Whimsyshire? Whimsydale? Two mysterious pony filled lands you can explore in Diablo 3

Yes, there’s not just one, but two lands full of ponies and stuffed animals and rainbows in Diablo 3. These magical places, denied by some, are accessible through strange portals, but despite their similarities there are some differences between the two. These places are brightly colored and magical — you could easily get lost in their twisting paths through rainbow arches and smiling clouds, but be warned. Just because the residents are as polychromatic as the land they inhabit, it doesn’t follow that they aren’t dangerous.

Now, adventurer, let me prepare you for the lands of Whimsyshire and Whimsydale.

Why are there two magical pony lands?

The simplest answer is because the developers of Diablo 3 love you very much.

The more complicated answer is because people simply couldn’t calm down about Diablo 3‘s color palette. When Diablo 3 was in development, some players were less that enthusiastic with what they saw as a garish, more brightly colored game than its predecessor. Now, I have no idea what they’re talking about — Diablo 3 is not, in my estimation, a particularly bright or colorful game for the most part. But the developers decided to continue a tradition from Diablo 2, namely the Secret Cow Level, and this time take the opportunity to poke a little fun at those players who felt like the game was too bright and colorful. Thus was Whimsyshire born. In order to reach this magical land of treasure and rioting pantone swatches and teddy bears (seriously) you have to assemble the Staff of Herding,

The Staff of Herding is not something you can just go to the Blacksmith and craft, although you will need him to make it — it requires notable finds from throughout Sanctuary, some of which you will need to farm for to pick up. None of these are guaranteed drops — sometimes the items drop from an elite like Chiltara and if it doesn’t spawn you’ll need to reset the entire map to try again, or the item simply won’t be present and you’ll have to reload the quest or map to get another chance for it to spawn. You can farm for these materials in Story or Adventure Mode, and Adventure Mode might be easier because it won’t require you to restart a questline to reset a map.

• The Black Mushroom in Tristram Cathedral in Act 1
• Leoric’s Shinbone in the fireplace at Leoric’s Manor, also in Act 1
• Liquid Rainbow, found in a Mysterious Chest inside a Mysterious Cave in the Dahlgur Oasis.
• Wirt’s Bell, available from Squirt the Pedder in the Act II starting location
• Gibbering Gemstone, lootable from Chiltara in the Caverns of Frost in Act III
• Plan: Staff of Herding drops from Izual in Act IV on your way to the Crystal Arch.

After you’ve assembled all of these necessary components, you teach the plans to your Blacksmith and he crafts the Staff for a cool 50,000g. You then take the Staff to the Old Tristram Ruins, where you will find a cow skeleton near a rift in the earth. If you have the staff, the ghost of the Cow King will appear and offer you a quest to explore a land of wonder, danger, mystery and ponies. The rift will then turn into a giant rainbow of light and you’ll be able to travel to Whimsyshire. In this magical land, you will be fighting Unicorns, Teddy Bears and Pink Flowers, and finding and clicking on gift boxes and happy clouds for loot. There are unique monsters in Whimsyshire, but they’re all variations on the mobs that spawn there, although one mob unique to Whimsyshire, Sir William, drops an item that will allow you to add the Whimsyshire rainbow portrait to your character.

That explains Whimsyshire, but what about Whimsydale?

Well, Whimsydale is an extremely similar realm — in fact, it’s the exact same tileset. But while Whimsyshire requires you to assemble the Staff of Herding, Whimsydale requires you to murder a Goblin. The location of this Rainbow Goblin is entirely random, and slaughtering it before it can escape opens a rainbow portal to Whimsydale. In Whimsydale, the same kinds of mobs and unique monsters can spawn with the exception of Sir William, so you can’t get the rainbow character portrait frame anywhere but Whimsyshire. You can, however, farm for the Cosmic Wings  from the Whimsydale specific Unicorn rare, Princess Lilian. That’s right, only in Whimsydale can you murder a unicorn and get cool glowing wings.

Also, Whimsydale is extremely lucrative. While Whimsyshire most exists for the portrait frame and the sense of accomplishment, getting to go to Whimsydale means lots of gold, crafting materials and gemstones. It rivals the Realm of Greed in terms of pure financial reward and loot to be on offer.

Hopefully that helps you keep the two Whimsys straight, and best of luck to you if you decide to exploit… er, I mean explore these wondrous locations.