September 9th, 2007 walkere
Well, after 9 months of playing… a lot… I’ve decided to call it quits with WoW. I just started working as a High School Social Studies teacher, so I think my time is spent better on my profession and my marriage. WoW was a great, fun game to play while I finished college, but as I spent the first few days at work I was left wondering - why bother? I’ve got more important things to attend to, so the game will just have to go by the wayside.
I may post a few more articles on the game while it’s all still fresh in my mind. However, this part of the blog will certainly be dying out soon. Take some time to look through the archives, though, since there’s a few good articles in their with tips on making money, gaining reputation, and tanking as a Paladin.
Also take a moment to browse through the main blog. I’ll probably be spending more time writing about education and my trip to the UK, so perhaps those topics will be of interest to you.
To those of you still playing WoW, good luck. And go kill Illidan for me.
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August 25th, 2007 walkere
Once you’re Revered with Honor Hold, you’ll no doubt have moved on to Zangarmarsh or Terokkar Forest to continue questing and levelling. Beware! If you carelessly complete quests that grant reputation for the major factions, you’ll simply slow down the reputation grind that you will have to engage in later.
I wrote two more guides for WoW Pro, including Cenarion Expedition Reputation - Getting to Revered As Quickly As Possible and Sha’tar Reputation Guide - Getting to Revered As Quickly As Possible. By following the method outlined in the Cenarion Expedition Guide, you can get Revered with the CE as early as level 65 or 66. By following the method outlined in the Sha’tar Reputation Guide, you can become revered shortly after becoming level 70 and only running through three Tempest Keep Instances.
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August 23rd, 2007 walkere
Reputation plays a big part in the Burning Crusade. Levelling to 70 is only half the grind. Once you get there, you’ll want to be Revered or Exalted with half a dozen factions. This can take a long time, or you can plan ahead and you’ll be Revered or almost Revered with every faction once you hit level 70.
When I levelled my Human Paladin, he reached Revered with Honor Hold at level 63. Nobody wanted to take me to Heroic Ramparts, but at least I had my [Flamewrought Key]!
Check out the Honor Hold Reputation Guide that I wrote for WoW Pro to see how I did it. I’ll also be writing guides for the other major factions, so be sure to check back.
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August 22nd, 2007 walkere
I was browsing around some other WoW blogs when I stumbled on Chris Jahosky’s article Building a Better Paladin. He gives an overview of the argument many Paladins have over what is the best spec to be - Holy, Prot, or Ret. He suggests that one of the reasons Prot and Ret Paladins are looked down upon is that a lot of gear is mis-itemized for their roles, and I tend to agree. People pick up gear that has “Paladin” written all over it, but this gear may not be appropriate for real Retribution specs or for raid tanking.
So, in order to provide guidance for aspiring tankadins, here’s an overview of what you should be looking for in tanking gear itemization. What stats do you want a lot of, what do you want a little of, and what should you be avoiding?
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August 21st, 2007 walkere
Since I’m doling out so much advice, I thought maybe I should include some info about my experience with the game, my characters, and their accomplishments. This is a bit of a WoW resume, so that you can feel confident that I actually know what I’m talking about.
I started playing WoW in January 2007. All of my characters are on the Earthen Ring RP server, because that’s where my friends had been playing for years. Currently, I’ve got two 70’s, one 29 twink, one 30 something that will soon be a 39 twink, and a few trash alts that don’t do much.
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August 21st, 2007 walkere
Have you been killing Talonsworn Forest-Ragers? If you’re an herbalist, you should be. Check out my article on herbalism farming for some details.
In short, those Level 72 Elite Mobs are awesome for farming if you’re an herbalist. They give you a ton of herbs, and I wanted to post here a sample of what I got in a 30 minute farming session so that you can know what to expect.
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August 18th, 2007 walkere
Food buffs in WoW can do one of two things - boost your stamina or boost your damage. Tanks will generally choose the stamina buff over any other kind. For a guide to these foods, check out my article on Stamina Food Buffs. This article will give an overview of other types of food buffs, what food can be cooked to give these buffs, and areas where it is suggested to farm for this food.
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August 17th, 2007 walkere
When you first created your character, you probably thought, “Why the hell would I ever want to cook?” I know I did. Levelling up, it is a fairly useless skill. At the end game, though, cooking up raw meat will open up a variety of useful buffs to boost your effectiveness in raids.
There are several of types of food buffs that you can receive. Tanks will generally choose stamina buffs. Healers can get plus healing and spellcasters can get plus spell damage. You’ll also find strength boosts, agility boosts, and some mana regen. In this article, I’ll give an overview of the different food you can farm to get stamina buffs. In a later article, I’ll return to the foods that are most useful for non-tanking classes.
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August 15th, 2007 walkere
Herbalism is a great tradeskill for making money. It can also be very useful personally, since you will need elixirs and/or flasks when you raid. If you know an Alchemist and you can’t pick herbs yourself, you’ll be paying through the roof for the herbs off the auction house.
There are a few good spots that you can generally pick herbs and make some money. Terokkar is a great place for Felweed and Terocone. A lot of nodes spawn all over the map, so it is rarely over-harvested. The Deadmire in Zangarmarsh is also pretty good, with a dense collection of Dreamfoil, Felweed, and Ragveil. Perhaps the best place to simply pick herbs, though, is Netherstorm. At least on my server, it is rarely overpicked. Netherbloom sells for quite a bit (30+g, although prices will vary by server). Loop around the zone for a half hour and you’ll have a stack or so to sell.
However, flying around picking herbs at random is not the best, nor the most efficient way, to make money with herbalism. For select classes, or two man groups, there is a much easier and more consistent way to do it.
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August 11th, 2007 walkere
When building a tankadin, you will face some tough choices. As a hybrid class, you first have to decide whether or not you want to maintain multiple rolls - many people opt for a Holy/Protection hybrid that allows for effective tanking and healing. You also need to decide what talents you want out of the other trees. Even for a dedicated Tankadin, the Holy and Retribution trees have some very useful talents. Diving into these trees will prevent you from making the most of the Protection tree.
To help your decisions, here’s an overview of some of the most important talents for a Tankadin to take.
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