Insider Trader: Celebrating with crafted items
We're about a week away from the 4th of July. On this day, our U.S. tradition involves firing copious amounts of explosives into the sky to celebrate our nation. We also barbecue, drink beer and do our best to keep whoever had the most beer away from the explosives. It's generally a lot of fun. There's just something magical about looking up in the sky and seeing fireworks.
The good news is that the holiday has an analog inside the World of Warcraft. The goblins gather across the world and totally rock out with an awesome display of pyrotechnic skill. Sounds pretty cool. But I'm a do-it-yourselfer. Accessing the vast legions of crafters under my command, I put together a list of my favorite celebratory recipes in the game. Here are some crafted items that can help you hold your own in-game 4th of July bash.
Fireworks from engineering
Fireworks are the number one staple of the 4th of July. The celebrations include everything from your hand-held sparklers to the big, blooming explosions thousands of feet above your head. These raucous explosions are a celebration of our country, our history -- and also of things that explode.
When you're talking explosions in Azeroth, you're talking about engineers. Sure, you can buy some flares and such from vendors, but I'm talking about homebrew fireworks here.
Let's start with my personal favorites, the red and blue fireworks. You can purchase the blue fireworks if you're Alliance. Sovik sells the red fireworks to the Horde. The real beauty of these two fireworks is that they're clearly faction-specific. It's just a little way of showing your pride. I like to set one off every time I kill someone in Wintergrasp. Since these fireworks only use a Heavy Blasting Powder and a Heavy Leather per stack, that's no big cost for showing a bit of faction pride.
Still, the red and blue fireworks aren't the only way to light up the night. Engineering also provides green fireworks and snake burst fireworks. I guess the green fireworks are for druid pride? The snake burst fireworks aren't quite as cool as they sound, but they're still a nice little effect for the celebration. You pick up the schematic for snake burst fireworks after doing the quests for Zorbin Fandazzle in Feralas. If you've not completed Zapped Giants, you should get out there and get that done.
While they don't qualify as explosives or fireworks per se, Engineering can also provide additional pyrotechnics by using the Smoke Flare family. The purple smoke flare is my favorite, both because it's a world drop but also because of its unique color. If you're not sure what to do with flares, check out this video for some ideas.
Food that makes the party
If you're roleplaying your celebration, then nearly any food will do. After all, you're roleplaying through the festivities. But if this is an escapist, out-of-character party, then you might need something with a more visible effect on your avatar. Of course, if you're looking at crafted food, that means cooking.
The Gigantic Feast is awesome for a party. Sit your group down around the pig for a bit of chow, and everyone will be larger than life within a few moments. The recipe for the feast is sold several places in Dalaran. The materials aren't too bad either, using only a pair of Deep Sea Monsterbelly and two Rockfin Grouper. It also requires two Chunks o' Mammoth and some spices, but that's hardly difficult.
Being big is fun, but I actually like the Small Feast more. There is nothing in Azeroth as amusing as a tiny tauren sprinting around a room. The materials for a Small Feast are similar in proportion to a Gigantic Feast, but slightly different. It uses two Nettlefish, two Glacial Salmon, two Rhino Meat and one Northern Spice.
It's your world
In the end, the World of Warcraft is a pretty big place. There's nearly as many ways to throw a party in Azeroth as there are players. There's probably dozens of crafted items one could use for parties that I've not listed here. I'd love to hear what else you think could make for an awesome celebration.
Each week, Insider Trader takes you behind the scenes of the bustling subculture of professional craftsmen, examining the profitable, the tragically lacking and the methods behind the madness.
