Mists of Pandaria: Farms in Warcraft?

Mists of Pandaria Expansion does have in fact a farming area. By this I mean you can plant crops and harvest them. You will be able to find your own farm instance at an area known as "Valley of the Four Winds". This area is located in the heart of the Pandaria and is also known as the agricultural centre.

If you want to see the guide to farming in Warcraft, please click the link below.
Your Farm: Grow, tend and Harvest Crops

You will meet members of the "Tillers" who are a faction in this area and it is your quest to help them with their failing crops. As you gain reputation with the "Tillers" you will be able to plant crops and clear the fields.

This is also where you will meet an man know as "Chen Stormstout" which will lead you towards the "Stormstout Brewery" which is the dungeon of this area.

Brief overview of Valley of the Four Winds

Valley of the Four Winds is a tranquil plain of lush farmland which is bordered by thick mysterious jungles to the south of the area, and to the north there are high and impassible mountains. 

The Valley of the Four Winds is considered as the "breadbasket" of Pandaria. Which means its the area where the food for the pandaria comes from. 

However this years harvest is in trouble and a terrible malaise has taken over the pandaren that live along the coast of this area. The legendary "Stormstout Brewery" is also located in this area "Chen Stormstout" and his niece "Li Li" hope to venture to this area to discover the location of their long lost ancestors. 

Further information on Valley of the Four Winds

It is a large zone and is for levels 88 - 87. The northern part of this zone is mostly Pandaren farmland filled with rice paddies and to the south there is a very long river and cliffs, here the hills defend into the "Krasarang Wilds". 

Valley of the Four Winds: Dungeons

There is one dungeon located in this area, it is known as the "Stormstout Brewery". 

The Enemy: Mantid

There are enemies known as the "mantid" who make their presence known towards the end of the questing experience. They are found breaking through the wall that used to confine them to the "Dread Wastes".

Farming Arctic Fur

Right I'm going to get right to the point, you want Arctic Fur right?




You have two ways of obtaining it.

1. Farm it from Northrend Beasts
2. Buy it from the Auction house

Obtaining Arctic Fur if you are NOT a professional skinner.

If you are not a Skinner then you will have to purchase Arctic Fur from the Auction house, usually they sell (on my server) for upwards of 50 Gold a piece, they are very rare 1% drops hence their high value in the auction house.

Obtaining Arctic Fur if you ARE a professional skinner.

If you are a Skinner then you need to have at least 375 Skinning Skill before attempting to skin the beasts that carry this valuable and rare loot. 

From experience the best place to farm Arctic Fur is in the Borean Tundra, Northrend.

1. If you travel to "Amber Ledge" there is a load of Wooly Rhino in the area. 
2. Farm enough Wooly Rhino and you will start finding the rare blue item known as "Arctic Fur".

What beasts drop Arctic Fur?

I have personally had Arctic Fur drop from the following Northrend beasts

• Wooly Rhino (Borean Tundra near Amber Ledge)
• Wooly Rhino Bull (Borean Tundra near Amber Ledge)
• Wooly Rhino Calf (Borean Tundra near Amber Ledge)
• Tundra Mammoth (Borean Tundra)
• Tundra Mammoth Calf (Borean Tundra)
• Tundra Mammoth Bull (Borean Tundra)
• Lunchbox (Borean Tundra near Amber Ledge)
• Dreadsaber (Sholazar Basin)
• Longneck Grazer (Sholazar Basin)

I hope that this quick and straight to the point guide has helped you, if you have any questions regarding Arctic Fur and how it can be obtained please feel free to comment below.

Mists of Pandaria: Introducing the Fish Race

A new type of MOB introduced to world of warcraft in the expansion Mists of Pandaria is the fish people (not sure of the race name as yet). Below you can see a screenshot of Elder Lusshan the waterspeaker, in the background you can see a Worgen player and their rare lion pet posing. 

Mists of Pandaria: Improved quality of beast graphics

I am very impressed with the new models for the beasts that are found in Mists of Pandaria BETA expansion, they are much more detailed and very realistic even with me running World of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria BETA in lowest quality on my Macbook Pro. 

Beasts are so much more realistic is very exciting to see them in the game itself. 

Below you can see the increased sizes of certain individual beasts, beasts which when tamed no longer reduce in size!

The below screenshot features the tiger Kung Din which you have to kill in one of the early on new quests in the new zone. 

Mists of Pandaria: Singing Cricket - Temp Model

I noticed that in Mists of Pandaria not all the critter models have been made, this is expected as the game is currently in BETA. So as a temporary measure Blizzard have used a snake model as a temporary Singing cricket model in the current BETA release of Mists of Pandaria. It is worth a mention. 

Mists of Pandaria: New speech bubbles for interactive NPCS

I discovered in Mists of Pandara BETA that certain NPC's which you can talk to now have visible speech bubbles over them and they also now clearly show up in the minimap. This is a great addition to the game, and makes it very clear who you can talk to for sections of quests etc. 

Mists of Pandaria: Blue and white boxes

Little blue and white boxes are scattered around the new isle in the BETA expansion Mists of Pandaria. I am personally not sure yet if they are part of a quest or it is an image/graphic which is not there and the chequered blue and white box is a default graphic for a missing image. Here are several images showing different locations where the little boxes are. 

Mists of Pandaria: Increase of Pet size

Remember when you tamed that massive cat which immediately shrunk to normal size once you caught it. 

Well Blizzard seem to have got the message that if its BIG it should stay BIG!

Here is a screenshot from Mists of Pandaria of my IceSaber which is now larger than before. Yes it is really that much bigger!

Mists of Pandaria: Dusk Stalker - A new type of kitty

Today I have been playing World of warcraft: Mists of Pandaria BETA new quests and came across a really cool looking new type of kitty. They are a large cat, known as Dusk Stalkers. So much realism and so much beauty enjoy the screenshots. 

Mists of Pandaria: Panda Monk Starting Area

So Mists of Pandaria BETA has not yet fully downloaded to my MacBook Pro yet but while waiting I was able to create my first character, and took a quick look at the starting area for Panda Monks. 

As you can tell from the screenshots below the area is very busy on the test server and you start in a martial arts training area. 

Darkmoon Faire Ended - Feast of Winter Veil Begins

Well the Darkmoon Faire has ended and I hope that you worked hard to earn your new mounts available by exchanging Darkmoon Faire Tokens. With the closure of the Darkmoon Faire Blizzard have sprung upon us the beginning of the Feast of Winter Veil.
From what I can see so far its not much different from the past years. I think that the “rescue dancer” quest and “recover the stolen presents” quest have been changed as I do not remember a giant Grinch being there last time.
The main hub of the “Feast of winter veil” is around Ironforge as that is where Blizzards version of Santa is hanging out.

Starting the festive quests

However you can start the festive quests at any major city such as Stormwind (where the festive NPC’s are hanging out near where the old entrance to the Auction house was (pre-cataclysm), at the caravan where the Elder character once stood in the Trade District.

Click on images to enlarge

Farming in the feast of winter veil

If you are a player who loves making gold the idea thing to do at this time is to Farm “Small Eggs” and collect “Ice Cold Milk” from mobs. I say this because one of the starting festive quests requires you to make “Gingerbread Cookies” and the ingredients include “Small Eggs” and a glass of “Ice cold milk” to give to Santa.

• Small Eggs currently sell for 3g 75s
• Ice Cold Milk currently sells for 84s                                              On my server
• Gingerbread Cookies sell for 5g 75s

Making Gingerbread Cookies for Santa

Remember that before you can make the gingerbread cookie you have to learn the cooking recipe first! I purchased the recipe several years ago originally however “Khole Jinglepocket” sells the recipe in Stormwind at the caravan shown in the above image.
Click on images to enlarge

The ingredients of “Gingerbread Cookies” are as follows and you need a cooking fire to create the cookies themselves. You will require 5 Gingerbread cookies and 1 glass of ice cold milk to give to Santa:

• 1x Small Egg
• 1x Holiday Spices (which can be bought from any festive vendor)

Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight - Darkmoon Faire 2011

Hour of Twilight: Review of the new Darkmoon Faire. 

Well the long awaited 4.3 patch known as Hour of Twilight has gone live on the public realms of World of Warcraft. Personally I have not yet fully investigated or looking into most features of the new patch. However I have noticed that with the new patch the "Darkmoon Faire" has been greatly improved and enhanced in several different ways.

Darkmoon Faire: has been moved to its own little island, where it is... I'm not entirely sure however you can quickly get there from any major town by clicking on a dark moon fair NPC and ask for them to take you there for a small 20 silver fee. I personally do this from Stormwind as that is where my character's home base is (hearthstone) which takes me to the portal to the darkmoon fair located in Eywynn forest.

Brief outlook on the new Darkmoon Faire

The Darkmoon Faire itself is very quirky with lots of daily quests by playing the mini-games such as tossing a hoop onto a turtles back, shooting targets, whacking gnolls with mallets, and even firing yourself out of a cannon to land in a hoop located in the waters edge of the "Darkmoon Faire". At least this time Blizzard are focusing more on the fun factor than the raiding and dungeons, which I'm sure most people play however I am not one of them.

Before you can play the daily mini-games you need some "Darkmoon Fair" tokens which can be bought near the entrance to the fair itself from a vendor in a tent. Apparently there is a cap on how many tokens you can buy but its usually enough to get you what you want from the faire itself. Darkmoon Faire Game Tokens can be purchase from Sazz Coincatcher and Zina Sharpworth.

Darkmoon Faire Tokens: Companions and mounts

Benefits of the "Darkmoon Faire" are your can exchange your tokens for prizes as before however this time there are two mounts up for grabs, a dancing bear and a bird type mount, which the name currently eludes me.

Additional to this there are several companion types also available from the vendor and balloons can be purchased from the balloon seller which is a gnome pushing a cart around.

Sea Pony: A companion obtained by fishing

A bonus for the fishermen and fisherwomen if you fish off the coast of "Darkmoon faire" you have 1 in 1000 chance of obtaining a delightful little "Sea pony" companion which is basically a small sea horse that follows you in a bubble of water.

Darkmoon Faire one time quests

There are quite a few interesting quests also available in the "Darkmoon Faire" area including fishing ones, cooking ones, engineering ones and even archaeology ones all of which give your increase skill points in the profession and of course "Darkmoon Faire" tickets which can be redeemed and one of the many vendors in the area.

PVP Area: 

Yes there does appear to be a PVP area within the Darkmoon fair itself, personally I hate PVP and I am just glad that they didn't focus on that like they normally do with events and patches. The PVP area is located on the right side in a massive tent, you cannot miss it.

Darkmoon Armour and Weapons: Replica Armor

I did notice that there is "Darkmoon Faire" equipment and apparel that can be purchased, I only briefly looked at them sold by the vendor there so I cannot elaborate on what is actually sold. I didn't see anything of interest personally as my own equipment (although not PVP or Epic) was much better than those being sold at the vendor. Im sure they may look sparkly which would encourage players to use the newly added Transmogrification feature of the game but thats all I can really say about that. Equipment and apparel are not personally one of my strong points. They can be purchased from "Baruma" and "Barum" the replica armour prize vendors.

Souvenirs, Toys, Balloons, Fireworks and more!

There are several other vendors of the Darkmoon fair which allow you to purchase fireworks, balloons, souvenir & toys and even a very cool ride on tiger. I think this was originally the "Sandbox Tiger" which was acquired in the Rage of the Firelands Trading cards. The NPC who sells the Tiger that you can ride on is Gelvas Grimgate.

Ride on Tiger: Darkmoon "Tiger"

You can purchase a ride on tiger from "Gelvas Grimgate" during the Darkmoon Faire. When you purchase the item you are given 10 of them and personally I think its awesome!

Zoo and Pony Rides.

As an additional note there is a large Zoo type exhibition ( or petting zoo) near the dock side of the Darkmoon Faire area. There are small ponies, goats and other animals  (which are not in fenced off areas) that you can ride around for free. Its really funny seeing your character dwarf a pony which pelts round the area looks like a million miles a hour due to its small legs but its actually only 100% mount speed. I did notice that the exhibition animals all have their own individual names which is a nice personal touch I think.

Overall opinion of the new darkmoon faire.

Overall I personally think that the new re-vamped "Darkmoon Faire" should be a overall success as it brings back the fun and enjoyment to the game and doesn't focus you just on the fighting and killing of creatures and mythical beings. Im glad Blizzard have realised that not all players of world of warcraft are excited when new PVP, dungeons and arenas are brought out as some of us never do them, its reassuring that they are trying to keep everyone entertained - lets hope they keep on doing this and maybe it will start bringing back people to the world of warcraft.

Alliance: Herbalism Guide – Complete herbalism in 2 days!

If you choose to follow this guide I can assure you that if you are level 85 it will only take you 2 days to level up your herbalism to 525 if you are willing to put the time and effort into it!
I have recently switched primary professions from Skinning to Herbalism. This is simply because there is more gold in it than skinning.
As I am starting herbalism from scratch I have decided to write this guide to help future herbalists on World of Warcraft.
I have split this up into two sections:

1. Alliance herbalism guide

2. When to meet your trainer

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Step 1: Get herbalism profession

If you have not already got herbalism as a profession you need to start it. If you already have two professions you will have to unlearn one of them to start herbalism. You can do this by going to your “Spellbook and Abilities” then click on “Professions” Click on the red circle with a line through it to unlearn a profession.
Once you have less than two primary professions you can then visit a “Herbalism Trainer” to start learning herbalism.

Step 2: Start Gathering | 1 - 70

The best place to start I have personally found for herbalism for the Alliance is by gathering Peacebloom and Silverleaf in Elwynn forest just outside of Stormwind.
Continue to gather Peacebloom and Silverleaf until you reach 50 herbalism points which is when you should go back to your Herbalism Trainer to learn Journeyman Herbalism.
Once you have seen the Herbalism Trainer go back to Elwynn forest and continue gathering herbs until you reach 70 herbalism points.

Note: At 15 herbalism skills you can then gather “Earthroot” which is found on hills in Elwynn Forest.

Step 3: Herbalism | 71 – 125

Once you have reached the skill of 70 in herbalism it is strongly recommended to go and visit “Hillsbrad Foothills” where you can progress your herbalism where you will find a lot of Mageroyal and Briathorn to increase your herbalism skills.

 

Step 4: Herbalism | 126 – 150

Once you have 125 herbalism skill points its time to move to “Stonetalon Mountains” where you can find Bruiseweed, Wild Steelbloom and Briarthorn to increase your skills, try to focus on Bruiseweed and Wild Steelbloom as its they best of the three herbs in the area.

 

Step 5: Herbalism | 150 - 160

At 150 herbalism points you will need to go see your herbalism trainer to progress any further. Once you have had the training its time to visit the “Southern Barrens”
You can collect Kingsblood and Liferoot in the northern part of Southern Barrens.

Step 6: Herbalism | 160 – 200

Once you reach 160 herbalism skill points its time to move to Western Plaguelands where you can find Liferoot and Fadeleaf. Once you reach 165 herbalism points you can then gather everything in the Western Plaguelands area as Khadgar’s whisker will become available and as there are a lot of it in this area you will quickly reach 225 herbalism skills.

Step 7: Herbalism | 200 - 225

The first step is to visit your herbalism trainer to get “Artisan Training” if you have at least 200 herbalism skill points. Once you have Artisan herbalism training travel back to Western Plaguelands and continue to gather herbs until 225.

Step 8: Herbalism | 225 – 275

Travel to Eastern Plaguelands. Collect the herbs in the area until you are at least 275 in herbalism skills. You can collect Khadgar's Whisker until you are able to collect Sungrass in this area at 230.

Step 9: Herbalism 275 – 300

Once you have 275 herbalism skills you must visit your herbalism trainer again for “Master Herbalist” training. It is then advised to travel to the Blasted Lands to continue your herb gathering where you will be able to find Dreamfoil, Gromsblood and Mountain Silversage. You can also find Golden Sandsam at the beach in Blasted lands near Rockpool Village.

Step 10: Herbalism 300 – 350

Hellfire Peninsula

This part is simple, travel to Hellfire Peninsula in Outland and start gathering herbs!
You should be collecting Felweed, Dreaming Glory. Golden Sandsam and Dreamfoil in this area. However if you do get bored of such a long amount of time in Hellfire Peninsula, move on to Zangarmarsh when you reach herbalism skill 325.

Optional: Move to Zangarmarsh at 325

I personally moved to Zangarmarsh when my herbalism reached 325 due to boredom. However I strongly believe that Hellfire Peninsula is more than capable of getting any player in herbalism to 360. The choice is yours.

Dreamfoil, Ragveil, Felweed, Blindweed, Golden Sandsam. Flame Cap and Dreaming Glory can be found in Zangarmarsh
Additional Tip: Bog lords in Zangarmarsh can be gathered for herbalism to collect Zangar Caps.

Step 11: Herbalism 350 – 360

Once you reach 350 in herbalism be sure to go to shattrath city to get your herbalism training. The reason why I say this is because Terokkar Forest is a good place to gather herbs up-to 360. You will find many types of herbs including, Terocone, Felweed etc.
Basically its easier and quicker for you to find a flight path to the next area if you choose to visit Terokkar Forest up-to 360

Step 12: Herbalism 360 – 375

Now you need to travel to Northrend to the Borean Tundra. You should go round this area gathering the following herbs. Goldclover, Fireleaf and Frost Lotus and Tigerlilly. You will also find Deadnettle in the GoldClover herbs.

Step 13: Herbalism 375 – 450

Head to Sholazar Basin in Northrend and continue collecting Goldclover, Tigerlilly. Once you reach 400 you will also be able to collect the Adder’s Tongue that is in the area.

Step 14: Herbalism 450 – 500

Next visit your herbalism trainer to get Illustrious training. From here you need to visit Deepholm where you can gather Cinderbloom.
Once you reach 475 you can then gather Heartblossom. Both Cinderbloom and Heartblossom are found throughout Deepholm and they can bring a tasty profit in the auction house!

Final Step – 15: Herbalism 500 – 525

This step is relatively easy simply flap on over to Uldum where you can then progress your training further by gathering Whiptail which are found around the river banks. These sell very well in the auction house and can often drop Volatile Life which sell easily in the auction house for 20g. But prices will range depending on what server you are on. Whiptail will also occasionally drop Lifegiving seed which can be useful.

Well there you go, this is how I progressed through the herbalism training and best of all it only took me 2 days!

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When to meet your herbalism trainer

1. 0 herbalism skill points - When you first start herbalism

2. 50 herbalism skill points – Journeyman herbalist training

3. 150 herbalism skill points – Expert herbalist training

4. 200 herbalism skill points – Artisan herbalist training

5. 275 herbalism skill points – Master herbalist training
6. 350 herbalism skill points – Grand Master Herbalist training

Archaeology: Fossilized Hatchling Companion and I had it in my hand Achievement

I have been busy since Christmas building up my “Archaeology” profession. Today one of the rewards for Fossil digging was a “Fossilized Hatchling”. This indeed is a companion and is really quite cute in its own bony way. It is a rare fossil which when created makes you a companion.

“There is something unusual about these tiny raptor bones. The empty eye sockets don’t quite seem empty. In fact, are they twinkling with a hint of life?”

When you get this companion you will also get an achievement known as “I had it in my hand” which is given when you find a rare artefact. Along with the achievement you will also get the title “Assistant Professor”.

Green & Orange Tiger: Winna’s Kitten

Green Tiger Spotted in Felwood known as Winna’s Kitten
Location: Between Jaedenar & Bloodvenom Post
(See Map Below)