Pretty much since its inception, World of Warcraft has made a point to include just-for-fun items that were more about personal expression and enjoyment. Later called “toys,” these objects helped out with roleplay sessions and keeping groups entertained while waiting for that last straggler to arrive.
Back in the early days of everyone’s favorite expansion, Warlords of Draenor, toys were given their own panel in the collections interface, and players started scouring the game to get them all. While most toys offer silly or cosmetic effects, what’s fascinated me are how a select few are actually beneficial in ways beyond amusement.
So today’s list is all about the most useful World of Warcraft toys — those goofy objects that have a greater purpose in your online journey.
Katy Stampwhistle
This is the toy that kicked off the idea for this list, because ever since I got it, I’ve been tickled with the ability to summon a mailbox (in Gnome form) wherever I was in the world. Getting Katy isn’t super-easy, but it is quite fun, as it requires investigating a secret post office in Dalaran and helping to deliver mail. Alternatively, Engineers can craft the MOLL-E mailbox for the same purpose. But is it as cute?
Innkeeper’s Daughter
I will never pass up any opportunity to gain another hearth or teleport, although I don’t know if I would grind Archaeology hardcore to get this toy. In any case, the Innkeeper’s Daughter operates as an additional hearthstone, whisking you away to your bound location. Unfortunately, it shares the regular hearthstone cooldown (as does the similarly working Etheral Portal), so it’s kind of a hearth cosmetic upgrade. But it does have a useful function, plus it gives you a kind of ghostly pet for a while afterward.
Slow Fall
There are a selection of toys that I’m going to put in this one category, because pretty much all of them give players the ability to slow down their falling speed and/or glide a bit to their destination. Unfortunately, some of these toys can only be used in certain expansion zones, such as Whispers of Rai’Vosh (Warlords of Draenor) and Rocfeather Skyhorn Kite (Legion). They’re certainly nice to have for those regions, though!
Crystalline Campfire
While this looks like one of those Himalayan rock salt diffuser whatevers, this campfire (and its brethren) functions as a portable cooking station. That’s certainly nice to have, but I maintain that any MMO should let you set up a campfire just for ambiance.
S.E.L.F.I.E. Camera
Yeah, this is definitely on the dumb side of the useful spectrum, but I’d argue that the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera adds functionality to the game as an additional way to take screenshots. The addition of filters kind of sealed the deal with me on its inclusion.
Sturdy Love Fool
Sometimes you just need to take out a whole lot of frustration on something, and it’s better to do that on a punching dummy than a friend. But the Sturdy Love Fool is quite useful if you find that having a repeatedly summonable target dummy helps with testing out different builds and rotations for maximum DPS.
Safari Hat
If you’re a pet battler, then this safari hat is a must. It’s not actually worn as a hat, mind you, but can be activated to give you a sweet 10% boost to your pet battle experience gained. That’s pretty darn useful when you consider
Unstable Portal Emitter
When you want to get away from it all, there are plenty of ways to travel in World of Warcraft. Most of them are too predictable and boring, however. If you’re not too picky about your travel destination, you might want to try the services of the Unstable Portal Emitter. Every half-hour, this toy can be used to port you to a random place from a list that includes Silithus, Nagrand, and Zangarmarsh. Happy travels!
Sightless Eye
Only usable in Legion zones, the Sightless Eye greatly shrinks your aggro range for 10 minutes (with a mere five-minute cooldown). Basically, this lets you engage mobs when you want to — or pretty much avoid them entirely. That’s nice when you’re trying to do a quest or world quest that would only be slowed by getting into combat.
Anglers Fishing Raft
Before customizable mounts made water walking a lot more common, players were always looking for ways to quickly scoot over lakes and oceans. This fishing raft did the trick — and still does, especially if you want to get the full Huck Finn experience. It’s kind of a fun toy to use since you can make it go faster and faster by jamming on the spacebar.
Of course, this merely scratches the surface of WoW’s toy chest! Which other toys do you find useful — and in what ways?
Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”
