Whimsyshire

Whimsyshire (a.k.a. Pony Level) is an easter egg level in Diablo III, similar to the Secret Cow Level of Diablo II.

Overview
The enemy monsters featured here are flowers, unicorns, and teddy bears. The level itself is created in a style different from the rest of the game, the map having been drawn to look like a child's painting. Normal world objects, chests, health globes etc. are replaced by toys, happy clouds, sweeties etc. The monster death animations, however, remain as gory as in the rest of the game.

Monsters are also specific to that zone:


 * Unicorns


 * Teddy Bears


 * Pink Flowers

The Whimsyshire portrait can only be obtained in Whimsyshire.

Whimsyshire was originally made as a response to criticism regarding the game's graphics being "too cartoon-like" and "too bright".

A dark version of the Whimsyshire layout may appear in Nephalem Rifts, regardless whether you have been to this level or not. The Dark Whimsyshire may or may not come with its monsters.

A nearly identical zone exists called Whimsydale, which only appears if one kills a Rainbow Goblin, and is the only place one can obtain the Cosmic Wings. Despite the similarities to Whimsyshire, in Whimsydale the happy clouds and lovely presents will drop gold, gems, and items significantly more often.

Gaining entry
Whimsyshire can be accessed through the following steps (Note: as they have become account bound, these items cannot be collected from other players):

Acquire all items

 * Black Mushroom &mdash; Spawns on the first level of Tristram Cathedral in Act I.
 * Leoric's Shinbone (PC/Mac version only) &mdash; Is located randomly in the fireplace in Leoric's Manor in Act I.
 * Liquid Rainbow (PC/Mac version only) &mdash; Is found in a Mysterious Cave within Dahlgur Oasis. The cave is opened by Zaven the Alchemist after he has been saved from a pack of Deathly Haunts in Act II. The item is located within a Mysterious Chest. Neither Zaven nor the chest are guaranteed to appear.
 * Wirt's Bell &mdash; Sold by Squirt the Peddler in the Hidden Camp in Act II for 100,000 gold (25,000 on the console version).
 * Gibbering Gemstone &mdash; Dropped by Chiltara in level 2 of the Caverns of Frost in Act III.
 * Plan: Staff of Herding &mdash; Dropped randomly by Izual in Act IV.


 * For the Xbox 360, PS3, and Xbox One versions, only the Black Mushroom, Wirt's Bell and Gibbering Gemstone (as well as the Plans) are required for crafting the staff. Although it is not required, Leoric's Shinbone will still drop.

Build Staff of Herding

 * Teach Haedrig how to build the Staff of Herding. The recipe includes all of the items mentioned previously, plus a one-time cost of 50,000 gold. (5,000 on console version)

Talk to the Ghost of the Cow King

 * Put the Staff of Herding in your inventory (it's not necessary to equip it). Note that the staff is permanent and it is not consumed; in fact, you can replay the Whimsyshire level as many times as you like.
 * Whimsyshire can be accessed in both Adventure and story mode. If necessary, change quest and select Act I (e.g. "A Shattered Crown" or later).
 * To get to Whimsyshire, take the The Old Ruins waypoint and head back northwest towards Cain's house. On the Old Tristram Road hugging the south wall, you will see a rainbow colored rift and there should be a Skeletal Corpse (of a cow) and a rift in one of the crevices in the ground. Player's followers, if any, will comment on this sight. If you have the Staff, the Ghost of the Cow King will appear with a quest indicator above his head. Once finished, click on the rift which should be now glowing rainbow colors, to enter Whimsyshire.

Higher difficulty levels
As of version 2.0, any Staff of Herding will allow access to Whimsyshire on any difficulty. Previously, though, to access Whimsyshire on higher difficulties (nightmare, hell, inferno), the Staff of Herding must be upgraded. To do so, plans must be acquired from the quartermaster near your followers in Bastion's Keep in Act IV (Prime Evil, before killing Diablo), but you must defeat Azmodan on the difficulty above the plan you wish to acquire before the merchant will sell it (e.g. kill Azmodan on Hell to purchase the Nightmare plan). In the PS3 version, the player must kill Izual in their current game before the plans for that difficulty will be available from Gorell. However, for Inferno plan, you have to complete the game on Inferno difficulty. Only the previous Staff of Herding is required to craft the newer staff, but it costs a substantial amount of gold. Once you have upgraded your staff, it can still be used to access the lower difficulties. Once upgraded, the name of the staff will change.


 * Normal: Staff of Herding


 * Nightmare: Nightmarish Staff of Herding
 * Requires that you are on Prime Evil of Nightmare Mode. Costs 20,000 Gold for plans and 200,000 to make (10,000 on console).


 * Hell: Hellish Staff of Herding
 * Requires that you are on Prime Evil of Mode. Costs 50,000 Gold for plans and 500,000 to make (20,000 on console).


 * Inferno: Infernal Staff of Herding
 * Requires that you are on Prime Evil of Inferno Mode. Costs 100,000 Gold for plans and 1,000,000 to make (50,000 on console).

Trivia
"Whimsyshire came about due to an internal discussion following comments that a rainbow was in the game. Just before the Fields of Misery where you're crossing a bridge we have a rainbow created from the mist of the river because - you know, THAT'S WHAT LIGHT DOES. What ensued was an internal debate on whether or not there are rainbows in Diablo. It was the "gothic, dark world where all hope is lost" vs. "if you're going to save the world you need beauty that's worth fighting for" with a little bit of "uh... laws of physics?" thrown in. In the midst of that debate one of our insanely talented environment artists Pete drew the Diablo 3 rainbow image and the team thought it was so awesome we had to turn it into a playable level."

- Wyatt Cheng


 * Whimsyshire is Team 3's favorite Easter egg.


 * There is a chance to uncover a tombstone that reads RIP Pancakes near a tree in Whimsyshire.


 * Whimsyshire was created in response to criticisms by fans that the graphics of Diablo III were too colorful when compared to the first two games. The crux of the matter was a rainbow seen in the Fields of Misery in a gameplay demo, where when the player crossed the bridge, there was a rainbow created from the mist of the river. An internal debate followed as to whether to include rainbows in the game. One argument was that Sanctuary was a "gothic, dark world where all hope is lost," while the counter-point was that "if you're going to save the world, you need beauty that's worth fighting for." In the midst of this was the question of the laws of physics in regards to light. In the midst of the debate, a Team 3 artist drew the zone's rainbow image (see above). The team were so impressed, they decided to turn it into a playable level.


 * Heroes of the Storm features an optional Happy Cloud mount for heroes.