get the option to mount him and kill him.

When you first see Aeonaxx he will be a normal silver dragon with a green name-plate over his head. Upon flying closer to him when you are in range a green "vehicle" arrow will appear. When you mount Aeonaxx the text on your screen will read "Kill Aeonaxx before his whelps overwhelm you."

At this point you need to start working on Aeonaxx's health (approx. 770k) while paying attention to the whelps that will be periodically spawning around him. The whelps are very easy to kill, but make sure you take them down immediately because too many can be overwhelming. Aeonaxx does no actual damage himself, all damage comes from the whelps.

Once Aeonaxx is dead you will be given a parachute and float to the ground with his body where you will be able to loot his corpse.