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Making money in BC: Mine!
GeneriKB, whose money-making guide from the official Professions forums I read with interest back in the days before I had a single level 60, is back again for a guide for this brave new world (of Warcraft). Unlike his previous three-stage philosophy (two gathering profs to 40, switch to one gathering and one crafting until 60, and then switch to two crafting), the recommend procedure in volume 3 of GeneriKB's "Guide to MoneyMaking" can be summed up on one point: Mine Why? Well, crafting's a lot harder to make money off of now that the good stuff mostly requires a nether, and farming mobs, skinning, and herbing are all not terribly efficient in terms of gold per hour. The reason mining is so efficient is because you get not only ore, but also motes of earth and fire as well as green and the occasional blue gem -- it's the blue gems that really push it over the top. Also, ore is pretty valuable because it feeds three professions -- mining blacksmithing, engineering, and jewelcrafting. Check out the guide for his recommendation on how best to sell each specific type of ore. Genny claims he makes 200g per hour circling Nagrand in mining loops (and fishing the pure water on the elemental plateau), which is certainly better than I've ever managed to make.Well, there's one thing I've found that makes more, actually: playing the auction house. That is to say, finding an item that's priced under the market rate, buying it all out, and relisting it at market rate or slightly above. This usually yields a very high amount of gold per hour, but you need a certain amount of starting capital, and there is some risk involved (the going rate for your item may not be what you thought it was). Furthermore, I am not an economist, but I suspect that this practice would end up raising the price of various things over time, which may not be a desired effect. But anyway, playing the AH may turn out to be more efficient than mining. What do you think?
Forum post of the day: Thrilling heroics
For all that the forums are wretched hives, every so often some really good posts come out of them. This looks like one of those posts: Tinker, of Bloodhoof-EU, has written a little guide for every heroic instance. (Well, almost all of them; Black Morass is coming soon.) The guides are copied after the cut if you want to check them out from work. He gives every heroic a difficulty rating, too; here's what he came up with: 1/5: Blood Furnace 1.5/5: Slave Pens, Mechanar 2/5: Ramparts, Underbog 3/5: Steamvault, Auchenai Crypts, Sethekk Halls 3.5/5: Botanica 3.5–4.5/5: Old Hillsbrad 4/5: Arcatraz 4.5/5: Mana Tombs, Shadow Labyrinth 5/5: Shattered Halls Looks like a pretty reasonable scale to me. I haven't run anything above a 3 on his list, so I can't comment about the relative order of those. Is this rating system accurate in your experience? And what would you give the CoT heroics?
Breakfast Topic: Pick your poisons
Today's Breakfast Topic is going to be rogues only, but heck, we all know there's tons of you out there. The question comes from Quill: What poisons do you use? Of course, it depends on your spec to a certain extent, and even moreso on your situation. Personally, my rogue is PvP specced, and so when I'm in battlegrounds or doing world PvP I usually run with, as Quill says, Wound and Crippling Poison (one halves healing on the target, while the other slows enemies down). Mind-numbing is also nice to slow casters down. Some rogues will say they use Deadly, but since I'm a stunlocker, I stay away from any DoTs while PvPing.Soloing, I just run with Instant on both daggers, but mostly because it's cheapest and lets me hit hard while stunlocking. In instances, I usually can't keep a mob stunned long before someone hits it, so I'll use Deadly and something else depending on what's needed (running mobs get Crippling, casters get Mind-numbing, etc.).But my rogue is my alt, and I'm sure plenty of you have rogue mains-- I haven't done much theorycrafting on it, and I'm sure you all have. What poisons do you use when and why?
The Burning Crusade: Faction reputation guide
Faction, can't live with it, can't access Naxxramas without it. Up to now, we've really not had to worry too much about faction in the World of Warcraft. Sure, if you want to get cheap access to Naxxramas, or if you'd like to get the Ahn'qiraj rewards you'd have to get pretty far along with the Argent Dawn and Cenarion Circle, respectively. But outside of that, faction was really just a way to earn a cool mount from another race. All of that is about to change. The Burning Crusade brings us not just a couple of expected new factions (Silvermoon for Blood Elves and Exodar for Draenei), but a whole host of interesting sounding names, such as the Ashtongue Deathswarm, Sporregar, The Consortium, Kurenai, The Violet Eye, The Mag'Har, Netherwing, The Cenarion Expedition, and a whole lot more. In fact, there are currently at least 19 new factions to gain reputation with. Luckily, World of Raids is here to help us with a continually-updated Burning Crusade Faction Reputation Guide. From locations, to rewards, to repeatable quests, the guide is set up to have it all. If you have a chance, go check it out, and if you're in the beta, why don't you give them a hand in fleshing it out.
Levelling Locations: 21-30
Previously in the Levelling Location series: 1-10, 11-20. At around level 20, things start to get really interesting. A lot of classes gain some particularly exciting new abilities at level 20, such as the druid's catform or the shaman's ghost wolf. Most of these will become invaluable for the remainder of your levelling time. Also, at around level 20, it's time to move on from the 'starter' areas. There are several places to quest, with plenty of variety, though you may find quests more spread out than previously. Also, if you're on a PvP server, things can start getting nasty as you venture into contested territories and zones with towns for both factions. Unfortunately, ganking (being killed by higher-level players) is the order of the day -- grit your teeth, stay off the roads, and you'll soon be big enough to visit some revenge on your tormentors.
WTB: Unofficial Guides, PST
We've seen some of the problems surrounding unauthorised WoW guides, but just how good are they? I've run into adverts for WoW ebooks and guides on eBay several times now, but I always dismissed them quickly. Until recently, that is. I've put my money where my mouth is and coughed up for two eBay ebooks -- both with similar advertisements, promising WoW tips, tricks and secrets. I won't advertise the exact products here, but if you're tempted by similar offerings, read on for the lowdown.
Fishing FAQ
I've always been an avid fisherman ever since I started playing WoW; I find it to be one of the easiest ways to make money & although I understand why some players find it boring, I happen to enjoy watching for that little bobber to splash.So, for all you fellow anglers out there, the Azerothian Trade Union has posted a great Fishing FAQ, detailing all the good spots to cast a line, and all the goodies you can reel in. It's a very well-done guide that I plan to be referencing often; check it out here.
Quest Spotlight: The Green Hills of Tedium...or, Stranglethorn
After leveling several characters of varying types into the 30's and spending more than my share of time in the lush, tropical, yet deadly oasis that is Stranglethorn Vale, I decided that, with my latest character, I would actually try and do something with all those annoying pages that kept filling up my backpack; even after reading how un-rewarding & tedious the quest was (especially for a Hunter), I decided to actually attempt to piece together The Green Hills of Stranglethorn.And, since I'm just the type of idiot who doesn't like to take shortcuts with things, I decided that I would find all the pages myself, without buying them from the Auction House. How hard could it be?, I thought, I find the darn things on every single monster that I kill! It HAS to be pretty easy, right?Well, read on to find the answer...
Widget Watch: HBO Widget
I haven't been this impressed with a widget's capabilities in a long time. The HBO widget is highly functional and eye candy-infused, allowing you not only to check the program guides for both HBO and Cinemax channels, but you can browse and view their 'large collection' of teasers right inside the widget. Top that all off with a really slick minimizing ability to get all this intensive content out of your way when you'd rather save the cycles, and I think I've found the latest widget to receive a 'click of my mouse™.'The widget is, of course, free and available from HBO's site.[via Daring Fireball]
Blackrock Depths Strategy Guide
For all of you out there looking to pick up your key to Onyxia's lair, or if you're just hunting for the head of Golem Lord Argelmach, WoW Vault has posted a comprehenside strategy guide for plumbing Blackrock Depths. The guide is very well-written & detailed, and covers quests for both Horde and Alliance, so be sure to check it out before you head in.Repair-Bot schematic...here I come!
1 to 60 in 48 Hours?
While browsing around the various WoW sites, I came across this guide from WoW Guru, claiming to show how to level from 1to 60 in only 2 days. It's basically a big list of grinding spots, but even if you pumped yourself full of Hunter S. Thompson-quality speed & grind-ed away for 48 hours straight, surely this can't be possible...can it?The various comments from players on the guide seem to be divided into whether this is feasible or not; some claim to have done it, other's claim it's impossible. All I know is, if it IS possible, then it sure as heck shouldn't be. I know powergamers will always find a way to beat the clock, as it were, but the level cap should not be able to be attained in just 2 days. Or should it? What do you all think?
Faction & Reputation Guide
For all of you players out there who like to weave yourself into the internal politics of Azeroth, WorldofWar.net has an extremely detailed reputation guide to show you who hates who, who hates you, and what you can do about it. Want to become best goombas with the goblins? Friends with the Furbolgs? Pals with the Pirates? I can do this all day long...The guide lists the various factions in the game, the quests to raise reputation with them, and the rewards you earn for doing so pretty exhaustively, although there are a few smaller factions that get glossed over, such as my personal favorites, the Bloodsail Buccaneers. They're decent guys, you just gotta get to know 'em.... Anyway, check out the guide right here.
mycitymate: European City Notes for iPod
Here's a neat little tidbit for you iPod users out there who may be travelling to Europe in the near future. On mycitymate.com you can download a guide for select destinations including Berlin, London, Rome, and more.I downloaded and copied the Berlin guide (free with registration) to my iPod nano. The guide is well formatted and each subsection is organized by neighborhood or category. They're not exhaustive guides, but for a free (with registration) collection, the mycitymate guides are a great find. I especially liked the handy "Nearest Metro/Tube" note at the bottom of each entry. Snazzy![via iLounge]
