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My herbalism trainer is so disappointed
Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a slacker.My resto shaman is definitely my main, and he's very, very helpful-- he can heal like a priest, DPS close to a mage (or at least a well geared moonkin), and he's even got Mana Tide totem and that always useful Earth Shield. But one thing he doesn't have... is a 375 profession.He's an herb/alch, and therein lies the rub: I can't collect anything. Skinning, I'm great at-- I've gotten multiple toons to 375 skinning, just because it's so easy to take a second after a kill to skin. First aid, I rock, because there's so much cloth around-- my 63 rogue is already at 375. But mining and herbalism, I just can't seem to get done. By the time I level out of a zone, I haven't picked up enough herbs to get my skill up, and eventually I'm leveling near herbs that are red to me. Now I'm leveling a blood elf mage, and she's having the same problem with jewelcrafting-- I'm not finding the mine nodes on my normal journey, and as a result I'm falling behind.A high end guild would probably have kicked me out by now for not bringing potions to raids (fortunately, my guild is very forgiving). But it is wrong of me to show up to a raid empty-handed just because I've been lazy. So what's the problem here? Am I missing some secret method of collecting as I level up? I do forget to turn on my tracking sometimes, although I know there are addons out there that will help with that. Unfortunately, since I've already hit 70, it looks like I'm just going to have to go back and grind it out, but maybe that's the best way to do it. Did you level your collecting profession while you were leveling or did you do it all in one big run? And what tips do you have for me to keep me from slacking off in the future?
Breakfast Topic: Outland, take two
My main is sitting comfortably at 70, running instances, edging up her tailoring skill, and slowly accruing cash for the epic flyer. By this point, in fact, I've brought my second character to 60, my Rogue, and started her in Outland. It's just as much of a blast as I remember it being the first time, months ago, although of course it's a little less fresh. I remember everything being so big and bewildering back then; now, knowing where everything is and what all the quests are, it's very much more manageable. It's still challenging, though, since the mobs behave a bit differently than I'm used to from the old world. If you've gotten a second (or third, or...) character to Outland level, how have you found it the second time through?Also, what have you found to be a good level to run through that Dark Portal and start questing? I originally went at 58, but after doing a few quests decided I'd better go back to the Plaguelands and get to 60 first, for more effective questing. Still, I'm glad I did the first few quests, since they got me huge upgrades in main- and off-hand weapons, and a piece or two of armor. If I become crazy enough to get a third character out of Azeroth, I'll probably do it the same way -- go in for a few easy pieces of vital gear, and come back out to get to 60. What would you do?
Phat Loot Phriday: Bloodmoon
That's what I'm talkin' bout. We've been messing around lately on PLP, doing all kinds of quirky and strange items. Not this week-- we came here to do some DPS and chew gum, and we're all out of gum.Name: BloodmoonType: Epic Two-hand AxeDamage/Speed: 366 - 549 / 3.70 (123.6 DPS)Abilities: Improves crit rating by 52, and attack power by 106 Requires Master Axesmith (we'll get to that in one second) Since it's a two-hander, it's not great for tanking. But if you're a fury warrior looking to split some skulls in PvP or PvE (extra lovin' for Orcs, who get a bonus to their Axe skill), this thing is about as nice as it gets How to Get It: There's a price for everything cool, and this one is no exception. First of all, you've got to be a blacksmith, and then you've got to do a quest when you've got 200 skill to become a weaponsmith. Then, you've got to check back in with the special blacksmithing trainer at 250 to become an axesmith. Finally, you've got to get into Outland and get your Master Axesmith level all the way up to 375.And that's just to learn the plans. This axe is at the top of the new upgradeable weapons for blacksmiths, which means to make it, you've first got to make an axe called the Lunar Crescent, which will cost you Eternium Bars, plus Primal Air, Primal Earth, and Primal Might (that last one is the kicker, as those are really hard to come by). And once you've made the Crescent, you use a bunch of Primal Nether (which drops from heroic mode bosses in Outland 5mans) and Primal Mana to upgrade it to an axe called the Mooncleaver.And finally, you've got to somehow round up a stack of 20 Nether Vortexes, which drop only from Outland 25man raids, with a fairly low drop rate, especially considering that they are necessary for about 15 different recipes, all at the highest levels of Tailoring, Blacksmithing, and Leatherworking. So unless you've got a whole, well-geared guild behind you who really wants to get this weapon, it's not very likely you're getting it anytime soon.But if you somehow make the Lunar Crescent, and then find the mats to upgrade it, and then get those Vortexes, you can upgrade the Mooncleaver to this, the 123.6 DPS Bloodmoon. Neat, isn't it?Getting Rid of It: Speaking of the guild that helps you make this, they would be pretty angry if you sold it to a vendor. But you'd get 17g 4s 35c for it. It will also disenchant, of course, but considering it's BOP for Blacksmiths, it's extremely unlikely one of these will ever be disenchanted. Ever.
Breakfast Topic: How many times have you changed your talents?
With the new talent trees and the challenges of leveling, I've had to adjust my talents several times. On my warlock, I did a post-2.0 build before the expansion pack that was very heavy demonology, a leveling build that was heavy affliction, then I tried multiple builds for post-70, settling on a hybrid 40/0/21 build similar to my old raiding build.Fortunately I'd had my old raiding spec for a very very long time, and my cost to switch everything now is up to just 30G. How many times have you unlearned your talents lately? What's your re-spec cost up to?
Leveling build for a Retribution Paladin
NOTE: Current Paladin leveling guide can be found on our Leveling Guide Page. As with the Enhancement Shaman build I previously wrote, this guide is meant to be a resource to new paladins who'd like some advice on a single build to go from 1 to 70, focusing on leveling quickly. To level quickly, I'm a big fan of doing the most damage possible in the least amount of time. Retribution Paladins (aka Retnoobs) are not the most mana efficient of paladins, nor are they excellent healers or tanks. They do great damage, actually staying a bit ahead of the curve until level 40. Paladins are HIGHLY gear dependent. Keep this in mind. Eventually, you'll want to focus on Int and Stamina, as paladins make perfect tin-can healbots. For leveling, I focus on Str/Sta/Agi/Int, in that order. Strength gives extra attack power, stamina is your hit points, agility is for crits, and int is for your mana pool and spell crits. Your typical combat is a bit dull, and will go like this: Seal of the Crusader, Judge, Seal of Command, Hammer of Justice, Judge, Seal of Command, Judge, Seal of Command, Hammer of Justice, Judge.. *yawn* Toss in some self-heals and you'll be fine. Paladins are incredibly resilient in combat. If you're low on health, judge Seal of Light; if you're low on mana, judge Seal of Wisdom. When running zones, I almost always have Blessing of Might on myself, for extra attack power. Full list of talents is after the break!
Confessions of an Outland clown, part 2
I'm still feeling awfully silly running around in my set of Outland greens and blues. And I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks my character's appearance has taken a turn for the worst since leveling past 60. Even Drysc has chimed in on the topic, telling us......leveling items are almost always go to look more or less "plain". We want the end-game items to really stand out, both in ability/power and the way they look. The items you had at 60 were the end-game items, they were the best of the best and their look really showed that visually just running around the city. As you're leveling again you may be finding better gear than what you had, but it's not the uber end-game gear, and so it sort of has a plain look to match.Of course, I don't think that my complaint is over the fact that the gear looks "plain" -- in fact, I think "plain" would be a major improvement over what I'm wearing now. And while all of us want the incredible end-game gear to look, well, incredible, that doesn't seem like a great reason to make the rest of the gear in the game look awful, or just as bad -- boring and recycled. With most of the sights in Outland making me want to gape in wonder, the fact that my character would look about the same (perhaps better -- I don't recall low level greens being this jarringly colored) if I went and geared myself with the best that Elwynn Forest had to offer is a little disappointing. How could the current system be improved? Read on for some thoughts.
More levels means fewer crits
To go along with the spell haste rating post from yesterday, Relmstein reminds us all about the apparent problem with the new combat rating system: if you don't replace it, the gear you're wearing gets progressively, comparatively worse as you level up.Gloves of Spell Mastery, for instance, a high level tailoring item that used to say "+2% chance to crit" before the expansion now says a critical strike rating increase of 28. That still gives a +2% chance to crit at 60, but if you've made it to 66, it only gives a +1.5% chance to crit, and at 70, that drops to +1.26%. They're the same gloves, but the crit bonus you gain from them has dropped in almost half.As an aside, don't forget that RatingBuster, an addon Eliah looked at last week, can help you out with all of this-- it'll let you know exactly what those ratings mean for the level you're at. You can literally watch your numbers drop after you ding!Of course, as Relmstein points out, this isn't really anything to get worked up about, because the equipment is scaling with the rating, and so by 70, you'll hopefully be finding gloves with an even higher critical strike rating. And this does have, as he notes, the added benefit that 57s-60s (like my rogue right now) will get a little buff from having overpowered gear for their level, since the Gloves, for example, will actually give more than a 2% crit when worn by someone below 60. But it's true that on the way up, classes like Warriors and Rogues that depend so much on hits and crits will suffer a little bit.
Ding! 70!
My warlock hit level 70 during one of the horrendous trash pulls in the Auchindoun's Shadow Labyrinth. It took about 2 weeks, a little over but for the first four days my server was unplayable. I have a few suggestions for those of you who are trying to get 70 in the minimum amount of time spent. First, get out of Hellfire Peninsula as quickly as possible. There are so many people in that zone that I spent way too much time waiting for spawns. Second, unless you are a mage getting powerleveled with the help of a entire guild, quests are the way to go, not grinding and not instances. Finally, my pattern was Hellfire Peninsula to Zangarmarsh to Nagrand to Terokkar Forest to Blade's Edge to Shadowmoon Valley. I did Nagrand first Terokkar Forest was very heavily in use, and I wanted to stay out of that mess. They're about the same level, so it works out. I haven't even been into the Netherstorm area. Why did I skip Netherstorm? I'm a warlock. Shadowmoon Valley is full of demons. I was completely playing to my strengths. I started The Burning Crusade with about 150 gold on my warlock. I ended with a tad over 1500, not counting green items (sold via my bank alt) but counting all consumables, repairs, flights, and other expenses. Whenever there were quest rewards with no usable options, I picked the 2 handed weapon or the plate armor, those items tended to sell better. Unless you blow all of your cash on tradeskills, you should have basic flying mount cash very quickly.I managed to find groups to finish nearly all of my group quests on an ad hoc basis. On a couple of quests I got help from in-guild. Now that I've finished leveling, my goals are to finish up all my keys, do some instances, and help the rest of the people in my guild level.
Leveling build for an Enhancement Shaman
Due to popular demand, I'm going to talk about a Shaman leveling build, specifically the one I chose in getting to 60. After 60, due to itemization, you have a lot more options. The following guide is what worked for me. It assumes no respeccing, so you'll have some talents that contradict each other - shield spec, 2h, and dual-wield. As with any guide, it may not be the best for your particular playstyle. It's just a suggestion for newer players on talents they can use to help level quickly. While leveling up, you really want to maximize damage, as a paladin does with their retribution tree. You could level up as elemental or restoration, but expect a long long grind to 60. Enhancement is truly where it's at. Everything in this tree is geared to either increasing the damage you do, or reducing the damage you take. When leveling up, these are pretty important. You should pick your gear accordingly as well. Strength increases damage and how much you block with a shield. Stamina increases hitpoints, Agility increases crit rate, and Int increases mana and spell crits. I'd place importance on stats in that order, but that's personal opinion. Read on for the entire build.
Alright, that was completely worth it
Unlike most of you out there, I did not immediately rush into the Outlands with my level 60 whateveradin, slaying my way through Hellfire Peninsula in an unquenchable thirst for experience on the road to 70. Instead, I put aside that urge and rolled a Draenei Shaman. Now, just shy of 3 weeks from the release of the Burning Crusade, I've hit 60 - thanks largely to Skew having infinite patience waiting for me to catch up to him in quests - and have made my first tentative steps into that which lies beyond the Dark Portal. It's not that the Outlands are unfamiliar to me as a player, I spent a decent amount of time exploring them in beta, but there's a whole different vibe to them after slugging through every single one of Azeroth's zones in such a short period. To put it on a grand scale, it must feel the same way that seeing the new world felt to the first European settlers. To put it on a normal scale, it was really freaking cool. All of Azeroth feels so far away now. I made it to Shattrath, actually got a tour of the place from one of Khadgar's servants, and chose my allegiance (to the Aldor, btw, though I'm sure the elf-lovin' Scryers are nice folk too). I now have a rudimentary understanding of what's going on in the Outlands - Illidan = Bad, everyone else = good - and feel like there may be a point to my questing. To those still on Azeroth, I urge you to commit and level up to see the Outlands. Bountiful riches await you (every single drop is an upgrade), fantastic battles will challenge you, and the world itself will have you gaping in awe. For those of you in the Outlands now, don't forget to go back to the old world to see what a difference an expansion makes - and if you really want to see it from a new perspective, level up a Blood Elf or Draenei, so you can appreciate it all the more. Have any of you done this, or are in the process of leveling up a new character without first taking a look into the Outlands with a 60 you have? What's your experience been like?
Breakfast Topic: What level are you?
The race to level 70 has come and gone -- the first 70 in the world, the first 70 in the US, first 70 on my realm, your realm, and everyone else's realm. Not there yet? That's okay -- having a penchant for reading quest text and other such silliness, I'm not there either. But before I ask you, I suppose I need to 'fess up myself and admit to my own levels: a priest at 63, a rogue at 61, and a paladin at 29 (this last taking up the majority of my time lately). And now it's your turn -- what levels have you reached since the expansion release?
"A challenge based on an influenced probability reliant on time investment"
What is that crazy assortment of buzzwords in the title of this post, you ask? You already know-- you probably spent a lot of time playing it this weekend. That, says Drysc, is what WoW is.When Nickleplate of Bloodscalp posted the perennial question of why we're still stuck killing n boars for x eyes, Drysc responds with a pretty insightful (some might say cynical) comment: we're doing it to waste time. Why doesn't every vulture you kill drop a tailfeather to collect? Because quests are designed to take time to do them, and to reward you when you invest that time.Now, I hope Drysc doesn't really think that about this game-- saying quests are designed to steal free time is like saying Jack Bauer defeats terrorists because the script says so. Jack Bauer defeats terrorists because he's Jack Bauer, and we're completing quests because in WoW, we're heroes and that's what heroes do. We aren't really "waiting for those eyes to drop"-- we're supposed to be collecting them to save a village or earn a new faction's respect so we can better save the world.But leave it to Drysc to rain on the parade. Most players, I think, want and get more out of WoW than just a simple timesink-- they want to have fun with (or play against) friends, experience building a character in a story, or simply develop a strategy (... on how better to obtain boar eyes, maybe, but a strategy nonetheless). I ask for more than "a challenge based on an influenced probability reliant on time investment" from WoW, and most of the time, I get it. Do you ask for more? And do you get it?
I'm in ur Outlands, holyin' my Priest
The Priests in my guild are falling off to the dark side, one by one. The most die-hard Holy one went Shadow today, after hitting level 64. However, I've refrained, instead having taken the advice of our guild's shadowiest Shadow Priest and specced into dps-focused Holy. As of level 62, I was 14/32/7: Discipline (14 points) 5/5 Wand Specialization 3/5 Silent Resolve 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude 1/1 Inner Focus 3/3 MeditationHoly (32 points) 2/2 Healing Focus 3/3 Improved Renew 5/5 Holy Specialization 5/5 Divine Fury 1/1 Holy Nova 3/3 Inspiration 3/3 Improved Healing 2/2 Searing Light 1/1 Spirit of Redemption 5/5 Spiritual Guidance 2/2 Surge of LightShadow (7 points) 5/5 Spirit Tap 2/2 Improved Shadow Word: Pain And as a matter of fact, I'm now level 64 and haven't figured out where to spend my two more TP.
Breakfast Topic: The rush to 70
Well, the rush to 70 is just reaching its stride. On my server, I did a quick "/who 70," and during prime time I saw about 17 people on (one of them in my guild). Another guildie is at 69, and a few more are at 67, which means a good ten or fifteen will be 70 within the weekend, most likely, and there will only be more after that.And yet frankly, I'm not all that concerned with getting there. Sure, you might say it's a copout (I haven't won the race to 70, so I'm quitting), but even though I played for quite a bit after the expansion first released, my leveling pace has pretty much dropped back down to normal-- not too fast, not real slow. Enough to make the quests fun, but enough to keep it moving on the rewards end. And even though I'd be getting more XP in the other zones, I haven't even left Hellfire Peninsula yet-- partly because I want to see all the great lore and scenery, but partly because, like Mystic Worlds, I'm really in no rush to 70.Because while all the "good" raiding is at 70-- the exclusive 25-man endgame stuff-- that's also when I stop earning XP. And unless I'm headed for a specific item or attunement, it seems to me that playing solo without XP is a waste of time. The game ends at 70, and I'm in no hurry to end it. So what about you-- are you making (or have you already made) the mad dash to 70, or are you stopping to smell the mushrooms in Zangarmarsh?
The Azeroth Blues
Unlike some other draenei and blood elves, I'm not 60 yet. I hit 40 last night on my Draenei Shaman, and immediately picked up the mount and converted to mail gear. Then, a feeling of emptiness came over me. I was puzzled. I've leveled up before through Azeroth, this Shaman will be my 7th trip to 60 (and now beyond), and I really do enjoy leveling. What's hit me though is a feeling that I'm stuck in the same old content. It's not that I don't love Azeroth, I really do. It's been my home away from home for almost 3 years now. It's just that while I'm grinding away through levels in the "old country", all my guildies are out in the Outlands having fun and getting drool-worthy gear from mobs I've never heard of. Yes, I have some awesome company in the leveling grind (frequent commenter Skew is a good friend and guildie) as we both get our shamans raid-ready, but really, there's no sense of awe and exploration in Azeroth anymore. Would Blizzard have done better to implement a bit more mid-level content in the expansion? Levels 1 through 20 were fantastic on Azuremyst and Bloodmyst isles, and I've heard the Blood Elf content is just as fantastic. There's something particularly cool at the end of the Bloodmyst quest series that leaves a player feeling good about the world and their place in it. And then you head into the rest of Azeroth.
Breakfast topic: How long til you hit 70?
By now many of you who already had level 60s have had a chance to gauge how fast your leveling process might go on the road to 70. So, let's hear it -- what are your predictions for how long it will take you to get to the new level cap? Or, if you've just rolled a new alt or character and plan to take it all the way to 70 -- how long do you expect to spend leveling up? Do you have any personal leveling goals you want to achieve? Having been a member of a relatively hardcore raiding guild (almost every night towards the bitter end, when we disbanded "until the expansion") and knowing all too well how quickly "fun" can turn into "burnout," I plan to take my time leveling both my current 60 and my new blood elf alt (or alts... totally tempted to roll a draenei now, too). After taking a couple of months' worth of break from the game, I'm just happy to be back and enjoying the new content, and am avoiding setting any goals at the moment -- although I totally applaud those of you out there vying to be the first on your server to 70, or first in your guild, or what have you. So let us know -- how long will it take you to get to 70?[Update: for some of you... not long!]
Leveling with two is twice as nice
Relmstein had some great tips about how to tackle the Burning Crusade this week, but his second to last one might be the best: To get a new character up and running, find a leveling buddy. Many of us are heading back to lowbieland (or heading up to 70) after we install the expansion (Horde needs Pallies and Alliance needs Shaman!), and as many of us know, especially after grinding our way up to 60, maybe even more than once: nothing makes those levels go away faster than someone to level with.So my advice is to find a buddy, start early, and work together often. A great team of two can tackle almost anything in Azeroth, but make sure to organize yourself-- both of you will need to level up certain skills (first aid!), but there's a few professions that complement each other very well-- blacksmithing and engineering or jewelcrafting, for instance. Group quests can sometimes be tough with two, but if your classes complement each other and you're both experienced, it makes things easier for everyone.Now, if you already have someone and need ideas for classes, we've got you covered. For actually finding someone in the first place, the LFG system has grown on me a little bit-- if you're in a zone and looking for help, it's easy to throw up your LFG flag, and it usually grabs a few whispers. Guildies are always good-- I know a few guilds (including mine) are going to be leveling up together, at least to 70. It's too bad, though, that there isn't a service somewhere for just hooking up people for leveling. Oh, what the heck, let's start one here-- if you're starting a new toon (or continuing an old one) for the Burning Crusade and you need a leveling buddy, put your name, server, and faction in the comments here, or just drop a whisper to the people who have already posted. To Outland!
Ask WoW Insider: best place to grind for a level 44 mage
It's time for this week's edition of Ask WoW Insider (yes, we usually post this on Friday, but blame Chicago for making us sit on a plane all day!). Last week you weighed in on the best duo for PVP or grinding. Our question today comes to us from Jason, aka Sentius: I am somewhat new to the game, been playing for about a month, just taking my time but getting into the game very much. I have already pre-paid for the expansion which is awesome! But I have a level 44 alliance mage, and I am wondering what are some good grind spots for him? I play with a few friends online, and when we are on, we like to do a good instance or run up a few quests... But mainly on solo time, we're out grinding trying to make some money... we are all broke since we got our mounts. So my question to you is, what are some good ideas for a level 44 mage to grind??? You heard the man -- help him out! And don't forget to keep sending us your questions for Ask WoW Insider to ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Ding photos from a portable WoW
So Lasdran over on Gorgonnash (known only as "Jim" in real life) got an ultraportable PC (a Sony UX), and he had a pretty good idea about how to use it. He's playing WoW (that's usually a terrific idea, no matter what), only he's playing it as he wanders around the real world. And to document his travels (both in Azeroth and in real life), he's taking snapshots every time he levels.Note that I said snapshots, not screenshots-- he's actually holding up the camera and shooting the UMPC in his current environment every time he dings. He hit level 3 in line at the mall. And when he hit level 5, he happened to be in the waiting room of a hospital. There are still a few kinks in the system (it looks like he could use a better camera, and he's already missed a few shots-- level 7 happened while he was in the bathroom-- but if he keeps it up, it could turn into an interesting photoblog about how his character's life happened to interact with his own.Not to mention that playing WoW anytime, anywhere, is a pretty interesting prospect, too. I'm heading home for the holidays, as I'm sure a lot of you are, which means I'll be away from the game for a little while, and this would definitely be a welcome addition to a long cartrip. In the meantime, keep up the photos, Jim-- if I were you, I'd make a quick blog and start posting photos pronto. Good stuff.
Finding time for the alt
After hitting 60 with my shaman a few weeks ago, he has definitely become my main. I raid with him all the time, I've got a lot of nice tier 1 gear already on him, and I'm working hard at farming up my alchemy and herbalism skills (yes I slacked off while leveling) so I can become a "Frank Potion-guy" for my guild. The only problem is, I've got this alt...See, a while back, I rolled a UD rogue to play as a twink in WSG 10-19. I never tracked honor for him or anything-- I just sent him nice gear when I found it on the AH, and played PVP with him for fun (usually when the WSG weekends were up, not because I cared about honor, but because that's when they were most busy). Then, a little while back, I decided that I liked playing a rogue (stunlock ftw) so much I wanted to get him to 60. I don't really want to raid with him, I just want him to be 60 and PVP-specced so that when the expansion hits, I'll be ready for all the new World PVP options.But my problem is that I can't seem to find the time to bring him up. Between helping guildies with the tier 0 instances, farming herbs, running raids, and finishing raid quests, I'm finding it hard to fit in some quality time with my alt. Despite what a few people think of me, I do spend a lot of time not playing the game, and so I'm finding time to be at a premium when I play, and most of it is going to keeping up my main.So how have you dealt with bringing up an alt? Do you ditch your main for a while and focus on the alt as if it was your only character? Or do you work the both of them-- lately I've been logging out and switching over to my alt while waiting for raid groups to come together. Or is it even possible to have two characters advancing at the same time? Maybe the classes are so deep that trying to level two at the same time means you can't really dig into both very well. What's your experience? I'd really like to get my rogue to 60 (33 now) before the expansion, but if I have to ditch my beloved shammy to do it, I might have second thoughts.
