WoW, Casually: Darkmoon Faire profiteering and Arathi Basin revisited
Each week, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.
Happy 2008! To begin the new year we have some PvP action and a little Faire fun. First with the PvP, the Call to Arms this weekend is for Arathi Basin. This means that queues should be shorter and honor gain should be more plentiful when fighting for your faction in Arathi Basin this weekend.
When I say that the honor is more plentiful, it really isn't that much more. As I learned, to my disappointment, the Call to Arms weekends don't add much in the way of bonus honor. Normally, you get the equivalent of 1 kill (20.9 honor at level 70) for every 330 resources acquired in AB. This weekend, you will get 1 kill for every 200 resources. This equates to about 82 extra honor if you win a level 70 game.
Zach has written up an excellent strategy guide for AB that suggests different strategies depending on the situation. I highly recommend reading it, but you can use the following as a cheat sheet:
Fight on the flag: It's the same for AV. "Controlling the road" is not an objective that's going to get you any honor.
Defend the flag: If you own the node, keep an eye on it for sneaky attacks. Interrupting every attempt is much more important than chasing down and killing that leaping and spinning guy with the stupid name, no matter how satisfying that may be.
Attack the flag: If you don't own the node, it is amazing how often stubborn flag attackers succeed. Because so many players don't fight on the flag and are too busy collecting HKs, it really isn't that difficult to put the node in conflict while in the middle of a battle. And once it is in conflict, the other side isn't collecting points on it.
Call it out: Even if you suck at the actual killing part of PvP (like I do), you are still an asset to your team if you call for help when you see enemies approaching one of your nodes.
I'll be hoping my Horde teammates will be doing these basic things this weekend because I need some AB marks so that I can get more welfare epics Season 1 gear.
If you're looking for some fun at the Darkmoon Faire, it will be in Mulgore, just outside of Thunder Bluff starting Tuesday. Go here for the list of goodies you can exchange for tickets.
As commenter Swiss pointed out previously, the Darkmoon Faire has two Vendors that sell some very valuable items at extremely low prices. Now, I don't think vendor camping is particularly casual-friendly. I think that we have so little time to play that we should spend it having fun or having a little less fun to get gear that allows us to have more fun later. However, if you are able to have WoW on while you are doing other things so that you can just check in every once in a while to see what has spawned on the vendors, then this may be a good money making venture for you.
Lhara: She can spawn some blues and greens in her shop, but her most valuable items are the herbs that may appear for sale at cheaper-than-AH prices.
Professor Thaddeus Paleo: These are where the real gems are, literally. The professor's shop can spawn scrolls and potions, but his best wares are the motes and blue gems. He is why entrepreneurs are now such huge fans of the Faire.
As with all event items that are not event-quest specific, you should wait to sell your goodies after the event is over. After the vendors are gone, the prices should rise.
What do you think your greatest challenges are as a player who is only able to play 2 hours or less at a time? Do you have suggestions for other casual WoW-ers? Send me an email at Robin.Torres AT weblogsinc DOT com for a possible future column.
Robin Torres is hoping that the spousal unit will be designated parent at some point this weekend so that she can try out a Sideways Snowman or three while defending the Farm in AB. She is not very optimistic about it.
