PTR Faffage:: Gawn Fishing

 

In amongst all the PTR Gubbins (more on the PvP aspect as it becomes available) is a change to the daily fishing quests: instead of having to fly all the way to the Frozen Sea to find a Monsterbelly, our Severed Arm can now be found inside a Slippery Eel, who's natural habitat is outside the Violet Hold. Although I appreciate the reasoning behind the change to this quest, I'm not really overjoyed at having more people, and therefore more lag in Dalaran.

You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief on my high-population server last night when the Lag is in the Air event items despawned. Friday and Saturday had been atrocious: it took me 45 minutes to log in Friday night, punctuated by multiple kicks from the server. It took 10 minutes to zone anywhere. I appreciate that the changes they made to the Festival with the creation of tokens meant that people weren't having to rely on the RNG to complete their achievements. On the downside, it made normal play totally impossible. I also realise my server (being one of the oldest in game and as a result one of the most highly-populated) is at something of a disadvantage, and add to that about a dozen of the most competitive raiding guilds in the Battlegroup all attempting to knock off Arthas and unlock their Hard Modes... it was never going to be pretty. Wandering around the PTR Dalaran was fabulous, and made me realise just how much noise this one place generates.

I think it's a smart move on Blizzard's part not to include a Sanctuary Town in Cataclysm, and instead to encourage people to make their bases in Azeroth's capitals. I'm hoping as a result we will see Portal Rooms in these cities as is the case with Shatt and Dalaran, I'm also hoping that the Dev's can come up with a way of making the Exodar and Darnassus attractive as alternative points to set your HS for the Alliance, instead of joke places to send people when your Mage pops a Portal. The more ways they find to spread the population, the easier it's going to be for those of us who have to factor lag into our equations...

DTSOSDMF: TGE

Yes the title sucks. What else is new?

Making Money by Doing Not a Lot

No 2 in an Occasional Series of Several

I have been experimenting over the last few weeks with the optimum route to take if I want to streamline the completion of the current crop of Dailies of Choice. Lots of people have guides up, I'm not trying to pretend I'm writing something new and imba here, I'm just looking for a decent and reasonably efficient plan to take which includes the dailies I'd like to do (cookery, fishing) and gives me a route which cuts down on those annoying faff moments. I love to faff like the next person, I really do, but if I'm doing Dailies, it helps if I can minimise the downtime. So with this in mind I am proud to present:

Doing Tournament and Some Other Selected Dailies with Minimum Faffage, The Girly Edition!

We are going to assume the following before we begin:

1. You start your trip in Dalaran with a cooled HS.
2. You are a member of the Alliance. Horde (being clearly more intelligent and intellectual) won't need a Guide in the first place. You can work it out from both sides regardless, I hope.
   
3. You have sufficient free spaces in your Quest Log to pick everything up on the list below.
4. You have a gathering skill of some kind (in this case it's going to be skinning) so you'll have sufficient bagspace for any item you can pick up.
5. You are already a Champion with your home Tournament faction and working on Champion status with another home faction. In my case, I'm on Stormwind at the moment, having already ticked off the Gmomes. They just love me in that underground city :D
   
6. You are a nublet. This is quite important. I still take AGES to do all the Pure Jousting quests at the Tournament and therefore don't include them on my list of things to do in this circuit (Among the Champions and The Grand Melee count as Pure Jousting) I do them as an ABSOLUTE last resort. Really, I'm still that bad.

So, if you're ready, let's start our little jaunt around the environs of Northrend!

Dalaran, Icecrown and How I Stopped Hating General and Embraced the 5 minute PuG.

Click for a Larger version and to see how crap I am at doing diagrams...

A. If like me your HS is set to A Hero's Welcome in Dalaran, the first thing to do once you're ready is pop out back and pick up the Cookery Daily. Once I have that (and if it's Cheese for Glowergold I swear quietly to myself and forget about it until about 12 midnight server) it's out, turn right and over to the Bohemian Marcia Chase for the Fishing Daily (how does she find the time to paint when she's always standing by the fountain?) Depending on what this happens to be can add or remove things to your route, but as this guide includes ALL the possible fishing options we'll not worry too much about what it is and head for the Flight Point.

Oh, and if your Fishing or Cookery daily is one of the ones within Dalaran (and does NOT involve cheese, wine or old shields) feel free to knock that off before you start.

When you're done, head for the flight point. Our next stop is the Argent Tournament!

B. Ok, so here is the bulk of our workload. In no particular order we have the following:

• A Chip off the Ulduar Block
• Jack Me Some Lumber
• One or more of the three available Weapon quests (A Worthy Weapon, The Edge of Winter, and that one with the frogs ^^)
  
• Scourge biffage on a horse (A Valiant's Field Training, Battle Before the Citadel)
  
• Scourge biffage NOT on a horse (At the Enemy's Gates, Taking Battle to the Enemy)
  
• Threat from Above

Oh and don't forget to chuck Squire Artie 10g in the AC Tent for 100 rep (Contributin' To the Cause). Yes we know you're supposed to be making money but 100 rep is better than nothing.

By the time you've left the tent someone will already have asked in General LFG Chillmaw/Threat from Above so there's your cue to make a quick random PuG and get started. On your way to Point C it's a good idea to go via the floating Alliance bomber ship thingy and pick up the quest Blood of the Chosen, which requires you to kill 20 mobs in Ymirheim. Why's that? you ask? Just a sec, we gotta go PuG quickly.

C. Right then. Not all of us are shammies who can one shot Chillmaw (sadly), so find yourself some buddies, hope you tag all the Bombadiers first go (and the Horde/random gomers/all of the preceding don't get there first) and get Threat from Above done, then ask your group to accompany you to point D to help out doing A Valiant's Field Training and Battle Before the Citadel in double quick time. Anyone who says 'that's soloable, just needs a bit of skill' remind them you're a nublet and need all the help you can get. Most will take pity on you as a result. Trust me.

D. Arrive at Argent Biffage HQ (Southern Division), do your 2 quests and remember to thank your PuG. Then run away as fast as possible. There's only so much Hot PuG Action you can take per hour, after all. Now it's time to zoom off North again and knock off three quests in one hit! Think about the money!

E. So, remember the quest to kill the Ymirheim from the Flying Boat 'o' Doom? Assuming you're inside their city they will also count for the two Scourge biffing quests as well (At the Enemy's Gates, Taking Battle to the Enemy) Bear in mind that the Ymirheim that spawn OUTSIDE don't count. Don't say I didn't warn you, nublet here found that out the hard way... So, kill 20 giants (male or female) and it's THREE lots of Completed in the Quest Log!. We love it when a plan comes together! On your way to Part 2 of this Guide (and Point F) you may wish to drop off Blood of the Chosen if the Airship is close. If not, fly yourself down to Crystalsong Forest for the next bit of brief and entertaining faffage. Ooh, we need a new map!

Crystalsong, The Storm Peaks and You Have to Love the Blue Laydeez coz they're... Blue!

Maps! We need more maps! And explosions... oh never mind...

F. Right then. We're heading south from Icecrown and we fly over the Iceflow Dam, so time to pick up Winter Hyacinths (* on the map) if you need that particular sword quest today. Remember also if you have the Crystalsong Carrot Cookery quest this will be a great time to get those ticked off (** on map) as you pass the Violet Stand and grab your 12 bits of wood for Jack Me Some Lumber (and dodge the branches of the angry Treants... sorry I have a hard time thinking trees can ever get anything other than mildly irritated, but I digress.) If you need to kill Lord Everblaze pick him up to the south (marked with a *** on your map) and then fly to the Windrunner's Overlook (G on the Map). If at this point you need to sell stuff and/or repair, there's a vendor near the FP. After that, grab a scheduled Hippogryff (yes I'm saving 100 Champions Marks for one of these babies) and off you go to H.

Yes you could just flap there on yer epic flyer of choice but I use FP's as a way to break up my time at the screen and to provision for drinks, cuddles from children, huge afk's to clean, cook and tidy generally. It's all up to your personal preference.

So, have I utterly confused you with letters and lines yet? Have I???

H. You either love them or hate them, but the Sons of Oh Dear (yes I know it's Holdir ^^) are a necessary part of most raiders' lives because of the shoulder enchant at Exalted. Feel free to work your Sons' Dailies into your routine at this point, otherwise head to the Brunnhildar Village (*) for a quick daily and your 1% chance of the Reins of the White Polar Bear.

There's a rather useful reason we come here, because the Foot Steppes above the village (**) is by far THE quietest place to find blocks to blow up for the A Chip off the Ulduar Block quest. It's also a great place to pick up Rhino Meat for the Rhino Dogs Cookery quest, and is a fantastic skinning point (rhinos AND frostwyrms!). Really, if the wind's in the right direction and there's people doing the kill the frostwyrm quest from Frosthold I can be here for ages. Try, unlike me, not to get carried away. You can fly back either to Dun Niffelem or Frosthold for the next part of the trip, the choice is yours. Depending on which fishing daily you have, this is where your route should change.

They Fish it Here, They Fish it There, the Fishing Quests are Everywhere! (and annoyingly far away from each other...)

By now, our author had run out of witty things to place under her diagrams...

I. So, depending on where you need to go, we have a lot of options at this point :D

1. If you have the PvP Fishing Daily (Dangerously Delicious) it will largely depend on a) who has WG b) how confident you feel fishing if your faction doesn't hold the zone and c) whether you fancy doing any of the other dailies in the zone. As a rule I'll go do my fishing with 30 mins to go to a battle, pick up the 'farm 10 of item X from the elemental quest and combine the two before picking up an invite to a PvP raid in the hope of a victory and some more cash.
2. If you have The Ghostfish quest you can fly from Storm Peaks to the Basin and then return to the Guide.
3. If you have the Blood is Thicker quest (kill a mob in the Tundra, jump in the water and fish the pool of blood) then I'd suggest going from the Peaks to the Fizzlecrank Airstrip, doing the quest and then taking a detour across the southern coast to do the 3 Kal'uak Dailies for a bit of extra cash (plus if you're not exalted this gives you a chance to work towards the fishing pole)
4. If you have the Monsterbelly Appetite quest (severed hand) I'd go from Storm Peaks to Moa'ki Harbor, fly out to sea and then come back to Wintergarde Keep and pick up the trail from there.

J. Wherever you go to you need to aim to return to Wintergarde, if you have a floral tribute to make for the Blade of Drak'mar. The lake you need is a quick hop from the Keep's FP. If you don't need this quest you can skip this flight altogether of course and head straight for

K. which is the Flight Point at the Westfall Brigade Encampment and closest to the Frog Kissing or if you don't have this quest to do today it's

L. the Flight Point at Fort Wildevar which is the closest FP for the Maiden of the Lake and Winter's Edge.

To save lots of faffing it's best to work logically from east to west, I find. Whatever happens, leave the sword quests until last as they involve the furthest travel. You will then have a cooled HS and can simply rub and return to Dalaran (for cookery/fishing handin) before you hop back on the public transport system back to the Tournament for a mass handin session. Job Dun!

On a good day this takes me a couple of hours and nets me over 200g. This is quite apart from the fish, elemental bits, cloth, weapons, epic mounts (see an upcoming post) and various other bits I pick up along the way. It's hard enough on one character but if (like me) you're running 3 through the same sequence, it really does help to have a system.

You gotta have a system :D

RIP J.R. Hartley

Via www.socketdesign.co.uk: he was a great old bloke, wasn't he?

It hadn't occured to me until this morning that a couple of lines in the 3.1 patch notes has sounded the death knell to those of us who considered Fishing as truly Old Skool. One of the areas of the game which so long stood apart from the Nerfbat has finally and soundly been given a right kicking. Ol' JR would not be amused, I am sure.

You can now fish anywhere, regardless of skill. Every catch has the potential for fishing skill gains, but you are likely to catch worthless junk in areas that are too difficult for your skill.

This means, in real terms, that if you are L77, in Dalaran and in posession of a fishing rod and a 1 skill in Fishing you can take and do the Fishing Daily, and you will eventually complete it. Yes you will. As long as you can survive Northrend you'll have a daily done and be suitably rewarded and you will eventually get to 450. No need to stand in SW catching fish, or following schools around Outland, you can simly spend 15-20 minutes a day in Northrend and it's job done.

Of course it's great news for any of you who thought the fishing skill up was useless and pointless and a waste of time. This way you have the potential for new pets, 100g vendorable items (yes I got one this morning) and a new skill which means you can make a fortune selling fish on the AH coz no-one else has the skill... hang on, wait a minute... bang goes that moneymaker then ^^

In reality this has been a long time coming. The Crockilisks in the City quest from Old Man Barlow was generally accepted by most Guildies I know as a great quest as it meant they could level a bit in SW AND still have a chance at the quest item. For the pet collectors especially it was very well recieved. Considering that the complete the Salty Achievement requires you to fish up a fair selection of items, I suppose it really was a matter of time before this changed. Doesn't make me any less sad though. It was a LONG haul from 1-450, and for a long time in my Guild I remember being the only person with the 300 skill at all. I'd supply people with fish in exchange for potions. Aaaah, nostalgia.

Oh well, off to get all my alts who can take the quests in Shatt to do the dailies there so they can level in Outland then...

[PTR] Priorities

So, while everyone else was testing bosses last night, I went fishing.

I was instantly encouraged when I logged in: my hair is back! I flew directly to Wintergrasp first, to see what there was on offer: Nettlefish, Glacial Salmon and Mussleback Sculpin were all plentiful (very useful fish for the food-buff conscious) plus the much-anticipated Giant Darkwater Clam (which despite all my efforts I was unable to open and submitted a bug report to that end) I then decided I'd risk returning to Dalaran. They've fixed that too! So, off to find the Fishing Dailies...

You'd think with the promotion to Questgiver they'd have given her a nicer outfit...

So, back to Wintergrasp then ^^

The quest was hardly ground-breaking, but of all the five on offer it is the least engaging, probably due to the fact on a Live Server you'll want to be fishing as quickly as possible before being ganked. The fish, however, could do with looking slightly more scary. Pink does not inspire terror.

On a scale of 1-10, Terrorfish get a 2 for shockingness and a 9 for pinkness...

The 10 fish took one lure to catch. I think I may get my engi back on making the Fish Attracters in anticipation of what will be a rush on fishing stuffs, especially as a rare mount is in the loot table of all Northrend fishing schools. I know several guildies who are skilling now especially to that end...

Here's the Reward Bag for the quest: 10g's not bad, the items have some use (and I have the recipe to cook the fish so stockpiling for sale is now an option) and it means there's a daily that I won't mind doing at least until I can nab a Lucky Fishing Hat for my troubles. Having completed this I decided to go take a look at the Argent Tournament again. The FP now exists flying into the zone, so I grabbed a bird from Dalaran. On the way I noticed another change to the Interface.


I don't know if it's deliberate or not, but the minimap scaling has changed considerably. As you can see the ? on the map is a great deal smaller: with my tracking on dots are about half the size they were before. It looks a bit strange to someone who's used to the normal scale of things (I rely on hunter tracking, especially if hunting down rare or named mobs) and I'm pretty sure that the minimaps themselves have increased significantly in detail as well. As you can see I had a quest to hand in here. Once I'd done that I had a look around.

The 'shield' effect in a previous PTR Build

Things in the Tournament are a great deal more polished than last visit: lances now actually look like lances, the quests all seem to function correctly and a 3 part 'pre-quest' sequence has been introduced which makes you talk to three NPC's who explain the basics of the Jousting interface to you. There are also visual pointers to help even the most inept to grasp the charge, the block and the melee attacks. The Targets themselves have evolved significantly: in the earliest PTR Build, targets had no shield around them at all. The Red 'halo' appeared subsequently as an indicator of how much damage you had done to a target: green meant it was at full strength, amber meant weakened and red (seen above) almost exposed. Once the shield was down: BANG! This has now been refined further with the new 'shield' looking a lot more polished and identifiable:

Three green 'shields' means this target is at full strength

These small shields (they revolve around the targets) also appear around you if you are jousting, to give an indicator of your current shield strength. Always keep a full stack up on yourself if possible: the less protection you have, the more damage you take. You'll work it out :D

Banana Shoulders will have a comprehensive Guide as to what actually happens in the Tournament (if you'd like to prepare yourself for the event) but that's not really my interest here. I've gotten a great deal of satisfaction watching this zone evolve over the last few weeks, and it's given me at least an insight into how part of the development process works. I'm really hoping that the patch will be ready for Easter.

New instance aside, there is a great deal to look forward to in 3.1.