Zygor and Dugi Going Back and Forth?

Feb 202010

I guess Zygor and Dugi have a bit of a situation going. I only found out about it today, and no, I haven’t been paying attention. I’ll just make a couple of points and throw up a link and that’ll be about it. For now, anyway.

As an aside: I’ve been using Zygor’s guide for awhile and I like it. It’s updated contantly, especially when new patches are launched. IMO it’s pretty good stuff and you can see more remarks on my Zygor Review page.

I haven’t looked at Dugi’s leveling guide at all, so I can’t remark as to how it stands up to Zygors.

There was some back and forth between the two guide groups and Zygor has a response on his public forum here.

Leveling Inscription and Herbalism, Fast

Professions, Reviews 2 Responses »

Oct 122008

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.

Penn’s on Herbalism

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.)

Inscription

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.

And the others

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.

Quibbles?

– 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.

In Conclusion:

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.

Zug’s Gold Mastery Guide, Reviewed

Reviews 1 Response »

Sep 302008

Note 6/6/11: Zug’s guide is now “Dominate WoW Gold” and that’s where the links below will take you. I have not seen that product, the review below is regarding a copy of the original Zug’s guide, which was pretty good. I expect the new product is, as well. Currently I’m using the Tycoon addon and finding that it fills my gold acquisition needs.

Zug’s Gold Mastery Guide

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.)

Zygor’s Leveling Guide, the Short Review

Leveling, Reviews Comments Off

Jun 032008

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

A Review of Joana’s Horde Leveling Guide

Leveling, Reviews Comments Off

May 162008

Joana’s 1-70 Horde Leveling Guide is a step-by-step guide that will take your Horde character, of any race or class, to level 70 very quickly. The entire leveling path is laid out in an easy to follow manner and is exactly the same path that Joana uses to set speed leveling records.

In a way you could call it a HUnter Leveling Guide since Joana always uses Hunters for those speed records and since the guide contains all the Hunter pet quests. I ran through the guide as a Rogue, from 1 to 70, and had few problems. Most classes should be able to get through the entire guide with little problem.

Some things to point out: There are some Elite quests. Go here, kill this elite mob. Well, as a Rogue (and pretty new to the game) I quickly learned that the Elites were better left to groups or for a time when I was a few levels higher. However, Joana solos them and so does my kid (with a Hunter,) so it can be done.

Some of the quests are group quests, especially once you hit Ouitlands. Like groups? No problem. Hate groups? Guess you’ll have to skip them or gain a few levels, get some uber gear, and try again.

I think you’ll find that Joana’s Guide will move you along that leveling path pretty quickly. My time to 70 was just over 15 days (using the /played command to check,) but this was my first character past level 5. On either side. My next one will be a lot faster. I’l post it when it happens (it’ll be awhile.)

You can check out Joana’s Guide directly, here, or you can check out a more in depth review:

Joana’s 1-70 Horde Leveling Guide Review

Team iDemise Leveling Guide

Leveling, Reviews Comments Off

May 162008

Here’s a cool leveling guide by TeamiDemise. These guys are a professional (yeah, they make money from it) Counterstrike gaming group and they’ve brought their talents to WoW. I don’t think I’d want to be on the other side of these guys in a battleground or arena.

Anyway, they’ve put their talents into a leveling guide that’s pretty cool. What makes it really cool is that it’s entirely in-game. It’s built into the Map Notes addon so you never have to alt-tab to some website to see what’s next.

Load the guide, bring up your in-game map, and you’ll see step 1, step 2, etc for every zone. Follow their path, which includes plenty of notes and remarks, and you should hit 70 very quickly.

One hit, which probably only applies to new players, is that there’s no info on how to get from one zone to the other. Another is that there are a few typos. Proofreading was not a high priority. Still, the content is very accessible and very good.

The iDemise guide is available for both Horde and Alliance.

You can see a complete review here: The TeamiDemise Leveling Guide review, or you can go here and check it out directly.