Results tagged “Inscription” from From the Abbey to Outlands

As I write this it is just over 48 hours since I installed Wrath of the Lich King and boy have I been busy! As I mentioned in a recent All Things Azeroth, I started off by making my Death Knight named Connroe, then I completed my daily plan. This plan was given to me by Makea of Murloc Queen and went like this: clear out quest log completely, travel around Outlands getting all of the daily quests you can, then log out on the Isle of Quel'danas and wait for Wrath launch. After Wrath is installed, turn the Isle dailies, then return to Shattrath to turn in dailies there. Once Done there, I flew out to the Netherwing Ledge and turned about 10 dailies there to complete the daily quest plan.

I did a full 25 dailies on two of my 70s, and the rough numbers from those dailies was roughly 300k XP and about 150g. The one mistake I made was on making the fishing daily as one, and it gives no XP or gold, just the bag. On my Druid I did 16 dailies, netting about 200k XP and about 100g. I personally feel that since I would have spent time in game anyway, and am not hurting for gold, that this was all a very good way to spend a few days ore Wrath. Once I finished the daily turn ins, I took all my 70s to Northrend and trained them in all of their professions, costing roughly 300g for two primary and all three secondary skills. Once they were all at inns, getting rested XP, I logged back to my Death Knight and got him through the first phase of the starting experience.

On day 2 I began to work on Connroe right out of the gate, thoroughly enjoying doing the experience when it counted. I quickly made it through the experience and stayed in Stormwind at the end to begin making use of the 1500 herbs I had stocked up to level Inscription. Right now Connroe is *350* and am waiting to hit 60 or so in order to train up to Grand Master. Connroe is also right now at 150 in Blacksmithing, though I may take a break from leveling that for a bit due to the large number of new Death Knight miners in the game, including some guildies. The last thing that I have spent time doing, or I guess lucked into, was that I got all 5 toons(Medros, Ameland, Arita, Telaan, and Connroe) hearthstoned in Dalaran. I knew it would take a couple days for Argent Dawn to see a nice number of 74 Mages, and I found one in Stormwind who was willing to portal all of them to Dalaran for a generous tip. The Mages I saw in /2 were talking 100-200g per portal the night before, and I was not willing to throw my gold away like that.

As for today, I intend to finish getting all my 70s the Borean - Howling - Dalaran Flight Path connections(all Tuskarr villages, Dalaran, and the alliance settlements) in order to facilitate easy travel through the first 3 zones of Northrend. Then, I think I am going to let Connroe rest a bit, and work on getting Medros to level 74, the point where he would have gotten the ability to go to Dalaran anyway. So, how have you spent your first 48 Wrath filled hours? Are you, like the SK Gaming/Nihilum mega guild, trying to get into raiding and clear Wrath on 25 man? Or are you just relaxing and leveling comfortably?

The last time I recall getting the Queue box on login to Argent Dawn was about 18 months ago, shortly after Burning Crusade hit. It began, interestingly, around when the pre expansion patch hit, and got as bad as to have 1000+ person queues on some nights. Blizzard did some free transfers, some players re rolled, and in the end they went away. Well, Folks, they are back. Oh, no, not 1000 person, not yet, we only have a few hundred so far, but that is how it began last time, too. Will we see thousand person queues again? Probably, but I hope Blizzard will respond quicker this time, especially since AD has always been a High population realm as far back as I can recall.

Another side of the patch is what I have come to call, not at all affectionatly, Wrath-flation. With the patch came the Inscription profession, and all those folks who didn't have the foresight to farm their own herbs are now running around trying to pick them, and when they find they have been picked clean, likely by Auction House profiteers, they go to those very same Auction Houses, and pay exhorbitant rates for their herbs. I have heard numbers as high as 70g for a stack of herbs that haven't been in demand in 3 years. Sadly, this will only continue as we reach November 13th and beyond, because simply put, there is nothing more attractive to the greedy than a bit of increased demand, and the chance to choke off the supply.

So we look to have a date for the upcoming 3.0.2 patch, which will bring in some of the features of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, so I thought I would give you the lowdown on the stuff that will make it into 3.0.2 based on the latest PTR builds, what you have to wait until the expansion for, and what won't be in until much later on.

The Patch - We know we will see the Barbershop feature in the patch, giving us the chance to finally change those hairstyles we've had for up to four years. Achievements will make it in, so while a few will wait for many of the Achievements that require Northrend to complete, we can get many of our desired achievements out of the way before we slag through the lengthy install process for the expansion. Inscription will be active, which is surprising a lot of people since Jewelcrafting was not available unless you had the expansion. A feature we will see that has many of my character's banks rejoicing is the Pets/Mounts tab, which will be in for the patch. Thousands of vanity pets will soon find a new home!

Hunters will get to customize their pets in a new talent style of ability system, with the old system of training points going the way of the Ghost Wolf. Hunters will also get Exotic pets, so expect to see Devilsaurs, Rhinos, Chimeras and Worms in your local bank. Stormwind Harbor will finally open up, and King Varian Wrynn will return to Stormwind, bringing a new era to the land of Azeroth. The patch will bring in new UI features like the Calendar system, built in threat meter, and many new emotes.

In the way of combat we will also be seeing several stat changes. Hit, Crit, and Haste will affect Melee and Spell attacks, while Spell Damage and Healing stats will be unified into a universal Spell Power, meaning more gear can be shared between the various casting classes. Lastly on this section, channeling and casting interrupts are changing, with any hits after the second no longer interrupting or stopping a cast bar, though I believe full spell interrupts like Kick and Counterspell will still work as usual. As you can tell, the patch will be bringing some big things for all players of the game.

The Expansion - As big as the patch is, the expansion is even bigger. Of course we get to travel to Northrend, which can be accessed from boats in either Stormwind Harbor or Menethil Harbor. There is also the leveling to 80 thing, which is a pretty important expansion-only feature to mention. From my travels in beta, this is going to be an area that is well worth the time to buy the expansion for. The mobs are interesting, and often unique. The zones are huge, and each has many quest hubs. Medros, one of my Paladins, has gone through all of Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Howling Fjord, and part of Grizzly Hills before he hit 76.

I am in Sholazar Basin, have left a bunch of unfinished quests in Grizzly Hills, and I have yet to enter any Northrend instances. I haven't even touched quests in Zul'Drak, Crystalsong(quests Not Yet Implemented), Storm Peaks, or Icecrown. I feel it is quite possible Medros could ding 80 without even touching the top two zones, and on Live it would be even easier with guildies to run dungeons with. No need to worry, folks, there will be no lack of things to do when Wrath hits, even beyond the 80 Ding.

With reaching 80, you immediately have the chance to hop into the 10 man Naxxramas dungeon, which is followed by the 25 man, and the other three Raid dungeons, The Nexus, Eye of Eternity, and Ulduar. According to Blizzard's reps, you should be able to enter Naxx 10 man with just the quest and dungeon gear you have when you hit 80 or shortly thereafter, and the gear progresses naturally from there. While Icecrown Glacier the raid will not be in at launch, it should launch in 3.1, which can be expected a couple months into 2009.

While we have not seen any sign yet of the Dance studios, the Death Knight is definitely the biggest thing not yet listed, and it will require the expansion to create one. You too get to go through the Starting Experience, likely the first example of the implemented phasing technology Blizzard has made a huge deal of that most people will see. You will be able to Death Grip people from vast distances, summon ghouls from the bones of friends and enemies, and ride and walk on water using the Path of Frost ability given to our friends of the Ebon Blade.

Of course we have the little stuff, like new profession abilities, discovery for many crafters, and so on, not to mention the excitement of the culmination of 2 years of Blizzard's efforts. So while there is no doubt plenty to get excited about in patch 3.0.2 when it hits, expected to be on Octber 14th, there is yet more to get pumped about in Wrath of the Lich King, on store shelves, and online, November 13th.

Wrath is coming. We have 49 days until it arrives. I found out recently that there are many erroneous, outdated, or simply misinformed opinions about what Wrath will bring, and what will be required. I thought I would give you a Top 5 on what I have seen.

1. Death Knight - Death Knight will not require unlocking. They will start at 55. You can make one, with some limitations on new servers, if you have a level 55 on any realm in WoW. You can have one Death Knight per realm. If you are on a PvE, or normal RP server, you can make one of any faction. If you are on PvP, you can only make one on the same faction you have already, following the PvP realm guidelines. With the current state of the Death Knight, you should be at or nearly at 58 by the time you leave the Starting Experience. Lastly, you will need a free character slot on the account you want to make one on.
2. Inscription - Patch 3.0.2, currently on the Public Test Realms, will be debuting the Inscription profession from 1-375. This will not require a Wrath preorder, Wrath confirmation or anything. Anyone can level the profession from 1 to 375, dependent on the normal level per rank requirements of a primary profession. Inscription will require herbs and parchment for the most part, though vials and other sundry items may be needed. The most recent beta build brought in the need to use a Lexicon of Power, found near Inscription trainers, in order to apply glyphs.
3. Flight - You will not be able to fly as soon as you enter Northrend. I know, I know, you paid 1k-5k or more to fly your pretty birds, but Blizzard, as proven when Burning Crusade released, does not want to see all this content they are working their collective asses on to be flushed down the toilet as everyone flies over all the content they spent time crafting meticulously. Blizzard has alternated between a quest, or paying roughly 1,000 gold to enable Cold Weather Flying, but it does not seem finalized on what they will choose as of yet. You cannot fly until level 77.
4. Gear - Many are afraid of one, or both, of the following two things: Gear Reset, where all your old gear is wiped out within a level or two of entering expansion content, and Gear Appearance, where you end up going from looking like a well dressed agent of slaughter, to something more akin a rodeo clown gone bad. Blizzard has taken great pains to make sure these do not happen. Know what stats you want and you will be just fine. Medros, my first played toon in Beta, is currently halfway through 75 and still has most of his Kara level gear, only replacing most of it with awesome quest blues. I think only one piece was replaced by a green, and that was crafter at high level Blacksmithing.
5. Achievements - this is one of the neatest things in the expansion for me, who doesn't Raid or PvP much. There are hundreds of achievements, from the mundane of dinging 10, 20, 30, and so on, to killing 15 Fjord Turkey's in 3 minutes. The 'first on realm' leveling achievements are still there, but the rewards of titles are not in order to stop people bypassing content just to get them. Achievement points, like similar points on other gaming systems, have no value, though some achievements do come with rewards of titles or physical items. Examples are Leading the Calvary(currently 50 mounts and gets you an Albino Drake) and Shop Smart, Shop Pet... Smart(50 vanity pets, rewards a Reeking Pet Carrier). Look for a post or two in the near future about achievements.
   

There you have it. If you have any other Wrath rumors or features you want the facts on, feel free to post them in the comments. The beta is fun, the expansion will be more so. See you there!

I was working on my Inscription in the beta, and I thought to myself that leveling a gathering profession from 1 to 450 will be a horrible pain in my arse. This is the basis of this article. I feel that the lack of pre leveled professions for Death Knights will leave them as a default dual crafting profession class.

While the gathering from 1-300 will give a Death Knight a chance to explore the old world, a good thing due to the World Explorer achievement and title, I do not think that the majority of Death Knights will want to spend their valuable Wrath time going from Elwynn, to Westfall, to Darkshire, to Stranglethorn, all in search of the elusive dot on the mini map.

No, I think that those of us with at least a herbalist, or whatever gathering profession compliments our chosen crafting profession, will skip that grind and just pre gather, or gather for our Death Knights. I know I have pre gathered over 400 herbs for my Death Knight, who will be named Connroe. I am planning right now to make him a Scribe/Blacksmith combo, with potential leanings toward Weaponsmithing since so much of what a Death Knight is, lies in their runeforged weapon.

I am curious if I am the only one who plans to take this route? I was planning to take Traluun into Inscription when 3.0.2 came out, and I may still when I have a better idea of what the guildies are doing, but I know for sure that Connroe will be my go to character for long term inscription needs. I do not plan to have Connroe go into any gathering. I have learned how painful power leveling my herbalism will be if I decided to go that route. It has taken me 3 weeks to hit 300 and that is on a nearly barren realm. Trying to level herbalism within 3 months of Wrath will indeed be a painful thing to do.

What professions do you plan to take on your death dealer? Will you make your Death Knight a dual crafting toon? Are you already gathering in preparations? Let me know in the comments how you plan to proceed with your Death Knight when Wrath descends upon us all! 

I have a few friends in the European region who were in late alpha and early beta, and they all had a chance to see more phases of the expansion than I have in it's testing, so they have a unique perspective on the coming content than I do. This is a benefit when I am trying to research for writing on this blog. They were also invaluable when I got my beta invite. They were the folks I took my 'where's Dalaran' type questions to in my early beta days.

So when I made my temp DK, Isen, I was first excited to start First Aid at 270, then angered when they told me that no other professions get that boost, likely for the worries about having power leveled profession skills that could be exploited. While I can see this point, begrudgingly, I am still as little aggravated that I have had to, and will need to in live realms when Wrath launches, level my herbalism and Inscription from point 1. It looks really silly, seen to the the left, a level 58 master of slaughter and mayhem Death Knight picking Peacebloom in Elwynn Forest.

Now that I have tried out the Blood tree a bit, I decided when the last build gave me a talent reset I would go Unholy with some influence from this post on DeathKnight.info that said that Death Knights can now be a full use pet class. I do like me a pet class, but I would like to request, officially, that Blizzard give me a way to pretty up my Ghoul, who looks like he's falling to pieces. Flesheater is nice and all, but I am a little worried that a bone or key muscle may drop to the ground at a key time in a fight. Oh, and Blizzard? If this is my perma-pet, can I get the same one every time? kthnxbai!

I have a lot to do. I am collecting herbs for my guild, as well as for myself. I am debating furiously with myself about inscription and my lowbie hunter, Traluun, and trying to still get in time for job hunting, writing, beta testing, and have a small semblance of a social life. So it is with this in mind that I ask you, my readers, what do you think my priorities should be.

The reason this came up is that in conjunction with the recent beta build 8905, Blizzard's reps have posted feedback requests for all of the currently open dungeons in the beta, from Utgarde Keep to Naxxramas in both 10 and 25 man versions, and I realized that even with Med not even at 74 yet, I have not hit a single instance. Not even a one. I got my starter Death Knight through the old Starting Experience and into Inscription/Herbalism professions, worked a fair bit on Med's blacksmithing, and a bit on Arita's Northrend herbalism and alchemy, but I haven't *done* much in the beta.

Sure, I have moved and been doing renovations, and I haven't had the unregulated time I would like to be working on the beta and live realms. I also find it really hard to go from Medros, level 73 ret Paladin with awesome abilities and the capability to take down the mobs with ease, to Medros, level 70 Paladin, or even Telaan, Level 70 Paladin, or even still Traluun, level 45 Hunter. It's a bit of a shock, you know? A big change in the game and the world.

So, as my readers, I come to you, playtime in hand, and ask for your advice. Do you want more Wrath prep info as I push through the live realms to gather needed materials for the Inscription profession coming in 3.0.2, or should I spend more time on the beta realms, digging through the lore, the stories, and the experiences to give you all a better insight into what awaits us in the wonderful continent of Northrend, from gorlocs and proto drakes to dragon aspects and scarlet lackies? Sound off in the comments!

I would like to note first and foremost that the majority of this work was not done by me, instead being the work of better and more knowledgeable people than I. The Wrath Wiki has put up a guide that is intended to get you from 1 to 300 in Inscription. The guide is good, but there were a few places I thought it could use a little help on in instructing those not in the beta on what it will be like leveling your inscription. I hope they don't mind.

First, their number of herbs needed, from what I have seen, seems to be pretty close. I will just point out that at this point in the beta, a lot of glyphs that can be made require the herb Mageroyal. I haven't had a chance to look, but I would guess at the current point of my Death Knight's inscription, about 75% of the glyphs he can make use this particular herb. It's 1 of each level of parchment, an ink, and a Mageroyal.

If that remains, I would advise a minimum of 4 stacks of Mageroyal be used in your leveling of Inscription. That being said, this could change, and they could change some of them to using Swiftthistle or some other herb, with maybe Lotus as their top of tier herb for really special glyphs. Please do note that the guide says the heavy Mageroyal is due to broken mats.

The next thing I wanted to point out was that, currently, glyphs are trained in waves, so while it may be that 17 Glyph of Swipe can get you from 85-100, there will likely be about 7-9 other glyphs you can make to earn those points too. There are not any Death Knight or Warrior glyphs right now in the game, though there may be in the build that follows 8885, which is current as of this writing, so you can learn about 8 class glyphs at each tier, plus the stat scrolls, the different Vellum's, and inks.

While the Scroll of Recall lists making about 60 to get the 25 points, I did not need to make this many myself. I did make that many, as they are super handy little scrolls that act, essentially,l as a 10 minute hearthstone cooldown, so in your time in Northrend and beyond you will no doubt go through a lot of them. Don't be surprised if you find it to be in the hundreds, especially if you have your hearth set to a trainer location and have to go farm up the herbs.

Lastly, I would like to point out that there are at least 4 herbs in each pigment level, and each one in that level of pigment can give the same amount. Some of the herbs can give both a common quality and uncommon quality pigment, and some inks require a little of each kind, so use each pigment wisely. I for one am incredibly excited about the inscription profession, and am already farming herbs for when the 3.0.2 patch hits the live realms, how about you?

What follows are my early thoughts on the 8885 beta build that went live tonight.

• they missed something that should have been in this build, cause I am getting errors like crazy
• still no weightstones or sharpening stones
• it looks like most glyphs are actually craftable by scribes, including scribes as low as 100
  Paladin judgements are working again
• no noticeable change in xp required per level
• cooking daily quests in, with Dalaran Cooking Award, which can be used to buy recipes in Legerdemain Lounge in north Dalaran
• thanks to Zubr of Arathor, playing on Northrend for the /console error 0 command to stop showing errors
• glyphs seem to be 'used' with 1 hour cooldowns
• scribes will make a killing
  
• Mageroyal seems to be a big in demand herb for early scribe glyphs
• to use a glyph, you right click it. Some say they cannot be used, even when well beyond the level required. Odd.
  
• Overall nice, once you remove the errors, but more time may be required to work out some potential issues

There are many bad changes, many mediocre ones, and many good ones. It's beta, and things will change, but for now, I can play on my Paladin, though I am about to stop my leveling because I want to prep my live toons for the 3.0.2 patch and expansion.