WoW newbie looking for advice

[Taelas]

I can observe that Herbalism is by far the most painless gathering skill to level. I don't want to ever repeat the time I've spent running around, looking for Tin/Iron/Mithril/Thorium veins, just so I could increase my mining skill, to mine the veins I was passing up in the higher level zones.

Definitely; skilling Mining has become a pain. I remember it as being very easy the first time I did it on my paladin, but on my warrior, I've had to search high and low to get as high as he is now, and that's not anywhere near "high". I've pretty much given up on it at this point (especially since my paladin still has 300+).

[NiteFox]

Definitely; skilling Mining has become a pain. I remember it as being very easy the first time I did it on my paladin, but on my warrior, I've had to search high and low to get as high as he is now, and that's not anywhere near "high". I've pretty much given up on it at this point (especially since my paladin still has 300+).

And let's not go in to Skinning.

1) Find mob that drops said material
2) Kill mob
3) Swear to yourself as you get another scrap of leather
4) Repeat
5) ????
6) Don't profit

[Taelas]

And let's not go in to Skinning.

1) Find mob that drops said material
2) Kill mob
3) Swear to yourself as you get another scrap of leather
4) Repeat
5) ????
6) Don't profit

"Ah, orange skill level, that's guaranteed..."
*skins mob*
"What? No skill? Musta been a fluke..."
*repeats the above ten times, with repeated failures*

<_<

Yeah, Skinning was never much of a money-maker, and in Outlands, it's just crap.

[RTM]

I'm going to go against the flow here and say, on your first character, stick with leatherworking/skinning. Sure it's not the most profitable profession combo, but crafting gear you can use and finding recipes is a very fun and satisfying part of the game. There's a bit of pride that comes when you look at a piece of equipment that says <Made by Thrak>. :)

[Artega]

I'm going to go against the flow here and say, on your first character, stick with leatherworking/skinning. Sure it's not the most profitable profession combo, but crafting gear you can use and finding recipes is a very fun and satisfying part of the game. There's a bit of pride that comes when you look at a piece of equipment that says <Made by Thrak>. :)

They actually removed that bit. My warrior had a Lionheart Helm crafted by one of our server's most famous players, and it was a source of pride to see <Made by Zver> stamped on the bottom of it. Then Blizzard removed it and it became just another Lionheart Helm:(

[Treesh]

They actually removed that bit. My warrior had a Lionheart Helm crafted by one of our server's most famous players, and it was a source of pride to see <Made by Zver> stamped on the bottom of it. Then Blizzard removed it and it became just another Lionheart Helm:(

There was a patch or few where the made by wasn't listed, but it is back in the game now. I get a giggle every time I see my jewelcrafter's rings say <Made by Mistake>. :D

[WimpySmurf]

There was a patch or few where the made by wasn't listed, but it is back in the game now. I get a giggle every time I see my jewelcrafter's rings say <Made by Mistake>. :D

Too bad gem don't have who cut them, then we'd be able to have gems:

<Cut by Mistake>


:D


-WimpySmurf

[Monkey]

I'm going to go against the flow here and say, on your first character, stick with leatherworking/skinning. Sure it's not the most profitable profession combo, but crafting gear you can use and finding recipes is a very fun and satisfying part of the game. There's a bit of pride that comes when you look at a piece of equipment that says <Made by Thrak>. :)

I can see good arguments in both directions.

--I've made something like 200g before level 40 by mining, skinning, and using auctioneer with an undead rogue. (Tip: All rewards from the same quest do not vendor for the same amount. When quest rewards have no upgrade for you, use Auctioneer's Stubby module to select the one worth the most gold).

--Crafting is an oddly satisfying experience, and Leatherworking has some excellent druid pieces. Some people consider the recent epic chest armor to be the best for cat druids in the game. Crafting for friends is, in particular, very rewarding.

It really comes down to what kind of experience you want from your first character.

[TriggerHappy]

It really comes down to what kind of experience you want from your first character.

The experience I want is that of swimming in gold. :D
Which is why I unlearned leatherworking, went with mining, and with a bit of effort and advice from fellow Lurkers (nice folks!) about smelting I got mining to a fairly high level (for my level). Which is a good thing, because when I saw how much even copper bars demand on the auction house, my jaw dropped.

By the way, my Druid is now level 18, only two away from cat form. And since my trial account ends tomorrow, I'll be picking up the retail version. It's too bad Blizzard doesn't just offer the game through electronic distribution.

Thanks again for all the help guys.

[Taelas]

By the way, my Druid is now level 18, only two away from cat form. And since my trial account ends tomorrow, I'll be picking up the retail version. It's too bad Blizzard doesn't just offer the game through electronic distribution.

Actually, I believe they do...

[TriggerHappy]

Well I couldn't find the option through their store. Doesn't matter now anyway, I picked up the battlechest and already upgraded my account.

[TriggerHappy]

Oh my god Cat Form is incredible. Most targets of my level (20) die under 10 seconds. Just ... no words. :blink:

Actually, after using the Bear Form for a while, it feels like I've been fighting with both hands tied behind my back, and now somebody finally set me loose.

[Warlock]

Oh my god Cat Form is incredible. Most targets of my level (20) die under 10 seconds. Just ... no words. :blink:

Actually, after using the Bear Form for a while, it feels like I've been fighting with both hands tied behind my back, and now somebody finally set me loose.

Glad you're enjoying the Druid. It's a great class (though the others each have their strengths also).
If you like Cat now, you'll love it after getting Pounce in the mid 30's. It's a stun and a bleed in one.

In general Bear can handle tougher opponents than Cat but not as quickly.

[Monkey]

Oh my god Cat Form is incredible. Most targets of my level (20) die under 10 seconds. Just ... no words. :blink:

Actually, after using the Bear Form for a while, it feels like I've been fighting with both hands tied behind my back, and now somebody finally set me loose.

I'm glad you're enjoying the game. It's making me all nostalgic, though. Maybe it's alt time again...

[Mavfin]

Oh my god Cat Form is incredible. Most targets of my level (20) die under 10 seconds. Just ... no words. :blink:

Actually, after using the Bear Form for a while, it feels like I've been fighting with both hands tied behind my back, and now somebody finally set me loose.

Yeah, but the nice thing about bear is when you get 2 extra adds on you beating you up, just go bear, kill 1 or 2, then go back cat and kill the last one without turning a hair.:D

Or, you run into big baddie elite, go cat, set up a 5-point rip, go bear and save your own hp while that ticks, etc...

[TriggerHappy]

Or, you run into big baddie elite, go cat, set up a 5-point rip, go bear and save your own hp while that ticks, etc...

Hey that's a great idea ... it hadn't occurred to me yet to switch forms mid fight.

And thanks again for the ingame help Mavfin. Those bags have made my life so much easier.

[TriggerHappy]

Is it actually possible to solo instances? I'm level 23 and yet still can barely handle two level 19 "Elites" in the Whaling Caverns. And that only because Hibernation works on these Raptor type things. But can't progress beyond a certain point as a "boss" there is escorted by a buddy Raptor. They can't be triggered seperately, so whenever I pull one I get the other one too, and just can't handle them. Mostly because the boss is a humanoid caster with some serious nuking power.

[Delc]

Is it actually possible to solo instances? I'm level 23 and yet still can barely handle two level 19 "Elites" in the Whaling Caverns. And that only because Hibernation works on these Raptor type things. But can't progress beyond a certain point as a "boss" there is escorted by a buddy Raptor. They can't be triggered seperately, so whenever I pull one I get the other one too, and just can't handle them. Mostly because the boss is a humanoid caster with some serious nuking power.

Its possible, but generally it requires you to be way overleveled (to the point where there is no value in soloing it). Instances are designed for a balanced group of 5 people (tank, healer, 3xdps). There are also raid instances that require 10-40 people.

[Kevin]

Is it actually possible to solo instances? I'm level 23 and yet still can barely handle two level 19 "Elites" in the Whaling Caverns. And that only because Hibernation works on these Raptor type things. But can't progress beyond a certain point as a "boss" there is escorted by a buddy Raptor. They can't be triggered seperately, so whenever I pull one I get the other one too, and just can't handle them. Mostly because the boss is a humanoid caster with some serious nuking power.

Generally by the time you can solo an instance there isn't much reason to go into that instance, there are some instances and some classes that can solo them while being the same level or just a level higher than the end boss, but that is not the norm. I believe the last patch (which adjusted the level of mobs in a lot of instances) made the highest level mob in the instance L20. My rule of thumb for instances is that 'level appropriate' for that instance is being 2-4 levels lower than the highest level mob. So that would mean that WC is designed with a group of 5 players L16-18 or so. Of course it's hard to do WC at level even if you are trying to because getting some of the quest lines done for some of the quests in there will shoot you up levels pretty quick, especially if you do some of the other quests that kinda overlap with the WC prereqs.

Now all that being said, it's very possible to do some of the instances, level appropriate with just 2 or 3 people. WC is one of the ones that I've duo'd with a hunter + shaman, I think I did with 2x druids as well. I've done pretty much all of scarlet monestary with several different duo's. I've 3 manned all of Uldaman. And again this is all being 2 to 4 levels below the end boss (which often puts you the same level or higher than most of the 'trash')

[VoiceMan]

Is it actually possible to solo instances? I'm level 23 and yet still can barely handle two level 19 "Elites" in the Whaling Caverns. And that only because Hibernation works on these Raptor type things. But can't progress beyond a certain point as a "boss" there is escorted by a buddy Raptor. They can't be triggered seperately, so whenever I pull one I get the other one too, and just can't handle them. Mostly because the boss is a humanoid caster with some serious nuking power.

Yeah, because instances are designed for a 5 man group, it will be tough to solo one until you're big enough that there's not much reason to even go in.