Ah, Thanksgiving, the holiday of relatives and food. In World of Warcraft you can enjoy the holiday without having to worry about the inlaws, long travel times, or anything else really. You will have to worry about the long travel times, frustrating turkey hunt, and well the walking. There is a lot of walking involved. Let's dig in!

2012 Changes

Cross-Realm Zones

You'll have to compete with other servers for the turkeys. This will create somewhat of a challenge for some players, although it shouldn't really affect anyone too severely.

Mists of Pandaria Cooking

There isn't much need to go through the effort of leveling cooking this way, since you can level it with vendors in MoP. That charm has been removed, although you can still do the quests and have the fun, just be warned though - there is now an easier way to go about it. So if you're wanting just the cooking, head to Halfhill.

2011 Changes

Nothing much changed in this holiday for the Cataclysm. The location of everything has remained the same.

Pilgrim's Bounty Basics

It mimics the American holiday of Thanksgiving and runs from the Sunday before Thanksgiving to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In 2012 this is November 18th to November 26th.

The entire holiday revolves around food and achievements. It is one of the cheapest and easiest ways for a lower level to level cooking fast. You can go from 0 to 300 skill in almost no time and get all of the daily quests done in the process. This is my one warning to you DO NOT BUY ANY PILGRIM'S BOUNTY FOOD ON THE AUCTION HOUSE. Please! Make it yourself, it'll be a lot cheaper and you're going to have to travel to the places anyway. If you're too low of a level then, like all holidays, let the achievements slide and focus on leveling or get a friend to cook you the food.

It takes two days to be able to get every achievement. You need 10 items total, 8 turkey shooters and 2 pieces of holiday clothing, and there are five daily quests available.

Anyway, basically there are three components to this holiday. The turkey hunt, the bountiful tables, and the daily quests/cooking. I've broken this down into four sections. The quick and dirty how to get each achievement and then the detailed instructions on how the tables, the hunt, and the daily quests work.

Achievements

[protip]The achievements ARE not required for the seasonal meta achievement as of now. They take two days to complete everything, at a bare minimum, and can be done by simply following the below guide.[/protip]


Sharing is Caring

Pass one of each dish at the Bountiful Table. This is doable at most major cities by just sitting down and throwing food (the default 1 key). See our table guide for more info on that.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Randomly given while passing food. You'll miss and it'll hit someone in the head.


Now We're Cooking!

Cook each of the recipes for Pilgrim's Bounty. You'll need a total skill of 280 in order to accomplish this.


Pilgrim's Paunch

Acquire the "Spirit of Sharing!" at a table in each of your friendly cities. Do this as you travel around for items/daily quests. Just sit down and get full off of each food available.


Pilgrim's Peril

Run into each major city and sit down at their tables while wearing the Pilgrim's Dress/Robe/or Attire. Easier than you think. The tables are outside of the cities, so you only need to run to them and have a seat. Once you sit everything becomes neutral to you and you can hop off, mount, and fly away.


Pilgrim's Progress

Complete each of the daily quests, which require 20 of each type of food. See our daily quest guide below.


Terrokar Turkey Time

Soloable for anyone level 80 or above. Go kill Talon King Ikiss in Terokkar while wearing the Pilgrim's outfit (Hat/Chestpiece).


The Turkinator

Kill 40 turkeys. See our turkey hunter guide below.


Turkey Lurkey

This is worded funny. You'll need 8 turkey blasters (from the daily quests) and you'll need to blast 8 Rogues (one of each available Rogue race). Do this in your capital city once you have the shooters.

Finally there is Pilgrim which gives you a turkey and a title. It requires all of the above achievements.

Bountiful Tables


The bountiful tables await during this holiday stocked full of food! It's almost kinda like Harry Potter, almost.

Ah, yes, the food. This is a holiday about food after all! The tables are easy enough to find. They're in most cities and outside of each major city. When you find one you'll see five chairs. Each chair works like a vehicle. There is one for "turkey", "cranberry", "sweet potato", "stuffing", and "pumpkin pie". When you sit down there will be six options and a dismount option. The first one passes food to another chair (a player doesn't need to be in that chair for you to pass it) and the others are for eating food. If food has been thrown at that chair or towards you then it'll show up there. This makes it easier/faster to do everything at a table with more people there.

Alright, so with this in mind, if you eat five of any food you'll gain well fed and whatever buff that food gives you. The buffs are as follows:

Turkey: Attack Power/Stamina
Pie: Spirit/Stamina
Stuffing: Hit Rating/Stamina
Cranberry: Spell Power/Stamina
Potato: Haste Rating/Stamina

The amount is affected by your level and is mostly for those leveling up (ergo why there is a table in most cities, even smaller camps, for people leveling up). So now is a great time to be leveling! Free food.

To get "Food Fight!" you have to throw food at someone until it bounces off their head. A random occurrence, it seems.

To get the "Spirit of Sharing!" you have to get well fed off of each food, this is soloable. Just hop chair to chair on the table. This applies double for Pilgrim's Paunch. You can solo each able, if you want.

Passing food, as I said before, requires you to select a player or a chair and pass it. The pass works for the achievement as long as you click "pass food" and it goes somewhere.

There is one quest to gain the Spirit of Sharing! at a table. It awards just gold, though.

[protip]Five helpings = one serving of food. Remember that! There is a counter on your buff bar that shows how many helpings you have. If you have a preference to one food you can cook its sister food with Cooking and carry it around with you during the holidays.[/protip]

Recipes, Food, and Daily Quests

This is a very big cooking event and introduces the cheapest way to grind cooking to 300 without having to explore all of Azeroth to get the materials yourself. It involves moving between three cities getting cooking ingredients to cook some delicious food. Here are the recipes which all come from the Bountiful Cookbook available at the vendors outside Thunder Bluff, Orgrimmar, and Undercity/Stormwind, Ironforge, and Darnassus along with regional supplies and holiday supplies.

Spice Bread Stuffing

Requires 1 cooking and uses 1x Spice Bread & 1x Autumnal Herbs. It'll give you a Hit Rating and Stamina buff based on your level.

Pumpkin Pie

Requires 100 cooking and uses 1x Ripe Tirisfal Pumpkin (Horde)/1x Ripe Elwynn Pumpkin (Alliance) and 1x Honey. The pumpkins are available in the Undercity for Horde/Stormwind for Alliance. Gives Spirit and Stamina.

Cranberry Chutney

Requires 160 cooking and uses 1x Tangy Southfury Cranberries (Horde)/1x Tangy Wetland Cranberries (Alliance) and 1x Honey. The cranberries are available in Orgrimmar and Ironforge. Gives Spell Power and Stamina.

Candied Sweet Potato

Requires 220 cooking and uses 1x Mulgore Sweet Potato (Horde)/1x Teldrassil Sweet Potato (Alliance), 1x Autumnal Herbs and 1x Honey. The potatoes are available in Thunder Bluff and Darnassus. Gives Haste Rating and Stamina.

Slow-Roasted Turkey

Requires 280 cooking and uses 1x Wild Turkey, 2x Honey, and 1x Autumnal Herbs. Turkeys are available outside Stormwind/Undercity and can be killed to give 1x Wild Turkey. Gives Attack Power and Stamina.

All of the reagents/food last only during the event, so keep that in mind when you stockpile it. The food is good for leveling, cheap buff food, and for daily quests.

There are a series of cooking quests that breadcrumb you through the daily quests/cooking vendors/recipes. Doing these will also get you enough supplies so you can pickup and do the daily quests without a lot of trouble. I'll give a guide for the Alliance and the Horde. When I say 45-80 Pumpkins, I mean enough for 2x dailies and 5 for the breadcrumb quest. The rest are for leveling purposes (you can gain about 60 points off of each recipe, but it would make 80 just for fun). The breadcrumb quests require you to CREATE the item, so unless you're on that step do not make the recipe yet. You will need to prepare 5 stuffing/cranberry chutney for one of the later steps so be sure to 5 of each away for then.

Horde

Get the breadcrumb quest from a commoner to find Miles Standish outside of the Undercity. He's going to want 5 Spice Bread Stuffing, but there are also daily quests here for Sweet Potatoes. So we'll pick that up, go to the cooking vendor nearby in the courtyard, and buy a Bountiful Cookbook, a ton of Honey/Spices, and about 45-80. Now, here is what you do. Use the Cookbook to get a ton of recipes. Learn them all, if you're a 280+ cook; otherwise just learn what you can. As we go along you'll want to grind on each recipe if you're not a high level cook. In that scenario BE SURE to buy plenty of supplies in each city. The recipes stay orange for a LONG time so you'll be able to easily grind to 300+ off of them and them alone (along with Spice Bread, a non-seasonal one).

Go outside, to Trisfal Glades, and hunt turkeys for about 50 Wild Turkey. That's enough for two days of daily quests and the other quests. Plus leveling!

Now, make 25 Spice Bread and 25 Spice Bread Stuffing. Turn in the Stuffing quest and get the Pumpkin Pie quest. Hearth to Dalaran/take a zeppelin/whatever and get to Orgrimmar. Now, here you'll have a daily for 20 Stuffing (done!) and another for Turkey, which you can complete if you're a 280 cook. If not, you'll need to return later. Turn in the pie quest and get one for cranberries. Now, purchase 50-85 Cranberries and make the Cranberry Chutney. Save 5 for later.

Now, fly/port/whatever to Thunderbluff. Here, turn in the cranberry quest and get the sweet potato quest. Again, buy 45-80 sweet potatoes and turn this quest in. The daily in TB is also Pumpkin Pie, which you have and can turn in here. Get a quest to take 5 cranberry chutney and 5 spice bread stuffing to the Undercity! Get to the Undercity in your preferred method of travel.

Now, since you're back at UC you can now turn in your previous daily which was for Cranberry Chutney and also finish your quest. The last step will ask for 5 Slow-Roasted Turkeys delivered to Orgrimmar. If you've done all of the recipes up to now until they were green you should be near or past 280 and can make the turkey. If you're a high level chef then just cook the turkey and hand it in. You'll get the Turkey Caller which will summon a Wild Turkey, but killing it doesn't work for The Turkinator.

That's it! For just the facts, here is where the supplies, quests, and dailies are.

Undercity

City Ingredient: Trisfal Pumpkins, Wild Turkey outside
Daily Quest: Cranberry Chutney, Candied Sweet Potato
Regular Quests: Stuffing, Stuffing/Cranberry Chutney, and Turkey (5 of each).

Orgrimmar

City Ingredient: Tangy Southfury Cranberries
Daily Quests: Slow-Roasted Turkey, Spice Bread Stuffing
Regular Quest: Candied Sweet Potato

Thunder Bluff

City Ingredient: Mulgore Sweet Potato
Daily Quests: Pumpkin Pie
Regular Quest: Cranberry Chutney

Alliance

Go to Jasper Moore outside the gates of Stormwind and pick up the Spice Bread Stuffing quest. Now, the big question is are you at 0 cooking or are you at 280 cooking or somewhere between. As I give directions I'll mention pick up 45-80 of a certain ingredient and what I mean is 45 if you're a high level cook and the recipe doesn't affect you or 80 if you're going to grind cooking. Anyway, you'll also pick up a daily quest here for Cranberry Chutney and Candied Sweet Potatoes, neither you can make yet without the proper ingredients. Now, that you have the quests find the cooking vendor and purchase 45-80 flour/spices and make 50-80 Spice Bread. You'll need 40 for two days worth of daily quests and 10 more for the breadcrumb quests.

Now, when you have the bread done go ahead and make the stuffing. It'll require some herbs, off the same vendor. When you have all of the stuffing made, turn in the quest and pick up the next one for Pumpkin Pie in Ironforge. Pick up 45-80 Ripe Elwynn Pumpkins and make all of them into Pumpkin Pie. Also, go outside into Elwynn Forest and kill about 45 turkeys for 45 Wild Turkey. Now travel to Ironforge via bird, tram, or teleport. Don't waste your hearth yet.

In Ironforge you'll turn in that quest and get one to make Cranberry Chutney. Ironforge also has cranberries, so load up on the appropriate amount and start cooking. You can also turn in 20 Spice Bread Stuffing here for Ironforge's Daily, but you'll have to return to do the Slow-Roasted Turkey (unless you have 280 cooking, then you can just make it now and turn it in assuming you farmed turkey earlier). Remember to save 5 cranberries for later. They're available at the Ironforge vendor. When you're done return to Stormwind to turn in that quest.

Once you're back at Stormwind you'll want to turn in the cranberries and get the next one, 5 Spice Bread Stuffing and 5 Cranberry Chutney. Make that and then hearth/port/boat to Darnassus and turn in that quest. The next one will be for 5 Candied Sweet Potatoes which can be made in Darnassus. Do it and return back to Stormwind again for the last step: 5 Slow-Roasted Turkeys. Before you go, know that the daily quest in Darnassus is Pumpkin Pie which you should have plenty of by now.

You should have farmed up the turkey earlier on, so cook 5 of 'em up and head to Darnassus where you'll do your final turn-in. You'll get the Turkey Caller which will summon a Wild Turkey, but killing it doesn't work for The Turkinator. You should also have enough sweet potatoes/cranberries to turn in both Stormwind Dailies.

That's it! If you want just the facts here they are:

Stormwind

Ingredients: Ripe Elwynn Pumpkin and Wild Turkey
Daily Quests: Cranberry Chutney and Candied Sweet Potato
Regular Quests: Spice Bread Stuffing and Cranberry Chutney

Ironforge

Ingredient: Tangy Wetland Cranberries
Daily Quests: Slow-Roasted Turkey and Spice Bread Stuffing
Regular Quests: Pumpkin Pie

Darnassus

Ingredient: Teldrassil Sweet Potato
Daily Quest: Pumpkin Pie
Regular Quests: Spice Bread Stuffing, Slow-Roasted Turkey, and Cranberry Chutney.

Turkey Hunting


Get ready to throw your keyboard in this event when your 39 tracker count gets reset.

The final part of the holiday is turkey hunting. The Turkinator is perhaps one of the most frustrating achievements out there because it is right in front of you but at the same time feels impossible. Don't worry, it's not impossible. Just really hard and based on luck for the most part.

Now, when you kill a Wild Turkey you'll get "Turkey Tracker" which is counting how many turkeys you have killed. It lasts 30 seconds and is refreshed by killing another turkey. Every turkey you kill will add 1 to the count. At 40 turkeys you will get the achievement.

The turkeys are in Trisfal Glades and Elwynn Forest, but here is the catch. You have 30 seconds between one kill and the next to refresh the buff or it goes away. So you have to constantly be killing turkeys! The thing again is mounting takes time so does finding the next turkey and if they're hunted you may go more than 30 seconds without seeing your next turkey which is bad!

You have a few options. The first one is trial and error, preferably in the early morning when few players are on, of just going out and trying to kill 40 in a row without a hitch. You can do it if you're fast enough and I haven't found a set pattern that the turkeys wander in, although they seem to really like to bunch up in some places.

The other option is a search party. Get together with as many other friends as you can and group up. Now if someone else kills a turkey it will NOT give you the point. So have your friends hunt the turkeys and call it out when they see one. That way you can travel between friends who have found a turkey and not search yourself. When you arrive have that friend dash off in search of another turkey. If you have 2 or more friends doing this then you won't have much trouble at all unless luck turns against you. If you do it in a group be sure to switch spots when you get your achievement and help your friends.

FAQ

How do I get all of the daily quests done?

Simply go Org/TB/UC or SW/Darn/IF and give 20 of each type of food to the daily quest givers there. For more info (if this confuses you) see the above guide.

My Turkey Shooter didn't give me credit for a Rogue I shot with it. How does it work?

You have to shoot a Rogue player with it who doesn't already have the Turkey Shooter buff (turning them into a turkey). If they have the buff you won't get credit. The Turkey Shooter is consumed and comes from doing the daily quests.

How many daily quests will I need to do?

Ten or two days worth. You need 8 Turkey Shooters and 2 pieces of clothing (I don't believe the boots are needed) in order to get all of the achievements related to the daily quests.

How do I cook all of this food if I'm at 0 cooking?

The cooking recipes will take you from 0 to 300 without needing to farm anything but turkeys which are level 1 critters and the ingredients cost a few copper! It's the easiest and fastest way ever to level cooking.

Will of my food disappear after the event?

Yes. All of the event items will go away including the ability to make the event food until the event happens again.

Does Pilgrim's Bounty count towards What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been?

Nope, but if you finish it you'll get the Pilgrim title and a turkey pet!

Well that's all folks. Have a happy holiday season!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Get in the bush with David "Xerin" Piner as he leverages his spectacular insanity to ask the serious questions such as is Master Yi and Illidan the same person? What's for dinner? What are ways to elevate your gaming experience? David's column, Respawn, is updated near daily with some of the coolest things you'll read online, while David tackles ways to improve the game experience across the board with various hype guides to cool games.

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