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News within the World of Warcraft

Microsoft Purchasing Activision Blizzard

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Microsoft Purchasing Activision Blizzard.

Today, Microsoft (Microsoft Gaming) has announced that they intend to acquire Activision Blizzard. The amount, an astounding $68.7 Billion, which is equivalent to $95.00 per share!

The acquisition will include World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and much more.

Once the deal is complete, it will push Microsft to the third-largest gaming company; behind Tencent and SONY.

Why Blizzard Activision?

Given Activision Blizzard’s current issues, you’d imagine that the company wouldn’t be of interest to any potential buyers. However, it appears that Microsoft sees value in the company, most likely Call of Duty and the potential in Hearthstone, Diablo, and World of Warcraft (Classic).

Reports suggest that the gaming industry is the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment, worth almost $200 Billion. With a potential increase from 3 billion gamers to 4.5 billion by 2030, it was probably an opportunity Microsoft couldn’t turn down!

Microsoft Statement – via Microsoft News Centre

Blizzard Activision Quarterly Results:

According to the Activision Blizzard Third Quarter 2021 Financial Report, they reported strong results for the third quarter. I’d guess they expect continued success in the fourth quarter with the release of Call of Duty. There was also success for King and World of Warcraft Classic.

Activision Blizzard Shares:

I wonder if news circulated on Friday 14th January, as Blizzard’s shares rocketed from $69.39 to $86.55 a share. The share price hasn’t been this high since the end of August.

Is Bobby Kotick Leaving?

Sadly, if you were hoping this acquisition would result in Kotick leaving, I’m afraid it’s not, well, not just yet! 

“Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard. Once the deal closes, Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.” – Microsoft PR.

Activision Blizzard Gaming Catalog on Game Pass?

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has also clarified that they hope to have as many Activision Blizzard games as possible on the XBOX Game Pass once the company’s purchase is complete. 

My concern would be the players with months, possibly years of game time on their World of Warcraft accounts, who already have an XBOX Game Pass.

I have an XBOX Game Pass, but due to the changes in purchasing game time for WoWToken, I don’t have anything longer than two months, but I know of players with many years on their accounts.

Conclusion:

As mentioned above, this news came out of the blue to me, and no doubt, to many others. With the constant issues revolving around Activision Blizzard and the small success surrounding the last quarterly financial reports, a vast potential in gaming meant Microsoft Gaming probably saw an opportunity they couldn’t resist.

Hopefully, Microsoft Gaming can make the necessary changes within Activision Blizzard and incorporate its values into the company. Hopefully, bring an end to the inequality, improving working conditions, which will positively result in improved development across all departments; If you look after the staff, the staff will look after you!

Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a return of some of the talented developers that recently left boycotting the dire situation at Activision Blizzard.

It’ll be fascinating watching the development of World of Warcraft under the guidance of Microsoft Gaming.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Thanks for reading!

The Importance of Particle Density!

/ Gra1980 / 2 Comments

The Importance of Particle Density

Graphic Settings:

In World of Warcraft (or in most games), we have a magnitude of different graphics settings that improve the game’s visual effects. However, most settings will come at a cost to your PC’s performance, depending on the quality of your graphics card.

If your graphics card cannot support the workload you’re asking from it; you will experience FPS issues. Thankfully, with World of Warcraft, we have recommendations. Make sure you follow these closely, which will, in turn, assist you in optimizing your PC’s performance during gameplay.

What is Particle Density?

According to the graphic settings menu, Particle Density controls the number of particles used in effects caused by spells, fires, etc. So you may see a drop in performance if your setting is set too high, especially with a lot of players casting spells, for example, in Battlegrounds, Dungeons, and Raid environments.

How Does Particle Density Benefit Me?

I suffer from colorblindness, so I need a lot of assistance when playing the game, especially in environments where there are many green and red colors. It used to be a pain in the backside when gathering herbs, as herbs were difficult to see, especially Mageroyal or Liferoot.

Thankfully, we have Particle Density, which emphasizes items we can interact with.

Here’s my YouTube video outlining the importance of Particle Density. In this small clip, I show you the difficulties of seeing a herb, Mageroyal, and how Particle Density improves its visibility.

Please like and subscribe for future content. If you have any comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below, or the comment section on the video. Thanks for watching!

Visual Examples:

I’ve added screenshots to show the difference with each setting active. As mentioned above, the herb example is the best, as the Mageroyal is difficult to see. I’ve added examples of corpses and a Copper Ore node too!

Mageroyal:

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Corpse:

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Copper Ore:

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Conclusion:

Particle Density is an important setting to have active and is often overlooked, especially when your graphic settings are set to 1. If you have your settings on 1, your Particle Density setting is likely disabled.

If you suffer from colorblindness, this option will significantly improve your ability to see items you can interact with! To reiterate, I have in-game colorblind filters active.

The setting improved the visibility of hard-to-see herbs and corpses available to loot. The Copper Ore node wasn’t as promising, but imagine these three scenarios while flying or moving very fast; having these options available assists us in gathering, looting efficiently.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Thanks for reading!

No Darkmoon Faire?!

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Where's the Darkmoon Faire?!

Where’s the Darkmoon Faire?!

As some of you may have already noticed, the Darkmoon Faire has failed to reach its destination of Azeroth. I’ll be honest, approximately 5-7 days ago, I checked the in-game calendar, and there wasn’t a date set for the Darkmoon Faire.

Typically, the Darkmoon Faire arrives every first Sunday of the month for one week; well, other than January 2022!

Update:

An update from Blizzard today, they’ve found the issue regarding the Darkmoon Faire bug and will have the event added to the calendar tomorrow (Tuesday). As I previously hinted below, Blizzard has decided to delay the opening of the Darkmoon Faire until January 9th, 2022.

What Could’ve Happened?

As I’m sure you’ll agree, the developers need their Christmas break too, and what’s possibly happened is an oversight, and the event wasn’t added to the calendar; thus, the Darkmoon Faire hasn’t been automatically triggered to start.

It’s also worth noting that there have been many changes over the last month concerning the event: Legion Timewalking (Mage Tower), the start of Winter Veil, and Burning Crusade Timewalking. It’s fair to say with the workload the developers have been under, the event could’ve been overlooked.

What Will Happen Now?

What will likely happen is once developers get back into the office (quite possibly today), they will activate the event, either starting it from today and extending an extra week or simply waiting until the following Sunday to activate it.

The worst-case scenario would be if they didn’t start it at all and just waited till next month.

Darkmoon Faire Update in the next Patch:

If you’re unaware of the latest update coming to the Darkmoon Faire in the next patch, well, we’re getting a new dancing game. Although developers didn’t hint at it, I hope this month’s issue isn’t regarding the new updates to the Darkmoon Faire.

I do recall a few years back when developers closed the Darkmoon Faire down, while they implemented changes.

I highly doubt this is the reason, but it’s worth noting.

Check for Updates!

If you’re patiently waiting on a hotfix for the Darkmoon Faire, I recommend keeping your eyes peeled on the World of Warcraft’s Twitter support channels (U.S players) (E.U players) or Wowhead and MMO Champion.

If there’s a hotfix planned to fix this issue, they’ll have a blue post that will inform you immediately!

Update!

An update from Blizzard today, they’ve found the issue regarding the Darkmoon Faire bug and will have the event added to the calendar tomorrow (Tuesday). As I previously mentioned above, Blizzard has decided to delay the opening of the Darkmoon Faire until January 9th, 2022.

Sadly, if you were seeking a further boost to your Timewalking reputation gains, you will miss out. Players within the E.U. region have one final day of Timewalking, and with the U.S. region finishing in a couple of hours, I’d imagine, the delay till the 9th, means Blizzard didn’t want E.U. players getting an unfair advantage; which is fair!

Darkmoon Faire Blue Post

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Timewalking: The Burning Crusade

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Timewalking: The Burning Crusade.

Timewalking Burning Crusade:

This Timewalking event: Burning Crusade is a fantastic opportunity if you need to reach Revered and Exalted reputation for Factions within Outland. There are plenty of recipes, transmog locked behind these reputation milestones, i.e., Shattered Sun Offensive, Keeper’s of Time, and The Consortium, to name a few.

With the buff: Sign of the Twisted Nether, we get a 50% increase in reputation gains from combat and quests. So if you plan on doing the dailies for the Shattered Sun Offensive, along with doing the Normal/Heroic runs of Magister’s Terrace, this is the best time to do it!

You must be level 50 or above to participate in the random Timewalking dungeon.

Check those Alts!

If you remember my post regarding the World Event: WoW’s Anniversary, and followed my advice, to log in all your alts, you will have earnt some easy Timewarped Badges on them. Now is their moment to shine!

If your character is level 30 or above, they can access the vendor Cupri.

Log all your level 30 alts, and purchase any commendations you need and mail them to the character that requires the reputation boost. If you’re unsure what commendations are, and where to buy them, check out the next part of this blog post: Reputations to Grind.

Reputations To Grind:

Here’s a reminder of some of the factions to grind during this Timewalking Event.

Alternatively, check out the Timewalking vendor, Cupri. She sells an assortment of items for your hard-earned Timewarped Badges, including commendations. Here’s a list of commendations that will be of interest to you.

For a very well-detailed guide on farming reputations with Outland factions during the Timewalking: Burning Crusade event, check out Wowhead’s guide.

Reputation Tokens:

You may wish to either purchase these from the Auction House or check out Wowhead, for the best places to farm them. Remember, handing in these tokens, while under the buff: Sign of the Twisted Nether will reward you with a 50% extra reputation!

Cenarion Expedition:

Unidentified Plant Parts (Hand in up to Friendly)

Lower City:

Arakkoa Feather (Hand in until Honored)

The Aldor:

Mark of Kil’jaeden (Hand in until Honored)
Mark of Sargeras (Hand in until Exalted)
Fel Armament (Hand in until Exalted)

The Scryers:

Firewing Signet (Hand in until Honored)
Sunfury Signet (Hand in until Exalted)
Arcane Tome (Hand in until Exalted)

If you’re considering obtaining the Achievement: Hero of Shattrath you will need to farm or purchase the following items in order to decrease the reputation with the faction you were exalted with first.

Dampscale Basilisk Eye (Aldor to The Scryers Neutral)
Dreadfang Venom Sac (The Scryers to Aldor Neutral)

Farming Instances & Dailies to farm Rep:

Once you hit a reputation milestone for a specific Faction, you will be restricted to earning reputation either via Faction specific dailies, or instances associated with the Faction.

Check out Wowhead’s Rep farming guide. Scroll down to The Burning Crusade!

Bag of Fishing Treasures:

Another great shout is purchasing the Bag of Fishing Treasures from Cupri. This bag will set you back 150 Timewarped Badges. It has the chance to reward you with a BoP companion pet; there are four available.

I’d only recommend doing this method if you have nothing else to purchase with your Timewarped Badges. Alternatively, shop the Auction House for these pets instead.

Ideally, you want to purchase these pets while the event is active, when the event has finished, these companion pets will become valuable once more. I regularly post these at 7.5k-10k each for a level 1 battle pet. If you have a level 25, consider adding 5k on top of its value.

Recipes of Interest:

There are far too many recipes to name, but I can assure you there’s a lot of gold to be made by acquiring some of the recipes locked behind Outland factions.

We’re not looking to flip these recipes, more so, learn them and craft the items.

Here are a few notable mentions from past experiences.

Recipe: Flask of Supreme Power (Keepers of Time)
Formula: Enchant Weapon – Greater Agility (The Violet Eye)
Jewelcrafting Recipes (Shattered Sun Offensive)

Some Sales highlighting how profitable these recipes are!

Consumables:

As a reminder (especially for those that are not already familiar with Timewalking and the Mage Tower) there are scaling benefits for min-maxing your gear for participating in Timewalking content. Ideally, you want to have the best gear, gem slots, and consumables, but be aware of potential Legendary, Legion Legendary effects, and Azerite Power restrictions.

Remember, the more gem slots on your gear the better!

Gems:

The gems from Dragon Soul (Queen’s Garnet cuts) are best in slot. However, if you’re low on funds, always consider other gem cuts, Primordial Ruby, Inferno Ruby, Cardinal Ruby, and Crimson Spinel. The meta gems are very significant too.

Enchants:

Due to level restrictions/limitations with enchants you need to follow a simple rule.

If your item is;

Below ilvl 50, use an enchant below level 50.
Above ilvl 50, use a level 50 enchant.

Belt Buckles:

As mentioned above, gem slots are important, so equipping a belt buckle will add a gem slot to your waist. Ideally, you want the Living Steel Belt Buckle.

Check the r/Timewalking team for Timewalking tips and tricks. Also, there’s a great guide via Wowhead for optimizing your gear for all Timewalking Events. Make sure you follow the information regarding the event you’re interested in, importantly, TBC!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Season’s Greetings

/ Gra1980 / Leave a comment

Season's Greetings

Season’s Greetings:

For the next few days, I will be spending some quality time with my family, enjoying the festive period, in a bid to be fully refreshed for whatever 2022 brings. More importantly, it’s Zack’s first Christmas.

In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Thank you for dropping by; stay safe and be merry!

See you next year, Graham & Family.

Farming: Sunwell Plateau

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

Farming: Sunwell Plateau.

Farming: Sunwell Plateau

On the Isle of Quel’Danas is a raid instance called Sunwell Plateau. The raid was released back in The Burning Crusade (TBC), and due to the Recipes, Gems (Crimson Spinel), and Transmog on offer, it still has a lot of appeal to many players.

The main benefit is the trash mobs scattered around the beginning of the raid. With the ability to mount up and travel through the instance, collecting all the mobs and quickly AoE them down means each trash run can be very efficient; if done correctly.

If you’re following this guide, you mustn’t pull any bosses. Failure to adhere to this, and kill any of the bosses, will incur a raid lockout.

How to get to Sunwell Plateau?

Take a portal to Shattrath City, and within the Terrace of Light, find the portal to the Isle of Quel’Danas, situated at coordinates, [48.41]. To access this portal, make sure you’re not mounted; otherwise, you’ll be prevented from successfully using the portal until you dismount!

Once you’ve arrived on the Isle of Quel’Danas, travel the short distance to coordinates [44.45], Sunwell Plateau, you have reached your destination!

The Aim of the Game!

As mentioned above, we’re merely here to farm the trash mobs, ignoring all the bosses. Due to the layout of the instance, we’re prevented from going any further than the first boss, Kalecgos.

Our aim is to loot Crimson Spinels. Why? you ask! Well since the release of the Mage Tower, I’ve sold 330 different cuts of Crimson Spinel, totaling 781k gold. That’s approximately 2.3k gold per Crimson Spinel.

The Value of Crimson Spinel's

Once you’ve defeated all the trash mobs, exit the instance and reset the raid. Rinse and repeat until you’ve burned yourself out or collected the items you’re farming.

Comfortable Rider’s Barding:

If you want to decrease the chance of being dazed or dismounted, consider opting for the mount equipment: Comfortable Rider’s Barding. It would help if you were level 10 or above, and given this blog post is regarding Farming: Sunwell Plateau, I’d imagine you easily meet this requirement.

This piece of equipment does not work on a Sky Golem!

Points of Interest:

I’ve illustrated the points of interest in the image provided. Please find below the necessary information to help with your trash farm.

Sunwell Plateau Guide

  • 1: Entrance/Exit.
  • 2: The first area (inc. Sunblade Protector patrol).
  • 3: The second area.
  • 4: The third area.
  • 5: Stairway.
  • 6: Pack of mobs.
  • 7: Sunblade protector patrol (in front of Kalecgos).
  • 8: The last pack of mobs.
  • Purple ring/line/arrow: Sunblade Protector.
  • Yellow Route: Suggested route.
  • Red Circles: Packs of mobs.

The Beginning!

Once you’ve entered the raid, head straight to the first area (2), highlighted in the image above; you will find a Sunblade Protector patrolling around a tree and two packs of mobs (highlighted by two red rings) situated under two arches. To begin your pull, get close enough to attract them, and they will chase you.

Make your way through the next courtyard (3), pulling all the mobs on your left and right-hand side. Be sure to activate any deactivated Sunblabe Protectors on the sides (highlighted by a purple arrow). If you’re here to collect Crimson Spinel’s, these Sunblade Protector’s have an excellent chance to drop them.

Be warned that these mobs have an increased chance to dismount you if you haven’t equipped the Comfortable Rider’s Barding. If you get dismounted, use a pillar or a corner to line of sight (LoS) the mobs and kill them all. Be careful of any stragglers, as you will not be able to mount up again until all the mobs you’ve pulled are dead.

Make your way through the next courtyard (4) and continue to pull the mobs and Sunblade Protector’s until you reach a set of stairs (5). Feel free to stack up the mobs here and kill them all if you haven’t done so already. Line of sight is essential because the NPC’s are ranged casters; hiding behind pillars will force them to come within melee distance.

The Stairway!

From hereon, we take the stairs (5); there are only a couple more packs and patrols left (6). Again, if you pull the mobs and get dismounted, use the pillar to LoS the mobs, and kill them all, and mount up once more.

Make your way around the outskirts following the path outlined above, and you’ll find another Sunblade Protector patrolling in front of Kalecgos (7). Careful not to pull the boss. Once you’ve pulled the Sunblade Protector, head back down to the final pack of mobs (8), LoS behind a pillar, and kill all the enemies you’ve collected.

If you have the Comfortable Rider’s Barding equipped, you can run this entire path without getting dismounted from the start (1) to finish (8)!

Youtube Clip:

Here’s a brief clip outlining the route, and how I collect and AOE the mobs. If you found the clip helpful, be sure to like and subscribe for future content.

Exiting the Instance:

There are two methods here.

Option one, run back to the entrance, exit, and (using the script below) reset all instances. Rinse and repeat!

Option Two, alternatively, if you have a class portal Deathknight (Death Gate), Druid (Dreamwalk), or Monk (Transcendence), use your class portal to leave the instance. Once you’re out of the instance, hit the portal once more to return to the nearest graveyard. Once back (using the script below), reset all instances.

The class portals are normally beneficial in instances where you can’t mount up, and exit quickly (i.e. Uldaman)

Resetting all Instances:

Here’s an excellent script for resetting all instances. Copy and paste this into the chatbox, then press enter, and voila! alternatively, create a macro and add it to your action bar, for an instant reset all instances one-click macro.

/script ResetInstances();

Check out this blog post for more information regarding the script.

Instance Limits:

Please be aware that there’s an instance limit of ten instances per one-hour period. As these trash runs can easily take a couple of minutes to complete, you’ll quickly hit this limit. I tend to log an alt and do something else while the cap resets. 

Currently, my alt is sitting within/nearby Black Temple. This way, I have the best of both worlds, farming different locations. Importantly, this prevents farming from becoming tedious.

Mounts:

I’d also recommend having a mount that has a vendor/repair on it. Having a vendor at your disposal will make clearing your bags very efficient. Otherwise, if you don’t have one, there is a vendor Smith Hauthaa situated close by at the harbor, coordinates [50.40].

Mounts of interest:

Conclusion:

Crimson Spinel’s are a gem of great interest with the scaling benefits from the World Event: Timewalking. Sunwell Plateau and the Black Temple have excellent trash packs, meaning it’s easy to farm these gems.

With the ability to mount up within Sunwell Plateau and the improved drop chance of gems from Sunblade Protector’s, I’d suggest running Sunwell Plateau over Black Temple!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Farming: Timewalking Materials

/ Gra1980 / 2 Comments

Farming: Timewalking Materials

Farming: Timewalking Materials

If you’ve read my previous blog post regarding the new World Event: Legion Timwalking, you will know the substantial amounts of gold you can earn, crafting: Gear, Enchants, Gems, and other consumables. The reason for the sudden demand is the reintroduction of the Mage Tower. Today’s blog will cover in greater detail how Farming: Timewalking Materials can and will net you a lot of gold!

The Mage Tower will now last until the first reset in January 2022!

However, have no fear if you don’t have a profession that can craft the gear or consumables! As the demand increases, the materials needed to create them will quickly decline. Now, you could profit here if you have a character that can farm materials (i.e., Herbs, Ore, Cloth, Leather, etc.).

Below, I’ll cover some materials to farm, including hints and tips on how best to price your materials to get the best bang for your buck. 

Pricing Your Materials:

Your aim here is to sell your farmed materials at a price that will entice a buyer (crafter). If you price them too high, there’s no value for the crafter, and they won’t buy them! However, if you price them too low, you risk other farmers flipping your materials. To assist you, I have two options here, including examples.

Option 1) Use TheUndermineJournal to see the current values of the materials. Consider using an average price between the Region Market Value Average (RMA) and Market Value (DBM).

Example: 

Exotic Leather (RMA) = 30g, (DBM) = 40g average would be 35g each.

Option 2) Alternatively, consider the crafts players will be making for the use of your materials. By calculating the materials needed within that craft, you can get an idea of the value of the materials. 

Example: 

Crafted Dreadful Gladiator’s Dragonhide Helm (Leather) ilvl 54 – 10k gold.

Materials needed, 2x Magnificent Hide (or 100 Exotic Leather)

Potential values

Magnificent Hide max 2500g each

Exotic Leather max 25g each.

Option 2 (the method I use) gives the person purchasing your materials an opportunity to earn a potential 5k gold profit upon a successful sale, and you get a reasonable price for your materials.

Always bear in mind the material(s) posting fees before posting to the Auction House. Some materials have a hefty price. Also, consider the benefit of selling Bars over Ore.

Be Careful:

When posting your materials to the Auction House, be extremely careful! Some players purposely post one material at an obscenely low price in a bid for others to accidentally undercut it and then buy up those cheap materials to flip.

I’d recommend either posting manually or adjusting your TSM operations.

Check Your Alts:

I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind you to check your alts. If you played World of Warcraft throughout the expansion: Battle for Azeroth (BFA) and patch 8.3, you’d remember the changes to some of the MoP zones, Uldum, and the Vale of the Eternal Blossoms.

Due to the increased volume of players completing their dailies in these zones, materials were easier to acquire and were extremely cheap. I purchased a lot of the cheap materials; you may have to! So check those alts; you may have expensive materials hiding in your banks.

Materials to Farm:

Here’s a list of materials you can farm that will benefit crafters. Bear in mind the intermediate materials gained from Milling, Prospecting, Leatherworking, Transmuting, Smelting, and Scrapping. Click the links in brackets for their intermediate materials. These can either be farmed too, or purchased from the Auction House!

I’ve added a key below to highlight materials of interest, and where possible, where you can farm them. Alternatively, check out wow-professions for farming guides!

Key:
Herbs:
Pigments:
Ink:
Ore/Bar:
Gems:
Leather/Hides:
Cloth/Bolts:
Enchanting Materials:
Other:

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Farming: Dragon Soul

/ Gra1980 / 3 Comments

Farming: Dragon Soul

Farming: Dragon Soul:

Welcome to my guide Farming: Dragon Soul. With Queen’s Garnets at an absolute premium now, with the introduction of the World Event: Legion Timewalking and the Mage Tower, it’s never been a better time (other than during Cataclysm) to farm the raid: Dragon Soul.

Where is the entrance to Dragon Soul:

You’ll find the entrance to Dragon Soul within the Caverns of Time. Take the portal to Caverns of Time from either Stormwind (Alliance), or Orgrimmar (Horde). Fly down into the Caverns, and check your map for the Raid entrance.

Dragon Soul Entrance and Queue for LFR

Limitations to Raid Lockout:

It’s important to remember that 10/25 man and Normal/Heroic Raids share the same lockout. However, you’ll find Auridormi at the entrance; she will assist you in queuing for Looking for Raid (LFR) solo!

LFR doesn’t share the same lockout, so remember to do both to increase your chances of loot and gems.

How to Acquire Cataclysm Epic Gems:

Upon defeating each boss within Dragon Soul, you’ll receive a small amount of gold, some loot, and upon defeating Deathwing in the final encounter, you also have a chance at a mount. 

Ideally, we’re interested in two items, Crystalline Geode and Elementium-Coated Geode. To purchase these, we need to loot Mote of Darkness (from the Forces of Deathwing) and Essence of Corrupted Deathwing (from defeating Deathwing). To find how many you have, check your currency tab!

You will notice that you’ll loot more Mote of Darkness than Essence of Corrupted Deathwing; this is why doing LFR increases your chances of obtaining more Epic gems.

Once you’ve obtained your Motes and Essence, seek out Dasnurimi within Dragon Soul, he can be found on the ground level of Wyrmrest Tower, coordinates [49.60].

How to defeat the Spine of Deathwing?

Many players struggle to defeat the Spine of Deathwing encounter due to the fight’s mechanics. But, fear not, here’s an excellent video from Haydes Realm, outlining how easy this is if you follow the advice closely!

As always, please do visit Haydes Realm’s Youtube, leave a like, and comment if you found their video helpful. Don’t forget to subscribe for future content!

Final Reminder:

I can’t stress this enough, don’t forget to run LFR! With the price of Queen’s Garnets selling for between 5-10k each, this raid can be a very profitable part of your farming routine. If you have alts that can clear this raid, you have a greater chance of earning a lot more gold.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Legion Timewalking Consumables

/ Gra1980 / 3 Comments

Legion Timewalking Consumables

Legion Timewalking Consumables:

For myself and the rest of the E.U. region, we finally get to see the reemergence of the Legion: Mage Tower, thanks to the World Event: Legion Timewalking. So far, since the reset a few hours ago, I’ve made almost 400k gold, purely selling Battle for Azeroth, Legion, and Old World consumables.

I’m not exaggerating; I can’t keep up with crafting the consumables before they sell out. This spree could settle down come this evening, but take advantage of it while you can! I expect this newfound market to increase in activity again, come the weekend, as a lot more of the player base logs into the game; probably for the first time.

Remember, the Legion Timewalking event will be available for an extra two weeks, ending at 5 am Wednesday, January 5th, 2022!

Restrictions To Consider:

Please bear in mind, with the reintroduction of the Mage Tower, there are a lot of restrictions. Covenant/Soulbinds are restricted and switched off. Legendaries do not work either, and all gear will be scaled down to ilvl 50.

These restrictions mean, some Legion crafts (especially with sockets) can be regarded as best in slot (BiS). This is why a lot of Old World consumables are selling well because they scale better or meet the ilvl 50 requirements.

Check out Wowhead for their concise Legion Timewalking Guide for all restrictions, class guides, etc.

Consumables Of Interest:

Due to today being the first day of the Legion Timewalking Event, the list of consumables I add below will continuously be updated. Be sure to come back regularly to see what is selling and incorporate these consumables into your posting routine on your realm.

These are in no particular order, due to updates throughout the day. Also, consumables highlighted with (*) are unique equip – meaning, you can use/equip one of these items at any one time (i.e. Straddling Sage Agate).

Enchanting:
  • Enchant Weapon: Crusader (O)
  • Enchant Neck: Mark of the Hidden Satyr
  • Enchant Bracer: Greater Agility
  • Enchant Neck: Mark of the Claw
  • Enchant Chest: Glorious Stats
  • Enchant Gloves: Major Agility
  • Enchant Boots: Greater Assualt
  • Enchant Boots: Major Agility
  • Enchant Gloves: Major Spellpower
  • Enchant Weapon – Dancing Steel
  • Enchant Neck – Mark of the Claw
  • Enchant Neck – Mark of the Ancient Priestess
  • Enchant Cloak – Minor Power
  • Enchant Weapon – Force Multiplier
  • Enchant Ring – Accord of Critical Strike
  • Enchant Ring – Accord of Versatility
  • Enchant Ring – Accord of Haste
  • Enchant Boots – Pandaren’s Step
Jewelcrafting:
  • Delicate Queens Garnet
  • Delicate Primal Ruby
  • Agile Shadowspirit Diamond (*)
  • Chaotic Shadowspirit Diamond (*)
  • Reverberating Shadowspirit Diamond (*)
  • Leviathon’s Eye of Agility (*)
  • Leviathon’s Eye of Intellect (*)
  • Leviathon’s Eye of Strength (*)
  • Kraken’s Eye of Agility (*)
  • Kraken’s Eye of Strength (*)
  • Kraken’s Eye of Intellect (*)
  • Saber’s Eye of Agility (*)
  • Saber’s Eye of Intellect (*)
  • Saber’s Eye of Strength (*)
  • Straddling Sage Agate (*)
  • Straddling Viridium (*)
  • Bold Crimson Spinel
  • Brilliant Queens Garnet
  • Brilliant Crimson Spinel
  • Brilliant Cardinal Ruby
  • Deadly Lava Lazuli
  • Quick Sand Spinel
  • Deadly Pyrestone
  • Solstone Ring (ilvl 54)
  • Kubiline Ring (ilvl 54)
Inscription:
  • War-Scroll of Battle Shout
  • War-Scroll of Fortitude
  • War-Scroll of Intellect
  • Greater Crane Wing Inscription
  • Greater Tiger Claw Inscription
  • Greater Tiger Fang Inscription
  • Highborne Compendium Trinkets
Leatherworking:
  • Shadowleather Leg Armor
  • Angerhide Leg Armor
  • Dreadful Gladiator’s Gear
  • Fel Leather Boots (ilvl 54)
  • Fel Leather Gloves (ilvl 48)
  • Fel LEather Leggings (ilvl 48)
Blacksmithing:
  • Eternal Belt Buckle
  • Dreadful Gladiator’s Gear
  • Haunted Steel Treads (ilvl 48)
  • Haunted Steel Warboots (ilvl 48)
  • Haunted Steel Greathelm (ilvl 54)
Engineering:
  • Lord Blastington’s Scope of Doom
  • Ghost Iron Dragonling (ilvl 54)
  • Tinker’s Gear
Tailoring:
  • Dreadful Gladiator’s Gear
  • Falling Blossom Sandals (ilvl 48)
  • Falling Blossom Treads (ilvl 48)
  • Lightweight Retinal Armor (ilvl 54)
  • Mystic Frostwoven Robe (ilvl 54)
  • Mystic Frostwoven Wristwraps (ilvl 54)

Items with an ilvl suggested in brackets, please use either a Relic of the Past IV (ilvl 48) or V (ilvl 54). This is due to limitations with gems and scaling benefits. You will also need to check the recommended ilvl for each specific Dreadful item, as they differ by class and armor slot.

For more information and help regarding specific ilvl’s for specific gear, check the Timewalking Spreadsheet below.

Timewalking Spreadsheet:

For more info check this spreadsheet out, from r/Timewalking. The spreadsheet is continuously updated. Please leave them some feedback here if you found their spreadsheet helpful. This will help them continue to create content in the future!

Blizzard Hotfix:

I’ve marked Enchant Weapon: Crusader with an (O) as Blizzard has recently implemented a hotfix today (09.12.21) firstly, nerfing the proc to 100 Strength to 46. Secondly, they recently nerfed the health benefit too!

This enchant may not be of interest for the Mage Tower, please adjust accordingly.

Confirmation of these changes can be found here.

Crafts of Interest:

I’ve found that the four crafted Highborne Compendium Trinkets from BFA have been selling upwards of 7k-12.5k each. Also worth noting is that there’s been a considerable increase in demand for Crafted Dreadful Gladiator’s Gear, each selling at between 8k-12k each. Upon closer inspection, thanks to Anshlun on Wowhead, they’ve created a Best in Slot (BiS) Mage Tower Gearing Guide, and the above items appear in it.

Please do check out their guide, as there’s some fantastic information to assist you. As always, please do upvote and comment to offer them feedback for their excellent content!

Materials of Interest:

If you don’t have the recipes, or the professions to take advantage of these consumables, remember there’s value in flipping undervalued materials needed for the above crafts. Alternatively, if you enjoy farming, farm the materials needed.

My latest blog post here will outline the materials worth farming, and how best to value them upon posting to the Auction House.

It’s also worth farming the trash mobs for good Jewelcrafting recipes from Black Temple and Sunwell Plateau. The mobs also drop Crimson Spinel, which is turning out to be a very popular gem.

Reminder, if you have the following classes, Druids (Dreamwalk), Death Knights (Death Gate), and Monks (Transcendence), use your class-specific portal, to make exiting raids efficiently!

Consider running Dragon Soul too, as you can acquire the difficult-to-obtain gems, Queen’s Garnet. Both gems above, cannot be prospected! I have created a blog here for clearing both LFR and Normal/Heroic versions of Dragon Soul with an emphasis on farming Queen’s Garnet.

Check out wow-professions for some hints on the best places to farm your materials of interest.

Sales:

As of the 8th December at 23:55 (last update), I made 1,379,911 gold. The top item sold is, 40x Enchant Neck: Mark of the Hidden Satyr at 5.5k each.

Sales on the 9th of December totaled 1,227,382 gold. Again, the Mark of the Hidden Satyr was the top-selling item.

Here’s a couple of images outlining my sales throughout the first and second day.

 

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

The Darkmoon Faire Is Back In Town!

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The Darkmoon Faire

The Darkmoon Faire:

Today (Sunday 5th December) sees the return of the Darkmoon Faire, a World Event that rolls up on the first Sunday of each month outside Stormwind and Thunder Bluff. There are many activities you can participate in, in a bid to earn Darkmoon Tokens for fabulous prizes!

For a detailed guide on the Darkmoon Faire, click the link here for more information!

The Whee and WoW’s Anniversary Buff:

As some of you may know, tomorrow (Monday 6th December) at 10 am, we’ll see WoW’s Seventeenth Anniversary come to an end. Until then, I urge anyone leveling any characters to visit the Darkmoon Faire, take a ride on the Carrousel, and obtain the Whee! buff. The buff will give you a 10% increase in Experience and Reputation gains. This buff will last for one hour!

Now, if you Include the Anniversary buff, of 17%, you stand to gain a total of 27% gain on Experience and Reputation.

Remember, the Whee! buff only lasts for one hour, so this will need to be refreshed hourly. The percentage of experience can be increased further if your character is well-rested!

Handing in Darkmoon Artifacts:

If you’re fortunate to have read this blog post, and you still have time to take advantage of both buffs mentioned above. Now is a better time than any to hand in your Darkmoon Artifacts. These can only be handed in once per month, per character!

With both buffs active and handing in all 9 Artifacts, I managed to get 55% into level 50!

Click the link here for more information regarding Darkmoon Artifacts.

Profession Dailies:

Although these are regarded as dailies (due to the blue exclamation mark), they can’t be completed daily; instead, these can be completed once per monthly reset, the same as Darkmoon Artifacts.

If you’re five levels away from maximizing your profession, these Profession dailies are an excellent method to reaching that goal.

Obtaining Replica Transmog:

On many of the realms, I play the Auction House on, the biggest sales are concerning Replica Transmog. These items are obtained initially through the Darkmoon Faire by acquiring Darkmoon Faire Tickets fulfilling many of the activities on offer.

These pieces can sell upwards of 40k per piece. Ideally, the pieces that cost 75 Darkmoon Tickets will sell higher, as these are harder to obtain.

For a detailed explanation on obtaining Replica Transmog, click the link.

Quest – Silas’ Secret Stash:

Silas’ Secret Stash is a great quest to complete if you haven’t done so already. This quest can only be completed once, so be sure to check if you’ve completed it already. Copy and paste the script (added below) in the chatbox for confirmation. You will get either a True or False response.

/script print(IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(38934))

True = Completed
False = Not Completed

If you’ve not completed this quest yet, please check out my guide here for a full explanation!

Reminder:

You have until Saturday 11th December at 23:59; then the Darkmoon Faire will leave. Be sure to have handed in all your quests, purchased/acquired all your prizes, as the Darkmoon Faire doesn’t return until Sunday 2nd January 2022!

If you’d like a full guide on the Darkmoon Faire, click the link for further information!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

 

Thanks for reading!