It seems like Achievements have been in World of Warcraft forever but there will always be those which are seldom seen. They were instituted with the Wrath of the Lich King pre-expansion patch and, at launch, there were just 749. As of this patch, Hour of Twilight, there were 1401 and these cover PvE, PvP, Feats of Strength, you name it! Some of them even come with bonuses, like mounts, titles, pets and tabards, too. Okay, you can’t do anything with your actual Achievement points but it doesn’t matter, there’s something about that noise which is the in-game equivalent of a cold pint on a hot day, being paid or finding a bar of your favorite chocolate.

Some Achievements are earned without thinking about it. Many are simple and can be gained by achieving a certain level or doing a specific in-game action but others can take months of dedication. There are even some ? Feats of Strength - which are the Achievement version of legendaries.

Before we talk about Achievements, though, it’s important to make the distinction between rare and hard to get. Yes, a lot of the rare ones are hard to get but not all of the hard to get ones are rare. Does that make sense? No, well it doesn’t matter, that’s why we’re here!

So, what is the rarest Achievement in game?

Insane in the Membrane

Yes, this is the one. There’s a reason you get as a title. This Achievement is the pinnacle of hard to get - so much so that it’s also a Feat of Strength. It involves becoming exalted with Booty Bay, Gadgetzan, Ratchet, Everlook, the Darkmoon Faire, Ravenholdt and the Bloodsail Bucaneers. The trick is, though, not only does this take a lot of time and effort, you also have to alienate the goblin cartels in order to get yourself on good terms with the pirates.

Before Cataclysm, you also had the Shen’dralar in the mix which involved becoming the best of pals with a Highborne sect in Dire Maul. With the latest expansion, however, the Highborne have rejoined the Alliance so Blizzard retired the ability to get rep with the Faction. That said, it’s no longer required but that doesn’t mean this Achievement is any easier, it just takes a little less time. Regardless, this is the one Achievement which is hardly ever seen. Only the hardest of the hardcore rep grinders is even going to even attempt it.

Scourer of the Eternal Sands and One Hump or Two?

Next on the list is the slightly easier but still uber rare, if you do it properly. Technically you can get One Hump or Two? By buying a camel mount from Ramkahen after becoming exalted with the Tol’vir but where’s the fun in that? The other way to get it is to scour Uldum for Mysterious Camel Figurine and then kill Dormus the Camel-Herder in a phased version of the Steam Pools.

When he’s dead, you’ll then be awarded the Reins of the Grey Riding Camel, an epic ground mount. You’ll also get the Achievement Scourer of the Eternal Sands and a title
. Now not only does it take a lot of time and dedication to get Scourer of the Eternal Sands, which isn’t surprising given the name, but it’s still one of the rarer Achievements currently in-game.

Some Achievements are rarer than others.

They Love Me in That Tunnel

Hands up who remembers the great Timbermaw grind? There was a time when the only was for non-Druids to get into Moonglade without the neutral flight point (usually gained during the Lunar Festival) or Winterspring was to run through Timbermaw Hold. This subterranean byway linked Felwood with Moonglade, Winterspring as well as a closed off entrances to Azshara and Mount Hyjal.

The thing is, the Timbermaw Furbolgs didn’t like adventurers wandering through their territory so the only way to do it safely - without corpse-running it - was to make them like you, by raiding your rep from hated to revered. Most people stopped once they dinged revered but not everyone. You see, during vanilla, you could get a cool trinket called Defender of the Timbermaw which was perfect for twinks. When Achievements were introduced, Blizzard decided to reward those patient souls who made the Furbolgs love them with what has to be one of the most amusing names for an Achievement.

Higher Learning

Introduced with Cataclysm and the floating city of Dalaran was a rather frustrating Achievement called Higher Learning. This sounds simple and rewarded a cool pet, the Kirin Tor Familiar which resembles a Void Walker. Most people go for this for the pet but lore nerds also love the fact that the pet is given to you by the Archmage Vargoth who we last met, albeit via his infamous staff, during TBC in Kirin’Var.

Of course, there’s a catch. To complete the Achievement, you have to read a selection of books around Dalaran. The problem is they randomly spawn and, due to the number of players who were trying to grab them, made it a very tricky Achievement for players to get on many servers. Even now, with Dalaran a ghost town, it’s still a rare Achievement as few people have the dedication to find all the tomes needed.

Mr. Pinchy’s Magical Crawdad Box

This Achievement is an oldie but a goody and involves fishing up a Magical Crawdad Box from Highland mixed fishing pools in Terrokar Forest. Sounds boring, right? Well actually, it’s not the box which is important; it’s the chance to catch Mr. Pinchy.

Mr. Pinchy is named after Homer’s pet lobster in The Simpsons episode “Lisa Gets An ‘A’” and this magical crustacean will grant you three wishes. These can include two different level 70 forms of Mr. Pinchy, one is friendly and acts as your protector and the other who attacks you and your party or a box of potions. It’s rare because Mr. Pinchy comes with three charges - the aforementioned “wishes” and there’s no telling what you’ll get.

So there you have it, five of the rarer Achievements you might not have seen in-game of late. Let us know what Achievements you think are rare in the comments box.