How To Survive: Alterac Valley

I am NOT a PvP-er.

If you’re like me and don’t PvP, it’s a bit daunting going into a BG and having no idea what to do, where to go or what the objective is. This week it’s Alterac Valley, so I thought I would blog:

Alterac Valley for Alliance in 5 VERY simple steps

1. Follow the group. Pack mentality works every time. There are 40 players in this BG and the majority will head straight for the end objective which is…
2. Kill the boss. You start at the top, “Drek’Thar” the boss is at the bottom. With 103m health and 4 buffs, he’s quite a dude. By doing other stuff, these disappear making him much less menacing. In order to do this, you first need to…
3. Capture the towers. After the initial mad rush out of the Ally base, breakout groups will go and ‘cap the towers’ en route to Drek. The main ones are Iceblood Tower, Tower Point and the Frostwolf Towers (by the boss). In order to do this, you kill the boss inside. Each tower is on a timer, giving the opposing faction time to defend and recapture. Once the timer is out, the buff on Drek wears off. Of course sometimes there might be nasty Horde lurking inside…
4. Pewpew. Whether this is killing the Horde who may try to defend, or killing the mini bosses in the towers, or the NPCs who lurk around.
5. Wait around. For Ally, this is *usually* a faceroll. I usually go and kill the mini boss in the Iceblood Tower, then wait at the boss, killing any hordes who might try to defend. EZ.

Visual Aid

My highly professional picture for you below.

You’re the blue. Horde towers and bosses are in red. Kill the red and any Horde you pass on the way.

See, who said PvP was complicated?!

Fishing for a Ring.

Last weekend I heard that by winning the Stranglethorn Vale Fishing Extravaganza you not only get an achievement, but you can choose between some prizes (fishing rods, boots, vanity items etc), but one in particular caught my eye:

This in itself was motivation enough for me to go and win it. An extra 5% xp for my alts? Yes please!!

All you have to do, if you’re not aware, is catch 40 Speckfled Tastyfish. Once you’ve done this, you must hand them into Mr Riggle Bassbait who is just outside the Inn in Booty Bay, on the dock. First 3 people to do this get the achievement and a prize. It also counts towards your Salty title, so what are you waiting for?!

Also worth noting that there are rare fish you can also catch which can yield rewards… +5 fishing items and Nat Pagle gear.

So off I trundled at 12.30pm for the 1pm start (that’s 2pm server for you Europeans!), set my hearthstone at Booty Bay then placed myself here:

My tactic was simple: let everyone else panic about spawning points, but remain in the same area to reduce downtime between fishing. I assumed most would stick to Southern Stranglethorn (I was right), and those who did venture up north were doing laps up and down the river. The lake here has about 6 spawn points, and even if someone comes to fish there, another spawns as they do so. There are mobs in this area, so if you’re a lowbie, clear the area first.

You know it’s started by a /yell, so make sure you have your chat on. Also, this is how the winners are announced. Do keep going if first place is announced, as you could be second or third – there are prizes for all 3 and an achievement remember!

I got my 40 Speckled Tastyfish and hearthed back to hand in to was a full 3minutes in front of second place. The area became quite crowded at around the 20minute mark when most people were starting to hand in their quests from different servers, so a /tar macro may be a good idea.

Here are my (definitely non-pro!) tips for winning:

1. Get there early, so you can seize up the competition and get sorted
2. Set your hearth to Booty Bay
3. Put your fishing pole on a keybind and turn your settings up – I struggled to see the pools on my ‘low’ graphic settings. If you don’t land it in the pool, you’re wasting valuable time fishing up junk.
4. Put your sound on, just incase you miss the bob of the bobber.
5. Clear your bags (enough for the 2 stacks of fish and your prize!)
6. Choose your prize in advance – you don’t win til you hand the quest in, so no faffing!
7. Try not to move too far between pools, this creates downtime between casts.
8. Don’t steal other people’s pools, and move on if they steal yours – it’s not worth it.
9. If you have anything less than max fishing, use a lure. You don’t want to not use one for the sake of a missed catch.
10. Keep calm, but concentrate. Keep trying if you don’t win first time, a lot of it is luck on the amount of people entering that week.

Anyway, I was dead chuffed with my ring and now Mr B wants me to do it for him so he can have one. I really recommend you give it a go – yes, stressful, but reaps rewards.

I hope this has been a tiny bit helpful if you haven’t yet attempted it!

Day of the Dead

This short festival is in honour of the Mexican festival of the same name, celebrated on 1st November. It’s a beautiful festival, and if you don’t know its history, you should check it out.

Anyway, here is our – very short – guide to it, as we got very confused as to what was where and all that jazz.

So, first off go to your home city or Dalaran and find the guys. Co-ords for Dalaran are 35, 39.

You’ll see two NPCs there, so first off, you want to dance with Catrina to gain this achievement:

And enjoy being a Skeleton!

Anyway… next you need to buy some Marigolds and the Bread of the Dead recipe off Chapman, the vendor. Equip the flowers and use them so you’re able to see this guy, the Cheerful Spirit.

This guy will give you a quest called Bread of the Dead. Go buy some flour and milk at a low level vendor and bring them back to the fire in front of him to make the bread. Hand it in and you have got yourself this awesome little dude!

He dances and headbangs all day long! Previously, he was perishable and disappeared after the festival. However word on the street is that he’s permanent this year as a battle pet. So… go get him!!!

I hope this tiny guide has helped clear up some of the confusion as to how you obtain the pet. There are lots of things on sale at the vendor for a few silver which are vanity items and fun to play with too. Definitely worth visiting if you haven’t already!

 

 

 

 

Fishing Extravaganza

For all you budding anglers out there, the daily fishing event is a must. Not only are the pools of great quantity, but the fish sell well on the auction house too. Bonus! It’s a great way to level up your fishing, especially if you spend loads of time queuing for LFR like I do.

The event

• Happens daily in different locations around Pandaria – El’s Anglin’ has all the information on the exact spots.
• Lots of pools close together with extremely quick respawn rates
• A fishing raft / levitate / meditation etc is useful to access pools further into each particular area (the middle of the lake for example), but not necessary
• Fish as normal – no pole or lure needed!

You need more information?

Ben of the Booming Voice…

…located by Halfhill flightpoint near the river (Tomtom co-ords: 58 46), will tell you where the fish of the day is, and will even mark it on your map for you. He’s a nice chap!

Krakkanon

There’s a rare to kill!!

Krakkanon spawns from a ‘large’ pool when it has been completely fished. These ‘large pools’ spawn every hour or so and contain up to 100 fish. This guy has a lot of health but doesn’t hit very hard – I’ve solo’d it on my level 90 mage (who had an ilvl of about 516 at the time). Just avoid the water jets that he throws around. He drops loot too – lots of fish, the quests for Nat Pagal and even:

… which is pretty cool.

I hope this helps you enjoy fishing in some really beautiful locations in Pandaria.

Happy fishing!

Nomi.

I had been “Master of the Ways” for a long time before I read up on what to do afterwards. To be honest, after I had grinded all the achievements and Best Friends with all Halfhill characters, I was so pleased to be done with dailies I didn’t fancy any more!

However, my curiosity got the better of me, so I traded 50 of my hard earned cooking rewards for my Cooking School Bell, which summons this little guy:

Once you have your Bell, Nomi will offer you one daily quest a day. Luckily, these are exceptionally easy and all materials for them can be bought from the vendor in Halfhill. There are 5 lessons in total that you must teach him, each giving rep each day so each must be done multiple times just like the others in Halfhill:

Lesson 1: Sliced Peaches – Stranger
Lesson 2: Instant Noodles – Pal
Lesson 3: Toasted Fish Jerky – Buddy
Lesson 4: Dried Needle Mushrooms – Friend
Lesson 5: Pounded Rice Cake – Good Friend

…and upon completion you get the achievement: Now I Am The Master. You also get to keep what he cooks, which I found really useful for buff food.

Once he reaches exalted, he gives you a daily quest:

In your bag of goodies, you get an Ironpaw token plus some food: from banquets to level 300 buff food. It’ll take you a while to earn back your initial investment, but I think it’s definitely worth it – for the achievement points if anything else. It’s such an easy grind really, takes 3minutes a day.

Besides, he’s kind of cute…!

Bloodtooth

This is the beast, and he is certainly impressive!

Key Points

• Found in Kasarang Wilds (map) – once again, full credit to this lady as her site is a bountiful source of information on all the tames, in a lot of detail.
• Patrols in and out of the water – the tracks are easy to see on the sand but you can miss them in the water
• You must be level 87 to tame
• Has quite a long route along the shoreline, in and out of hostile areas – so be careful

Taming Strategy

• As always, you’re looking for his ‘muddy tracks’ – check the water carefully. Follow them until they stop and throw a flare ahead of where you think the next one will appear. It takes some practice to predict on his windy route.

• I’ve heard that if you’re inside the flare when he shows, he aggros, so make sure you throw it ahead of you. I personally haven’t confirmed this yet though.
• Once he shows, pop a hunters mark on him immediately, to stop him stealthing out of sight and make him invisible to other hunters. He looks quite menacing here, doesn’t he?!

• Hit tame when you’re ready, he’s so chilled he’ll keep pootling along as you’re taming, no fancy tricks needed.

Special Abilities

He has ‘Shell Shield’ in tank spec, which is quite a nice reduction of damage ability – it is standard for turtles though.

I must admit, I prefer the look of Terropene, but he’s a nice addition if you like these monsters 🙂

Happy Taming!

Learn Your ABC with Mr and Mrs B!

A is for Auction House: you can’t live without it, yet the need to use it fills you with dread.

B is for Battle Pets: Gotta Catch ‘Em All!

C is for Characters: so…many…alts.

D is for Dailies: need I say more?

E is for Energy: 8 hours sleep is 4 hours wasted play time!

F is for Fire: don’t stand in it. It hurts.

G is for Galleon: I visit you more times each week than my mother… why do you not give me the mount? /sadface

H is for Halfhill: who needs real life when you have your own chickens and food supply in game?

I is for Instances: a love-hate relationship.

J is for: Justice Points. Useful only for… wait, what are they useful for again?

K is for King Varian: FOR THE ALLIANCE!

L is for Loot: /sigh… why does RNG hate me?!

M is for Mounts: so pretty, so valuable, so elusive.

N is for Noobs: Newbies. Nubs. Idiots. #justkidding we love you really

O is for Outland: the most hated place in Azeroth?

P is for Pandas. Simples.

Q is for Quests: don’t you just love that yellow exclamation mark?

R is for Raiding: similar to divorce – time consuming, emotional and expensive.

S is for Subscription-gate: WARCRAFT IS DYING! #justkidding, warcraft4evaIDST

T is for Transmogrification: aka Bad-ass Barbies.

U is for Undercity: does anyone actually ever go there?!

V is for Vashj’ir: how I hate swimming.

W is for World of Warcraft. Duh.

X is for XP: NEED MOAR.

Y is for Yak Wash: Best. Quest. Ever.

Z is for Zul’aman… Zul’Grub… Zul’Drak…. Zul… who cares, too many damn trolls!

Treasure Trove Scenario

The Treasure Trove scenario – a solo experience aimed at enabling you to pic up a whole host of goodies.

Quick Info

• Kill rares on the Isle of Thunder (list and map) to get a Key to the Palace of Lei Shen
• Hand the key in to Taoshi in the cave at 51,46 to gain access
• Loot chests to have a chance at things like Elder Charms, Rep tokens and Burial Trove Keys (for extra chests at the end)

As far as we’re concerned, this scenario is good for two things: getting as much gold and charms as possible, or for getting to the last room to loot the golden treasure chests.

1. Final Room run

Pros: hi-tailing it to the final room and killing the  boss there gets you access to 3 special chests which contain a chance at better loot.

Cons: there’s only a chance at the better loot – it doesn’t always pay off. You also miss out on loads of chests which contain the goodies along the way. However, if you get there quick, you can always double back and loot some in the time you have remaining.

Extras used: Potion of Light Steps (1 Elder Charm, requires Friendly with Kirin Tor Offensive), 3 Polymorphic Keys (3 charms each, requires Exalted with Kirin Tor Offensive).

Our view: It’s not worth it, we prefer the gold and rep tokens (on our mains) or the charms (on our alts). However, we’ve put together a video for you to see the route and where I used the potions and keys.

2. Loot run

Pros: lots of goodies

Cons: we never have enough time to get to the final boss and/or get caught by the traps a lot causing me to slow down

Extras used: none

Our view: Go for it! We tend to circle around the room looting every chest possible using speed boosts. We’ve uploaded a video – mistakes and all – to show how much we got and the loot.

We average:

• 10-15 Elder Charms (17 on this one)
• 1-3 Burial Trove keys (2 on this one)
• 15-20 Tattered Parchments for rep
• 1 or 2 Ritual Stones
• 200-300g

Enjoy the clip!

Happiness at Halfhill

  Welcome to my farm!

As you can see, I have everything I need here, thanks to Tina Mudclaw!

This is where I grow my Pink Turnips, they fetch me a good price at the market you see! I get a bag of them from Merchant Greenfield which gives me 40 plots worth of seeds!

I’ve also got me a scarecrow (he just looks good, he’s rubbish at keeping the birds away!), some pesticide and some water sprinklers for my farm – I can use them to help me with my crops. I bought them from Gina Mudclaw after I got Revered with the Tillers.

This is my mailbox, comes in really handy along with my Hearthstone in my house. I did a whole lot of work for Gina Mudclaw and she was so happy she gave me one! It’s down at the bottom of the farm – you can probably just see it over the top. I tried to take a picture but I’m a bit short you see.

Here I am saying hello to my Yak, Shaggy, and one of my pigs. I worked really hard for Farmer Fung and Fish Fellreed and they gave me these because we’re Best Friends. How kind! I’d rename the Yak if I could though, sounds a bit silly.

I keep all my tools right next to my house, easy to find you see. I put a picture of me ploughing my plots so you believe how hard I work. I’m glad I have my Water and Pesticide Sprinklers, or I’d have to each one individually and that would take forever!

This is Luna, my cat, sitting in her favourite spot. She likes to wander around, but she always ends up sunning herself here. Ella gave her to me to look after, when we became Best Friends.

I have a few chickens and a cockerel (the black one), they were given to me by Old Hillpaw once we became Best Friends. They get killed a lot though by the vermin, but I’ve always got new ones coming along. Can you see my Orange Tree in the background? That’s a gift from Sho, when we became Best Friends. Gives some shade to the sheep I suppose. She did give me a Red Cricket pet too though, which is brilliant!

This is Jogu, he’s always drunk and likes to sleep in my pond. The pigs and sheep like him though, I think he scares the foxes away! When he’s awake, gives me free advice now we’re Best Friends, it means I know which crops will yield the best results! /dance

Here is Dog guarding the sheep. I’d call him Fluffy. He looks fluffy. I found him wondering the Heartland and gave him a home.

This is Miss Fifi. She stays just outside the farm or she scares the sheep. She was given to me by Haohan Mudclaw when we became Best Friends. She’s so big for a little Gnome like me!

I love my little farm, it’s a great place to spend some time and can get you a good profit too. Pink Turnip seeds I buy for around 2g for a stack and get 400g at the Auction House! I’ve also designed myself a fashionable outfit for when I’m working at the farm… what do you think?

I hope you’ve enjoyed the short tour, good luck on finding your own best friends!

ICC 2man normal – Mr and Mrs B style

We fancied a transmog run and we’d never 2 manned it. Here’s our adventure, wipes and all!

Mr B: Death Knight (Frost – Blood for Lich King)

Mrs B: Priest (Disc) / Mage (Frost) for Lich King

Lord Marrowgar

• Use cooldowns? Yes we did, although probably would be easy without.
• Nuke? Yes!
• Any problems? Nope.
• Key things to be aware of? I healed in melée range, to make it easier to move out of the coldflame which always came at me.

Lady Deathwhisperer

• Use cooldowns? Yes – although could probably do it without.
  
• Nuke? Yes!
• Any problems? Nope, but move out of the death and decay.
  
• Key things to be aware of? We cleared the entire room of adds first and I healed in melée range again. We popped all cooldowns (not inc. Army of the Dead) and nuked – we ignored all adds that spawned and she went down without any problems.

The Boat

• Use cooldowns? No
• Nuke? N/A
• Any problems? None – although it came close to our boat being taken down – it was on 25% when we finished.
  
• Key things to be aware of? Nothing that’s not obvious. I equipped a rocket pack just incase I needed to go over. I stayed on the boat, he went to the enemy boat. We both went on the cannons and fired away. I suppose you just need to make sure you don’t get thrown off by their cannons when you’re dealing with the adds. We even got the achievement – it’s definitely bugged!
  

Deathbringer Saurfang

• Use cooldowns? Yes
• Nuke? Yes.
• Any problems? Nope
• Key things to be aware of? Neither of us started the fight and were standing there fora good 5 minutes until we realised… I suppose we have always expected someone else to 😉
  

Prince Valanar

• Use cooldowns? Yes
• Nuke? Yes.
• Any problems? Nah.
• Key things to be aware of? We got him down before the switch took place – but I suppose watching for the adds if you get passed there.
  

Blood Queen

• Use cooldowns? If you feel you need to.
  
• Nuke? Yes.
• Any problems? No, although if you want this achievement, it might prove a lot trickier!
  
• Key things to be aware of? None, she was easy peasy.
  

Plaguewing Trash

*hides face* we died here because we were being cocky and weren’t paying attention

We think it was the scientists (we just pulled them all) which released some ‘bubbling puss’ which two-shotted us simultaneously – rather embarrassing but serves us right I suppose! Mr B then ‘Mind Controlled’ one of them which increased his DPS expodentially.

I also think it was a form of revenge on his part……

Festergut / Rotface

• Use cooldowns? No.
  
• Nuke? Of course!
• Any problems? The Vile Gas kept disorientating me which was very irritating.
  
• Key things to be aware of? Festergut drops a staff called “Abracadaver“. This is awesome.
  

Professor Putricide

• Use cooldowns? You can do.
  
• Nuke? Yes, but obviously with the phases, it’s fragmented.
• Any problems? Nope.
  
• Key things to be aware of? The green goo which used to cause so much of a problem, now only ticks for 4k (on me, a priest) and 400 on Mr B (DK). So we just stood in it and kept going.

Valithria Dreamwalker

• Use cooldowns? Healing ones, yes.
  
• Nuke? N/A
• Any problems? I went OOM in the last 2% but otherwise, no.
  
• Key things to be aware of? The supressors do the damage to the boss, so kill those first. We didn’t have any trouble.
  

Sindragosa Gauntlet

It kept resetting (a known bug – I just did nothing and Mr B kept all aggro and killed them), so we ended up with lots of spiders. *shudders*

Sindragosa

• Use cooldowns? Yes, it took us a couple of goes.
  
• Nuke? Yes.
• Any problems? It kept resetting!!! We didn’t die, but she kept flying off, it was very irritating.
  
• Key things to be aware of? If you both get ice tombed, she resets. We conquered this by staying away from each other and Mr B got me out whenever I got tombed (which was often).
  

Lich King

• Use cooldowns? Yes, in phase 2. We popped timewarp… everything.
  
• Nuke? Yes, but especially in phase 2.
• Any problems? The main one was me getting carried off the platform by the flying Valk’yr things which made us wipe 3 times. We realised we needed to burst through this, so I changed to my mage (I’m glad I did – got an amazing staff!). Phase 1 as normal, phase 2 pop all CDs and burst through so she doesn’t pick anyone up, then nuke til dead. Follow normal tacts with moving to the edge of the platform and back in for the different phases.
  
• Key things to be aware of? The icy sphere things knock you back off the platform (we learnt this the hard way) if they get too close to you. As ranged, I had no problem keeping these away from Mr B.
  

A longer post from us today, but we hope you enjoyed it!