So they went and done it and put Pandas into WoW. As expected there was a lot of reaction from the official community along with the usual number of 'I quit !!!!' posts.
So some people do take this game very seriously indeed, there was a good post on the forums which explianed why this thinking was flawed using Taurens and Worgen as examples.
I have to admit I was a little dubious about the Pandas, but not enough to even consider a rage-quit. In fact I signed up for Annual Pass, this is a great deal unless you are going to rage quit. The value of the bonus items; an exclusive mount and a free copy of Diablo 3 amount to some 5+ months of the subscription and then there is the automatic beta invite.
So on to the FAQ
The Pandaren start at level 1 and have there own start area before arriving in the normal zones just like Goblins and Worgen. I wonder how chat will be handled, presumably you can all chat until you pick your faction at level 10.
Monks are hybrids Tank/Healer/DPS and will play in a beat'em up style, no auto attack.
Pandaren cannot become death knights, the only race that cannot.
Level cap raised to 90
A big focus on things to do at level cap apart from raiding/arenas
New minigame involving vanity pets
No new professions
Major overhaul of talents that can be picked independently of spec.
No flying in Pandaria until level cap
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Friday, 12 August 2011
King Slacker?
I have recently been spending a bit of time on my only level 85 character. A Death Knight (of course) who I had gradually got to level cap just before patch 4.2 was released. Because I wanted to do the new dailies it meant doing most of the Hyjal quests, although I had levelled in Vashj’ir. I still had a lot of zones to complete and ended up hoping from one zone to the next without completing any. As a result I only unlocked the Deepholm quests a week ago, still at least now I can do my 25 daily quests (2 in Orgrimmar, 7 in Deepholm and 16 in Firelands). I don’t always manage to do them everyday either.
I had been languishing in the lower level of our guild up until a couple of weeks ago. Our guild is far from hardcore, we reached level 18 yesterday and have our 2nd anniversary coming up next week. In fact we embrace our reputation as slackers. This has allowed me to ‘stealth’ my way into the top ten on the lifetime guild activity list, I would have only been 11th but we kicked out some people who had been inactive for over 3 months. In fact last week I was top of the weekly activity, largely due to completing the Deep into Deepholm achievement before moving on to Uldum. After one day of this weeks dailies I am comfortably ahead on weekly activity of all those ahead of me on the lifetime list.
I found it necessary to gear up in order to make the Firelands dailies less of a struggle, you see I haven’t been inside an instance since Azjol-Nerub (the only instance I have completed on this character). A trip to Ask Mr Robot http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear showed me how to get some AH gear up to the job, I still lack a few pieces and have some reputation to grind for others. However it shows you can gear up without grouping if you have some gold to spend, I have probably spent over 45k gold so far. 27k on a weapons alone! Fortunately my mining ‘research’ in Outlands has led to a steady stream of gold as well as from Herbalism/Skinning on my DK. It is well worth taking your time in Firelands as there are plenty of mobs to skin. In spite of this my gold is very much depleted.
I had been languishing in the lower level of our guild up until a couple of weeks ago. Our guild is far from hardcore, we reached level 18 yesterday and have our 2nd anniversary coming up next week. In fact we embrace our reputation as slackers. This has allowed me to ‘stealth’ my way into the top ten on the lifetime guild activity list, I would have only been 11th but we kicked out some people who had been inactive for over 3 months. In fact last week I was top of the weekly activity, largely due to completing the Deep into Deepholm achievement before moving on to Uldum. After one day of this weeks dailies I am comfortably ahead on weekly activity of all those ahead of me on the lifetime list.
I found it necessary to gear up in order to make the Firelands dailies less of a struggle, you see I haven’t been inside an instance since Azjol-Nerub (the only instance I have completed on this character). A trip to Ask Mr Robot http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear showed me how to get some AH gear up to the job, I still lack a few pieces and have some reputation to grind for others. However it shows you can gear up without grouping if you have some gold to spend, I have probably spent over 45k gold so far. 27k on a weapons alone! Fortunately my mining ‘research’ in Outlands has led to a steady stream of gold as well as from Herbalism/Skinning on my DK. It is well worth taking your time in Firelands as there are plenty of mobs to skin. In spite of this my gold is very much depleted.
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Instances - the non-gamer and me
My non-gamer friend and I are working our way through 2-manning instances as we level (currently at level 56). Mainly the instances are green when we do them. This means we get XP and some gear upgrades from them, although they are also supported by Tailoring, Blacksmithing and Engineering (no heirlooms though). We also make good use of Elixirs and buff foods enchants etc. So far we have cleared all the instances up to Black Rock Depths with the exception of RFC (we have never grouped through LFG) and SFK (last boss stopped us at the appropriate level). We have also done all the bosses except Willey Hopebreaker (Stratholme – the Horde), damage races will remain a problem when two manning content. We haven’t one shotted all the content though, Dire Maul – Grodok Commons in particular was a stiff challenge with us even wiping on trash at times.
She won’t play female characters, I balance this by making all my tanks female – although we have done all the instances on my warrior so far. And won’t play Horde, they are too ugly.
The non-gamer has gone from struggling with moving and fighting their way around the start zone (1-5) to suggesting boss strategies and playing the auction house. Crafting professions however still remain something they don’t have any interest in, they tried enchanting but didn’t really get it. On the other hand I have come to dread them calling “Oh! Herbs!” Especially in instances. They have at various points cornered the low level leather market (up to heavy leather). They even feel comfortable with the gamer terminology used in game. Far from just being a healer to my tank they suggest strategies, some of which work.
We try to attempt instances 1-2 levels below the top level and there is a degree of imbalance from one instance to the rest, Dire Maul was a speed bump (due to being not completely downgraded) but after that it was business as usual. We are trying to see how far we can go with two manning the instances but there may come the day when we will invite an outsider in, both of us are un-guilded. That time has not yet come but when it does it will be someone from the same realm as us EU-Mazrigos.
Two manning instances allows you to really see how the boss mechanics work and forces you to plan out the fights. In fact we now are at a point where we have to take a raider approach, stocking up on supplies and reading boss strategies (well okay I do that stuff and they listen). Stocking up means elixirs, food and as an engineer (bombs). I learned goblin engineering and the Bigger One is proving very useful in some situations – big radius plus 3 second stun. They have a discipline priest and usually account for around 25% of the total damage. Currently I have almost the full imperial plate set, enough for the set bonus anyway.
Neither of us are expert players, but we have found the right level of challenge.
She won’t play female characters, I balance this by making all my tanks female – although we have done all the instances on my warrior so far. And won’t play Horde, they are too ugly.
The non-gamer has gone from struggling with moving and fighting their way around the start zone (1-5) to suggesting boss strategies and playing the auction house. Crafting professions however still remain something they don’t have any interest in, they tried enchanting but didn’t really get it. On the other hand I have come to dread them calling “Oh! Herbs!” Especially in instances. They have at various points cornered the low level leather market (up to heavy leather). They even feel comfortable with the gamer terminology used in game. Far from just being a healer to my tank they suggest strategies, some of which work.
We try to attempt instances 1-2 levels below the top level and there is a degree of imbalance from one instance to the rest, Dire Maul was a speed bump (due to being not completely downgraded) but after that it was business as usual. We are trying to see how far we can go with two manning the instances but there may come the day when we will invite an outsider in, both of us are un-guilded. That time has not yet come but when it does it will be someone from the same realm as us EU-Mazrigos.
Two manning instances allows you to really see how the boss mechanics work and forces you to plan out the fights. In fact we now are at a point where we have to take a raider approach, stocking up on supplies and reading boss strategies (well okay I do that stuff and they listen). Stocking up means elixirs, food and as an engineer (bombs). I learned goblin engineering and the Bigger One is proving very useful in some situations – big radius plus 3 second stun. They have a discipline priest and usually account for around 25% of the total damage. Currently I have almost the full imperial plate set, enough for the set bonus anyway.
Neither of us are expert players, but we have found the right level of challenge.
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Twitter added
While I am not a huge fan of twitter I have added a twitter link and will be adding a few tips there between the main content.
You can find me at the_greygamer
I am currently 'tweeting' my in-game activities
You can find me at the_greygamer
I am currently 'tweeting' my in-game activities
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Gold per Hour - Update
I am still working on the mining component for this guide. I will publish some of my findings on this blog but the complete figures are probably best put in a separate document.
Rather than just publish a list of what zones are best for each type of ore I have expanded my research to eventually cover all the zones with accurate data for all. I think this can be useful for those who have to farm at busy times where a less productive zone can be more productive due to less competition.
To this end I have run Darkshore 14 times so far, for a grand total of almost seven hours on a level 42-44 Druid with a 60% mount and the bountiful bags bonus. If you eliminate the bountiful bags bonus (+15%) I have collected 82 stacks of copper ore or about 242 copper ore per hour. Just check what the current selling price is on your realm to see the gold per hour and this is what you should expect for a level 20 character.
I have also made a start on the best Tin and Iron zones. Unfortunately I have limited time for this research at the moment so it is slow progress. The figures for copper are starting to look quite consistent though and it is becoming clear that there are different 'best' routes for the different factions. These are based around making good use of the flightmasters in each zone.
In Darkshore for example, I have a route that starts at Grove of the Ancients and finishes at Lor'Danel, Such an approach allows some zones to be broken into shorter routes that can be tailored to the time available.
I should be able to put up a post on copper ore for the Alliance soon and I will be covering selling the ore as well. The only problem I can see is that copper and tin should be covered together because they combine to make bronze. This combination can unlock a lot more profit from mining than just copper alone.
I have started a couple of Horde gatherers on another realm to cover that faction, and as a side project made a druid and a paladin to see which is best. I will start on these once they reach level 20.
Rather than just publish a list of what zones are best for each type of ore I have expanded my research to eventually cover all the zones with accurate data for all. I think this can be useful for those who have to farm at busy times where a less productive zone can be more productive due to less competition.
To this end I have run Darkshore 14 times so far, for a grand total of almost seven hours on a level 42-44 Druid with a 60% mount and the bountiful bags bonus. If you eliminate the bountiful bags bonus (+15%) I have collected 82 stacks of copper ore or about 242 copper ore per hour. Just check what the current selling price is on your realm to see the gold per hour and this is what you should expect for a level 20 character.
I have also made a start on the best Tin and Iron zones. Unfortunately I have limited time for this research at the moment so it is slow progress. The figures for copper are starting to look quite consistent though and it is becoming clear that there are different 'best' routes for the different factions. These are based around making good use of the flightmasters in each zone.
In Darkshore for example, I have a route that starts at Grove of the Ancients and finishes at Lor'Danel, Such an approach allows some zones to be broken into shorter routes that can be tailored to the time available.
I should be able to put up a post on copper ore for the Alliance soon and I will be covering selling the ore as well. The only problem I can see is that copper and tin should be covered together because they combine to make bronze. This combination can unlock a lot more profit from mining than just copper alone.
I have started a couple of Horde gatherers on another realm to cover that faction, and as a side project made a druid and a paladin to see which is best. I will start on these once they reach level 20.
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Gathering - Optimising
Traditionally gathering (mining/herbalism) has been a good way to get extra gold while levelling, in Cataclysm you also earn xp. As a result this has encouraged more people to level gathering and this means lower prices in the auction house. Gathering is still a good source of extra income though. If you want to make the best use of time spent gathering there are a number of factors to consider.
Race
Night Elf – Shadowmeld (useful for ending combat and especially useful for druid gatherers)
Worgen – Darkflight (40% bonus to run speed for 10 seconds can help you get out of combat or get to a node quickly)
Tauren – Cultivation (+15 bonus to herbalism and fast gathering speed)
Goblin – Rocket Jump (Jump forward a short distance), Pack Hobgoblin (access to bank while out of cities)
Class
There is a bit of a debate as to which class is the most efficient. While any class can make profit from gathering, it seems to come down to one of two classes as being the most efficient, Druid or Paladin. This is simply a question of which class can cover the most ground the quickest.
Retribution paladins can get a talent that gives them a 15% bonus to run or mounted speed, and all paladins get Crusader Aura at level 62 which gives a 20% bonus to mounted speed (this doesn’t stack with other movement bonuses.)
However the druid brings movement and other advantages, namely stealth and fast movement underwater. Feral druids can get speed by putting their first two talent points in Feral Swiftness which gives a 30% bonuses to run speed while in cat form (even if stealthed).
Both of these will at times give an advantage that the paladin has no answer to.
Guild
Mount up - gives a 10% bonus to mounted speed and is available at level 3,
Bountiful Bags - gives a 15% bonus to all you gather but can only be found in guilds level 23 and above.
Race
Night Elf – Shadowmeld (useful for ending combat and especially useful for druid gatherers)
Worgen – Darkflight (40% bonus to run speed for 10 seconds can help you get out of combat or get to a node quickly)
Tauren – Cultivation (+15 bonus to herbalism and fast gathering speed)
Goblin – Rocket Jump (Jump forward a short distance), Pack Hobgoblin (access to bank while out of cities)
Class
There is a bit of a debate as to which class is the most efficient. While any class can make profit from gathering, it seems to come down to one of two classes as being the most efficient, Druid or Paladin. This is simply a question of which class can cover the most ground the quickest.
Retribution paladins can get a talent that gives them a 15% bonus to run or mounted speed, and all paladins get Crusader Aura at level 62 which gives a 20% bonus to mounted speed (this doesn’t stack with other movement bonuses.)
However the druid brings movement and other advantages, namely stealth and fast movement underwater. Feral druids can get speed by putting their first two talent points in Feral Swiftness which gives a 30% bonuses to run speed while in cat form (even if stealthed).
Both of these will at times give an advantage that the paladin has no answer to.
Guild
Mount up - gives a 10% bonus to mounted speed and is available at level 3,
Bountiful Bags - gives a 15% bonus to all you gather but can only be found in guilds level 23 and above.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Gold per Hour - Skinning part II
Skinning in the 10-60 zones
Heavy Leather
Zone: Feralas
Mobs: Feral Scar Yeti (37)
Method: There are Yetis outside the cave, kill and skin these before moving into the tunnel. Beyond the tunnel is a cave complex with three branches. Clear the initial area before moving to the right branch, after clearing this you can jump down to the next branch and follow this to the area you started at then clear the remaining branch. Mobs will start to respawn in the area(s) you previously cleared. When the cave is cleared re-trace your steps back to the tunnel and clear the area outside the tunnel again.
Heavy Leather 130
Thick Leather 64
Heavy Hide 6
Silk Cloth 158
Total gold value 382
Thick Leather
Zone: Un’Goro Crater
Mobs: Dimetradon (49-52)
Method: Start from Marshal’s Stand and kill the Dimetradons immediately to the south, then work your way clockwise around the camp.
Thick Leather 92
Rugged Leather 52
Thick Hide 4
Rugged Hide 4
Total gold value 450
Rugged Leather
Zone: Winterspring
Mobs: Ice Thistle Yeti (51-52)
Method: Clear both sides next to the slope that runs up to the cave proper. I like to kill packs of 4-5, after 3 packs I skin all the corpses. I only go a shortway into the cave before returning to the areas outside.
Thick Leather 63
Rugged Leather 84
Thick Hide 5
Rugged Hide 10
Runecloth 62
Total gold value 581
Heavy Leather
Zone: Feralas
Mobs: Feral Scar Yeti (37)
Method: There are Yetis outside the cave, kill and skin these before moving into the tunnel. Beyond the tunnel is a cave complex with three branches. Clear the initial area before moving to the right branch, after clearing this you can jump down to the next branch and follow this to the area you started at then clear the remaining branch. Mobs will start to respawn in the area(s) you previously cleared. When the cave is cleared re-trace your steps back to the tunnel and clear the area outside the tunnel again.
Heavy Leather 130
Thick Leather 64
Heavy Hide 6
Silk Cloth 158
Total gold value 382
Thick Leather
Zone: Un’Goro Crater
Mobs: Dimetradon (49-52)
Method: Start from Marshal’s Stand and kill the Dimetradons immediately to the south, then work your way clockwise around the camp.
Thick Leather 92
Rugged Leather 52
Thick Hide 4
Rugged Hide 4
Total gold value 450
Rugged Leather
Zone: Winterspring
Mobs: Ice Thistle Yeti (51-52)
Method: Clear both sides next to the slope that runs up to the cave proper. I like to kill packs of 4-5, after 3 packs I skin all the corpses. I only go a shortway into the cave before returning to the areas outside.
Thick Leather 63
Rugged Leather 84
Thick Hide 5
Rugged Hide 10
Runecloth 62
Total gold value 581
Friday, 25 March 2011
Gold per Hour -Skinning part 1
I found these zones to be most profitable in terms of what I gathered per hour played. The actual profitability will depend on prices on the realm and most importantly the demand for those materials.
All of the values were based on using a level 58+ Hunter with questing gear and survival spec. I found survival to the best farming spec for my play style. As a rule it is best to kill as many of the mobs as possible at first due to the way the re-spawn mechanics work. If someone else is questing in the same area I let them complete their quests first. Often this resulted in extra mobs to skin. The gold values do not include any additional items.
You can work out gold per hour based on these figures by looking at prices on your auction house. A few hours farming each week in each of the areas mentioned can result in enough stock to last through the week depending on the demand on your server. I often found it difficult to keep up with demand at times especially medium leather.
Ruined Leather Scraps / Light Leather
Zone: Silverpine Forest
Mobs: Rabid Worgs (10-12), Giant Rabid Bears (10-13)
Method: Kill the bears and worgs along both sides of the road between the Sepulcher and the Forsaken Front. A circuit took me around 10 minutes, by which time they had respawned on the other side of the road.
Light Leather (plus ruined leather equivalent) 209
Stringy Wolf Meat 90
Total gold value 283
I also got bear meat but this didn’t sell very well.
Medium Leather
Zone: Northern Stranglethorn
Mobs: Thrashtail Basilisk (29-30)
Method: Go to the Crystalvein Mine, there will be a number of basilisks outside the mine. Do a circuit killing all the mobs but don’t loot them. On the second circuit start looting and skinning. If/when you run out of mobs start killing mobs in the mine. If you do go into the mine be careful of the Ironjaw Basilisks due to their special gaze attack that will stun you for 5 secs. I rarely go into the mine, instead I often log off for 10-15 minutes to do a couple of daily quests on an alt and then start again.
Medium Leather 114
Heavy Leather 39
Medium Hide 12
Heavy Hide 6
Total gold value 327
All of the values were based on using a level 58+ Hunter with questing gear and survival spec. I found survival to the best farming spec for my play style. As a rule it is best to kill as many of the mobs as possible at first due to the way the re-spawn mechanics work. If someone else is questing in the same area I let them complete their quests first. Often this resulted in extra mobs to skin. The gold values do not include any additional items.
You can work out gold per hour based on these figures by looking at prices on your auction house. A few hours farming each week in each of the areas mentioned can result in enough stock to last through the week depending on the demand on your server. I often found it difficult to keep up with demand at times especially medium leather.
Ruined Leather Scraps / Light Leather
Zone: Silverpine Forest
Mobs: Rabid Worgs (10-12), Giant Rabid Bears (10-13)
Method: Kill the bears and worgs along both sides of the road between the Sepulcher and the Forsaken Front. A circuit took me around 10 minutes, by which time they had respawned on the other side of the road.
Light Leather (plus ruined leather equivalent) 209
Stringy Wolf Meat 90
Total gold value 283
I also got bear meat but this didn’t sell very well.
Medium Leather
Zone: Northern Stranglethorn
Mobs: Thrashtail Basilisk (29-30)
Method: Go to the Crystalvein Mine, there will be a number of basilisks outside the mine. Do a circuit killing all the mobs but don’t loot them. On the second circuit start looting and skinning. If/when you run out of mobs start killing mobs in the mine. If you do go into the mine be careful of the Ironjaw Basilisks due to their special gaze attack that will stun you for 5 secs. I rarely go into the mine, instead I often log off for 10-15 minutes to do a couple of daily quests on an alt and then start again.
Medium Leather 114
Heavy Leather 39
Medium Hide 12
Heavy Hide 6
Total gold value 327
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Gold per Hour - Introduction
The road to farming
A few weeks ago I found myself with a small problem. I had decided even before the launch of cataclysm to have a dedicated farming character. To this end I had started to level a Druid with Mining and Herbalism. Once the expansion launched I only levelled by gathering and doing the daily quests in Orgrimmar, as a result I had not upgraded my gear until I reached the low thirties. Dustwallow Marsh proved to be something of a gear check, I only went there because of the Love is in the Air daily quest.
Checking the Auction House I found no suitable gear for a Feral (Cat) druid so it was time to level leatherworking on one of my alts. However another check on the auction house for materials found no light leather, medium leather or even ruined leather scraps. While there was some heavy leather it was in short supply and priced at 6g for each piece (120g/stack). As the day wore on I kept checking the auction house but it seemed nobody was listing leather, I even saw someone spamming trade chat offering to buy all light and medium leather.
Time to start farming leather, fortunately I had a level 58 Hunter with skinning so it was just a case of finding the best places to farm it. I am not a big fan of farming, as a general rule I have always bought my materials on the auction house where possible. I want to give my thanks to the contributors to WoWHead (http://www.wowhead.com/) this is an excellent source of information as to the best places to look for materials particularly if you read the comments section. It guided me to the best places to farm all the leather I needed. As I was farming I started to wonder how much gold per hour I could earn if I was selling this leather on the auction house, selling it at the normal price.
I want to share my findings with others in a way that can be applied to any realm so that people can more easily make gold out of farming. I started with skinning before applying the same model to mining and then moving on to herbalism.
A few weeks ago I found myself with a small problem. I had decided even before the launch of cataclysm to have a dedicated farming character. To this end I had started to level a Druid with Mining and Herbalism. Once the expansion launched I only levelled by gathering and doing the daily quests in Orgrimmar, as a result I had not upgraded my gear until I reached the low thirties. Dustwallow Marsh proved to be something of a gear check, I only went there because of the Love is in the Air daily quest.
Checking the Auction House I found no suitable gear for a Feral (Cat) druid so it was time to level leatherworking on one of my alts. However another check on the auction house for materials found no light leather, medium leather or even ruined leather scraps. While there was some heavy leather it was in short supply and priced at 6g for each piece (120g/stack). As the day wore on I kept checking the auction house but it seemed nobody was listing leather, I even saw someone spamming trade chat offering to buy all light and medium leather.
Time to start farming leather, fortunately I had a level 58 Hunter with skinning so it was just a case of finding the best places to farm it. I am not a big fan of farming, as a general rule I have always bought my materials on the auction house where possible. I want to give my thanks to the contributors to WoWHead (http://www.wowhead.com/) this is an excellent source of information as to the best places to look for materials particularly if you read the comments section. It guided me to the best places to farm all the leather I needed. As I was farming I started to wonder how much gold per hour I could earn if I was selling this leather on the auction house, selling it at the normal price.
I want to share my findings with others in a way that can be applied to any realm so that people can more easily make gold out of farming. I started with skinning before applying the same model to mining and then moving on to herbalism.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Casual levelling diary - week 6
I haven’t posted in a while mainly because my goals in WoW have been changing, this will be the last Casual Levelling Diary entry for a while as I am more focused on my characters on Hellfire-EU. However I will be posting a series on gold farming called Gold Per Hour. The first of which deals with farming leather in the 1-60 zones, I will also cover Mining and Herbalsim. I expect to cover all levels of the game by the end.
The daily quest in Darkshire came at just the right time and really helped speed up the levelling this week. I am concentrating on just levelling rather than do much in the Auction House, I have around 450 gold which is plenty for the moment. The next significant point is level 30 when dual spec is made available for a paltry 10g and makes using LFG a possibility within the timeframe I am using. DPS classes can expect queue times of 20 minutes plus but tanks and healers can get a group much quicker.
Day 36
Reached level 23, previously I had put my talents into Crusade(3), Improved Judgement(2) and Long Arm of the Law(2). The last one gives a 15% bonus to speed regardless of being mounted or not and helps optimise time played. The next 3 points will go into Rule of Law as at the moment I am not grouping an improved critical chance for Crusader Strike/Word of Glory is more useful than reducing the cooldown on Hand of Protection/Freedom.
Day 37
Level 24 brings a new ability, Consecration, however it is quite expensive to cast so not much to get excited about for now.
Day 38
Yet another level, that is three levels in 3 days! Or 90 minutes played! The quests are all in easy reach of the flightpoint which has helped and is a feature of the revamped world in Cataclysm. As I level further not all quest hubs will be so close so I expect a slow down after I leave this zone. I still have yellow quests at this point so there is no rush to move to the next zone.
Day 39-40
With level 26 comes a new aura, Retribution. This increases damage as opposed to Devotion which gives more armor. Because mobs are not really doing much damage it is an easy choice to make as to which aura I want to use.
Day 41
Another day and another level.
Day 44
I reached level 28 and for now this character is on hold as I turn my attention to levelling crafting professions on Hellfire-EU
The daily quest in Darkshire came at just the right time and really helped speed up the levelling this week. I am concentrating on just levelling rather than do much in the Auction House, I have around 450 gold which is plenty for the moment. The next significant point is level 30 when dual spec is made available for a paltry 10g and makes using LFG a possibility within the timeframe I am using. DPS classes can expect queue times of 20 minutes plus but tanks and healers can get a group much quicker.
Day 36
Reached level 23, previously I had put my talents into Crusade(3), Improved Judgement(2) and Long Arm of the Law(2). The last one gives a 15% bonus to speed regardless of being mounted or not and helps optimise time played. The next 3 points will go into Rule of Law as at the moment I am not grouping an improved critical chance for Crusader Strike/Word of Glory is more useful than reducing the cooldown on Hand of Protection/Freedom.
Day 37
Level 24 brings a new ability, Consecration, however it is quite expensive to cast so not much to get excited about for now.
Day 38
Yet another level, that is three levels in 3 days! Or 90 minutes played! The quests are all in easy reach of the flightpoint which has helped and is a feature of the revamped world in Cataclysm. As I level further not all quest hubs will be so close so I expect a slow down after I leave this zone. I still have yellow quests at this point so there is no rush to move to the next zone.
Day 39-40
With level 26 comes a new aura, Retribution. This increases damage as opposed to Devotion which gives more armor. Because mobs are not really doing much damage it is an easy choice to make as to which aura I want to use.
Day 41
Another day and another level.
Day 44
I reached level 28 and for now this character is on hold as I turn my attention to levelling crafting professions on Hellfire-EU
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Casual levelling diary - week 5
Day 30
Reached level 20 which will speed things up because I get a mount. The focus at the moment remains levelling rather than gold. So my gold has dropped to 280 while I stockpiled herbs to make the inks I will need for levelling from 151 to 225. I am probably only selling a few glyphs on the days I post. Because my paladin is retribution I also get speed bonuses for my movement from the talent Pursuit of Justice (+15% ) very important when time limited.
I spent most of my time just levelling inscription which reached 198 out of a maximum of 225, my approach to levelling is quite simple. Every 5 points gained two glyphs are unlocked which are worth 3 points so I check which glyph sells for the most on the auction house and make this. Sometimes I can get the 3 points for both glyphs and as a result I put on 48 points in one session.
Day 31-32
The world event Love is in the Air starts today which opens up 2 additional daily quests, one of which can be done in Stormwind. Because the second daily quest at this level requires a trip to Darkshore I will leave that one until I reach level 23 when it switches to Darkshire, a zone I will be questing in already.
Inscription levelling has slowed down now with a gain of around 3-4 points each day. Because the glyphs I make to level often have a high supply on the auction house I sell these at loss if necessary. The ones I am making a profit on I make a note of. Glyph trading is pretty tough Monday-Thursday on Terokkar-EU but I make a few hundred gold most weekends. This works out quite well as it means I can concentrate on levelling on the other days and just buy herbs at low cost when available.
I reach level 21 from daily quests.
Day 33
Inscription reaches the level cap of 225, at this point I can make a few glyphs using Celestial Ink but I am relying on the auction house for most of my herbs (Herbalism has barely reached 100). I am avoiding having to spend a session purely levelling herbalism for now.
Day 34
Up to level 22 and one level away from unlocking the extra daily in Darkshire. Mobs seem to be no match for me even in low level quest rewards. At some point I may have to think about buying some better gear on the auction house but that time seems a good number of levels off. I may try to get an instance run at some point, probably after the current world event ends. I will need to get a shield and 1 handed weapon so I can queue as a tank though, it may even be worth changing my spec to Protection at that point while doing instances.
Reached level 20 which will speed things up because I get a mount. The focus at the moment remains levelling rather than gold. So my gold has dropped to 280 while I stockpiled herbs to make the inks I will need for levelling from 151 to 225. I am probably only selling a few glyphs on the days I post. Because my paladin is retribution I also get speed bonuses for my movement from the talent Pursuit of Justice (+15% ) very important when time limited.
I spent most of my time just levelling inscription which reached 198 out of a maximum of 225, my approach to levelling is quite simple. Every 5 points gained two glyphs are unlocked which are worth 3 points so I check which glyph sells for the most on the auction house and make this. Sometimes I can get the 3 points for both glyphs and as a result I put on 48 points in one session.
Day 31-32
The world event Love is in the Air starts today which opens up 2 additional daily quests, one of which can be done in Stormwind. Because the second daily quest at this level requires a trip to Darkshore I will leave that one until I reach level 23 when it switches to Darkshire, a zone I will be questing in already.
Inscription levelling has slowed down now with a gain of around 3-4 points each day. Because the glyphs I make to level often have a high supply on the auction house I sell these at loss if necessary. The ones I am making a profit on I make a note of. Glyph trading is pretty tough Monday-Thursday on Terokkar-EU but I make a few hundred gold most weekends. This works out quite well as it means I can concentrate on levelling on the other days and just buy herbs at low cost when available.
I reach level 21 from daily quests.
Day 33
Inscription reaches the level cap of 225, at this point I can make a few glyphs using Celestial Ink but I am relying on the auction house for most of my herbs (Herbalism has barely reached 100). I am avoiding having to spend a session purely levelling herbalism for now.
Day 34
Up to level 22 and one level away from unlocking the extra daily in Darkshire. Mobs seem to be no match for me even in low level quest rewards. At some point I may have to think about buying some better gear on the auction house but that time seems a good number of levels off. I may try to get an instance run at some point, probably after the current world event ends. I will need to get a shield and 1 handed weapon so I can queue as a tank though, it may even be worth changing my spec to Protection at that point while doing instances.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Love is in the Air – the daily quests
The world event love is in the air has added two daily quests for the next couple of weeks. What this means is more xp going to a smaller number of my characters.
There is one daily that can be completed without leaving the capital plus another that can be done once a short quest chain (also capital based) is completed. The second daily is outside of the capital but doesn’t take too long once you have the flight paths to it.
For example at level 32-40 it will take you to Dustwallow Marsh. I timed this and to complete both normal dailies and the world event dailies took 21 minutes, they seem to give comparable xp to the cooking and fishing dailies. In addition there is a daily quest to give a charm bracelet to the various faction leaders which is made from Lovely Charms which seem to have a chance of being collected every time you kill a mob (not just humanoid) that grants xp. The mobs for the daily quest will drop these so little extra effort is needed.
Three days into the event and I have unlocked these dailies on all my characters on Magtheridon EU. The four dailies bring in around a third of a level in xp.
There is one daily that can be completed without leaving the capital plus another that can be done once a short quest chain (also capital based) is completed. The second daily is outside of the capital but doesn’t take too long once you have the flight paths to it.
For example at level 32-40 it will take you to Dustwallow Marsh. I timed this and to complete both normal dailies and the world event dailies took 21 minutes, they seem to give comparable xp to the cooking and fishing dailies. In addition there is a daily quest to give a charm bracelet to the various faction leaders which is made from Lovely Charms which seem to have a chance of being collected every time you kill a mob (not just humanoid) that grants xp. The mobs for the daily quest will drop these so little extra effort is needed.
Three days into the event and I have unlocked these dailies on all my characters on Magtheridon EU. The four dailies bring in around a third of a level in xp.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Casual levelling diary - week 4
After a rather slow week, things finally started to fall into place on week 4.
Day 22
Reached level 17 with more time available to level and less being spent on inscription as I approach the current level cap of 150. The routine is to run dailies buy out any cheap herbs that I can afford and then fly to the nearest quest hub in Westfall where I normally have time for 2-4 quests. I am learning to hate the fishing daily Rock Lobster, eventually I used the tactic of staying near to one of the ramps leading into the water for a quick escape.
Day 23
I Bought 4 Neatherweave bags to help with the inscription mats I am carrying around, inscription is now 146 and gold left is 326.
Day 24
Inscription reaches the level cap of 150 and I start stock piling the herbs I will need to make Jadefire Ink. I will make the ink once I can learn Expert Inscription.
Day 25
Level 18 and I am looking forward to getting a mount at level 20 which will speed things up a lot, at the rate I am levelling I will probably skip a zone at some point (maybe Redridge?)
Day 26
Gold now stands at 458, the auction house on Terokkar is still much slower than I have encountered elsewhere although this is probably not helped by the fact that I am only posting in the mornings. I am keeping a record of glyph sales and current prices. I am not really concentrating on making gold though at this time.
Day 27
Level 19 reached and I am still questing in Westfall, some of the quest mobs are green to me although the quests are amber.
Day 22
Reached level 17 with more time available to level and less being spent on inscription as I approach the current level cap of 150. The routine is to run dailies buy out any cheap herbs that I can afford and then fly to the nearest quest hub in Westfall where I normally have time for 2-4 quests. I am learning to hate the fishing daily Rock Lobster, eventually I used the tactic of staying near to one of the ramps leading into the water for a quick escape.
Day 23
I Bought 4 Neatherweave bags to help with the inscription mats I am carrying around, inscription is now 146 and gold left is 326.
Day 24
Inscription reaches the level cap of 150 and I start stock piling the herbs I will need to make Jadefire Ink. I will make the ink once I can learn Expert Inscription.
Day 25
Level 18 and I am looking forward to getting a mount at level 20 which will speed things up a lot, at the rate I am levelling I will probably skip a zone at some point (maybe Redridge?)
Day 26
Gold now stands at 458, the auction house on Terokkar is still much slower than I have encountered elsewhere although this is probably not helped by the fact that I am only posting in the mornings. I am keeping a record of glyph sales and current prices. I am not really concentrating on making gold though at this time.
Day 27
Level 19 reached and I am still questing in Westfall, some of the quest mobs are green to me although the quests are amber.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Casual levelling diary - week 3
A pretty quiet week, with just doing the daily quests and levelling inscription. It took almost a week to gain one level because I had no time to do any additional quests.
Gold was hard to come by during the week, however I slowly closed in on maxing out my inscription skill to the cap of 150. Once I reach that I will have more time for questing.
Gold was hard to come by during the week, however I slowly closed in on maxing out my inscription skill to the cap of 150. Once I reach that I will have more time for questing.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Casual Levelling Diary – Week 2
Days 8-12
With things stalled on the AH side all I could do with inscription was research additional minor glyphs.
It took time for me to learn my way around Stormwind so that I could complete my daily quests quickly. The Alliance seems to have slightly more difficult quests, especially ‘Rock Lobster’ where the level 85 sharks are a real menace.
The remaining time is spent doing a few quests in Goldshire. I reached level 14 this way.
Day 13
After re-posting each day my first glyph finally sold for 15g, this gave me enough gold to buy enough herbs to make 3 glyphs. I selected these by looking at what glyphs gave me the best skill ups (i.e. orange-amber-green) and checking the current price on the AH. As my range of glyphs improve so will my sales per day from them. I had also collected a stack of Stringy Wolf Meat and I put this on the AH for 55g which undercut the only other listing on the AH. To my surprise this sold which together with the two glyphs I sold by the following day gave me over 100g.
Day 14
With a nice sum of gold I was able to buy enough herbs to make 10 different glyphs as well as starting to make Lion’s Ink. At this point I didn’t have time to do any questing other than dailies, I reached level 15 however. Even after purchasing herbs up to the value of 50s each I still had 20-35g left over. This gave each glyph sold a profit of around 7.5g which I used to buy herbs for more inks. Each time I sold a glyph a made a note of it. This will help later when I focus on which glyphs to make regularly, doing this will leave more time for levelling. I will probably spend 15 minutes once a week making inks and glyphs and then just replacing sold glyphs each day and reviewing each week. This method has worked on other realms with inscription skills of around 150.
With things stalled on the AH side all I could do with inscription was research additional minor glyphs.
It took time for me to learn my way around Stormwind so that I could complete my daily quests quickly. The Alliance seems to have slightly more difficult quests, especially ‘Rock Lobster’ where the level 85 sharks are a real menace.
The remaining time is spent doing a few quests in Goldshire. I reached level 14 this way.
Day 13
After re-posting each day my first glyph finally sold for 15g, this gave me enough gold to buy enough herbs to make 3 glyphs. I selected these by looking at what glyphs gave me the best skill ups (i.e. orange-amber-green) and checking the current price on the AH. As my range of glyphs improve so will my sales per day from them. I had also collected a stack of Stringy Wolf Meat and I put this on the AH for 55g which undercut the only other listing on the AH. To my surprise this sold which together with the two glyphs I sold by the following day gave me over 100g.
Day 14
With a nice sum of gold I was able to buy enough herbs to make 10 different glyphs as well as starting to make Lion’s Ink. At this point I didn’t have time to do any questing other than dailies, I reached level 15 however. Even after purchasing herbs up to the value of 50s each I still had 20-35g left over. This gave each glyph sold a profit of around 7.5g which I used to buy herbs for more inks. Each time I sold a glyph a made a note of it. This will help later when I focus on which glyphs to make regularly, doing this will leave more time for levelling. I will probably spend 15 minutes once a week making inks and glyphs and then just replacing sold glyphs each day and reviewing each week. This method has worked on other realms with inscription skills of around 150.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Casual levelling diary - week 1
Since cataclysm launched WoW has become even more casual friendly than before. Not everyone can find the opportunity to play for hours at a time, but it is more than possible to level to maximum level while just playing in 30 minute periods. Not only can you reach maximum level but by spending some time on the auction house each day it is possible to have a nice amount of gold.
Of course if you can never play for more than half an hour a lot of content while remain out of reach, however it probably is possible for most people to find longer periods of time occasionally.
To this end I created a new character on a realm where I have no other characters and I am levelling just playing 30 minutes each day. I hope to post each week my daily progress.
Day 1
I waited until a realm I had no characters on became one designated for ‘New Players’, so fate selected Terokkar EU as my home. I selected alliance as my faction and because I will be making use of the daily quests which are in Stormwind I created a Human character. The other alliance races can also reach Stormwind quite easily. Because this is going to be my only character on this realm I picked a class that had good survivability and was reasonably fun to play. So I created a Paladin, they have good self healing from quite a low level and can fight multiple mobs when it is required.
An experienced player can go from level 1 to 5 in under 30 minutes simply by doing the quests in the start zone. I still had enough time to run to Goldshire and visit the profession trainer there. To speed my journey to level 10 I selected two gathering professions that give xp, Herbalism and Mining. These professions also improve survivability although I planned to drop mining for inscription at level 10.
Day 2
I picked up all the quests available in Goldshire (which I also made my home) and sorted them by difficulty, most quests are nearby at this point and I want to get XP quickly. By the end of my first hour I was at level 7. With my bags filling up I started put a few things into the bank in Stormwind. Later on I will sell the ore I have gathered on the auction house while keeping the herbs to level inscription to 75.
Day 3
I reached level 8 and was well on my way to level 9.
Day 4
I didn’t quite make it to level 10 but should be able to do my first cooking and fishing dailies the next day.
Day 5
I reached level 10 and made Stormwind my home. I learned cooking and fishing and bought a fishing pole and a shiny bauble for use in my first fishing quest. It is worth getting your fishing skill to at least 25 the first time around. I noticed that the horde seem to have better luck with fishing in the capital as I collected a lot of grey items fishing which never happened on my Horde characters. I finished up by selling Ore and a couple of green items on the auction house.
Day 6
After doing my dailies I spent the rest of my time levelling inscription. After selling things on the auction house I had just over 15 gold and I had to buy some extra herbs to get to 75 inscription. I made Enchanting vellums and Moonglow Inks to level. At level 75 Minor Inscription Research and I use this every day to unlock extra glyphs. I had to buy the herbs to make midnight ink and this used up most of my gold, the herbs used to make midnight ink are selling for 35-50 silver each which means a stack is 7-10 gold so cashflow is an issue. In hindsight maybe I should have kept mining for a few more levels.
The first glyph I learned was Fading so I made one and put it on the auction house, the current price was 29 gold.
Day 7
Competition for my one glyph was pretty tough and demand low so it would be 6 days before I sold my glyph(for 15 gold) and the price of herbs stopped me from being able to buy stacks but just a few here and there. It is probably a better idea to keep two gathering professions until you have enough gold to buy a few stacks of herbs to make a number of glyphs rather than just one.
After doing my dailies I still had around 15 minutes left for questing and during this I collected some more herbs to help raise a little extra gold. I reached level 11, things will get easier from here on in Goldshire. I don’t intend to leave this zone until I have completed most of the quests as the mobs will still give XP up to around level 15. Once I leave Goldshire travel time will start to become a factor. I found that I used up most of my rested XP in around 15 minutes of questing/gathering
Of course if you can never play for more than half an hour a lot of content while remain out of reach, however it probably is possible for most people to find longer periods of time occasionally.
To this end I created a new character on a realm where I have no other characters and I am levelling just playing 30 minutes each day. I hope to post each week my daily progress.
Day 1
I waited until a realm I had no characters on became one designated for ‘New Players’, so fate selected Terokkar EU as my home. I selected alliance as my faction and because I will be making use of the daily quests which are in Stormwind I created a Human character. The other alliance races can also reach Stormwind quite easily. Because this is going to be my only character on this realm I picked a class that had good survivability and was reasonably fun to play. So I created a Paladin, they have good self healing from quite a low level and can fight multiple mobs when it is required.
An experienced player can go from level 1 to 5 in under 30 minutes simply by doing the quests in the start zone. I still had enough time to run to Goldshire and visit the profession trainer there. To speed my journey to level 10 I selected two gathering professions that give xp, Herbalism and Mining. These professions also improve survivability although I planned to drop mining for inscription at level 10.
Day 2
I picked up all the quests available in Goldshire (which I also made my home) and sorted them by difficulty, most quests are nearby at this point and I want to get XP quickly. By the end of my first hour I was at level 7. With my bags filling up I started put a few things into the bank in Stormwind. Later on I will sell the ore I have gathered on the auction house while keeping the herbs to level inscription to 75.
Day 3
I reached level 8 and was well on my way to level 9.
Day 4
I didn’t quite make it to level 10 but should be able to do my first cooking and fishing dailies the next day.
Day 5
I reached level 10 and made Stormwind my home. I learned cooking and fishing and bought a fishing pole and a shiny bauble for use in my first fishing quest. It is worth getting your fishing skill to at least 25 the first time around. I noticed that the horde seem to have better luck with fishing in the capital as I collected a lot of grey items fishing which never happened on my Horde characters. I finished up by selling Ore and a couple of green items on the auction house.
Day 6
After doing my dailies I spent the rest of my time levelling inscription. After selling things on the auction house I had just over 15 gold and I had to buy some extra herbs to get to 75 inscription. I made Enchanting vellums and Moonglow Inks to level. At level 75 Minor Inscription Research and I use this every day to unlock extra glyphs. I had to buy the herbs to make midnight ink and this used up most of my gold, the herbs used to make midnight ink are selling for 35-50 silver each which means a stack is 7-10 gold so cashflow is an issue. In hindsight maybe I should have kept mining for a few more levels.
The first glyph I learned was Fading so I made one and put it on the auction house, the current price was 29 gold.
Day 7
Competition for my one glyph was pretty tough and demand low so it would be 6 days before I sold my glyph(for 15 gold) and the price of herbs stopped me from being able to buy stacks but just a few here and there. It is probably a better idea to keep two gathering professions until you have enough gold to buy a few stacks of herbs to make a number of glyphs rather than just one.
After doing my dailies I still had around 15 minutes left for questing and during this I collected some more herbs to help raise a little extra gold. I reached level 11, things will get easier from here on in Goldshire. I don’t intend to leave this zone until I have completed most of the quests as the mobs will still give XP up to around level 15. Once I leave Goldshire travel time will start to become a factor. I found that I used up most of my rested XP in around 15 minutes of questing/gathering
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Levelling Alts using the new daily quests
I had some technical problems over the holiday period, so no internet (or phone) and no WoW.
When I did get back online I discovered the cooking and fishing daily quests in Orgrimmar and Stormwind. These are a really good way of levelling alt characters, they are available from level 10 and offer XP that scales with level. The cooking quests do not require any cooking although you will need level 1 in the skill, some of the fishing quests do require fishing and it is best to use a lure to get up to level 25. Doing both of them usually takes me 10-15 minutes which means I can run them on a lot of characters, in fact it is possible to level a character just doing these quests.
The fish caught while doing the fishing quests can be used to level cooking as well, the recipes are available from Thunder Bluff (for the Horde) or Stormwind (Alliance) except the Longjaw Mudskipper which you can get from Ironforge
Brilliant Smallfish (up to 85)
Longjaw Mudskipper (50 to 130)
Bristle Whisker Catfish (100 to 180)
To get the best out of these dailies and rested XP I have been doing just the dailies and doing quests once I have enough rested XP to reach the next level. As a result I am currently levelling no less than 15 characters at the same time, although I don’t mange to do dailies on them all each day. I have a couple of hours available in the mornings and this allows me to do dailies on around 7 characters. The XP from these quests increases as you level although not proportionately so.
Level 10 = 13% of a level or 26% for both quests (XP is also earned from any mobs killed)
Level 15= 10% of a level or 20% for both quests (by this point little or no XP come from the mobs)
Level 20= 9.5% of a level or 19% for both quests
Level 30= 8% of a level or 16% for both quests
And so on, by level 80 the quests only offer 1.5% of a level each. However by this point there are other daily quests available.
Currently I am levelling characters between levels 10-39 using this approach and I am looking out for any other daily quests as I go. This seems to be the only one (for the Horde but there is an Alliance alternative) at Krom’gar Fortress which is available from level 24 to 30. This quest offers another 15%-10% and takes around 10 minutes including travel time from Orgrimmar.
So using daily quests and rested (usually takes no more than 30 minutes) I can expect to level up;
10-23 every 4 days
24-30 every 3 days
I don’t have data for the levels above this but indications are it will be 5 days above level 30. Also guild level increases the quest XP (all the above have no bonuses).
I would recommend taking Archaeology at level 20 and using it whenever a dig site is nearby
When I did get back online I discovered the cooking and fishing daily quests in Orgrimmar and Stormwind. These are a really good way of levelling alt characters, they are available from level 10 and offer XP that scales with level. The cooking quests do not require any cooking although you will need level 1 in the skill, some of the fishing quests do require fishing and it is best to use a lure to get up to level 25. Doing both of them usually takes me 10-15 minutes which means I can run them on a lot of characters, in fact it is possible to level a character just doing these quests.
The fish caught while doing the fishing quests can be used to level cooking as well, the recipes are available from Thunder Bluff (for the Horde) or Stormwind (Alliance) except the Longjaw Mudskipper which you can get from Ironforge
Brilliant Smallfish (up to 85)
Longjaw Mudskipper (50 to 130)
Bristle Whisker Catfish (100 to 180)
To get the best out of these dailies and rested XP I have been doing just the dailies and doing quests once I have enough rested XP to reach the next level. As a result I am currently levelling no less than 15 characters at the same time, although I don’t mange to do dailies on them all each day. I have a couple of hours available in the mornings and this allows me to do dailies on around 7 characters. The XP from these quests increases as you level although not proportionately so.
Level 10 = 13% of a level or 26% for both quests (XP is also earned from any mobs killed)
Level 15= 10% of a level or 20% for both quests (by this point little or no XP come from the mobs)
Level 20= 9.5% of a level or 19% for both quests
Level 30= 8% of a level or 16% for both quests
And so on, by level 80 the quests only offer 1.5% of a level each. However by this point there are other daily quests available.
Currently I am levelling characters between levels 10-39 using this approach and I am looking out for any other daily quests as I go. This seems to be the only one (for the Horde but there is an Alliance alternative) at Krom’gar Fortress which is available from level 24 to 30. This quest offers another 15%-10% and takes around 10 minutes including travel time from Orgrimmar.
So using daily quests and rested (usually takes no more than 30 minutes) I can expect to level up;
10-23 every 4 days
24-30 every 3 days
I don’t have data for the levels above this but indications are it will be 5 days above level 30. Also guild level increases the quest XP (all the above have no bonuses).
I would recommend taking Archaeology at level 20 and using it whenever a dig site is nearby
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
