Tough Love, tough shit

Listen up fools! As of now, I'm better than y'all! And ya know why? Because I have just completed Tough Love, unlike the rest of you pansy-ass slackers.

Truth be told, I had almost given up on this achievement because yesterday was my first daily attempt and I couldn't find a good group for the death of me. I tried 3 different groups. The first one wiped 3 times (I only died once thanks to Feign Death) before we called it quits. The second and third groups couldn't even hold their members together after dicking around for almost an hour in each.

So today I found an awesome group on the first attempt and I actually used yesterday's daily because yesterday I hadn't used my attempt yet. That was smart of me, in retrospect. Even more mind-boggling, we did all our 5 attempts without wiping, except for one guy who was laggy and kept stepping in the wrong type of puddle.

But it's all good. It was an amazing run with a good group who knew what they were doing. I knew some basic strategies but here's a quick outline of how our group handled it. "Our" strategy worked very well and I recommend you try it, especially if yours fails.

0. Hunters and other pet classes, forget about using your pets. Put them on passive, as they'll die anyway.
1. Everyone should start out by wearing the PURPLE perfume.
2. First boss to go down is the PURPLE guy, i.e. the one you hand in the quest to.
2.5. Tank should hold all these guys with their backs to the group.
3. While fighting the PURPLE guy, it is perfectly fine to stand in PURPLE goo. It won't hurt you. Move like hell from the GREEN stuff though.
4. Once PURPLE guy is dead, switch to GREEN guy.
5. Also switch perfumes to GREEN.
6. Standing in GREEN stuff is now ok, but avoid PURPLE.
7. After GREEN guy is dead, focus on the last guy, who's the one without a shield, running around like crazy and throwing bottles at everyone.
8. That's it.

One more thing: the 3rd guy, the one running around like his ass is on fire, doesn't have a threat table, meaning that everyone should unleash all they've got on his ass. He will occasionally switch "aggro" to a random member.

I was pretty lucky to win a couple of very nice rolls.

One: I got to replace my outdated Titanium Impact Choker with a Sweet Perfume Broach. This was a big upgrade, increasing stats across the board: DPS, AP, crit, ArPen, Sta.

Two: I won a vanity item, which is cloth but looks damn wicked: Vile Fumigator's Mask. You be the judge.

Guide to Hallow's End

Well, from being totally against these WoW holidays slash world events, I've now moved to embracing them all. In fact I've started explaining a bit of my new philosophy in my previous post about how I obtained the Sinister Squashling. The gist of it is that I really want a 310% speed mount on my Hunter main and the only way for me to get it (since I don't raid or PvP) is to complete all the achievements leading to the meta-achievement What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. I've already completed Noble Gardener and Brewmaster so I'm doing rather well, in spite of being a later adopter.

Here's an account of the achievements that I've already completed for the current holiday's meta-achievement, Hallowed Be Thy Name. Today is barely the second day in which I've participated in this holiday but I've already got all achievements done, save one.

Trick or Treat!
This is the easiest possible thing. Just use the special pumpkin-head bucket with an exclamation point over it. This is a pre-requisite for a bunch of other achievements so it's impossible to miss.

Bring Me The Head of... Oh Wait
Beside having one of the most hilarious titles in the game, this achievement requires you to kill the Headless Horseman. For this, you need to go to the Scarlet Monastery, graveyard section. With a group. Killing him the first time will award the achievement. Don't forget to loot his head. As a bonus, after killing him your first time ever, you can summon him again that day. Afterward, you can only summon him once a day until the end of the holiday. The fight itself is a simple tank-and-spank but the trick is that once you get the Horseman's health down to almost zero, his head pops off and starts floating around at which point you have to dps the head until it's almost "dead" after which it pops back on the Horseman's body and you switch dps to him because now he's at full health. Do this about 3 times and it's over. He will also summon a bunch of squashlings (3-4) which are non-elite and more of an annoyance than anything.

That Sparkling Smile
Once in a while, after trick-or-treating an innkeeper (you can do this once every hour) you will get a bunch of toothpicks in your loot bag. Simply use one of those picks and you've completed this achievement. Kind of a dumb one if you ask me.

G.N.E.R.D. Rage
This is the one achievement that I haven't completed yet because it requires me to go inside a battleground and do some PvP and I'm steeling myself to do it. The idea is that you need to be under the influence of the G.N.E.R.D.S. buff (a type of sweet that you get by using those buckets in inns) and kill 50 players. Apparently you don't have to actually deliver the killing blow yourself, you just need to get the Honor Kill for it.

The Masquerade
This is a bit tricky because it requires you to get transformed by various wands that are randomly obtained from trick-or-treating innkeepers. Currently people are charging 5-10 gold for each transformation and I sold a bunch of transformations myself. I didn't care about this one because I had completed it last year. Bear in mind that you need to be in a party with the person who transforms you and you need to be dismounted. If you use your mount, you will lose the transformation.

Tricks and Treats of Azeroth
Probably one of the lengthier meta-achievements, it requires you to visit all the inns in the list on 3 continents: Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor and Outland and use the trick-and-treat buckets inside the inn. The good part is that if you are 80 you will receive a little over 6 gold for each bucket and if you're lower you will get XP instead.

Out With It
This requires you to eat a few Tricky Treats until you get a debuff. The treats drop from the Headless Horseman in large quantities but you only need about a couple of them for the achievement. They have a short duration as well (1 day) so make sure to use them as soon as you get them.

The Savior of Hallow's End
For this one you need to head to one of the smaller villages such as Goldshire or Kharanos (sorry Horde, I don't know which ones are on your side but it can't be hard to figure out) and complete a quest given by an NPC there. For example, I completed the one where I had to put out the fires started by the Headless Horseman. After each dousing of the fire you need to run back and refill your bucket. If there are many players around, you will get credit once all the fires are put out. Otherwise it might be hard to complete this quest.

Rotten Hollow
This requires some traveling. For Alliance it's Southshore. An NPC there will give you 2 quests: The Power of Pine and Crashing the Wickerman Festival. The first one requires you to hang around Southshore until you see a Forsaken NPC who drops a bunch of stink bombs on the ground. You'll recognize them by the brown cloud that forms around them and they look like small totems. Use the item that you got from the questgiver on the bomb. It has a casting bar of a few seconds and if other people have managed to use it ahead of you, the stink bomb will disappear and you will have to find another one. For the second quest you need to head to the west side of Undercity (as Alliance) and simply get close to the giant wicker statue there. Even though there were a bunch of PvP elite NPCs guarding the statue, I didn't aggro them as a level 80 and I didn't get flagged. You don't even need to be very close to it. Once you get credit, go back to Southshore and hand in the quest. That's it, achievement complete.

Check Your Head
You will need to throw Weighted Jack-o'-Lanterns at each of the different races, 10 in total. You will get all the required Jacks from the Headless Horseman. Each day he will drop a few that you can loot. I think I got 5 at one point. So if you kill him in 2 different days, you will probably have all Jacks, considering that one of the other quests from the holiday (I forget which) also rewards you with a few of them. In a worst-case scenario you can also buy these from the Auction House since they don't bind. So don't sweat it too hard if by some miracle you don't have enough of them. Oh and if you have too many, put them up for sale on the AH for a hefty price. The good news is that there's no deposit on them.

Sinister Calling
Only the luck of the draw will help you here since both these items, the Sinister Squashling and the Hallowed Helm are random drops. They both drop from trick-or-treating the innkeeper every hour (so log in often!) or from the Headless Horseman.

And that about wraps it. If you have completed all these achievements, you are one step closer to that 310% speed mount. I still have the PvP achievement to finish and I'll write my impressions as soon as I get it done.

Epic Flying Mounts? Meh.

I've been thinking lately about some of the improvements in patch 3.2 and I came to a conclusion. Whenever the features of these new patches are announced I try to plan in advance. One of the best things that patch 3.2 brings is the mount changes. I discussed them a bit already in my Stop Leveling Your Alts, Now! article.

Thinking about the whole thing though, led me to the conclusion that not only will leveling be faster, but everyone will have the opportunity to save a lot of gold in the process. Of course, saving gold is entirely optional. If you have more gold than you know what to do with, knock yourselves out and buy your epic flying mounts.

For all the rest of you/us, I give you the cheap(er) alternative. Provided you meet the following conditions, you should qualify for a... flying tax reduction:

• - You have at least 1 level 80 character
• - You have at least an alt that's either 60 and needs to run through Outland/Northrend or an alt that's 68 or higher and needs to run through Northrend
• - Your alt doesn't already have a flying mount
• - You have a measly 1650 gold (and don't tell me you can't make 1650 gold, or I will call you a casual!)

So what's the big deal then? Well, since training of the epic mount skill + the mount itself + Cold Weather Flying end up costing around 7000 gold and since currently you can't fly in Northrend anyway until level 77, everyone is forced to level their alts slowly and painfully through the Northrend zones on horseback, which gets old very fast. Not only that but if you have a lower level alt who needs to also run through Outland, it's double the pain!

The wonderful changes in patch 3.2 will allow a player of level 60 to equip a flying mount as soon as they hit Outland. At this level, a player will be able to train Expert Riding for 600 gold or even less after faction discounts. A normal flying mount will now cost only 50 gold. In Outland you won't be needing Cold Weather Flying so the grand total for now is 650 gold. Once you hit Northrend at 68-70, you will have your level 80 buy a Tome of Cold Weather Flying for 1000 gold and send it to your alt. Total damages: 1650 gold. Here's the kicker: normal flying mounts will be flying at 150% speed compared to the "old" normal mounts that currently fly at 60%. Woohoo!

This means that not only we are able to actually fly in Outland and Northrend from 60 all the way to 80 but instead of riding on the ground at 100% speed, we will be flying at 150% speed!
The actual time needed to get between points A and B will be even less due to the fact that we will be circumventing all obstacles and there won't be anymore hostile mobs on our tails trying to dismount us.

Finally, all this means that epic flying mounts have become more like a luxury as opposed to being a necessity. Are you poor and can't afford a 7000 gold 280% mount? No problem! Now you can fly at 150% for a fraction of the cost. Here's my real-life example:

I have 3 level 80's, all with epic flying mounts. I also have 2 level 70's: a warlock and a rogue. Before news of patch 3.2 hit, I had gotten very tired of running yet another alt through Northrend on horseback. On the other hand I kinda needed to level them since I need my rogue to be able to open the high-level lockboxes and I need my warlock to get the Glacial Bag recipe from the Sons of Hodir. Apart from that, I won't be spending any more gold on them since I just need them to be 80 for their skills. Now, I will finally be able to level them easily and also cheaply. I definitely won't be spending 7000 gold for each of the 2.

On the other hand, I have a level 66 orc shaman on another server who is on his own. Unfortunately, this dude will have to make his way to 80 the hard way. In his case, I'm ok with leveling him yet again through the remainder of Outland and the whole of Northrend for the simple fact that he's Horde and the bases, quests and story are different from Alliance, excepting the neutral ones of course.

And that's my conclusion and also my advice to you, friends: if you have one or more alts that you don't want to invest a lot in but still need to level, there will be no better time than post-patch 3.2. Don't be bothering with those epic flying mounts: unless you're swimming in gold they won't be worth as much as before.

Low Weapon Skill? No Problem!

... if you're 80, that is. Close to 80 will also do.

My 80 Protection Paladin found himself in the predicament of just having purchased Teldrassil Protector from the Argent Tournament and realizing that his weapon skill was 1/400. Leveling weapon skills always throws a spanner in the well-lubricated gears of our WoW lives.

To make things more enjoyable, I always try to find an interesting location in which to grind said weapon skill. On my Death Knight I went to the zone where the Azure Whelpling pet drops. This time, I decided to go to Barrier Hills, which is an area reachable only by flying mount, right above Shattrath.

I like Barrier Hills because it's filled with "friendly" Ogres that re-spawn often and drop nice stuff like silver, Netherweave Cloth, green items and valuable vendor trash. There's also a patrolling elite caster that's easily taken down. Most importantly for a high level character, there's also a Son of Gruul called Slaag. This elite dude has 140K HP and is a pleasure to grind your weapon skill on.

In summary, here are the advantages of grinding weapon skill in Barrier Hills: mobs respawn quickly, there are patrolling elites with lots of HPs and there's an uber-elite with major HP. In 30 minutes I went from 1 to 370 skill, not to mention some cash and loot on the side.

Making 5000 Gold for the Epic Flying Mount - Part 2

Making 5000 Gold for the Epic Flying Mount - Part 1

For the second part of my Making 5000 Gold for the Epic Flying Mount post I will share a few tips on how to maximize your earnings and efficiency while leveling.

1. Try to sell every dropped item that's white or above on the Auction House. This should be common sense but I still see people who vendor even greens. I won't even mention those who vendor gathered mats like ore and herbs. Bad! Bad!

2. Always pick up gray items from mobs and vendor them. I find it amazing how many people despise looting gray items. Dudes, those grays add up a lot, especially gray weapons and armor and also those items that stack! If you don't have enough bag space, just get bigger bags.

3. Speaking of bags, always carry the biggest ones you can afford. At the very least you should have 4x 16-slot Netherweave Bags, however, these days 20-slot Frostweave Bags have dropped a lot in price so I would definitely pick those up. In fact, I have equipped my 65 Shaman with 20-slot bags, even back when they were 120 gold a piece. Now that they dropped to 60 gold, you should have no excuse for skipping out on these bags. More storage = more items gathered = less trips to a vendor/mailbox/AH = better efficiency = bigger profits.

4. You do have a bank-alt, don't you? If you don't, shame on you. Just make a level 1 alt and stick him in a major city close to a mailbox, auction house and bank. You should mail all the stuff you want to sell on the AH to this character. While you're leveling you shouldn't even step in a major city unless you're going to the class/profession trainer or for various quests. More time spent in the playing field = more drops = bigger profits.

5. Don't buy useless crap from the AH. People are tempted to buy vanity items or various pieces of gear that won't actively help them to level or be more efficient. On the other hand, DO buy leveling gear with good stats for your class/spec. I encourage this especially before you hit Outland, as the quest rewards up to that point (with few small exceptions) are notoriously crappy (plate with spirit anyone?). So, while I'm leveling, I'm always on the lookout for cheaply priced green gear on the AH. For example if I find a nice AGI upgrade as an Enhancement Shaman for < gear =" faster" survivability =" more/faster" loot =" bigger" href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=2592">Wool Cloth, Mageweave Cloth and Felcloth.

6. While leveling, don't spend money on food buffs, scrolls, elixirs, etc. You won't need them typically, as most leveling content is designed to be soloed without buffs. Occasionally a few buffs might help you solo a group quest but during your adventures you will accumulate a plethora of food, scrolls and potions anyway.

7. Related to above, don't bother with enchants while leveling. They're simply not worth it (remember, leveling quests are not raid material) and most are expensive. Of course, if your leveling character is an enchanter, do make liberal use of enchants. That's valid for every profession. Another exception would be if you can procure a nice blue or epic weapon which will last you for 10 levels or more; by all means, enchant that weapon but be reasonable with how much you spend. Just use your judgment.

8. When selling ore/bars, try to figure out which one gets you the best returns. Sometimes, ore sells a lot better than smelted bars. Just be aware of your server's economy.

9. Also when selling stacks of something, try to determine whether it's more profitable to sell whole stacks or to split them into singles. For example I've noticed on my server that while Saronite Bars sell for, say 1.5 gold apiece when stacked to 20, they often sell for 3-4 gold apiece individually.

These are just a few of the strategies I use to make gold while leveling. Your mileage may vary and you may discover new ways in which to bring in the cash. These methods work well for me and I hope at least some of them will work for you. As a final remark, I will offer this: if you expect others to "bail you out", give you cash or if you can get the gold from your guild, then these tips are probably not for you. However, if you don't learn how to make gold on your own, you will probably never have enough to buy everything you need and you will always be dependent on others. This works in real life too!

Making 5000 Gold for the Epic Flying Mount - Part 1

Recently, Joe from the UK posted a comment under my Comfortably Wealthy article. BTW, Brits FTW :) I am being envied because I managed to hoard 32K gold and he barely has 900 gold, much less an epic flying mount. Well, we can't have that, can we?

There are many players in Joe's situation. There are even lots of level 80's who cannot afford the "5000 gold mount". I see all the time level 80's with the slow flying mount or even riding around on ground mounts. Crazy isn't it? Not really. Each individual is different and everyone has different ways of playing World of Warcraft and each individual has different goals. Not everyone reads gold-making blogs or WoW fan sites. Not everyone is well informed. Also, not everyone has accumulated sufficient experience in order to be self suficient and independently well-off (if not downright wealthy) in this World of Warcraft of ours.

So how does one get around to building the incredible amount of 5000 gold required for an epic flying mount? First of all, the 5000G is a lie! The epic flying skill itself is 5000 gold but when you factor the cost of the normal flying skill plus the mount itself, the amount becomes 6000G. When you also add the infamous Cold Weather Flying skill, you're up to 7000 buckaroos. Scary isn't it? It doesn't have to be.

Now in my case, 5000 or even 20000 gold isn't that big of a deal anymore. I remember fondly the days of Classic WoW when 900 gold for the epic mount was really really hard to get. Those days are long gone. Anyone can make a hefty sum these days.

My Alliance characters are in a special situation. I like to split Alliance and Horde on different servers. My Alliance are the most numerous and I only have one significant Horde character, a shaman. Because my Alliance have been here for a long time, I've had ages in which to accumulate gold. Besides, I share several professions between these characters and sometimes I can make certain items that sell well. Very rarely though. So I won't be talking about how I make gold on my Alliance.

Instead, I'm gonna talk about my (still) level 65 Orc Enhancement Shaman who at his level already has 3000 gold, after having bought the epic ground mount. Yes, I know, it's not much, but this character started on his own on a fresh server, with zero gold in his pocket. Along the way I also picked up a bunch of gear from the AH, including two nice blue maces that cost me about 300 gold. I know for certain that at level 77 he will easily afford that epic flying skill + mount. So how does one manage to save all this money?

As I wrote in a previous post, when I start a fresh character on a new server, I always get 2 gathering professions. I don't care about crafting stuff. Many players new to WoW, probably coming from another MMORPG, imagine that crafting professions are the way to go! In most cases, I would say no. Crafting professions are okay(ish) once you are maximum level and have plenty of gold to "invest" in that profession. If you don't actively pursue a crafting profession, you'll most likely never make a profit. By "actively pursue" I mean spamming trade channel, putting stuff on the AH, buying cheap mats, etc.

Regarding crafting professions, people also believe that these will help you get good gear while you level. Well, I concede, that's partly true. Professions usually do give some nice gear that you can craft for yourself and it will be of some help while you level, especially considering that before you hit Outland, i.e. 1-60, quest rewards are pretty crappy. However, the advantage given by crafting professions is, IMO, not big enough to make it worthwhile to pursue a crafting profession. Think about it: you can make tons of gold by selling raw mats. Whatever leveling gear you need you can simply purchase from the AH since you're already a wealthy bastard. Let others do the hard work for you! Also consider that people who DO level crafting skills, will usually flood the AH with crafted gear, and this gear can very often be bought for ridiculously low prices, sometimes even lower than the price of the mats. Would you like to be the poor crafter who can't even break even? Of course not.

In any case, going for the maximum amount of gold while leveling is best done, in my experience, with 2 gathering professions, unless you like playing the Auction House like there's no tomorrow (but then you're not actively in the field, actually playing the game). I usually go with mining/herbalism because they're the most profitable currently. I will simply sell all the stuff I gather on the AH. Of course, selling these mats for the highest profits is a whole new ballgame and a topic in itself, which I will cover in a future article.

And this is my main strategy for making money while I level. This will bring me the bulk of the sum I will need at level 77 when I will be able to afford that epic flying mount. And just in case you're wondering why not to buy the mount at 70, it's simple: 77 is the new 70. Since at 70 you should jump to Northrend right away, and since you can't fly in Northrend until 77, there simply isn't any point in getting a flying mount at 70, unless you want to hang around Outland for a few more levels.

In the next part of the article I will talk about a few ideas in which to maximize your gold while leveling.

Making 5000 Gold for the Epic Flying Mount - Part 2

Noblegarden Eggs Free-For-All

Just at the middle of Noblegarden it seems that most people have gotten all their eggs. Last night I went around to Azure Watch and I was surprised to notice only a handful of people hunting for eggs. This meant camping was no longer a good idea. So I just made circles around the compound and collected a ton of eggs in the process. Here's what I got (see below) after approximately 10-15 minutes. 2 full bags and I did that 2 more times. Unfortunately I still haven't completed all the achievements, as that damned White Tuxedo Shirt won't drop. So if you still need eggs, now's the time to get them and just forget about camping them. Since there are so few people, you will find a lot more eggs while running around for them. Sometimes I even found 3-4 eggs within reach.

Noblegarden Egg Camping

Noblegarden is here and I jumped into it so I can get the new Rabbit pet, also to complete a few achievements and for a change of pace.

When searching for Brightly Colored Eggs there seem to be 2 major methods:

1. Running around and hoping to spot an egg and get to it before someone else does
2. Camping a spawn spot

Initially I was doing the first method. I scoffed at people who camped various bushes, nooks and crannies. Some of them even got offended if I grabbed "their" egg or attempted to camp "their" spot for a few minutes. Lighten up people! It's not like you bought that spot. There are times when such items are free-for-all.

Later, I noticed a particular spot where 2 eggs spawned at the same time. I decided to camp that spot because there was no one else there. Apparently it pays off to camp such a spot. The particular spot I camped is located in Dolanaar, Teldrassil, between two bushes and behind an NPC named Orenthil Whisperwind. Here's a screenshot of the location:

Each of the bushes flanking this NPC are egg spawns. In the end I became a camping-convert. The egg yield was a lot better than running around. Often I got 2 consecutive spawns and sometimes even 3!

So if you can find an un-camped spot with 2 spawns, you should be golden. Another tip is to go egg hunting in one of the more "secluded" villages like Dolanaar or Azure Watch.

Argent Tournament Dailies: How to Defeat the Valiants

OK, I finally got the nerve to attempt jousting those Valiants again, for the daily quest The Grand Melee. And this time I beat all 3 of them on the first try. I got inspiration from the quest comments on Wowhead.

My strategy was slightly different from the first comment, or exactly the same as another comment down the line. The 3 Valiants I fought (you can only fight 1 of each type every hour) were from Gnomeregan (Gnome), Stormwind (Human) and Darnassus (Night Elf). Since they have slightly different abilities, this strategy might not work with others but I will try nonetheless, for the hilariously named Lance a Lot achievement.

So here's how to do it, my style:

1. Before I challenge a Valiant, I build up the full 3 Shield charges.
2. Challenge the guy and immediately Melee him.
3. Keep Melee-ing him, all the while making sure your 3 Shield charges are always up.
4. When he starts to ride away, immediately throw a Shield-Breaker on him and immediately follow him. This will prevent him from using his own Shield-Breaker or Charge.
5. Melee him again as soon as you get close.
6. If you have less than 3 Shield charges, replenish them. Only replenish when you are Melee-ing him, since the Shield and Melee are on different cooldowns.
7. Rinse, repeat.
8. Gratz you've just kicked ass.

Easy and Cheap Way to Level Tailoring After 410

Here's a quick tip on how to level Tailoring cheaply (or even for a profit) after 410. Well, I'm sure most tailors have figured this out but I'm putting it out just in case.

The special thing about Tailoring 410 is that you can finally make Frostweave Bags. While the mats for this type of bag are expensive, you can often sell the bag for a profit, if you do a bit of Auction House watching and if you buy the components when they are at their lowest.

Once you get this pattern, you start cranking bags until 450 where the skill turns gray. Of course, you won't be able to sell these bags straight away because the demand seems pretty low but come patch 3.1 I have a feeling they will become a lot more popular

Here's a breakdown of the components. If you use Wowhead prices, you will find out that it's impossible to make a profit, however you need to check the prices on your own server. You might be surprised.

2 x Eternium Thread = 2 x 3G

6 x Bolt of Imbued Frostweave =
6 x ( 2 x Bolt of Frostweave + 2 x Infinite Dust) =
6 x ( 2 x (5x Frostweave Cloth) + 2 x Infinite Dust ) =
60 x Frostweave Cloth + 12 x Infinite Dust =
60 x 1G + 12 x 5G = 120G

Grand Total = 126G
Wowhead price for the bag = 100G

To me these prices seem unrealistic. For one thing, the price of Frostweave Cloth on my server is a lot lower. Sometimes I can find it for less than 5G a stack. Usually around 6-7G. On my server and with careful speculation of the Auction House I can turn a healthy profit. Furthermore, if you can farm or provide some of the mats yourself, it will be even cheaper. I, for example, have an enchanter who can get the Infinite Dust from disenchanting Northrend stuff but I also watch the Auction House carefully and buy low. One word of caution though: watch out for price dumpers. If you see the bags selling for a lot less than the price of mats, don't post any. Wait a few days and they will go up again. Usually prices start moving up between Thursday and Sunday.

So if you get your Tailoring to around 410 and feel daunted by the huge quantity of materials needed to level it to max, Frostweave Bags are one of the better ways to get you to the top. Disclaimer: IMO.

Getting Into Ragefire Chasm As Alliance

Ahhh, the Ragefire Chasm achievement. Ragefire Chasm (or RFC) is to Alliance what The Stockade is to Horde. In other words it seems damn hard to get into, being right in the middle of Orgrimmar.

Well ok, maybe it's not so hard to get inside after all, especially if you are 80. There is one major and proven method: ride in as far as you can. If you can make it to the instance fine, if not, just die, rez, rinse and repeat.

Here is the short story of my attempt to reach RFC.

For starters, I ported to Darnassus from Dalaran. Then I grabbed a taxi to the flight point in Azshara. That seemed the shortest route to Orgrimmar after eye-balling a map of Kalimdor. Azshara > Ashenvale > Barrens > Durotar > Orgrimmar. In retrospect I think it might have been faster to port to Stormwind, fly to Booty Bay and from there grab the boat to Ratchet in the Barrens where it's a fairly short trek to Durotar and Orgrimmar.

Now once you get to the gates of Orgrimmar, here's the drill:

1. Take your gear off so it won't break if you die.

2. Study the map of the route.


3. Run like hell (on your mount).

From there on it's up to you and it depends on your luck if you make it in one go or not. I was lucky and made it even though Orgrimmar was full of players. I guess most people simply do not expect a naked dwarf to ride brazenly right through the middle of their city. Tip: if you are scared of dying inside Orgrimmar, why not wait until a more unpopulated hour to try?

The instance itself is the shortest one I've ever seen and the achievement took about 5 minutes from the moment I stepped inside until I killed Taragaman the Hungerer. What surprised me was the large number of green item drops from the mobs I killed. Not even Deadmines yielded so many.

So there you have it. Although getting there might be a bitch, the achievement itself is a cinch. And um, hmm, was that a rhyme?

How Not to Get Disconnected When AFK

Here's a trick I learned by accident. This will work best on your bank alt, or any character that's close to an Auction House.

Let's say you want to go AFK for 10-15 minutes, maybe to brush your teeth or fix a snack. You don't want to log out for a variety of reasons. One big reason is that it takes a few minutes for the game to load and that's especially true for people with slow computers.

So where does the AH come in? Well, if you AFK in a random spot, especially in a city with high population, you run the risk of finding yourself disconnected when you return to your computer. I found out that if you open the Auction House window and leave it open, you remain logged indefinitely. I don't know why that happens but I'm assuming there's some kind of persistent communication between the server and client when the AH window is open.

So far I've used this little "exploit" successfully on my bank alt and I have never been disconnected.