World of Warcraft is unarguably one of the most played MMORPGs in the history of video games, and the reason it has lasted so incredibly long is simple. It offers one of the most immersive video game experiences. The game has hundreds of thousands of square miles of land, coupled up with massive expansion packs, each with a storyline more interesting than the previous one.
Recently, following the success of Burning Crusade Classic, one of WoW's most entertaining expansion packs, Wrath of the Lich King, will be getting its Classic release on Sep 26. This guide will give you a general idea of what to expect ahead of the release and how you can prepare to set yourself up for the best possible Wrath of the Lich King experience.
Blizzard rolled out the Beta last month, in June, and many players are eager to try it out; however, immediately after the announcement, a vast number of people have already started preparing. Thus, it will not be long before things in-game will begin to get pricey. This guide will not only go over the gold farming techniques but will also touch upon the investments to make, the professions to choose, and the achievements worth grinding for.
Gold Farming
Gold Farming before the release of WotLK is absolutely crucial if you want a smooth start to the expansion. Things like flying mounts, dual character specialization, or even simply just upgrading your character all require substantial amounts of gold, so it is vital that you are prepared ahead of time.
That said, if you want to not go through that grind, then there is another option. You can opt to buy WotLK Classic gold from other sources.
Eternals Farming
If you have already played Classic before, it should come to you as no surprise that farming Eternal is literally a goldmine. They are used in every single crafting profession, mostly the higher-end crafts. There will be different Eternals in demand throughout different stages and would generally be required throughout the game. In WotLK, there are over twenty other Eternal Farming locations where you could farm Eternals. However, the downside to this is that pretty much everyone knows about this farming technique, hence more competition for selling the items. This leads to undercuts and reduced prices.
Herbalism & Mining
One of the most effective ways to earn gold in WotLK would be herbalism and farming. With herbalism, you could never go wrong with the introduction of the new profession; Inscription will lead to inflated demand for many types of herbs. This point is discussed in detail below.
In the starting days (and the pre-patch), mining will be prevalent when everyone is skilling up their professions. For a significant percentage of raiding classes, mining is hugely profitable. Blacksmithing, Jewelcrafting, and Engineering all rely on crafting professions based on gathering materials from mining.
Skinning
Skinning has massive potential in WotLK as in TBC; it wasn't very popular. However, in Wrath, this problem is fixed as now, you can turn the basic materials into the endgame materials. These materials can be sold at higher prices and will make you a fortune.
Professions
In Wrath Classic, you will have to figure out the professions you are planning to take up beforehand. There will be a lot of options here in this department; however, to save you some time, there are some examples listed below.
For many DPS classes, engineering is considered one of the best professions. You still have all the usual engineering stuff, making it quite useful for both PVP and PVE. The incredible glove that comes from engineering can increase your haste rating on a very low cooldown. You could also try going for the Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting combo. This is because it is easy to play and provides you with stable bonuses, such as jewel-crafter gems. These gems are better than what you would get at the Auction House. This combo is one of the best for PVP because it is easy to get a resilience boost early on in the expansion. However, the catch is that this combo is expensive to level up.
A New Profession, Inscription
The release of Wrath Classic will also mark the start of a new profession, Inscription. This profession allows you to amend carious spells, varying their cooldowns while increasing the duration for specific abilities. In addition, you can also craft glyphs to enhance your gameplay. As this profession has excellent potential for making gold, many players will want to level this new profession.
There is a possibility that, like with Jewelcrafting, Blizzard will allow players to level this profession two weeks before the release in the pre-patch. Hence, players should be looking to start buying everything they need as soon as possible. Some cheap, low-level herbs players should be looking to buy: Ancient Lichen, Felweed, Icecap, Arthas' Tears, Sungrass, Fadeleaf, Khadgar's Whisker, Wintersbite, Gravemoss, Kingsblood, Liferoot, Wild Steelbloom, Bruiseweed, Mageroyal, Peacebloom, Silverleaf and Earthroot. These herbs will be the ones that will sell the best when Inscription is added to the game. However, despite all this, it is still advisable to level up your profession early on so you won't have to deal with inflation.
Investments
In terms of making a profit, there are some things you could do to take advantage of the rising prices. It is suggested that you buy as many black diamonds under 25 silver as possible. In Wrath Classic, these diamonds can be crafted into Prismatic Black Diamonds, each revealing a random gem. These gems are rendered at 25 silver each, so the black gems will have a vendor value of 25 silver. Hence, through vendor shuffling, any black diamond you purchase under 25 silver will give you a guaranteed profit later in the game.
However, to make profitable investments, you will need a decent amount of WotLK gold to start with, and if grinding is not doing the trick, you can head to MmoGah to start things off.
Achievements
One of the significant changes that WOTLK will see is going to be the new Achievement System. This is something that has kept a lot of players on their toes. Whenever the pre-patch comes out, people would grind these achievements like crazy, so to get a head start over the others, it is essential to know what these achievements are. You could prepare for these in The Burning Crusade, so by the time you log in into pre-patch, you would be able to complete some of these achievements instantly.
Some of the achievements that you can already do is exploring different zones. You could combine this with leveling mining and herbalism to maximize your profits. You will be granted ten achievement points for every zone you explore. When you have covered each and every different zone, you will be awarded the title "The Explorer. "
An important thing to prepare to level a lot faster is to level your First Aid. Doing this will grant you some achievement points when you reach levels 75, 150, 225, 300, and 375. Another way that you can earn Achievement Points is by learning different riding skills, e.g., Normal and Epic ground mount and Normal and Epic flying mount will altogether earn you forty achievement points. The mechanic is the same for other secondary professions such as fishing and cooking. Hence, it is crucial to level these professions as well if you wish to gain as many achievement points as possible.
To unlock more achievement points, you will need to complete Quests, Exalted Reputations, Seasonal Events, Weapon Kills, and Honorable Kills. You can also look into WotLK Classic boost if you want to speed things up.
TBC Items for WotLK
When Wrath finally comes out, there will be some items from the previous expansion that players would look to take advantage of.
One of the best pieces of Armor that you can use in Wrath includes the Amice of the Convoker. This item can be found in The Burning Crusade and is worth grinding for. Aside from all the endgame gear in TBC, this is a great item to pack that will play an essential role in the early levels of Wrath of the Lich King.
In addition, if you plan to play Rogues in Wrath Classic, you will need to obtain two pieces of slayer gear for the tiered part of the rough pre-base (Rogue is a class that can be found excelling in dealing melee damage).
Now, if you are short on TBC Classic gold, you can buy it to top up your account.