I've had several requests both online and through this blog for some some pointers towards other podcasts and sites that focus on Gold-making strategies. SO i've listed some below.
Podcasts
Call to Auction Podcast - This is the Authority of Gold-making Podcasts. Run by two of the big guns in Gold-making strategies, Markco of "JustMyTwoCopper.org" and Euripides of "OutDPS.com", This podcast is incredibly informative. A must-have for anyone considering the AH game.
Blogs
Just My Two Copper - This is the Number One Gold-Making blog in my opinion, and home to the JustMyTwoCopper forums. The site itself has just had a revamp and now even allows you to sign up for a Gold-making tips newsletter.
Phase 3: Profit - Another informative site, especially for those new to the AH game, with a lot of introductory strategies to get you on your gold-making way.
Warcraft Econ - A very informative blog that keeps you up with all the latest developments. Also home to the "Warcraft Econ Hall of Fame" where players who have reached the gold-cap share their stories and tips for your benefit. A must read!
Stokpile - Stokpile has stopped posting for now, however his posts are still very current in many ways and mandatory reading.
There are plenty of other gold-making blogs and Podcasts. These are just the ones I use. Hope this helps guys,
Be merry, be rich,
Groinstabber (Serebihm)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Groinstabber's Gold: Introduction
Groinstabber is my gnome rogue. He's also my Auctioneer. And with this section I will talk about gold-making strategies that I use.
I decided to get in to gold-making quite late in the expansion, when I got a little upset about struggling to make ends meet for all my toons. It was by chance that I was reseaching the mats for the Mekgineer's Chopper and realised that if i used Saronite Ore to craft the the Titansteel Bars it would end up much cheaper than buying the Bars.
And so it began. within a couple of months of trial and error on the AH I had over 100k gold, and was looking pretty. Then another of my alts hit 80 and I spent 52k gold on gearing him, before spending the remaining 50k gold on getting my Mountain of Mounts Achievement. That was last week.
With only 3k gold to my name across all accounts I basically had to start from scratch. so far I'm up to 20k gold again, which for me, considering the little amount of time I get between raiding and work, is a great week so far.
So for my first post in this section I will post 2 tips on gold-making:
Tip 1: Research, research, research
I cannot stress this enough. Research is your most important tool in gold-making this includes reading blogs and listening to podcasts focused on gold-making strategies, but they can only give you ideas. The bulk of the research needs to be done by you, on your own server's AH. That is because every single server has its own different economy. What might sell well on Khaz'goroth may not be profitable at all on Drenden. So if you hear or see a new idea on blogs and podcasts, head to your AH and check it out first before heavily investing into it.
Tip 2: Expand your business
Those that make the most gold, are those that are involved in many markets. This means if one of your markets collapses (like glyphs and epic gems have on my server, you have other markets that keep the business rolling.
Anyway this is all I have time for today.
Keep stabbing at the AH
Groinstabber (Serebihm)
I decided to get in to gold-making quite late in the expansion, when I got a little upset about struggling to make ends meet for all my toons. It was by chance that I was reseaching the mats for the Mekgineer's Chopper and realised that if i used Saronite Ore to craft the the Titansteel Bars it would end up much cheaper than buying the Bars.
And so it began. within a couple of months of trial and error on the AH I had over 100k gold, and was looking pretty. Then another of my alts hit 80 and I spent 52k gold on gearing him, before spending the remaining 50k gold on getting my Mountain of Mounts Achievement. That was last week.
With only 3k gold to my name across all accounts I basically had to start from scratch. so far I'm up to 20k gold again, which for me, considering the little amount of time I get between raiding and work, is a great week so far.
So for my first post in this section I will post 2 tips on gold-making:
Tip 1: Research, research, research
I cannot stress this enough. Research is your most important tool in gold-making this includes reading blogs and listening to podcasts focused on gold-making strategies, but they can only give you ideas. The bulk of the research needs to be done by you, on your own server's AH. That is because every single server has its own different economy. What might sell well on Khaz'goroth may not be profitable at all on Drenden. So if you hear or see a new idea on blogs and podcasts, head to your AH and check it out first before heavily investing into it.
Tip 2: Expand your business
Those that make the most gold, are those that are involved in many markets. This means if one of your markets collapses (like glyphs and epic gems have on my server, you have other markets that keep the business rolling.
Anyway this is all I have time for today.
Keep stabbing at the AH
Groinstabber (Serebihm)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
WotLK Hunter Progression Reminder
Too often I still get asked questions like "When do I go Marksman Spec?" or "When should I stack Armor Penetration?" So I'm going to give you a quick run-down.
Spec
This late in the expansion most new hunters have access to enough gear to allow them to spec right into MM, but if gold is an issue or you prefer to progress through the game properly, start of as Survival. You will stay Survival until ToC at least. Then once your gear averages out to 232 and 245 ilevel gear, change to MM to increase your dps.
Survival Raid Spec
Marksman Agility Raid Spec
Armor Penetration vs. Agility
Survival hunter should always gem for Agility. Marksman hunters should also gem for Agility until they reach a passive Armor Pen. rating 750-800 (passive meaning gear only, no gems, no procs). Once one reaches that level, one can start gemming for Armor Penetration, as it will get one close to the Armor Pen. cap (1400) and be more beneficial than Agility. At this point Marksman hunters should also switch to a MM Armor Pen build.
Armor Penetration also affects MM shot rotation. When Armor penetration reaches around 450, MM hunters can drop Arcane Shot from their rotation as Steady Shot will do more damage (Arcane shot, being Magic damage will not benefit from Armor penetration, Steady Shot will).
Resources
For a more in-depth look at Armor Penetration and Raiding Specs check out the following guides on WHU:
Armor Pen vs Agility
Survival Hunter Raid Talent Build
Marksman Hunter Raid Talent Build
Marksman Hunter Armor Pen Build
Keep on Hunting,
Serebihm
Spec
This late in the expansion most new hunters have access to enough gear to allow them to spec right into MM, but if gold is an issue or you prefer to progress through the game properly, start of as Survival. You will stay Survival until ToC at least. Then once your gear averages out to 232 and 245 ilevel gear, change to MM to increase your dps.
Survival Raid Spec
Marksman Agility Raid Spec
Armor Penetration vs. Agility
Survival hunter should always gem for Agility. Marksman hunters should also gem for Agility until they reach a passive Armor Pen. rating 750-800 (passive meaning gear only, no gems, no procs). Once one reaches that level, one can start gemming for Armor Penetration, as it will get one close to the Armor Pen. cap (1400) and be more beneficial than Agility. At this point Marksman hunters should also switch to a MM Armor Pen build.
Armor Penetration also affects MM shot rotation. When Armor penetration reaches around 450, MM hunters can drop Arcane Shot from their rotation as Steady Shot will do more damage (Arcane shot, being Magic damage will not benefit from Armor penetration, Steady Shot will).
Resources
For a more in-depth look at Armor Penetration and Raiding Specs check out the following guides on WHU:
Armor Pen vs Agility
Survival Hunter Raid Talent Build
Marksman Hunter Raid Talent Build
Marksman Hunter Armor Pen Build
Keep on Hunting,
Serebihm
Friday, August 13, 2010
Mountain O' Mounts Guide
Yes I am now the proud owner of the Blue Dragonhawk, reward for collecting 100 mounts. It was a long road, but not particularly difficult. Let's look at how it's done.
It is actually possible to reach 100 mounts WITHOUT farming any epic mounts from instances.
Alliance Reputation
To begin I farmed reputation with the Alliance factions, Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus, Exodar and Gnomeregan. The best way to do this is by completing their starter zones. It will also help a lot towards the Loremaster and Seeker Achievements.
Once you have all their reputations at exalted grab their mounts.
Mount count: 33
PvP Mounts
Now that PvP mounts just cost 50k honor this is easily ground out in a couple of days. The Black War Mammoth can be bought from Wintergrasp (must be under your factions control) for 300 Stone Keeper's Shards.
Mounts added: 6
Mount count: 39
Alliance Flying Mounts
Next get your flying skill, upgrade it to Epic Flying and by all the Gryphon Mounts.
Mounts added: 7
Mount count: 46
Sha'tari Skyguard
The chain for the Sha'tari Skyguard begins right next to the flight master in Shattrath, and involves dailies at Ogri'la in Blade's Edge Mountains, and at Skettis in Terrokar.
Mounts added: 5
Mount count: 51
Congratulations!
You re now halfway there and will receive your first mount reward: the Albino Drake!!
Mounts added: 1
Mount Count: 52
Kurenai Mounts
Kurenai Rep is ground out in Nagrand by doing the Quests, most of them given in Telaar. Once all Quests are completed you should be just into Revered and will have to grind the rest out by Killing Ogres in the Nagrand and collecting Obsidian Warbeads. Handing 10 in at a time will reward with 500 Rep.
Mounts added: 8
Mount Count: 60
(Note their are actually 10 Talbuks, however the Dark Riding Talbuk and Dark War Talbuk are a little annoying to get as they require Halaa Tokens, both research and battle, which are difficult to get now that Halaa is rarely contested)
Netherwing Drakes
The Netherwing quest chain begins in Shadowmoon Valley, and the Rep is collected by way of completing dailies and collecting Netherwing Eggs, which are located all around Dragonmaw Fortress and the Netherwing Ledge.
Mounts Added: 6
Mount Count: 66
Singular Reputation Mounts
Winterspring Frostsaber: Dailies in Winterspring now reward 850 Rep.
Cenarion War Hippogryph: Complete quests for Cenarion Expedition all over Outlands.
Red Drake: You'll need to grind Wyrmrest to exalted doing quests, the daily in Dragonblight and wearing your Wyrmrest Tabard doing heroics.
Mounts added: 3
Mount Count: 69
An Qiraj Mounts
Yes the battle tanks In AQ count towards their mount achievement and the trash before the first boss all have chance to drop them. Also it appears once you have a mount and learnt it it will not drop again increasing the chance for the other colours to drop. The colours are green, blue, yellow and red (Red is also a Feat of Strength). it is possible to get all mounts in 1 run (it took 2 for me).
Mounts added: 4
Mount count: 73
Argent Tournament Mounts
This will be a long grind as the lesser faction mounts will require 5 champion's seals and 400g and the greater faction mounts requiring 100 Champion Seals each. There are also 2 Hyppogryphs costing 150 Champion Seals each, and the Argent Warhorse and Quel'Dorei Steed costing 100 Champion Seals each. So to get all mounts you will need 1025 Champion Seals. The maximum number of Seals achievable each day is 13 (10 from dailies, 3 from Heroic ToC).
Mounts added: 14
Mount Count: 87
Crafted Mounts
To get crafted Mounts you will need to be an engineer and Tailor. There are 3 different Engineering Mounts (Mekgineer's Chopper, Flying Machine Control and Turbo-Charged Flying machine Control) and 3 tailoring Mounts (Flying Carpet, Frosty Flying Carpet and magnificent Flying Carpet). Note that the Chopper mats will cost you around 12000g.
Mounts Added: 6
Mount Count: 93
Dalaran Mounts
There are 4 mounts sold by Mei Francis in Dalaran. 3 will cost you Gold one of which, the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth, will cost you between 16000 to 21000g (depending on your Kirin Tor Rep). The 4th Mount, the Wooly Mammoth is purchasable using 200 Badges of Heroism which can be collected doing heroics.
Mounts added: 4
Mount Count: 97
Sons of Hodir Mounts
Sons of Hodir Reputation is gained by completing dailies in Storm peaks and handing in Relics of Ulduar (10). The Grand Ice Mammoth will set you back 8000g.
Mounts Added: 2
Mount Count: 99
Culling of Stratholme Mount
Bronze Drake: This is a guaranteed drop in heroic Culling of Stratholme of the Infinite Corruptor is killed in time.
Mounts Added: 1
Mounts Count: 100
Congratulations! You have now got your 100 mounts and will receive the Blue Dragonhawk.
Other Mounts that are not too difficult to obtain
Rusted Proto-Drake: Obtained by completing hard-modes and achievements in Ulduar 10man.
Sea Turtle: Has a chance to be fished up out of ANY Northrend fish pool.
Celestial Steed: Bought from the Blizzard Store
Black Drake: Guaranteed drop from defeating Sartharion with all 3 Drakes in Obsidian Sanctum 10 man. if you lose the roll offer a nice sum of gold to buy it of the winner (I paid 25k for mine which is more than the going rate, but it was my 100th mount).
Twilight Drake: Same as the Black Drake, except this one drops on the 25 man version.
Swift Razzashi Raptor & Zulian Tiger: These 2 drop in Zul Gurub. they are not guaranteed to drop, but these bosses are easy enough to solo by almost all classes. (no longer attainable as Zul'Gurub has been removed with patch 4.0.3a)
Swift Hawkstrider: Drops from Kael'Thas in Heroic Magister's Terrace. not a guaranteed drop and 3rd boss can be difficult to solo. Drop rate was recently increased.
Rivendare's Deathcharger: Drops of Baron Rivendare in Stratholme. Drop rate has been increased but is still very low 0.1%.
Green Proto-Drake: Has a chance to be obtained from the Mysterious Egg which can be obtained from the Oracles in Sholazar Basin once reputation hits Revered.
Red- Proto Drake: Obtained by completing the Glory of the Hero Achievement, requiring you to complete a number of achievements in heroics.
Black War Bear: Obtained by killing all 4 Horde leaders in their Capital Cities. Check TRade chat for players advertising the For The Alliance! Achievement.
Violet Proto-Drake: Obtained by completing all Holiday Achievements. So this will take you at least 1 year if none have been attempted yet.
White Polar Bear: Obtained from the Hyldnir Spoils reward, which in turn is obtained from completing the Brunhyldnir Village Daily.
So there you have it! Good luck with your Mountain of Mounts.
Keep on hunting,
Serebihm
Gunship I love thee!!
After months and months of waiting for Gunship to drop Scourge Hunter's Vambraces it finally dropped - on our first heroic kill. So I am now the proud owner of Scourge Hunter's Vambraces.
This is only the second time I've seen these drop, the first time being when I was benched (I had only just returned from a break) and they were disenchanted. Anyway I am extremely happy.
We also gave Saurfang a hell of a go on heroic, getting him as far as 4%. I think next time we will down him. We will see what tomorrow brings...
Time to gem and enchant my new shiny..
Keep on hunting,
Serebihm
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Dying Art of Crowd Control
Remember Karazhan? Remember how the trash before Attumen needed to be CCed, so it wouldn't run around killing stuff? Remember how on Moroes, 2 adds were often Shackled and a third either kept frozen or at least kited by a hunter? Remember how the end raids of the expansion (Black Temple, Sunwell and Tempest Keep to some degree) were never advertised for Pugs?
Now think to this Expansion that's coming to a close. Can you remember the last time you had to rely on CC to get a boss down? Faction Champs in ToC springs to mind, but other than that I'm drawing blank. And also isn't it interesting how every raid in this expansion is now Puggable?
In an attempt to open raids up to more people Blizzard have dropped the difficulty in raids and heroics considerably. And in many ways it was successful for them more players into endgame content means more money in their pockets. But the downside is, that with all these easier raids it is difficult to find good players.
On a recent post on OutDPS, Eidotrope discussed the relationship between hunters and tanks and healers, and he commented on what makes good hunters and bad hunters.
I also have healer and tank alts that I take into raids and heroics and in my time have seen a lot of players, and I am baffled by the large number of average to below average players I come across. But it got me thinking and its not really there fault.
In raids these days Crowd Control is something of an afterthought. Trash gets rounded up by the tanks and then AoEd down. And its got nothing to do with gear. When my guild entered Naxx in blues and crafted epics we rounded up adds and Aoed them. When we entered Ulduar in Naxx gear it was the same thing. Then in ToC we don't even get trash, but to be fair we got Faction Champs, the only WotLK raid boss that really required a heavy load of CC. And now to Icecrown, where CC is used sparingly on Saurfang (frost traps for beasts), the trash in the Crimson Wing and on the Lich King fight for the Val'kyrs, a place a lot of players don't even get to.
So looking at it it from that angle I am not surprised that hunters around the world don't manage their aggro well or use some smart Crowd Control. They simply don't know any better. How could they when during leveling and even gearing in heroics and early raids, those necessary skills are simply not required. In so many boss fights these days, even if it was designed to use some kind of CC, depending on the group make up you can get away with using none at all. If your tank is geared enough you don't have to tranq the Shambling Horrors on LK. If your DPS is high enough you don't even need to slow the Valkyrs.
In BC hunters needed to know how to kite. We needed to know how to trap things effectively and keep em trapped. And the same level of skill was required by the other classes. if they didn't it was wipefest after wipefest. In WotLK effective CC appears to be limited to PvP and Arena, but only a small percentage enjoy PvP.
With Cataclysm I hope Blizzard address this issue and bring some Skill Requirement back to raids and dungeons. it doesn't have to be on Boss fights, even just tricky trash will force all classes to re-learn the dying art of crowd control. But until then we are going to have to live with players not knowing how to use their CC abilities. We are going to have to live with having to tell people to use Misdirect or tricks, and we are going to have to live with the fact that its not really their fault. All we can do is accept this fact and do as I do, offer our knowledge to these players, and teach them the wonders of Crowd Control, so they may improve and prepare for the future.
keep on Hunting and save the art of crowd control,
Serebihm
Now think to this Expansion that's coming to a close. Can you remember the last time you had to rely on CC to get a boss down? Faction Champs in ToC springs to mind, but other than that I'm drawing blank. And also isn't it interesting how every raid in this expansion is now Puggable?
In an attempt to open raids up to more people Blizzard have dropped the difficulty in raids and heroics considerably. And in many ways it was successful for them more players into endgame content means more money in their pockets. But the downside is, that with all these easier raids it is difficult to find good players.
On a recent post on OutDPS, Eidotrope discussed the relationship between hunters and tanks and healers, and he commented on what makes good hunters and bad hunters.
I also have healer and tank alts that I take into raids and heroics and in my time have seen a lot of players, and I am baffled by the large number of average to below average players I come across. But it got me thinking and its not really there fault.
In raids these days Crowd Control is something of an afterthought. Trash gets rounded up by the tanks and then AoEd down. And its got nothing to do with gear. When my guild entered Naxx in blues and crafted epics we rounded up adds and Aoed them. When we entered Ulduar in Naxx gear it was the same thing. Then in ToC we don't even get trash, but to be fair we got Faction Champs, the only WotLK raid boss that really required a heavy load of CC. And now to Icecrown, where CC is used sparingly on Saurfang (frost traps for beasts), the trash in the Crimson Wing and on the Lich King fight for the Val'kyrs, a place a lot of players don't even get to.
So looking at it it from that angle I am not surprised that hunters around the world don't manage their aggro well or use some smart Crowd Control. They simply don't know any better. How could they when during leveling and even gearing in heroics and early raids, those necessary skills are simply not required. In so many boss fights these days, even if it was designed to use some kind of CC, depending on the group make up you can get away with using none at all. If your tank is geared enough you don't have to tranq the Shambling Horrors on LK. If your DPS is high enough you don't even need to slow the Valkyrs.
In BC hunters needed to know how to kite. We needed to know how to trap things effectively and keep em trapped. And the same level of skill was required by the other classes. if they didn't it was wipefest after wipefest. In WotLK effective CC appears to be limited to PvP and Arena, but only a small percentage enjoy PvP.
With Cataclysm I hope Blizzard address this issue and bring some Skill Requirement back to raids and dungeons. it doesn't have to be on Boss fights, even just tricky trash will force all classes to re-learn the dying art of crowd control. But until then we are going to have to live with players not knowing how to use their CC abilities. We are going to have to live with having to tell people to use Misdirect or tricks, and we are going to have to live with the fact that its not really their fault. All we can do is accept this fact and do as I do, offer our knowledge to these players, and teach them the wonders of Crowd Control, so they may improve and prepare for the future.
keep on Hunting and save the art of crowd control,
Serebihm
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
1st Attempts in ICC Heroic 25
Well we only got to spend an hour in ICC 25 heroic, but at least we downed Marrowgar on the 1st attempt. The fight was surprisingly easy but the 30% buff and the fact that at least half of us have done it regularly on 10 man probably helped.
On to the strategy itself it did not vary much from normal mode. In heroic mode he has more health, hits harder and casts bonespike even during Bonestorm. There are also more Coldflames and they hurt a lot more, so be ready to move. For Bonestorm we split our raid into 2 groups with one group going left, one centre and one right.
It is imperative that all DPS switch to Bonespikes when they are up an a /tar Bonespike helps a ton (/tar Bone should be enough) for quick target switching.
We did move on to Deathwhisper but spent our 4 attempts wiping, although our progress improved the more we changed our strat. The best strat for us, it seems is to have everyone behind the boss forcing the adds to come to us and we then AoE them down with splash on the boss.
Well we'll see how we go tomorrow.
keep on hunting,
Serebihm
On to the strategy itself it did not vary much from normal mode. In heroic mode he has more health, hits harder and casts bonespike even during Bonestorm. There are also more Coldflames and they hurt a lot more, so be ready to move. For Bonestorm we split our raid into 2 groups with one group going left, one centre and one right.
It is imperative that all DPS switch to Bonespikes when they are up an a /tar Bonespike helps a ton (/tar Bone should be enough) for quick target switching.
We did move on to Deathwhisper but spent our 4 attempts wiping, although our progress improved the more we changed our strat. The best strat for us, it seems is to have everyone behind the boss forcing the adds to come to us and we then AoE them down with splash on the boss.
Well we'll see how we go tomorrow.
keep on hunting,
Serebihm
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