shatari-skyguard
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Breakfast Topic: How do you respond when grinding goes competitive?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. I recently finished my Shatar Skyguard reputation grind. I'd previously done my share of rep grinding, including repeatedly decimating the populations of Felwood Timbermaw and Nagrand ogres, but I was, um, not prepared for Skettis. We tend to be a friendly group on my server, and my previous experience rep grinding involved everyone giving each other a respectful distance, taking turns and sharing a friendly wave here or there. It is quite a bit different in the cutthroat world of the Skethyl Mountains, where more than once I detected stealthed Alliance lying in wait trying to grab my summoned mobs. When it came to summoning Terokk, I quickly learned to save that for early mornings and to scope the area beforehand just to be safe from Allies, but quite regularly, someone of either faction would swoop down into a camp where I was merrily grinding away and kill the very next mob in my sights, regardless of the fact that the next camp over was completely unoccupied. I had no idea Skyguard Rep was such serious business! I eventually finished my grind and earned my Purple Riding Nether Ray and matching Nether Ray Fry, but I am still surprised by the experience. Ever enter into a WoW endeavor to find it unexpectedly competitive? Did you stick with it, or did you decide it was more trouble than it was worth?
Breakfast Topic: Non-utilized utility items
So among my full to bursting bags on all of my characters, one thing the high level ones pretty much all have is the Skyguard Drape (or the caster equivalent thereof). Even my Death Knight has enough skyguard reputation to have one. I figure if I ever I have some need to fall from a great height, I can just strap it on real quick and jump, and it will always be there just in case the opportune moment arrives. But here's the problem: I have never needed to use it. Not even once.
Ask a Beta Tester: Leveling, the Taunka, and mounts
All of us here at WoW Insider are staggering around somewhat zombie-like in the wake of BlizzCon with the patch (probably) coming tomorrow and the amount of information we're hoping to get out in the next 24 hours. So in all truth I don't know whether the answers to today's questions are completely factual or just stuff that started swimming in front of my eyes at 1:00 this morning. Arthas is actually a girl underneath all that armor, just like Samus Aran. The zone music to Icecrown is "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. The Hateful Gladiator cloth belt is a pink tutu. Flying bunnies will be available in the next expan-(Sound of a short scuffle in the background, followed by a whip crack)Thank you, Dan, a little perspective is always useful in these difficult times.Jason asks...Will Northrend be accessible at 68 like Outland was accessible at 58? Or do I need to be a solid 70 to quest and instance in Northrend?Technically, Northrend will be accessible to anyone with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion installed; you can hop a boat or zeppelin on any character of any level. There's no "You must be THIS HIGH to cross through the portal to Outland" restriction, but you won't be able to pick up any of the quests available in Northrend until level 68. Could you grind your way to 68 in Northrend from the mid-60's? Maybe, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Soon to be 2.4.3
As you've likely already heard, patch 2.4.3 will finally be going live today, and we have the full set of notes. While the realms aren't up yet, the new patch excitement and QQs are already building. How is this patch going to affect you? Do you have an army of level 30 alts lined up and waiting to purchase their phat new rides? Personally, I'll be heading out to pick up the new tailoring patterns in Tanaris and purchasing the non-combat pet from the Sha'tari Skyguard. Then, I might level my own handful of alts. While I meant to push them all to 30 before the patch landed, I got sidetracked. What will you be doing?
The Outland daily circle
With Phase 4 upon us, The options for dailies are pretty much long and endless. Of course, with a daily limit of 25 dailies, you can end up doing most of them anyways, and while certainly don't try to spring for 25 dailies every day, I still do my fair share of dailies. About once or twice a week, I do what I have come to call my Outland Circle. All three of my characters have all the daily hubs unlocked, so between Ogri'la, the Skyguard, the Netherwing, and the Shattered Sun Offensive, I can get a lot done.
Patch 2.3: Cenarion Expedition flying mount edition [Updated]
You've heard so much news about patch 2.3, now here's a bit more. In response to a poster who was complaining that the Horde will soon have access to an Alliance mount (the Ram, via Brewfest quests) while the Alliance doesn't have access to any sort of raptor or wolf or anything, Bornakk says:While it would be available for both factions, we could also put in an epic flying mount that is purchasable for those who are exalted with the Cenarion Expedition. It would be very expensive, but it would be a sign of an accomplishment for people who go the extra mile and purchase one. Hmmm... this does sound like a good idea, how about we do this in patch 2.3?What sort of flying mount could it be, we wonder? Hippogryphs? I would have guessed nether rays if the Sha'tari Skyguard hadn't already snagged those. Does the Cenarion Expedition have a secret cache of flying cows they're not telling anyone about? The questions continue to pile upon mysteries already heaped upon enigmas!Update: Riddle unraveled! Apparently, it is a Hippogryph, and at the normal 280% speed. Thanks Icho, for asking the question on the forums and finding out for us! I had been hoping for an enormous Zangarmarsh firefly after reading some of the comments -- that would be classy! But alas, it is not meant to be.
Blizzard tips on Ogri'la faction
Blizzard has posted a new faction guide on their official site. The Ogri'la faction, introduced in Patch 2.1, resides on the western part of the Blade's Edge Mountains. Gaining exalted with these enlightened ogres doesn't get you a fancy epic flying mount (directly) or the key to Karazhan, but attaining Exalted will net you a good deal of gold and access to epic faction rewards. I won't go into the details of all the quest chains. Blizzard's guide plus WoW Wiki's Ogri'la page do a great job of that. But I'm in the middle of this quest series myself and have a few tips of my own to share: You don't have to be grouped to finish the Mog'dorg quest chain. Just tag along with another group doing it and you'll be able to get the quest turn ins after each kill. The Ogri'la quest line will open up additional Shatari Skyguard faction quests (and get you closer to riding that nether ray) OgriLazy is a great AddOn for remembering the color sequence combinations of the Relic's Emanation daily quest. Druid flight form is NOT immune to the dismount debuff of the Fel Cannons during the bombing run missions. The Badge of Tenacity is one of the best non-raid tanking trinkets in the game, especially for feral druids. Do any of you fine readers have any additional tips to share about Ogri'la quests?
What you need to know about daily quests
I'm a man of many distractions. Between a full time career, a growing family and a new writing gig at WoWInsider, I don't have as much time as I used to when it comes to my video games. When I do log on to WoW, I often look for objectives I can complete in a short amount of time, but still give me some sense of progress. Enter my new obsession: daily quests.New factions were introduced with the The Black Temple 2.1 Patch and with it came the specter of the dreaded rep grind. But this time Blizzard has added quests that reward players with hefty reputation gains in exchange for limiting their completion to once a day. Since these appeal to me greatly, I did some digging around and found a few helpful facts that may aid you in your Outland adventures. Daily quests count against your total quest count in your quest log You can have a maximum of 10 daily quests in your log at any given time The timer on redoing a daily quest is not reset every 24 hours from when you complete it, but at 2am PST Many daily quests that work in one reputation level (i.e. Neutral) continue to work in when you've achieved higher rep levels Currently you must be L70 to get these quests so they give no experience The biggest change here from previous rep grinds is being able to do lower level rep grinds while at a higher rep level. Other than that, dive in. You can try out daily quests with the Sha'tari Skyguards, Ogri'la and Netherwing factions. For a starter guide on these quest chains, check out our "Where to start with 2.1 content."
