I’ve heard rumors, here and there, that one or two people are planning on playing a Death Knight when Wrath of the Lich King arrives.

Update, 10/31 – The free DK Prep Guide guide is no longer available, sorry. That was out of my control.  However, there is another freebie, below.

As for he prep guide It’s been incorporated into the full Death Knight Guide, by the Killer Guides team. In addition to the prep guide, you get info on talents, builds, strategies, leveling, gold, PvP, and everything else you need to be the most brutal Death Knight that you can be.

Check out that guide here, and then check out their screaming deal, 20 WoW guides for the price of 3.

The freebie is a leveling guide for the Death Knight starter area (covering levels 55-58.) For those of you have have played several DKs through that area (in the beta) well, you won’t find this interesting.

For the rest of you who want a step by step walkthough of all the quests, where to go, what to do, etc., you’ll want this guide. It’ll save you a lot of time getting through the new area. Click here to get yours.

Just in case this is true you might want to check out this freebie, the Death Knight Prep Guide.

It’s not a leveling or skill guide. It is a guide to potions, gear, and a few other things you’ll want to do to get your Death Knight 100% ready to go for Outlands and Northrend. Buy them and store them now, while they’re cheap.

Tags: lich king expansion, guides

Zug, at ZugGaming.com, was kind enough to send me a copy of his World of Warcraft Gold Mastery Guide for review and I’ve been reading it over for the last few days.

I’m even using his “Tuesday Techniques” which I think will turn a tidy profit.

All in all I’m quite pleased with the guide and have no problems recommending it. I would like to see videos of some of the Auction House stuff, but it’s easy to read, well laid out, well written, and full of good tips and useful info.

You can snag your copy here, or read on to see more detail on what’s included in Zug’s guide.

Zuggy’s Gold Mastery Guide is actually six guides in one. You get guides for grinding, cashing in on professions, limited items, daily quests, auction house mastery, and a tools and tips guide.

The Grinding Guide – Grinding is the most common way to make WoW gold and Zug included plently of recommendations here, including maps marked to show specific locations. Also included are a number of tips for more efficient grinding, including beverage recommendations (Mountain Dew, of course.)

While grinding is a tad on the dull side (Ok, a LOT on the dull side) it’s a proven method for making gold and is the method of choice for a lot of players.

The Limited Items – If you’ve read any of my previous gold posts you’ll know that I’m a fan of limited items. Buy ‘em cheap and sell ‘em high. Zuggy’s Limited Items Guide is a pretty complete listing of vendors, their general location, and which item(s) you want to look for. While it’s easy enough to look up locations on Thottbot, exact locations would have been a nice addition to the guide.

Still, this list makes it easy to get on your epic mount and make the rounds of the vendors, then mail all your goodies to your banker for resale at large markups.

This works because many people aren’t interested in wasting time looking for vendors and checking to see if they maybe have that item in stock, this time. So you provide the convenience of easy availability and they pay you more than retail for the favor.

The Professions Guide – Yes, they can be used for making gold, some of them anyway, rather than burnng through your existing cash stash. Enchanting, blacksmithing, leatherworking, and others (in addition to the gathering professions) are covered here. Note – this isn’t a profession leveling guide. You’ll have a chance to grab one of those when you grab his guide.

The Dailies Guide – All 70s know to do their dailies for easy gold, rep, and loots. Which ones are the best though? (yeah, I know. Quel’Danas.) Zuggy lists all the dailies by area, notes which ones are worth doing and how much you earn from each. He also includes links to WoWhead for each quest if you need info on who, what, and where. Very nice.

The Auction House System – This is where the real gold is made in WoW, through mastering the Auction House. Zug covers which addons you need (Auctioneer, Gatherer, and others.) as well as how to install and use them to best effect.

He does a great job of covering how to use Auctioneer and uses screenshots to good effect. Videos would have been a nice addition here and I asked him about that. He agrees that it’s a good idea so I think current buyers of Zuggy’s guide will see some nice updates and stuff coming up, rather than having a forgotten product.

Tips, Tools, and Tricks – this one’s a catch-all for stuff not mentioned elsewhere, including the right way to make a bank alt, as well as leveling and more profession notes.

So why not just BUY gold? Ever read that Terms of Service agreement that you automatically click “agree” to when WoW is updated? Buying gold, items, accounts, etc is prohibited, so Bliz will ban your booty if they find you’re buying stuff you shouldn’t. Still, it’s your account…

With a guide you’ll end up making far more gold for far less money than a seller will charge you. Grab a copy of Zug’s guide here, follow the tips, and you’ll forget about ever wanting to buy gold again. Your account will breathe a sigh of relief and you’ll enjoy flying around on that epic flying mount (or riding that 15k, 3 person mount when Wrath comes out.)

Tags: Gold, auction house, guides

A couple posts back I put up a Nyhm video, Got an Epic, and also mentioned Nyhm’s guides.

edit: The Nyhm who created the videos in the other posts states that he’s not the same Nyhm who created the Nyhm’s WoW guides, so I have removed the guide links.

If you need a 1-80 leveling guide then check out Zygor’s Guide.

Tags: guides, Nyhm, Leveling

The Quests for the Blade of Cunning

At level 10 the World of Warcraft Rogues can do a series of quests in order to obtain a really nice dagger: the Blade of Cunning, a unique one-hand dagger with +2 Agility and speed 2 that does 6.8 dps. This can be very helpful at these lower levels. You also gain XP; the amount varies depending on your level.

The number of quests varies substantially depending on your race. Most Horde rogues have two to three quests, but the Undead max out at five quests.

The skills you use also vary depending on race. For the Horde, Blood Elf rogues employ their sneaking, sapping, and pickpocketing skills, while Troll, Orc, and Undead rogues perform kill and loot quests.

For all of these walk-throughs I have included maps, map coordinates, a verbal description, and screenshots. I have offered suggestions for dealing with the trickier parts of each quest series, as well. Hopefully this information will make your questing easier and more enjoyable. Let me know if this helped by leaving a comment at the end of this article.

Here’s to your Roguish questing!

Horde Rogues: Select your race to skip down to your Level 10 quest walkthrough on this page:

Blood Elf | Troll | Orc | Undead

This page contains Horde quests; visit this other page for the Alliance Rogue Level 10 quest walkthroughs.

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Horde Blood Elf Rogues – The Level 10 Rogue Quests

For Blood Elves this rogue quest chain involves just three quests. The only dangerous part is the second quest in which you sap and then pickpocket a Night Elf who is in an area filled with other Night Elves.

Quest #1 – Find Keltus Darkleaf

You get the first quest, Find Keltus Darkleaf,from Zelanis, <Rogue Trainer> in Silvermoon City’s Murder Row. (79,52) Zelanis sends you to locate one of his spies, Keltus Darkleaf, and bring back his reports.

Keltus is on the north edge of the Golden Mist Village island, north and east of the village. You can get there by traveling south on the road from Silvermoon City until you reach the Elrander river which forms the border between Eversong Woods on the north and the Ghostlands on the south. Stay on the Eversong Woods side of the river and head west along the river’s edge. You will see Keltus standing on the island across the river with Whisper, a large bat, hovering above him. (33,11)

Quest #2 – Combining Forces

For Combining Forces Keltus asks you to sneak into the Night Elf camp and steal an item from the Sentinel Leader so that Whisper can get the scent to guide him to attack her.

This quest gives you a great opportunity to try out some of your unique rogue skills. Specifically, use your sap and pickpocket skills. Using a combination of these two great rogue skills you can solo this at level 10. Just do not attempt to kill anyone, especially not the Sentinel Leader.

Turn and look in the direction Keltus is looking. That is where you will find the Sentinel Spy camp and the Sentinel Leader. Swim across the water, go into stealth and sneak around the edges of the camp until you see the layout.

There are several small tents with Sentinel Spies at each. There are also Sentinel Spies patrolling the area.

The Sentinel Leader makes a circuit of the tents and stops to salute each Sentinel Spy.

You are going to use sap and pickpocket to get the handkerchief. Do not kill her! If you do kill her you will draw the aggro of a large number of Sentinel Spies who will cut you to ribbons.

The best way to pick her pocket is to stealth in behind her as she moves between tent areas. Sap her and pick her pocket and then stealth away.

NOTE: If you don’t see the Sentinel Leader it may be that someone has killed her. Just wait and she will respawn.

If you are not used to using the sap skill try it out first on the Sentinel Spies who are on the edges of the encampment. Stealth up behind a single Sentinel Spy, use sap, pickpocket her while she is stunned, then stealth away.

Sap and pickpocket can be a very useful combination of rogue skills. As of now, you can only sap humanoids, but there is talk about the sap skill being expanded with WotLK to affect any creature with a brain.

When you return with the handkerchief Keltus gives you his stack of reports to take back to Zelanis in Silvermoon City. He also sends poor Whisper off to take on the Night Elves by himself. I don’t think it ends well for poor Whisper. You, however, are only one easy quest away from your new blade.

Quest #3 – Return the Reports

Return to Zelanis on Murder Row in Silvermoon City with Keltus‘ reports, and receive your XP and the Blade of Cunning, a unique one-hand dagger with +2 Agility and speed 2 that does 6.8 dps.

Congratulations! You’re done.

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Horde Orc & Troll Rogues – The Level 10 Rogue Quests

The level 10 rogue quest chain for Orcs and Trolls has three quests, but Trolls sometimes have difficulty getting the first quest from the questgiver. Good news: Trolls can skip the first quest and go straight to the second.

Orcs and Trolls are the only ones who have to kill one target for loot and then pickpocket another to complete their quests.

Quest #1- Therzok

Quest one starts with Kaplak, <Rogue Trainer>, in Durotar. This is one of those simple quests where the questgiver sends you to talk to someone else. In this case Kaplak tells you to go talk to Therzok in the Cleft of Shadow in Orgrimmar.

As indicated above, Trolls can just go directly to Therzok in Orgrimmar. (This may work for Orcs, too.)

Quest #2 – The Shattered Hand

Trolls start here. Travel to Orgrimmar and speak with Therzok in the Cleft of Shadow. (43,53) While you are in Orgrimmar set your hearthstone for the Inn (across from the bank and near the AH,) and get the fly point, too! You will be returning to Orgrimmar after you kill your target.

Therzok wants you to find and kill Tazan (a troll) and take his satchel. Tazan is south of Ratchet just north of the boat.

When you get to Ratchet grab the fly point before you leave. Walk along the path towards the Inn and then continue on south past the Inn down to the Merchant Coast. Here you will enter the pirate area.

There are a couple of pirate tents to the left, and you can see the ship in the background. To the right a path runs up a hill with a damaged fence along the right side of the path.

Sneak by the mobs at the bottom of the path and remove/kill the mobs at the top of the path, so that they cannot come to Tazan’s assistance. BTW, Tazan spawns about half way up the hill. Be prepared; he may very well spawn right on top of you while you are fighting a mob.

Even though Tazan is a level 13 he is not that difficult for a level 10 to kill. Sinister strike, evasion, and slice and dice should do the trick. If you are concerned, take along a friend or a healing potion and you’ll be ok. Once you have killed him and looted the satchel return to Therzok.

Quest #3 – The Shattered Hand

It turns out that the satchel is locked, so Therzok sends you to get Tazan’s key from Gamon, a hapless, drunken Tauren and sometime Tazan employee who is known to hang out drinking at the Inn in Orgrimmar.

Gamon spawns in the corner of the inn (54,58), facing toward the wall – perfect for pickpocketing! His name will be in yellow.

The point of this exercise is to “quietly relieve him of the key” as the quest says. Do this by targeting him with the tab key or LEFT clicking him. Do not right click! Sap him, pick his pocket and go. You can try just pickpocketing, but it is easier to sap him first. Unfortunately poor Gamon gets killed all the time; if he isn’t there, just wait for him to respawn.

I understand that some people find it humorous to make a character who looks just like Gamon, name him Gamon, and park him in the corner where you expect to find the NPC Gamon. Don’t fall for this trick. Look for the yellow name; they can’t duplicate that!

After you have the key, click on the satchel to open it. You may have to try more than once to open the satchel if you are only level 10.

(NOTE: If you can’t find the key in your inventory look on your keyring. Next to your backpack is an icon with a key. Click on the key icon for your keyring. Your key should be there.)

After you open the satchel right click it to get the log book out. Then go back to Therzok and get your XP and your Blade of Cunning, a unique one-hand dagger with +2 Agility and speed 2 that does 6.8 dps.

Congratulations! You’re done.

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Horde Undead Rogues – The Level 10 Rogue Quests

The Horde Undead rogue has a longer quest chain to complete than any other rogue, however, it is easier, in some ways, than the other rogue quest chains.

Most of the other versions involve using sap and pickpocket to good effect on your target to relieve them of their items. For the undead, troll and orc quests you have to kill an NPC and then loot his body.

The first quest just has you visit an NPC in the Undercity. No problems there. The second quest is the most difficult of the five as it involves killing a level 13 to get the loot you need. Quests three through five are just running about the Undercity again. So you see, even though it involves five quests, it is not a long drawn out quest chain. It also has a kind of cool back story of intrigue within the Undercity.

Quest #1 – Mennet Carkad

Marion Call <Rogue Trainer>, pictured above, is the questgiver for the first quest, Mennet Carkad. You will find Marion Call on the second floor of the Gallow’s End Tavern in Brill (62,52 ) the small village just north of Undercity.

Marion will send you to locate and speak with Mennet Carkad in the Rogues’ Quarter of the Undercity. (83,68) Looking at the map the Rogues’ Quarter is in the southeast, or lower right corner.

To find Mennet Carkad go downstairs in the Undercity and into the Trade Quarter.
Enter the south corridor leading towards the canal and the outer rings (65,55); turn left and enter the Rogues’ Quarter.
Take the first set of steps that leads onto a bridge and cross the canal.
Turn left, go down the stairs from the bridge and then up a few steps, turn right and head towards the building with three skulls over the archway.
Mennet Carkad is outside in front of the building standing just to the left of the archway. Rogues’ Quarter (83,68)

Quest #2 – The Deathstalkers

Mennet Carkad will give you quest 2. This starts you on four quests called The Deathstalkers. For quest 2 in the chain, the first Deathstalker quest, Mennet Carkad tells you to obtain the personal effects of messenger Astor Hadren. What this means is that you have to kill him and loot his body for a letter.

I recommend that you have at least a minor healing potion with you while you do this quest. Place it on one of your action bars so it will be handy during the fight.

As you leave Undercity turn left and travel along the road. You will run into Astor Hadren on this road. He walks a route back and forth between Undercity and Sepulcher. He does not have any designation over his head (no gold ?) other than his name, and he will not appear yellow or red to you. He just looks like an Undead guy walking along the road.

If you are having difficulty locating him you can try using a macro to target him, but it only works when you are in fairly close proximity to your target.

To make a macro type /macro and press enter. Click the make new button.

For the macro command type /target Astor

You have to approach Astor Hadren and start a conversation. Once you talk with him his name changes to red and he starts attacking you. In other words, you cannot just go up to him and start attacking him; it won’t work.

Don’t forget to use evasion and gouge, as well as good old sinister strike. Your healing potion may come in handy during this fight. Loot his body when he is dead to obtain Astor’s Letter of Introduction.

Return with Astor’s Letter of Introduction to Mennet Carkad.

Quest #3 – The Deathstalkers

Mennet will give you back Astor’s Letter of Introduction and tell you to take it to Andron Gant, whom they suspect of spying and double dealing. Andron Gant will believe that you are the original messenger he was waiting for; in other words, you are impersonating the deceased Astor Hadren.

Andron Gant is in the Apothecarium in the Undercity. Looking at the map the Apothecarium is in the southwest, or lower left corner.

Enter the southern corridor at (65,55) heading towards the canal and outer rings; turn right to enter the Apothecarium. Go down the stairs from the bridge and enter the courtyard at the end of the bridge steps Andron Gant is behind a stone desk. Apothecarium (54,75) This is in a large room where there are two huge abominations standing by the entry.

Andron is standing at a stone desk, and there is a bookcase on the wall behind him.

Quest #4 – The Deathstalkers

Andron starts you on the fourth quest involving a ledger with information on his activities.

Walk behind Andron and right click on the bookshelf to obtain the ledger. Andron wants you to take it to whoever sent Astor Hadron, but, of course, you will take it back to Mennet Carkad.

Quest 5 – The Deathstalkers

For the fifth and final quest Mennet tells you to deliver Andron’s ledger to Lord Varimathras in the Hall of the Dark Lady in the Undercity.

Leaving Mennet, go back towards the canal, turn left and walk into the Apothcarium. Walk past the alcove with Andron Gant. A few feet ahead there will be steps on your left with two Royal Dreadguards flanking an opening. Apothecarium (52,62) Turn in here to take the corridor to the Royal Quarter. On the map the Royal Quarter is at the bottom of the map in the round room below the name Undercity. At the end of the corridor you will find Lord Varimathras on a raised stone dais. Royal Quarter (56,92) You cannot miss this awesome dude!

Give Varimathras the ledger and receive your XP and the Blade of Cunning, a unique one-hand dagger with +2 Agility and speed 2 that does 6.8 dps.

Congratulations! You’re done.

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Tags: Rogue, Quests, quest walkthroughs, guides

We’ve put up a couple more Druid guides and a Review of the killer Zygor Leveling Guide. Here ae the links. You can also see them to the right.

• Druid Bear Form Quest, for the Horde
• Druid Bear Form Quest, for the Alliance
• Zygor Leveling Guide review

Tags: Druid, Zygor's Guide, horde leveling guide, alliance guide, horde guide, Leveling, guides

Zygor’s Guide for the Win

Need to get leveled to 80? Fast?

edit 10/30: Zygor’s guides have been updated for the 3.0+ patches and will be Wrath ready (1-80 leveling) when WotLK is released.

edit 12/31: Totally updated for Wrath, when it was released in Nov, the guides have been updated a couple of times since then. The updates are free.

edit: 4/17: Updated for the 3.1 patch.

edit: 12/14/09: Zygor’s was updated to version 2.0 a few weeks back. The basic functionality is pretty much the same, but there have been some significant changes. I’ll note some of them here, the rest of the review is largely unchanged and is still applicable.

• Bliz has made changes to its addons policy that, as far as I understand it, make it a violation to directly sell addons. Zygor guarantees that their guide is A-Ok by the Bliz policy.
• Improved user interface which allows more customization
• Improved step detection as you fly through the quests.
• Improved class quests – adds your particular class quests to the guide.
• Internal talent guide and automated talent picker. Sure, there are a bazillion talent guides all over the web, and some who might read this have a detailed understanding of the talents and strong ideas of what’s “best.” This thing is for those who might not want to fuss about it. If you like it will select and assign your talents for you so that you don’t have to bother with it (is that making things too easy?) If you want to pick/assign your own, then go for it. It even works with the dual talent build system.
• There is a Guide forum on the Zygor site where the admins actually answer questions. You don’t even need to buy the guide to see it. Actually this isn’t new with 2.0, but it’s a good enough forum that it’s worth mentioning.

Disclaimer: Part 1: If you buy the guide through these link I do get a cut. Part 2: With the guide I have leveled a Rogue from 70 to 80, another from 1-63, a DK from 55-75, a Pally from 1-45, a Warrior from 1-38, and various others to lower levels. So I confess, I like this guide.

And so it begins…

What I’m going to do here is go into some other guides, first. This will give some background on why we think Zygor’s Leveling Guides are so cool. Just scroll down if you want to skip this part and get to the review.

In the Beginning

In the beginning there was Joana’s Horde Leveling Guide. For Horde only, it promised, and delivered, on a fast path from level 1 to level 60. It was later updated for the Burning Crusade expansion and offered a fast path to level 70. (I used Joana’s to get my Rogue from 1 to 70. )

Shortly thereafter, Brian’s Alliance Leveling Guide came out, offering a similar system for Alliance characters.

Both of these excellent (and they are) guides had a lot of similarities, besides being Hunter oriented and solo friendly.

• They offered a fast and efficient route to 70
• Little, if any, need for grinding. Everything is based around the quests.
• They were both PDF documents (digital ebooks.)
• They were both built around the Hunter class, arguably the fastest leveling class in the World of Warcraft.
• Both guides have links to sites such as Thottbot.com for extensive info on every quest in the guide.
• Both guides eliminated the need for grinding to level.
• Both guides come with a customized version of the Map Notes addon which heavily modifies the in-game map, adding coordinates for the location of every quest in the guide. Get the quest, get the cords from the guide, enter the map, find the point, set your waypoint, and follow the arrow to your destination. Couldn’t be easier, right?
• Both guides are intended for the solo player, so don’t require you to group (generally) or enter any instance (ever.)
• Both guides also offered extra goodies, such as builds, tips, and user submitted guides for the various classes.
• Both are printable, so you can print ‘em out, put them on a clipboard, and check off things as you go.
• Both guides will still get you leveled at a very nice pace.

As with all things there were a couple of issues that could be directed at either guide, or any other ebook type guide:

• Since they’re both ebooks you have to switch back and forth between game and ebook. Unless you are/were among the few, the proud, the owner of two monitors crowd.
• Not all the quest detail was included in the guides, though Brian’s did have more than Joana’s. This meant not only reading the guide, but also the quest log and the occasional link to Thottbot & Co.
• If you leave the game you’ll have to remember where you left off.
• The leveling path was built around using a Hunter character and run by a player who knows how to use that character well. For the average player running, for example, a Paladin, the guides could be frustrating in spots, due to the level of the mobs. I played through Joana’s Guide with a Rogue (all the way from 1-70) and was able to deal with most everything, except for a few elites and I skipped most all of the group quests.

The next level in leveling guides, such as the TeamiDemise Leveling Guide, put the entire guide in-game. This is slick. You go to the in-game map and see a listing, like this: step 1, step 2, step 3… Click the step and the marked point on the map glows, making it easy to find and set a waypoint.

The iDemise guide wasn’t class specific, either. Play what you want and the guide would get you leveled in good style. It also included Pro Tips, which are cool. No more switching back and forth to a pdf, either.

The only real hits were some typos, the need to switch back and forth to the in-game map, and that you already had to know how to get from zone 1 to zone 2, since the guide offered no help in that area. Not an issue for experienced players, but definitely one for new players.

edit – The iDemise guide has now been updated to version 3, and now shows on your main screen. It’s not automated in the way Zygor’s is, but it’s a nice step.

So now we have the next step:
Zygor’s Leveling Guides (Horde and Alliance.)

John Cook has put this thing together and we think it’s pretty darn cool. He advertises a leveling speed of less than 7 days for the 1-80 trek. Given the way this guide is put together, and assuming some fast and efficient leveling on our part (don’t take the scenic route, etc.) then I think that many of us will be able to at least come close to that speed.

So here’s how Zygor’s Guide works:

No more switching: The entire guide is in a small, resizable window on your main screen. All the detail that you need to complete the quest is included. You’ll never have to switch back to a PDF, a website, or even the in-game main map to see where you have to go or what’s next.

Here’s a shot of the in-game guide windows:

Here’s what it looks like in-game. Click the image for the big picture (it’ll open in a new window.) Note the detail in the small window, to the right, plus the mark on the mini-map, and the waypoint arrow (top) with the extra detail.

This next one shows the expanded guide. Note that quests completed are grayed out. Log out, come back, and the guide will pick up from where you left off. (Click the image for the big picture.)

One of the very cool things about Zygor’s Guide is that it’s automated. Not only do you not have to manually switch from game to guide, you won’t even have to click to the next quest. Complete a quest and the guide will automatically update to the next quest. The guide does it for you (usually, sometimes you’ll have to click to the next quest on your own.) It really is like having someone giving advice over your shoulder. Here’s the next quest, here’s what you need to get…

No more setting waypoints: They’re all set for you automatically, and include distance and time to target. Plus, a dot is placed on both your mini and main maps, if you want to use them. Each time you are on a quest you follow the arrow, and do what you need to do.

This system makes it pretty hard not to find your objective.

No more having to remember where you are: the guide remembers all. Log out and come back in a week and you can pick right up from where you left off.

Starting off at some mid level? Come into the guide from any level, scroll through, find and click the quest you want to start with, and the guide will take it from there. Zygor suggests starting the guide a level or two before your level. This is to allow you to work you way into the local quest chains. Just skip the chains for quests you didn’t pick up along the way, or the quests that you already did.

The entire path of quests is visible in the guide window. You can scroll forward or back at anytime. Want to skip something? Click the next quest in line and the previous quest is grayed out.

By the way, all the quests are grayed out as they are completed, so you can always see where you are at a glance, plus where you’ve been and where you want to go next. Want to skip a quest? Just click the next one and the skipped one will become gray.

No more Thottbot - Enough detail is included so that you rarely have to look at your quest log or thottbot or any other resource, it’s all in the guide. Previous guides (eg: the PDF guides) linked all the quests to Thottbot.com (and related sites,) which is cool, but scanning Thottbot will slow your leveling speed way down.

The leveling path is not class specific: Zygor’s can be easily run with any character class. One of the ways this is handled is by the path taken, another is by including some extra grinding in places, to ding that next level before moving on.

Class quests are included.

(You’re also reminded to grab the flypoints and when to set your hearthstone.)

Is the path faster than that of any other guide? I can’t really answer that, not having played through all of them to 80, but you will certainly move at a good pace. You will never wonder about where to go next. Consider this, also: Zygor advertises a 1-80 time of under 7 days. That’s as fast as anybody does it. Plus…

1. No more having to set waypoints, they’re set automatically. That’s a time saver.
2. No more having to switch back and forth between game and website or pdf, it’s all on the main screen, saving more time.
3. No more having to dig into quest details, all the detail you need is in the guide, on the main screen. Just follow the arrow and level.
4. No more having to visit Thottbot and the others. Think of how much time that will save you.

Now how much time will all that save you on your path to 80? Just using Thottbot can waste a lot of time. Just the fact that you don’t have to do all the time wasting lookup stuff is going to cut huge amounts of time off your leveling.

The home page for the guide says that using it is like having a leveling guru giving you constant advice. Having used the guide for a quite some time now I’d say that’s pretty accurate. You’ll always know what to do and where to go next, automatically.

Leveling is now almost a no-brainer.

Quibbles? Very few.

• All classes will arrive in a common zone at level 13 (Westfall for Ally, the Barrens for the Horde.) This certainly isn’t an issue unless you like the 10-20 zones for Blood Elves and Draenei (Ghostlands and Bloodmyst Isle.) For example, I like leveling Blood Elves in the Ghostlands and John skips that entirely (says he doesn’t like that area.) Still, if you like those areas yourself then level there anyway and rejoin the guide later. Same with any other area.
• Class quests are skipped entirely, but they are skipped in all the other guides, too. Except for Hunters, which Joana’s and Brian’s Guides cover. Still, I’d like to see a reminder to do the quests and where to go to get them, even if the walkthrough isn’t included.
  
• Zygor’s Guide now covers all of the important class quests! Nice enough if you’re doing an easy quest, but some of those Druid quests can really use something like this. Very cool.
• Every once in awhile the guide doesn’t update automatically. It’s easy to fix, though. Just click the next item manually and you’ll be back on track.  Originally the Northrend quests didn’t all update automatically, but updates have corrected this.
• There are times when you will be fighting things a couple of levels higher than your character. This is easy enough for some, but others might find it a bit rough.
• Originally there was some grinding from time to time, but this has been removed in the current guide. For me, I just used rest XP, killed a few extra mobs here and there, and was usualy at least a level ahead of the guide. For example, At level 44 I was over a full level ahead of the guide, which certainly made the quests that much easier. This was with just a little extra grinding here and there.

In conclusion -

Our family has four WoW players, ranging from pretty new to very experienced. We all agree that Zygor’s is our leveling guide of choice. Having all the necessary info right there on the main screen has pretty much spoiled us for any of the other guides.

It’s easy for the new player to follow and efficient enough for the experienced player to want to use it. That’s a tough act, but John pulls it off nicely and his Zygor’s Guide rocks.

Give player A a copy of Zygor’s Guide and Player B a copy of any of the other guides. Everything else being equal (such as player experience) I think you’ll see the Zygor’s user (Player A) getting to 80 long before Player B. Not having to do the switching or looking up quest details will save large amounts of time.

Need to get a character to 80 fast?
Then get your copy of Zygor’s Leveling Guides here.

Edit: Dwarf Rogue time to level 30: 1 day, 22 hours, 58 min. This includes time for mining, skinning, visiting the AH, and a few time wasting activies.

To level 44: 3 days, 20 hours

My Rogue is 78 now, everything past dinging level 70 has been with Zygor’s guide. I’m not setting any speed records, though. I’m spending too much time exploring, making glyphs, and so on. The next character I run through Northrend will level much faster.

edit: As I mentioned above Zygor’s guides is completely ready for Wrath of the Lich King, so you will be able to blast to 80 in record time.

edit: Dinged 80 some time back, well before the end of the guide. Read more… »

Tags: guides, horde leveling guide, Zygor's Guide, zygor, Leveling, idemise

As we all know the Rogue lockpicking skill is the path to riches, glory, rep… Well, ok. Maybe not. Still, it does have it’s uses, such as opening doors, chests, and boxes in raids. It might result in some nice tips if you want to park in a major city and advertise that you’re opening lockboxes.

Lockpicking is one of the skills, like your weapon skill, which is locked to your level. So if you start your lockpicking career at level 16 then your max possble skill will be 80. If you start at 70 (why wait?) than you’ll max out at 350. Of course, when the Lich King expansion comes out and the level cap is raised to 80 you’ll get a max of 400 skill.

If you’re a lower level Rogue then your path to lockpicking will be a bit different from that of someone building it when they’re already 70.

• Want to have the Killer Rogue? Killer Guides’ Unofficial Rogue Guide covers everything from the basics to leveling to PvP to raids to talents to earning gold and more. Get yours here.

In a nutshell, for the lower level rogue: Do the lockpicking quest and pick the practice locks until your skill is capped. Then you’ll pickpocket all the rest of the boxes you’ll need for the rest of your career. That’s about it. Sap and/or your Distraction ability (picked up at level 22) will be invaluable for this.

All humanoid mobs in the game, at least after level 18, have some chance of dropping a lockbox when you pick their pockets. This includes Undead, Nagas, Birdmen, Orcs, Demons, Ogres (and just what is in those pockets?) and so on. Make it a routine to always pick their pockets, then kill them. You’ll generally find it easy to keep your skill capped this way.

These lockboxes usually contain herbs used for the Vanish ability and for the poisons, some vender junk, and on rare occasions something valuable. For example, I’ve found Living Rubies a couple of time in these boxes. On my server they sell for 60g a pop.

If you’re high level and trying to powerlevel your lockpicking then the drill goes something like this:

• Head to the area with the lockpicking quest and pick locks until the chests turn grey or you can’t take the tedium anymore.
• Then either find some mobs of the appropriate level (mobs that drop the right boxes for your skill level) and pick their pockets or find a location with footlockers lying around and pick those.

The Horde has a poison quest which involves a lockbox at the final location. Once picked the box will respawn in seconds. In theory you can pick this thing until your skill hits 180+, but it starts to slow after 160 or so. Working it to 180 will be tedious. The Alliance side has the poison quest, but the box can only be opened once.

edit – Things have changed and now the Horde box can only be picked once. I guess Bliz thought that picking the one box many times was just too easy. Darn.

By the way, you don’t actually have to do the quests. You can buy your thieves tools off a trade goods vendor, you get the skill from your trainer, and you can go and pick the boxes at any time. Do the quests for the XP and any items that may appear as rewards.

All of these quests are part of a chain. See your Rogue trainer for details. Naturally, any Horde or Alliance who like to live a little more dangerously can get the lockpicking practice in at the other side’s area.

Rogue Lockpicking Quest for Alliance

1. Find Lucius in Lakeshore, in Redridge. He’s on the warf.



2. Get the quest from him. Your reward will be the certificate of thievery and some snide remarks.
3. Run up to Alther’s Mill. Watch for Orcs behind the rocks and trees on the road. Click the image for a larger view. Alther’s Mill is in the center of the map.



4. At the mill you’ll see several small dark chests in addition to your target. In the screenshot the practice chests are on the right and the quest chest is on the left.



5. Work the practice chests until your skill is at least 80. The easiest way to do this is to stand where you can target three boxes at once. Each box will disappear when picked, then reappear a moment later. With three in range you’ll never lack for something to pick. Also, you won’t care about the frost traps hitting you since you won’t have to move.
6. Next, go and open the target chest and grab the item. Unlike the Horde side there’s nothing in the chest waiting to eat you, such as level 50 parrots…
7. Return to Lucius to complete the quest and get your certificate and more snide remarks.

Rogue Lockpicking Quest for the Horde

1. The Horde quest is a it different in that the mobs that will kill you consist of low level (12-13) pirates before you get to the ship, and one giant parrot near the target box. Alliance Rogues just have to get by some big spiders and level 22 Orcs on the way to their mill.
2. Go find Wrentex the Wretched in Ratchett (the Barrens) and get the quest Plundering the Plunderers from him. He’s just a little north of the flight master. In the screenshot (click for a bigger pic) the flypoint is right behind me, so he’s just north of it.



3. Get your E.C.A.C. and Thieves’ Tools from Wrenix’s Gizmotronic Apparatus.
4. You should also have a cracker in your inventory. Put this into an open slot on your action bar. You’ll need it later.
5. Head south from Ratchett, along the coast, and you’ll see the ship.   Note the spike off the bow of the ship, you’ll run along that to board her.





6. Run the the back of the ship, enter the room, and pick boxes until  your skill is at least 30, I’d stay until it was 80 or 85. If you’re 20+ you can pick these until your skill hits 100, but it will take some time. Stand where you can target two or thee boxes at the same time. That way you can ignore the traps. By the way, the rat (that you will turn into) can pick the locks, too. The screenie shows the chests. The quest chest is downstairs.



7. Go to the lowest level of the ship and head to the back of the room  where you’ll see your target chest. It’s hard to see in this shot, but it’s just under the lamp in the back of the room.



8. Be prepared to fight a level 18 parrot, but first…
9. Pick the lock, then stealth, then right click the cracker. The level 50 parrot (which spawns in the next room) will dwindle to level 18 and then you can kill it. Click the cracker before you attack the parrot.
10. Kill Polly, head back to Wrentex, and hand it in.

Blood Elf Lockpicking

1. Assuming you’re leveling in the Ghostlands, you’re going to go see Eralan in Tranquillien, who wants you to retrieve the Pitted Gold Band from the Amani Catacombs. He’ll provide the tools, you provide the anti-troll capability.
2. Unlike the other quests you’re going to do a lot of fighting here. Prepare appropriately.
3. You’ll head to the Armani Catacombs, just west of Farstrider Enclave in the Ghostlands. Kill trolls and pick locks until your lockpicking is 100 (assuming you’re 20+,) the chests turn grey, or you just can’t take it anymore. There’s also an escort quest in here and one or two others that you might do at the same time, such as Troll JuJu.
4. Unlike the other quests, these chests occasionally drop something interesting.

Raising Your Lockpicking Past 80

Talk to your friendly neighborhood Rogue Trainer to get the next location to raise your lockpicking skills. Otherwise, if you’re Horde, the Rogue’s Poison Quest is the next best opportunity to level your lockpicking skill. The chest in the tower at the end of that quest requires 70+ skill and can be picked repeatedly until you hit 170+ (though going past 165 is tedious.) The only thing in your way here is dealing with the 24 Elite guarding the chest.

Edit – The Horde box for the poison quest can no longer be repeatedly picked.

The Alliance chest can’t be repeatedly picked.

Or you can Swim for it – First, get an elixer of water breathing off the auction house. Lake Everstill, in Redridge, has scattered footlockers under the calm surface. 70+ skill to pick, they’ll get you up to 160+ if you can hang with it long enough. Just keep an eye on the 25 Elite swimmers wandering about.

Off the Zoram Strand, in Ashenvale, you’ll find similar submerged lockers.

Both of the above areas are contested zones, for those of you on PvP servers.

The wetland area, North East on Menethil Harbor, around the Bluegill Murloc camps, has quite a few footlockers. They’re mixed, some requiring 75 skill, others 110. Kill Murlocs, get cooking supplies (from the drops) and pick locks. What could be better?

110+ lockpicking

Durnholde Keep in Hillsbrad Foothills. There are footlockers scattered around the grounds (mostly on the lowest level) requiring a 110 skill to pick. Kill off the level 20 something mobs in the area and work these until you get bored (or hit 170 or so.) You can also pick lockboxes off the mobs here, but they require skill 1 to open, so are probably worthless to you.

You can also try the Murloc camps in the Wetlands (see above,) or the Windshear mine in the Stonetalon Mountains, for more footlockers.

Lockpicking past 150

The sunken Footlockers off the Sar’theris Strand, in Desolace, west of the Thunderaxe Fortress, has submerged footlockers needing your 150+ skill. Swim a little deeper and you’ll find lockers requiring 175+ skill. That Water Breathing elixer is highly recommended here.

If your Rogue is averse to swimming, then Angor Fortress, in the Badlands, (around 43,31) has footlockers (upstairs) requiring 150 skill, and the lowest floor has footlockers requiring 175 skill. You’ll also get the chance to kill dwarves and the occasional player.

Pickpocketing level 32+ mobs will result in boxes requiring 75+ skill to pick. You’ll be level 30+ to be able to get that 150+ skill anyway, so that’s a good way to go.

Going up to 225 Lockpicking

Pickpocket 42+ mobs for boxes requiring a 175 skill to pick.

Swim the deeper waters of Sar’theris Strand for the suken footlockers with the 175″ skill requirement.

Open the boxes in the lower level of Angor Fortress.

Open the doors in and around The Scarlet Monastary.

The Sunken Temple, in the swamp of sorrows, has submerged footlockers that are calling out for your 175+ lockpicking skill.

The Long Slog from 225 to 300 Lockpicking.

You need to get to 300 skill before you’ll be able to open anything in Outlands, so here we go:

The Bay of Storms in Azshara is supposed to have a a few mossy footlockers (skill 225) but I only found a couple. One on land, one under water.

The Slag Pit in Searing Gorge has dented footlockers with a 200 requirement in the lower areas, and the lockers in the upper areas require 225 skill.

Keep working the 175 skill boxes you’re picking out of those pockets. The mobs 52+ drop boxes requiring a 250+ skill.

The Lost Rigger Cove in Tanaris has a fair numbre of boxes wanting your 250+ skill.

The Blackrock Depths dungeon has a couple of doors needing a 250+ skill to pick.

For your final few points try Tyr’s Hand in the Eastern Plaguelands. Youi’ll find scarlet footlockers and pick strongboxes out of wandering pockets. Don’t worry about killing anything that’s too tough, just work the lockers (if it’s safe) and pick the boxes. Assuming that you’re at least 60 you should be able to hit 300+ skill soon enough.

300 to 350  lockpicking

If youi’re over 60 you can hang out in Tyr’s Hand and keep working those boxes, or you can head over to the Outlands and start picking those pockets.

A great location for leveling lockpicking between 300 and 350 is in Feralfen Village in Zangarmarsh. This is located south of Coilfang Reservoir and Twin Spire Ruins, west of the Lagoon and east of Quagg Ridge. There are three areas of buildings clumped together with a handful of wicker chests in each.

The tower in the western section of the village has wicker chests on the first floor and on the top floor. You can also pickpocket the mobs (levels 61-63) with an 11% chance of getting a Strong Junkbox (requires Lockpicking 300.)

Another place at 70 is outside of Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley (very east side, hunk of land sticking out). Stay near the Blood Elves that are not the demon hunters. Pickpocket these and kill them to have them respawn. Continue this from 300-350 for the most efficient skilling up.

The Ultimate Rogue

Now that you’re level 70 and have mastered the Lockpicking skill it’s time to move on to more interesting things.

Would your rogue perform better with swords, maces, or daggers? Is that Hunter getting you down only because you got the wrong talent build? Does it take so long to get your final mount, because you do the wrong quests or farm gold in the wrong places?

Imagine that you simply knew the answer. You wouldn’t need to spend endless hours on frustrating trial and error attempts. Instead you would be standing in front of the auction house answering tells about that devilish looking sword at your side. The World of Warcraft Rogue Guide shows you how to get there!

Tags: rogue lockpicking, guides, Rogue

Alliance Druid

Power Over Poison Quest Chain Walkthrough

This quest chain is for all druids – Horde and Alliance, but this page is for the Alliance version of the quest. If you’re Horde then you will want to go here: Horde Druid Power Over Poison Quest.

This series of quests is a requirement to obtain the ability to cure poison. You will start in Darnassus and finish in the Moonglade with your new power.

The Alliance Druid Power Over Poison quest chain has five parts:

1- Lessons Anew,

2- The Principal Source,

3- Gathering the Cure,

4- Curing the Sick, and

-5 Power Over Poison.

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*** NOTE: Most quests will be much easier if you have a map Addon (allowed by Blizzard) that has map coordinates.

I will give you directions in case you do not have map addons, but this Druid Power Over Poison quest chain walk through also includes the map coordinates in parenthesis like this: (x,y)

Visit this link for more information, including how to get free WoW Addons such as Map Notes.

To make your Druid into a lean, mean, pwning machine you need to check out this killer Druid guide.

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WARNING FOR PvP SERVERS: This quest is for all druids- Horde and Alliance- and Moonglade is contested territory for those of you who are on PvP servers.

The biggest problem druids have with this part of the quest series seems to be that those on PvP servers are attacked by higher level druids of the opposing faction. Kind of makes you feel like the warlock imp pet says, “can’t we all just get along!” Oh well, I’m sure we are all very impressed with those high level druids who are able to kill much lower level druids, aren’t we now?

Stick as close to the guards as you can while in Moonglade; the guards will attack anyone who starts a fight in Moonglade. Otherwise keep your eyes open.

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Quest 1 – Lessons Anew

Start – Mathrengyl Bearwalker, Darnassus (35,8)

Finish – Dendrite Starblaze, Moonglade (56,30)

Your Task: Travel to Moonglade and speak with Dendrite Starblaze in the village of Nighthaven. Piece of cake.

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To start this four-quest chain you need to talk to Mathrengyl Bearwalker in the Cenarion Enclave in north-western Darnassus, on the second floor of the tower in Fandral Staghelm’s tree. (35,8) and get the quest “Lessons Anew.”

You might want to set your hearthstone for Darnassus as you will be returning here at the end of this five quest chain, and that is by far the easiest way to travel.

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Dialogue Mathrengyl Bearwalker:

“You’re now ready to learn about poison and the power we as druids have over it, <name>. Cenarius has blessed us with the ability to purge even the most foul of poisons with but a mere incantation.

This gift is not to be taken lightly… and to ensure you learn this lesson, you’ll work to address the effects of poisonings as a layman would.

“Travel to Moonglade and speak with Dendrite Starblaze; he awaits your arrival to begin your lesson.”

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To complete the quest you must speak with Dendrite Starblaze in the village of Nighthaven, Moonglade.

You can teleport there using the Teleport Moonglade spell that is permanently in your spell book. (When you did the bear form quest you went to the same place.)

The Teleport Moonglade spell will place you right in front of the building in which you will find Dendrite Starblaze. Go inside and up to the second floor. (56,30)

Talk to Dendrite Starblaze. You will earn 80-100 XP.

Dendrite Starblaze will give you the next quest: “The Principal Source.”

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Quest 2 – The Principal Source

Start: Dendrite Starblaze, Moonglade (56,30)

Finish: Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine, Darkshore (38,41)

Your Task: Draw a sample of water from the mouth of the cave by the Cliffspring Falls, and then deliver it to Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine, Darkshore.

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NOTE: Some level 14 druids solo this quest with no problems, while others find this quest to be a bit much to handle alone. Consider bringing along a friend level 14 or higher (a warrior or hunter might be good) to watch your back and help with the respawns. Another option is to wait until you are higher level and do it then. (You will be returning to this general area at level 16 when you do the first part of the third quest in the Sea Lion Form quest chain, so that may be a good time to revisit this one.)

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Dialogue Dendrite Starblaze:

“The Cliffspring Falls in Darkshore serves as the principal source of drinking water for the region, and now I suspect it is the principal source of the poison that is harming the local fauna – deer specifically. Use this sampler to draw some water from the mouth of the cave; be careful, as dangerous naga now reside in a cave by the falls.

“Once filled, deliver it to Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine. She is the one that requested our aid, and you will work with her to address this malady.”

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Once you receive the Cliffspring Falls Sampler vial from Dendrite Starblaze drag it onto your toolbar so that it will be easy to use.

If you have the fly point for Auberdine in Darkshore, visit the griffon master in Moonglade and fly to Auberdine.

If you do not have this yet, take the free ride to Darnassus from the griffon master in Moonglade or hearth back. In Darnassus go behind the bank (30,41) and enter the pink pavillion that tranports you to Rut’theran Village in Teldrassil. Take the path to the sea and turn right and go down the pier to take the free boat ride across the Veiled Sea to Auberdine in Darkshore.

The mouth of the cave at the Cliffspring Falls is easy to locate. If you use coordinates it is at (55,33.) From Auberdine travel north along the coast road until you get to the bridge over the Cliffspring River. Cross the bridge to the north side of the river, turn right (east,) and follow the river east to the cliffs.

Click here for a full sized map of the Cliffspring Falls.

You may run into some bears and nightsabers in this area. You will encounter a Stormscale Wave Rider (naga) on the path to the cave. Use a combination of Roots, Wrath, and Bear form to take it out. Bring your mana back up to full.

There wil be a level 17 caster (Stormscale Siren) on the opposite bank of the river, which may pose a challenge.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

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Mob Avoidance Technique:

You might be able to avoid drawing the aggro of the level 17 Stormscale Siren caster, as well as the level 15 Stormscale baddie just inside the cave, if you sneak up along the far edge of the path to the far left side of the cave opening, and then carefully approach the cave entrance, clicking on the vial on your toolbar until it allows you to fill it. Leave carefully, staying out of the line of sight of the caster.

If this doesn’t work and the caster goes after you, try pulling the caster with Wrath, and then change to Bear form to kill it.

As I mentioned, there will be another naga inside the cave just past the waterfall. Look out for this one when you go to fill the vial.

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As soon as you have the vial filled you need to get out of there! The naga respawn very rapidly.

Bring the filled vial to Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine, Darkshore. (38,41) You’ll find her inside a building just north of the inn.

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Dialogue Alanndarian Nightsong:

“You’re the one that the Cenarion Circle in Moonglade sent? That’s wonderful! We’ve quite the crisis our hands here regarding the poor deer, and we’re happy for all the help we can get.

“Do you have the sample of water that Dendrite Starblaze said you’d have? He notified me that you’d draw one so we could work on a cure together…

By Elune, this water is disgusting! No wonder the deer are sick.

“Something is polluting the water, and in turn corrupting Darkshore’s entire water table. Sick deer have been seen all over area, and not just by the river. While this water is most likely a primary source of the sickness spreading, there’s something else at work here.

“This water, believe it or not, will help us formulate a cure. While I research this water, I have need of some items to formulate a cure…”

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You will earn 750 XP.

Alanndarian Nightsong will give you the next quest “Gathering the Cure.”

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Quest 3 – Gathering the Cure

Start: Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine, Darkshore (38,41)

Finish: Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine, Darkshore (38,41)

Your Task: collect 5 Earthroot and 12 Lunar Funguses and bring them to Alanndarian Nightsong

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Dialogue Alanndarian Nightsong:

“The water will serve as the base of the curative salve I’ll make for the deer. For curative properties, I need some earthroot. Herbalists know how to find it, so if we’re unlucky and you aren’t one then you’ll need to find one to help us out.

“Finally for potency, I need some lunar fungus. Finding lunar fungal blooms is easy enough; they’re all over the place in caves just to the east of here. Moonkin reside in the caves and they’re irritable as of late, so be careful.”

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A Lunar Fungus Among Us!

Go to the Moonkin Caves to the east of Auberdine. As Alanndarian Nightsong says “finding the lunar fungal blooms is easy enough;” the only problem is the moonkin.

There are five moonkin caves fairly close together just east of Auberdine. See the area circled on the map. Coordinates for caves are: (42,45) (42,51) (43,45) (43,48) (46,45)

There are a fair number of Moonkin about those caves. See the screenshot. There were more moonkin than this shows. You will have to draw them and kill them one at a time as necessary in order to clear a path to the cave. There will probably be another inside each cave.

Once you kill the Moonkin inside the cave look around; the mushrooms are small and spotted and should sparkle or glow. (They used to be difficult to see, but the most recent patch corrected that.) Mouse over them and when the cursor tip changes, right click the mushroom. A status bar will appear, and when it fills you’ll receive either 1 or 2 Lunar Funguses. The funguses respawn fairly quickly. You should have no problem collecting all you need from the five available caves.

Save the Earthroot!

Any druid can collect the 12 lunar funguses from the Moonkin caves, but the earthroot is different. Even though earthroot is a quest item here, in order to collect the earthroot you must have the herbalism profession. But, there are alternatives: you can kill certain mobs that drop earthroot, or you can buy earthroot from select vendors or on the Auction House.

If you do have herbalism as one of your professions you can find earthroot all around in Elwyn Forest, in the forests in Teldrassil, around the Gol’Bolar Quarry area south-east of Ironforge in Dun Morogh, etc.

Killing mobs that drop earthroot may take a while. Timberlings (lvl 5-11) and Nightsaber Stalkers (lvl 7-8) drop them in Teldrassil.

If you decide to buy the earthroot, your best bet may be the herb, alchemy, or florist vendors. These vendors have a limited supply, but the supply respawns, so do not despair if the vendor’s inventory is low or non-existent when you visit. Just wait a while or check back.

If you just can’t wait, go check out the Auction House, but be aware that you may have to pay a premium price there, and it may not always be available there, either.

From Auberdine you can take a free boat ride to Darnassus to check the AH. If you have a human alt in Stormwind he can visit the vendors or AH and mail your druid the earthroot.

You can find vendors in Stormwind at these locations who sell earthroot (last time I checked) for 76 to 80 coppers each:

-Florist Gump (gotta love it!) inside the Fragrant Flowers shop (65,60)

-Eldraeith, Herbalism Supplies vendor and

- Maria Lumere, Alchemy Supplies vendor, both inside the Alchemy Needs shop at (47,80) in the Mage Quarter

Click here for the large map with locations of Earthroot Vendors in Stormwind

If you bump into Antonio Perelli, the “Traveling Salesman” who wanders the main road from Redridge through Elwynn Forest and down to Westfall, you can also purchase earthroot from him.

Here’s florist Bernard Gump. Run, florist, run!

Return to Alanndarian Nightsong with the items you have collected.

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Dialogue Alanndarian Nightsong:

“Have you got the reagents I need to make the salve? The deer aren’t getting any better on their own, so we better hurry to help them out!

This is good, <name>, so much so that it should be enough to make some ample doses of the salve – at least enough to start to make a difference.

“Making a cure for poisons can be quite difficult at times because each one often requires a very specific antidote to counteract it. Imagine being able to cure a poison at will without having to worry about the exact ingredients of what the antidote must be!

“Now, let me get to work on this!”

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Alanndarian Nightsong will reward you with 75-750 XP and give you the next quest “Curing the Sick.”

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Quest 4 – Curing the Sick

Start: Alanndarian Nightsong in Auberdine, Darkshore (38,41)

Finish – Dendrite Starblaze, Moonglade (56,30)

Your Task: Use the Curative Animal Salve on 10 Sickly Deer in Darkshore.

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Dialogue Alanndarian Nightsong:

“Use the Curative Animal Salve on 10 Sickly Deer that are located throughout Darkshore; doing so should cure them. Sickly Deer have been reported starting south of the Cliffspring River to the north of Auberdine and extending all the way into southern Darkshore where the edge of Ashenvale begins.

“The amount of salve made out of the reagents you brought me is good enough for ten doses, <name>. While I work with the village to try and make some more salve, I’d like for you to help us get a head start. All around Darkshore are sickly deer; use the salve on them and cure their malaise.

“Dendrite Starblaze in Moonglade will want to talk to you when you’re done, I’m sure. Please extend Auberdine’s thanks to the Cenarion Circle there… and let me say thanks to you directly for the help you’ve given!”

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Alanndarian Nightsong will give you the 10 doses of
Curative Animal Salve. Drag these onto your tool bar for ease of use.

Your mission is to find 10 Sickly Deer that are located throughout Darkshore and use the “Curative Animal Salve” them. Check out these coords: (41,38) (38,36) (42,40) (43,41) for the deer.

You can’t miss the Sickly Deer; they are the bright green deer with green skulls floating around them in a cloud. See the screenshot.

You may encounter the occasional bugged deer that will cause you to waste salve. If you should run out of salve before you have cured 10 sickly deer, you can abandon the quest, return to Alanndarian Nightsong in Darkshore, and start all over again.

Cure two deer for the price of one salve!

Here’s a tip that may speed up your quest and help you to avoid running out of salve due to bugged deer. You may have noticed that those sickly deer always try to run away. Well, when you find a sickly deer hit it with rank 1 entangling roots and then apply the salve to cure it.

You should get credit for curing it, and then you will get credit again when it dies from the roots! That’s two deer credit for one deer and a good deal. (This little glitch was still working as of May 2008.)

When you have cured all 10 deer visit Dendrite Starblaze in Moonglade using your Teleport Moonglade spell.

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Dialogue Dendrite Starblaze:

“Have you completed what was asked of you by Alanndarian Nightsong of Auberdine? Your work is not complete unless it is.

” You have done well in tending to the sickly deer of Darkshore; they are unwitting victims of a greater taint and corruption that is spreading all throughout the land. There are those in Darnassus who choose to recognize this threat… and there are those who ignore the growing signs. I hope you will not be one to put blinders on about what facts stare you in the face, <name>.

“Regardless, you’ve proven your worth as a friend of nature and the Circle – take this as a symbol of such.”

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Dendrite Starblaze will reward you with 75-750 XP and the Veildust Medicine Bag.

The Veildust Medicine Bag:

• It is held In the off-hand.
• It gives these bonuses:

+1 Intellect;

+1 Spirit

• It is special and only for those of us who are Druids.
• It restores 50 mana every 3 seconds for 15 seconds.
• It has a cooldown of 30 minutes.
• The item is Level 15.
• Binds when picked up.

Dendrite Starblaze will give you the next quest “Power Over Poison.”

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Quest 5 – Power Over Poison

Start – Dendrite Starblaze, Moonglade (56,30)

Finish – Mathrengyl Bearwalker, Darnassus (35,8)

Your Task: Return to Mathrengyl Bearwalker

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Dialogue Dendrite Starblaze:

“You’ve learned what it means to cure poison without the benefit of spiritual aid. Remember what others must endure in fighting poisonous afflictions as you soon embrace your newfound power over poison.

“You should now return to Mathrengyl Bearwalker in Darnassus, <name>. He, no doubt, has a very important spell to teach you now that the student understands the lesson given unto him.

“Farewell, young druid. We shall speak again.”

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Well, this is about as easy as it gets. Aren’t you glad that you set your hearthstone for Darnassus?

Hearth back and return to Mathrengyl Bearwalker in the Cenarion Enclave in north-western Darnassus, on the second floor of the tower of Fandral Staghelm’s tree. (35,8)

If you didn’t set your hearthstone for Darnassus you will have to visit the griffon master in Moonglade and get a ride back to Darnassus. (Look out for PvPers if you are on a PvP server.)

When you talk with Mathrengyl Bearwalker he will reward you with 975 XP, and he will train you in the Cure Poison spell. This is an instant cast spell good up to a 40 yard range, and it cures 1 poison effect on the target.

There you have the whole Alliance Druid Power Over Poison Quest Chain.

Click this link for the Horde Version.

For the ultimate Druid guide, covering leveling, gold, raids, PvP, gear, and more check this out.

Tags: Druid, guides, Quests

I’ll post a longer one, presently. (edit 6/12: The longer guide review is here.)

Zygor’s Leveling Guide is one of the newest of the leveling guides and I think it kicks the iDemise guide in the butt. Both of these are in-game guides, but while the iDemise guide is attached to your main map (and it ain’t at all bad) the Zygor guide is present on your main screen at all times.

It’s an addon, so installation is simple. You dump it into your addons folder and it’ll load automatically. If your character is new just start from step 1, otherwise scroll through the guide till you find the right place for your level and go from there.

I ran an Undead Warrior up to 12 and a Blood Elf Paladin up to 16 using the guide and had no issues and never had to consult the quest log.

Here’s a screenshot of the minimalized guide

• Note the waypoint arrow at the top of the screen. It also lists the current quest, special things to look out for, and the distance to go to reach the objective.
• Note the bright dot on the mini-map, marking the goal. There’s also one on the big map.
• The quest box appears on the main screen at all times, but you can get rid of it by clicking the X at the top right corner. Bring it back by hitting the ZY button on your mini-map (in the 8:00 position in this screenshot)
• Level and quest objectives are also tracked.

Here’s another screenshot showing the full guide.

• Note the dot on the mini-map and the waypoint at the top of the screen.
• Also note the expanded guide showing the quest list. Quests that have been finished are greyed out, while the current quest is highlighted.
• Sometimes the guide will not update the current quest. If that happens just click the next one and it’ll pick with up from there.
• The guide also keeps track of your level and your exect stop in the guide. If you log out (you do log out sometimes, don’t you?) the guide will remember your position and start up from that point when you come back. Try that with a PDF or the iDemise guide.

Class quests are not included. You’ll have to grab those on your own, they’re not part of the guide. But then again, Joana’s Guide only had the Hunter quests and the iDemise guide has none, either.

Where to go next is also detailed. New to a zone and not sure where to go to get to the next one? Zygor’s will show you the way.

Notes: I didn’t have to look at the quest logs at all. No trips to Thottbot or any of the other WoW sites and I hardly looked at the big map, except to keep an eye on my location.

How much time do you think you’ll save on your blast to 70 by not having to consult your quest logs, thottbot, the main map, or having to set your own waypoints?

The perfect guide? Well, for that it would have to include the class quests. It would also have to remind you to grab flypoints, repair your gear, go to the bathroom, get something to eat …

So check it out here

Tags: Reviews, guides, Zygor's Guide, Leveling

This is interesting because I’m not the fastest leveler in the world. I got my Rogue to 70 in just over 15 days time (using Joana’s Guide,) which is Ok, but it’s not breaking any records.

So here are a few things which slow me down, besides lack of experience, and what do do instead. This assumes that you’re leveling solo:

• Skip the looting. On my way to 70 I looted everything and skinned everything skinable. You get the loots, but it does slow one down. If you don’t need the loot or skins then skip the looting. Just kill and move to the next. Youi’ll save a lot of time over those 70 levels.
• Skip the gathering and gold grinding. For the same reasons. On your blast to 70 you might want to be as ruthlessly efficient as possible. Besides, if you follow the gold blueprint you won’t really need to gather.
• Skip the PvP. If you’re on a PvP server just put up with the ganking you’ll get and move on.
• Keep yourself in decent gear. By decent I’m talking about gear for leveling, not raids or PvP. Green gear will do you fine. Upgrade it every 10 levels or so.
• Let your mule do the buying. You should have an Auction House Mule. This is a low level character that will live at the AH 100% of the time. This character will do all of your buying and selling. Your mule buys the gear, then mails it to your main character. You’ll save plenty of time doing it this way. Your main should never visit the AH.
• Never visit the Vendors, except to resupply, repair, and sell your grey stuff. Everything halfway decent gets shipped to your mule.
• Get a Guide: I used Joana’s Guide for my Rogue, but I think Zygor’s Guide will get you there faster, not because the path is necessarily better, but because the guide in 100% in-game and visible on screen at all times and waypoints are set automatically. You’ll never have to switch to your main map or a pdf again. It also remembers where you were when you log out.
• Log out in an Inn. Get that rest XP. Most of us have to log out sometime, might as well do it at the inn.
• Never go AFK: If you want a fast /played time you don’t want to have your character sitting around doing nothing. Besides, if you’re on a PvP server you’re likely to come back to the computer to find your character is dead. Log out if you’re going to be afk for more than a few seconds.
• Hunters are faster, but Rogues do it from behind. A hunter will have far fewer repairs (never engaing in melee) and somewhat less need to keep his gear up to date, given a decent pet. This is why Joana and Brian used hunters for their speed leveling. If you find other classes to be more fun then by all means use them. Zygor’s guide is not class specific.
• Spec yourself for leveling: assign your talents to allow faster leveling. Some talents are great for raids and/or PvP, other are better for faster PvE. You can always respec later, it’s easy and cheap the first couple of times.
• Group your quests: Pick up a bunch of quests at a time. You’ll find that you can do two or three or four in one small area. Do all those at the same time. This is one reason that guides are so nice. All the quests are grouped, useless ones are dumped, and you do a lot less traveling.
• Questing is better than Grinding: You’ll level twice as fast by questing. ’nuff said.

The idea here is to be ruthlessly efficient. Dump anything that slows down your “get quest and finish quest” time. If you can do a quest without reading the quest description then don’t read it.

A full review of Zygor’s Guide is coming soon. It looks to me like it’ll be the fastest leveling thing out there, partly because it’s an efficient path, but mostly because it’s all right there on your main screen. Check it out here.

Tags: Leveling, guides