Ban’thalos is one of the many challenge tames added back in patch 4.2. This level 85 spirit beast can be found in Hyjal, circling high above the Sanctuary of Malorne (around 28,62). The challenge to this tame is the sheer height Ban’thalos spawns at. You need to be able to get aggro and land on solid ground without killing yourself.
There are a couple of ways to pull off the tame, but first you need to have progressed the Hyjal quest lines up until you’ve unlocked the Molten Front daily quest area. If you haven’t yet, this quest will be available on your city’s “call to arms” board. Ban’thalos will be outside of your phase until you do this, along with Magria and Ankha who are also nearby.
The easiest way I found to tame Ban’thalos is with slow fall. Before you do this, make sure to take off your legendary cloak (the proc will kill Ban’thalos) and most of your gear so you don’t accidentally kill it. Fly above it, dismount, throw on Serpent Sting, and pop slow fall. Once you land start the tame immediately before you lose aggro. A well-timed Disengage will also work in place of slow fall.
You can also land on one of the tree tops without slowfall with a little trial and error. Once you do, dismount and make sure you’re still standing. If you are, mount up and fly directly upward. Now when Ban’thalos flies into range, you can dismount, shoot, and you should land back on top of the tree. If you don’t hit the tree you’ll probably take lethal fall damage.
I found this one of the easier spirit beasts to find simply because most people without NPCScan installed don’t even know it’s there, and a lot of players still haven’t unlocked this phase in Hyjal.
It’s a very flashy, unique looking pet. The wing tracers have to be my favorite part. Good luck on the hunt.
Click here to see previous pets of the week.
The big challenge getting him before was the crowd of people hanging around due to Molten Front dailies. Lots of cross faction killing of him
Exactly. Now the place is very dead, and the few people there leveling don’t even have the phase unlocked. The only thing to worry about is other hunters.
Wow comment fail above…
I seem to have the worst luck taming spirit beasts…or I lack the ability to camp and patiently wait for a tame. Maybe I’ll give this guy a shot. It’s a toss up whether I get Ban’thalos or Ghostcrawler first!
What I do when looking for a pet is just log off where it spawns, and when I log back in there’s another chance for it. I found the elusive King Krush this way, and several others. I find the most difficult ones are the Northrend spirit beasts as they tend to get camped the most (especially Loque and Arcturis).
Little late, but i just found this place, it is quite nice.
There is also a tree, which you can land on after you demount pull him.
Just fly to the tree tops and find the one you can land on, then fly a little upwards in the air and wait for him to come around, then demount and shot him to aggro him, if all goes well you should land in the tree safely and he will then come to you, there will be no fear of losing aggro with him.
Arcturus is my Everest. I’ll have to try the logout and camp strat. Something has to work!
To each his own, I guess, since I don’t like this spirit beast. “The wing tracers have to be my [least] favorite part.” 😀
Of course, these days since hunters don’t take fall damage, it’s just a matter of camping.
I love this series, pet of the week that is. Thanks for doing it, nice reminders. 🙂
Duh. Totally forgot to mention Disengage as another option. Thanks for the reminder.
The wing tracers are my sole reason to pull out this pet. It annoys my guild master to no end when I bring this to raids. Even better when used with glyphed stampede.
Where can I get that night elf armor? I’ve already captured Ban’thalos but that armor set would look so good in my elf
http://eyesofthebeast.com/2014/03/hunter-transmog-shado-pan-hunter/