Thunderstomp, Beastial Wrath, Volley, A of E tanking with the Gorilla Stomp.
Big Red Kitty has the video: BRK Gorilladin 101 Movie
Planning to play a Death Knight when Wrath goes live? Or are you going to give it a couple of weeks to let the hordes move on?
If you are going to join the Deathknight horde (at any time) then you might want to check out this free DK leveling guide (a PDF) that covers the DK starting area. Both Horde and Alliance will be using the same area, just in case you didn’t know, so this guide applies equally to both sides. (By the way – I didn’t write the guide.)
When I was running my DK through that area some weeks back there were a number of people asking “Where’s the…?” “How do I…” etc. So I think that a lot of people will find this to be useful. Download it here and save to your disk.
Update 7/14/2012: The guide was put together by Shawn of Extreme leveling, but he is no longer offering guides.
If you want a killer leveling guide that will take your DK (or any class) from start to whatever the level cap is when you read this, then give Zygor a close look.
As you probably have noticed the 3.0+ patches to WoW have crushed the guts out of many of our addons. Curse Gaming has a list of addons updated for the 3.0+ patches and, presumably, Wrath Ready.
edit: Some additional info on use and installing addons can be found here: WoW addons
Update 5/26/11: The WM product hasn’t been updated in awhile, so while it has some pretty useful stuff it has nothing for Cataclysm. The product that I’m currently using is the Tycoon gold addon. It does the farming/gathering/crafting stuff, like the other guide, but does it all in-game in the form of an addon. Wrap that around your Gnomish brain. The creators have also released an Auction House module, which looks pretty slick and will make some of us a pile of gold. If that seems like it’s for you then hit that banner to the right or see my Tycoon Gold Guide Review.
By the war, the Massive WoW Gold product mentioned in the comments is very good and is regularly updated for new Cata content. Tycoon is my toy of choice for the moment, though.
Here’s the usual gold drill: Grind a few primals (or other items,) sell them off, and make upwards of a couple hundred gold an hour if you’re really good at it and there’s no competition. It’s about the same for the daily quests, plus you get the rep items. If you’re good at playing Auction House games you can double that.
Now consider for a moment what it takes to hit the gold cap: that limit being currently set at 214,748 gold, 36 silver, 48 copper, and once reached will prevent you from receiving any more cash. At 300 gold an hour that’s a measly 716 hours of pure gold making activity.
Brad, of Warcraft Millionaire, has hit that cap on four separate characters. I’d say he know his stuff and I’d say it took some time.
How was it that this guy had managed to do what is seemingly impossible when millions of other players have been at it for just as long and are nowhere close? You can see the video proof on his home page, which really drives the point home.
What has Brad done that very few, if any, have done before? What did see in the game that others had missed? His strategy must surely be superior, right?
It seems that Brad’s friends and fellow players have been asking the same question of him for some time and so, instead of constantly answering questions, he has put together a collection of resources at his website that promises to guide the casual or even hardcore player through the same process he used to reach the upper echelons of gold making.
is that it’s not some special secret, as you might think. The “secret” is entirely in his understanding of how the WoW market works. It’s all in the Auction House (AH.)
We all know that; we’ve been to the Auction House and we’ve seen what kind of gold it can provide, someone’s putting up all that stuff for sale, but none of us would have guessed that there was quite that much gold in it.
Want to learn how to do that, too? Brad provides concise, well written advice on how to use the Auction House to make a lot of gold. I think that hitting the gold cap, four times, provides some serious credibility, don’t you?
While I won’t reach a million gold anytime soon, I definitely feel much more confident in my ability to make hundreds of gold on demand and pretty much all of it it with my low level bank alts. I’ve accumulated a nice little stash since Wrath went live:
A nice gold stash, taken on 3/18/09
Now, while the real gold is made at the auction house, and Brad emphasizes learning to use the AH, there are people who would, for whatever reason, rather do something else to earn their WoW cash. So, I’ll open up my copy of Warcraft Millionaire and note that, in addition to the Auction House domination guide, Brad includes the following:
Since Millionaire is one of the newest gold guides it neatly cuts out one of the problems of the older guides, none of the info is out of date. You won’t find references to the level 60 cap or to items and mobs that are no longer in game or of value. It’s also updated for Wrath.
Note: There’s no mention, yet, on his homepage whether the guide will be updated for Cataclysm. I don’t think the techniques will change much, though the “places to find stuff” lists will probably change, big time. As of this writing there’s a lot of time for you to build your stash before the expansion hits.
You don’t have to have level 80 characters, either. In the video on the home page Brad notes that his level 1 bank alt does most of his trading, buying, and selling. Yes, it’s at the gold cap. You will also get an idea of what he buys and sells.
If you like to make all your gold by some form of farming, then having the high level characters certainly helps.
You won’t just be given a set of grinding locations either, though you do get those in addition to everything else. What you will get and learn is a set of techniques that will massively boost your gold stash.
Whether you are just starting or have conquered Northrend you’ll find something in here that fits what you want to do.
There is one section lacking:
While Brad includes a ton of stuff that will do wonderful things for your gold stash, he basically skips Inscription. That profession is what I used to make the bulk of the stash in the image above. Not a major oversight, though. Scan glyph prices (especially with the new dual talent builds) and use what you learn from the AH section of the guide and you’ll figure it out quickly.
You can snag your copy of Warcraft Millionaire here.
Update 8/8/2010:
I tweaked some of the info above, but my opinions haven’t changed, and I hit almost 250k on the above account (over a couple of characters. ) WM is a good guide that covers a lot of areas for making a lot more gold. I assume that the author will keep updating it, otherwise a lot of info will become dated with the Cataclysm release. It has been updated since the above review was written.
Also, keep in mind that hitting the cap is going to take some work. It’s one thing if you want to have 10-20k gold in your pouch, it’s another to have 200k+ (and it’s really nice being able to drop 10k on an item without even blinking.)
So this guide is really good for the person who wants to play the gold game, though the casual player will also make a lot more than otherwise.
Lots of us have encountered this scene in the battlegrounds (BGs:) There’s the Pally, let’s start working on him. I’tll take awhile, but…. WTF!?! (appear at spirit healer)
Yes, right now is the time of the Retribution Paladin. They’re lean, mean, squishing machines laying waste to anyone who stands in their way. I don’t play a Pally, my 40 is collecting dust right now, but I’ve been on the receiving end of a few of them in the BGs. It’s not bad if I can land a dismantle and they don’t bubble, but otherwise? I’ve never been slaughtered quite so quickly.
Not that I know what I’m doing, but sheesh.
I’m of two minds on this, especially for long time players. For ages Pallies have been underpowered in some areas and the subject of much complaining from their fans (and which class hasn’t?) so it’s kinda cool that they are now the destruction/murder machine of choice. On the other hand, since I play a Rogue… 😉
My kid has been playing Paladins and Warriors since the original beta, claims they are his favorite classes, and has complained about their damage and abilities for as long as he’s been playing them. I tease him about being a masochist, since those are his classes of choice and their damage has traditionally been …lacking. I’ve also been kidding him about how he must hate the current situation with the Ret. Pally running roughshod over everything.
Word has it that in the Wrath of the Lich King beta test characters were balanced for level 80, but that too little testing was done at the lower levels. The call from dead and envious players, since the 3.0 patch on the 14th, has been heard and the official word is that the nerf is coming (which will make my kid happy. I think. )
Supposedly the nerf is going to clip the burst damage, but will leave longer term DPS about the same. We’ll see. Buffs and nerfs (and patches) usually have their fair share of unintended side-effects.
This post pretty much covers what the fuss is about:
Retribution Paladins: Fair and Balanced – So I tried my hand as a Retribution Paladin this weekend. I had heard all the complaints about how overpowered Retribution was at the moment, so I thought I would get some first hand experience for myself. …
WoWinsider notes the the coming changes are aimed at PvP Paladins and will leave PvE pretty much (in theory) unchanged. It also has a Ret build for PvE types. I’m going to log into my rust covered Pally right now and play with them for a few.
Patch 3.0.2 primer for Retribution Paladins – Retribution deals so much pain that we’ve sent the rest of player base running to Ghostcrawler crying for a nerf. And we’re getting nerfed. To the ground. Don’t panic. The changes are really, mostly aimed at PvP Paladins — okay, …
Movie time – Pally testing from the 3.02 patch:
Mp 3.0.2 patch paladin retribution Overpowered ? – Category: PvP Summary: My paladin testing out patch 3.0.2 and retribution paladins are pretty overpowered. *…
Here’s a good analysis of the Ret Paladin from Blessings of Kings:
Are Retribution Paladins Overpowered? – Half the challenge of playing a Ret paladin is actually getting to melee range. It’s not like Retribution can Charge or Stealth or Death Grip. If a player lets a Ret paladin get in range, she has already lost half the battle. …
Zuggy (a hardcore PvPer) has some blue posts on Blizzard’s thoughts about the incoming nerfs:
Retribution Paladin Nerfs Incoming – There’s no denying that retribution paladins are insanely overpowered and fortunately (or unfortunately depending…) the nerf stick was officially confirmed earlier this evening. While there are some needed changes to the class to …
And SpoonCraft has details on some of the specific nerfs:
Retribution Paladin Changes Coming Soon (Oct. 17th) – As I stated yesterday, we are happy with Ret’s PvE damage and sustatined damage in PvP, but were concerned that the burst damage in PvP could be too high. We discussed this for literally hours yesterday, which was certainly not the …
So what are your thoughts on the Retribution Pallies and their current or upcoming states?
As everyone knows by now, Inscription is the new World of Warcraft profession. There are several detailed inscription guides available out there, but the basics of the profession are simple enough to grasp and, unlike other crafting professions, Inscription is relatively cheap to level. Especially if you pick your own herbs.
The Herbalism skill provides the raw materials for Inscription and the herbs that you will need are easy to find, they the standard herbs you see all over Azeroth and the Outlands. One of the unique features of Inscription is that the herbs requried for any one ink (more on inks below) can come from any of a group of herbs, not just one herb in particular.
For example, the Lion’s Ink, required for glyphs such as Eviscerate, Judgement, and many others, uses Grave Moss or Kingsblood or Liferoot or Wild Steelbloom. It makes no difference which one you use, so use the herb that’s easiest for you to gather or cheapest to buy off the Auction House.
All other mats needed (currently) for Inscription can be found off the Inscription supply vendor. All you need are the Virtuoso Inking set and the various papers.
Every character from level 15 up has at least one slot available to install glyphs. Click the Glyphs tab at the bottom of your spellbook and you will see which slots are open to take glyphs. At level 70 you will have two major and three minor slots available. Here’s the breakdown:
One you have obtained the glyphs that you’re interested in you need to find a Lexicon of Power. These can be found near the Inscription Trainer in the any of the Capital cities, except Shattrath. Ask a guard for directions.
One you are near a Lexicon all you have to do is right click the glyph, your Glyph book will open up, and you just point the glyph to an open slot, in the same way that you enchant an item.
The glyphs are permanent, like gems or enchants, until you decide to drop in a different one to replace it. If you find you made the wrong choice in glyphs, just get a new one and drop it in over the bad one. Most of the glyphs are pretty cheap right now, so glyph swapping is painless. You can even stock a few for different occasions, such as switching from raiding to PvP.
Which glyphs are available? Just have a scribe post her list, browse the Auction House, or hop over to Thottbot.com. Remember, that not all minor glyphs are in the game yet.
Prices are pretty good now, since there are so many scribes the market is flooded for certain glyphs and the only expensive ones are the minors. Even those are far less expensive than other crafted items, enchants, or many gems.
With one exception, the minor glyphs, all the recipes for glyphs, cards, scrolls, etc are available from the trainers. I assume that more glyphs will eventually be available from drops, just as are recipes for other crafting professions, and we’ll probably see a few as reputation rewards at some point.
So it’s likely that right now every high level scribe in the game has every recipe available from the trainers. They’re cheap enough to learn.
Minor Glyphs are only available through Minor Inscription Research and that research can only be done once per 20 hours. It’s cheap enough to do, but that cooldown means that the sharpest Scribe in the game only had access to five minor glyphs 100 hours after the 3.0 patch dropped.
Just which minor glyph they get after researching is random, inscribers don’t get to pick from a minor glyph list. Check the AH every few days for new minor glyphs and be prepared to possibly spend 50-100 gold for each one.
It’s all the same process, regardless of what’s being scribed.
All glyphs, cards, etc., are made in the same way.
If you spend 40 gold on a stack of 20 herbs each milling (requiring 5 herbs) will cost you 10 gold. (This cost is a reason for you to think about taking the herbalism profession)
As an example, if you spend the 40 gold on an herb stack and you have to mill 10 herbs to get 2 inks to make one glyph (paper costs are low,) that glyph will cost you 20 gold to make. Most glyphs (on Bloodscalp, anyway) aren’t selling for that much, though minor glyphs are. Buy your herb stacks at 10 gold each and your glyphs cost 5 gold to make.
By the way… How many stacks of herbs can you gather in an hour if they’re selling at 30 to 40 gold a stack? If you can find a place without too much competition? This is why leveling your herbalism skill might be a good plan. Check the Auction House for herb prices, first.
Inscription does provide some fun buffs. My Rogue will enjoy sprinting on top if the water, rather than swimming throug it, for example. It also provides some that aren’t so interesting, which is why you’ll see some glyphs selling for pennies.
Got a 70 Rogue with decent gear? Try the Mana Tombs in Terrokar Forest (The Mana-Tombs are a wing of the Auchindoun instance. It is accessed due north from the Ring of Observance.)
Zuggy, of Zug Gaming, has a video showing you just how to do this. He says that a Rogue can generate from 100 to 400 gold per hour, depending on your server, the economy at the moment, and your skills at clearing the mobs.
Your targets are the two chest that spawn at random places in the instance. It also helps if you have a combat build, but that might not be necessary.
Check out his page for the video. Mana Tomb Stealth Farming
And check out Zuggy’s Gold Mastery Guide for more killer gold making tips.
The Patch has landed.
1.2 gigs of data, wow. Not so bad if you’ve been playing regularly, the background downloaded already has it. If you’ve taken a break for awhile, well… 🙂
From the new splash screen when you log in to the modified talents and trees to the new Inscription skill, there are a lot of changes here. Check out the Latest Patch Notes for details. Also keep in mind that the patch has probably broken at least some of your addons. I referred to that previously and linked to an addon update list.
So what I’ve put together here is a collection of posts regarding the new talents and builds. I did this previously (Level 80 WoW Talents And Builds) and this new post links to new and, hopefully, updated info.
Dual Talent Builds and What’s Not in This Patch:
Dual Talent Specs – At last — “…And my personal favorite: Dual Talent Specs. This new feature should be added to the game in one of the content patches following the release of Wotlk. Hopefully in Patch 3.1.” What does that mean? It means you’ll be able to save 2 different Talent Specs for your characters, and that you’ll be able to switch between the two as much as you want, any time you want, besides while in combat or in arenas.
Breaking News: Patch 3.0.2 will not contain all major class changes – There were spells and abilities missing, talents not enumerated, and generally the notes looked as if they were lifted from a version of the game done a few weeks ago. Apparently this was intentional. Ghostcrawler made a post moments …
Class Talent Discussions:
Hunters: BigRedKitty: 3.0.2 Hunter talent trees – The major purpose of this column is to give you, the WoW Insider reader, a point of reference. You know our writing, you know our play-style. You should know our limitations and the areas at which we’re not too shabby. …
Warlocks: Patch 3.0.2 primer for Warlocks – In fact, out of all the 11-point talents, Soul Link is the only one that should give us any pause for thought. Considering that for about a month, we can only allocate up to 10 points in another tree if we choose to get a 51-point …
Mages: Mage WotLK Talents & Developer Q & A – She has done a great job already working with many of classes and now she’s finally making it to the mage class, particularly the information regarding the new spell frostfire bolt. Initially I really didn’t understand the purpose of …
Priests: Spiritual Guidance: Patch 3.0.2 – Holy and Disc Priest talent review – This post will cover all of the new Holy and Discipline talents that will be accessible when the patch becomes live. Not only that, I’ve offered up some suggestions on different builds to remain raid viable (at least to the rare few …
Shaman: Going Resto in Three-point-Oh – New Talent: Cleanse Spirit (Requires 5 points in purification and 30 points in Restoration) – 1 point – Cleanse the spirit of a friendly target, removing 1 poison effect, 1 disease effect, and 1 curse effect. Shaman get an all-in-one …
Warriors: The Care and Feeding of Warriors: The Door Swings Open Pt 1 – Honestly, the difficulty here is not in finding good protection talents you can spec into, it’s in picking which ones to talk to you about now. Some of these talents (like Gag Order) only get really good once you have abilities you …
Ferals: 3.0.2 for Feral Druids – In a few hours, when the servers come back up, patch 3.0.2 is going to hit, and WoW will change drastically. Every tree is get revamped to a greater or lesser extent, and extended up to 51-point talents. The Feral tree changes, …
Rogues: Four Seasons of TBC, Rogue 3.0 Specs – However, without prep which mutilate doesn’t get until WOTLK, the spec is severely lacking in outs and terrible at catching mages, one of the most dominant classes in 3.0. For offensive comps, perhaps a prep spec is still worth …
Paladin: Prot Paladin Talent Build – Block hurts them afterall. We’ll see. Lastly no Holy, nothing in the Ret tree beyond the above, and as the levels tick toward 80, they’ll all get spent in the Prot tree. Tagged: build, Paladin, pally, prot, talent.
Tankadin Preparing Your Tankadin for Patch 3.0: Part 3: Changed Tools – 10/8 – Part 3: Changes to Existing Talents and Spells 10/9 – Part 4: New Talents, and suggested Trees 10/10 – Part 5: The New Threat Rotation or 96969 10/11 – Part 6: Threat Stats for Protection Paladins and Tank Gear Reitemization …
That should be enough to chew on for now. Feel free to comment or, if you like the post, use the share buttons below.
PS: Wrath is bringing a lot of changes and Northrend is a pretty good sized place with a lot going on. Take a good look at the Killer Guides’ Wrath of the Lich King guide – It will make your trek to 80 much easier and much more lucrative.
Where Have the Herbs Gone?
I spent some time today on a couple of servers looking for herb bargains, to use for Inscription or to resell. As you might already know, many of the herbs needed for Inscription are being snapped up as soon as they appear.
So you’ll log into the AH, search for (herb) and see… nothing. Or you’ll see something, at about 10 times the price you were paying not so long ago. Peacebloom at 20+ gold a stack? Wow.
Herbalism For the Win!
Herbalism is the new mining, but better. Start a new toon and gather stacks of the basic herbs and you’ll be able to sell them for far more than you’ll sell copper ore or light leather.
Given the way Inscription research works there will be an ongoing increased demand for the low level herbs which means more gold in your pocket.
Prices will stabilize as more people start farming all the necessary herbs, but I think prices are going to be permanently somewhat higher and much higher in the short term. So if you have an Herb Gatherer, now’s your time.
Mining and Skinning Are Still Good
I also think ores and skins will see some degree of price rise. Why? People will drop one or the other skill (I dropped mining and I’ll drop skinning tomorrow) to get Herbalism and/or Inscription. More herb gatherers means fewer ore and skin gatherers, leading to a somewhat lower supply of those items with little decrease in demand. Hence, higher prices.
I’m sure that the Chinese (and other) farmers will also see this opportunity, which will dampen prices somewhat. Still, it’s a good time to be a gatherer.
Getting Your Skills Up Fast
If you want to level your Herbalism skills to take advantage of these prices then take a quick look at my quick and dirty herbalism leveling guide.
If you’re interested in a deeper guide to leveling your Herbalism and/or Inscription skills, then take a look at my review of Penn’s Profession’s Guide.
Update, June 2011: Obviously Inscription has been out for some time now. It was quite the money make for awhile, but has cooled a bit. If you’re interested, here’s an Inscription leveling guide, updated for Cataclysm. If you want to make gold with this skill then look at our review of the Tycoon Gold Addon, which will show you which items are in demand and are selling for good prices.
The old post:
The other day I posted a guide on getting your Herbalism skill leveled quickly in preparation for the upcoming Inscription skill (rumored to be happening this Tuesday, the 14th.)
While Herbalism is as easy to level as any other gathering profession, Inscription will be a little tricker. I will likely write up a quick guide to that profession once I get it maxed, but Penn’s Guide does it better:
Penn’s Profession Guide has this to say about Inscription:
This profession is a powerfull one. It will give you the ability to create Scrolls & Glyphs. Scrolls will allow you to increase certain stats on your char for a limited amount of time. Glyphs will allow you to change the way your abilities work, such as reducing cooldowns or improving the effect of other spells/skills. You can also create Vellum which is an item that is used by Enchanters to allow them to create and sell an item that will do an enchant.
Inscription is similar, in a way, to the scrolls which youi find in-game, enchanting, and jewel socketing.
Glyphs work like scrolls in that you “read” it and you get the effect. The difference is that you will have certain slots available for both minor and major glyphs. The number available increases as you level, with none to start with and 3 of each at level 80.
Another difference from scrolls is that the glyphs will remain in effect until you replace them with another. Much like the gem socketing idea. Inscription is similar to Jewelcrafting in that way.
Enchanting, of course, also provides permanent buffs which can be changed on the fly. Obviously inscribers will be in at least as much demand as Enchanters or anything else that provides permanent buffs or enhancements.
Now, if you want to get your Herbalism and/or Inscription (or any other profession) leveled as quickly and efficiently as possible, then check out Penn’s Guide, ASAP.
Not only do you get better detail than what I included, you get the names and locations of all the trainers, Horde and Ally, and you get detailed maps for each individual herb.
For example, if you need to farm Khadgar’s Whisker, you’ll get a map of the best zones for that herb and a marked path to follow.
It’s not a total Herbalism guide, with details on every herb (and usage) in game, but it is a killer Herbalism leveling guide. (And the same applies to all the other professions.)
I’m browsing my copy of Penn’s Guide now, in the Inscription section. It starts out with a description (see above,) related professions, and trainer names and locations.
Clicking the Start Leveling link takes me to a new page, with all the recipes that I’ll need on the left side. Starting at the top, I hit mill and I’m presented with a page that shows the exact herbs I’ll need, the quantities, any other purchases I need to make (such as parchments,) and what inks I’ll get as a result.
Once of the cool things about inscription milling is that you don’t need any exact herb to mill, you need any herb out of a group. So pick your favorite out of Peacebloom, Silverleaf, or Earthroot and go to town. You don’t need X of one and Y of the other. 100% of one will do just fine. Very cool.
Grabbing a random Glyph here, Glyph of Arcane Missiles, which is used in the guide to train from 115 to 125, you’re presented with the mats needed for this item and an estimated quantity of items that you will need to make (in case some creations don’t give a skillup.)
The page also lists all the herbs needed for the entire 75 to 150 section.
All the detail above applies to all the other professions in Penn’s Guide. Want to level fishing? Pick Fishing on the left side, then click Start Leveling, then the level range that you’re interested in, then the exact fish. You’ll see a map (on the bottom of the page) which shows you where to go to catch these fish.
My fishing is stuck at 205 or so, so I’ll be using this (later) to max out my fishing. as I already have all the herbs I need I expect to have my inscription maxed by Tuesday evening, assuming the patch actually lands then.
Are you an Enchanter? Same thing, all the details of what to get and when to get it that you’ll need to level that very expensive profession as quickly as possible.
And the same is true for all the other professions in the game.
– Very few. Penn’s is not a gold guide, so you won’t get much in the way of tips on making money with your favorite profession (Zuggy’s Gold Guide is much better for that.) What you do get is detailed profession leveling instructions for every profession in WoW.
– There are a few typos here and there, but I didn’t see any that make the reading confusing. People who are instant typo detectors (my wife) will notice them, but most will skip right over them.
– The entire guide is online. It’s not a PDF, either. This isn’t really a quibble, but it is something to be aware of. Of course, this makes it much easier for the author to constantly update and tweak the guide.You log in and see that Inscription was just added. Very cool.
If all you’re doing is gathering herbs, ores, and skins then you don’t really need this guide, though the maps are nice.
If you want to master Inscription (or any other WoW profession) as quickly and painlessly as possible then Penn’s is the way to go.
Highly recommended, get your copy here.