Project Lore

One of the downsides of raiding is all the downtime. Between boring trash pulls, "bio breaks", and waiting for everyone to get rebuffed after wipes, some players with little to no buffing responsibility and short attention spans (like myself) have a tendency to get bored, but don't want to go make a sandwich and miss a pull. Fortunately, there is no lack of silly things in the game that you can use to surprise your friends and raid buddies! If you've never checked it out, stop by the Wonderworks in Dalaran. Players completing the Northrend Children's Week may have stopped by to get a Paper Zeppelin for their child. I accidentally bought a stack of them instead of the quest item, and now I keep them with me at all times. Its always fun to toss some at people during downtime and hearing the occasional confused person on vent. Unfortunately, they are unique, so you can only carry one at a time once you create one from the kit. There are plenty of other toys you can pick up at the Wonderworks, including the train set that sets out a toy train and makes everyone around you do the /train animation and sound. Its the bane of auction houses and Alterac Valley tunnels everywhere. Its almost worth it to carry around a Wind-Up Train Wrecker. Give Jepetto Joybuzz a visit and see what he has in store. If you spend any time lurking in the Underbelly for arena, fishing, or restocking on poisons, you may have found some strange potions discarded down there by the mages of Dalaran. These Underbelly Elixirs have given me quite a bit of fun. While I don't suggest drinking things you find on the street in real life, Underbelly Elixirs are a-okay! You have a chance to transform into a Tuskarr and get +50 fishing for ten minutes, see everyone in Dalaran as a mage in Netherwind Regalia (expect Zidormi for some reason), or transform into a firefly with the freedom to fly around (if you are indoors in Dalaran; outdoors remains a no-fly zone). While its hilarious to see a city full of mages, some with Titan's Grip, my favorite effect has to be the firefly. I had quite the harrowing experience as a firefly in The Filthy Animal getting ready for summons into Stormwind to kill King Varian: Apparently you can do all sorts of fun stuff in Wasp form, such as fish! When I used to do the Cooking dailies, I kept all the Baby Spice and used them on tanks as their pulling. Lets not forget all the seasonal items, which are great to use out of season. I got hit with a Wisp Costume last night, and I was throwing Mistletoe and bunny ears on everyone through summer. What are your favorite silly items?

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I am now officially dropping Herbalism for Engineering. With this latest round of changes that will soon be reflected on the PTR, even if only a few of them make it to the live servers, there are so many cool benefits to Engineering over other professions - the way Engineering should be! Zarhym posted this on the forums today:

• Added a new Mind Amplification Dish attachment for helmets, allowing engineers to control other humanoid targets. Some restrictions apply: does not work in Arenas, dish sometimes reverses targets, unable to stack with other stat-improving head enchantments and makes your helmet look... stylish?
• Added a schematic for a Goblin Welding Beam that can heal friendly mechanical or vehicle units.
• Alarm-o-Bot functionality changed. Materials required reduced.
• Box of Bombs no longer requires an anvil.
• The Cobalt Frag Bomb now incapacitates enemies within a 3-yard radius. A short cast time was added, but they are usable while moving. This change applies to any Cobalt Frag Bombs already created. The existing recipe now makes 3 at a time.
• Engineers can now learn to create a portable Wormhole Generator for Northrend. The Wormhole allows them to travel to different locations in Northrend, although the locations are sometimes in dangerous places.
• Increased benefits from Hyperspeed Accelerators, Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket and Reticulated Armor Webbing glove modifications.
• Increased the passive bonuses provided by Springy Arachnoweave, Flexweave Underlay and Nitro Boosts.
• Increased siege damage caused by Saronite Bombs and the Global Thermal Sapper Charge.
• Mote Extractor now has innate tracking for gas clouds while it is in your inventory. Tracking of gas clouds has been removed from goggles.
• A new repair bot has been added, and his name is Jeeves. He is the ultimate gentleman robot butler, able to perform all the mundane tasks of repairing, selling and buying junk for your entire raid. Additionally, he can open bank boxes for skilled engineers (350+). Jeeves is not destroyed when used, but due to pressing engagements, can only be summoned once an hour. The schematic for this handsome robot was said to be hidden within the parts of another robot – hoping to be found by an engineer one day.
• Nitro Boosts: Now have a 5-second duration.
• Potion Injectors now increase the amount gained by 25% when used by engineers. Quantity produced by recipes for Runic Healing and Mana Injectors has been increased.
• Reduced the materials needed to create all engineering Dragonlings, and reduced their cooldowns, although they still cannot be used in Arenas.
• Significantly reduced the cooldown on MOLL-E.
• The Spynocular belt attachment has been changed to a Frag Belt. The Frag Belt periodically produces a Cobalt Frag Bomb that can be used from the belt every 10 minutes (never runs out!).
• A Steam-Powered Auctioneer has been added to the Dalaran Like Clockwork engineering shop, allowing access to one's faction Auction House. The Steam-Powered Auctioneer was programmed with a superiority chip, and will only interact with Grand Master engineers.
• Transporter devices are no longer classified as trinkets and can be used directly from your inventory.
• The Ultrasafe Bullet Machine and Saronite Arrow Maker schematics have been simplified to create a full stack of the appropriate ammunition. No longer requires an anvil. Reduced the materials required to make this ammunition.

The biggest change is that Grand Master Engineers can access their faction's Auction House at the Dalaran Engineering shop "Like Clockwork". This is huge. Engineers no longer need to make their shopping lists before grabbing a portal to Orgrimmar or Ironforge and making sure their Hearthstone is up. Another great change is a reusable repair bot that also offers Engineers access to their bank on an hour-long cooldown. This is amazing - if you ever have gotten full bags and had to weigh what you want to destroy to get bag space, this is a godsend. The new Northrend Wormhole generators, as well as the ability to use these items without equipping them, gives Engineers such a huge boost in convenience that I just can't pass it up. The Nitro-boosts and Pyro-Rockets are perhaps the best profession buff for rogues, and giving rogues wipe-prevention with vanish and jumper cables is sure to make me a group favorite. What do you think? Is this enough to put Engineering on par with other professions?

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Wrath of the Lich King sought to even out the playing field of PvE and PvP benefits that players receive from knowing a profession. It was nigh required to have a leatherworker's drums in the endgame of Burning Crusade, and Engineers found many a trick to "exploit" in battlegrounds. Many professions, like Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Tailoring, had several BoP items that were some of the best gear you could get, making these professions a huge boon to some classes that put them way ahead of characters that didn't pick the "right" profession. Blizzard evened this out with a whole host of abilities for the professions. They made sure every profession provided a benefit to both PvE and PvP gameplay in a way that was useful to every class. These changes were applied in patch 3.0.2, and many of these benefits are available to both low-level characters and high-level ones. If you are a little rusty on who gets what, take a moment to review:

Profession	Main Gameplay Benefits
Alchemy	Mixology (PvE), Endless Healing Potion (PvP)
Blacksmithing	Socket Bracer, Socket Gloves
Enchanting	Enchant Rings (Stamina, Spellpower, AP)
Engineering	Hand enhancements (Rockets, Haste)
Leatherworking	Leg Enchancements (Resists, AP, Stam)
Tailoring	Leg and Cloak Enchancements (Spellpower, Holy Damage, Melee Haste)
Jewelcrafting	Special Gems, Trinkets (Resilience, Strength, MP5)
Inscription	Shoulder Enchants (AP, Spell Power, Dodge)
Herbalism	Lifeblood
Mining	Toughness
Skinning	Master of Anatomy

Engineering didn't get as much love in terms of PvE/PvP viability. The engineering benefit was the ability to add "gadgets" to your gear that essentially enchant your gear with different abilities. Most of these did not positively effect endgame PvE or PvP gameplay. For example, you couldn't get your cloak enchanted if you wanted Flexweave Underlay. And forget about your Icewalker enchant if you plan on using Nitro Boosts. In 3.1, Engineers get a little bonus that provides them with a comparable bonus to other professions. Blue poster Zarhym recently rounded up the changes in 3.1 for engineers:

• Added a new Reticulated Armor Webbing engineering enchant that increases the armor on plate gloves.
• Added a new Springy Arachnoweave engineering enchant that grants passive spell power in addition to turning your cloak into a parachute.
• Flexweave Underlay now grants passive agility in addition to its normal effect.
• Nitro Boosts now grant passive critical strike rating in addition to their speed boost.

The list may not be conclusive and is subject to change over the course of the public testing process. Its still not enough to sell me. I'm eyeing replacing herbalism with something a little more effective (maybe skinning?) for that extra boost for my rogue DPS.

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I have shared a few different ways for players to make money in World of Warcraft over the months.  From getting top dollar for your TBC loot, maximizing your quest reward income, to abusing the transmutation of cloth to bandages.  By following my own suggestions, I managed to stockpile a few thousand gold with a relatively small amount of playtime invested.  Aside from the need to purchase Cold Weather Training and a new epic flying mount, I knew the gold would come in handy one of these day.  I went Katia Verber on my bank yesterday.

With Solidsamm in desperate need of upgrades for several slots, I bit the bullet and began spending where applicable.  My first purchase was to replace my aging pair of daggers, Merciless Gladiator's Shiv and Fang of the Desolate Soul.  The Shiv served me well through TBC, but it was in definite need of an upgrade.  The Fang's speed is simply not suited for a Mutilate-specced Rogue. Out with the old and in with the new, a pair of Librarian's Paper Cutters.  Not only does their model remind me of Death's Sting, but they just so happen to be the best Mutilate daggers available outside of Naxxramas.  With no weapon upgrades coming in the immediate future, the 650 gold dropped on them (bidding not buyout) should be well spent.  Following that same logic, I knew I had to get some enchants applied ASAP.  The offhand cutter picked up a Greater Potency due to the fact that I already had the materials.  The mainhand will get a little more love - and burn additional funds - thanks to an upcoming application of Mongoose that will further increase the pair's sick attack speed.  A lot of TBC enchanting mats remain quite expensive, causing me to farm the required 40xArcane Dust unless I see the price drop. The purchase and enhancement of the new weapons ran me about 700-750 gold in the end, not all that expensive in Wrath's terms.  What really did me in was going for a new head item.  Currently I am sporting the lower version of TBC's engineering goggles, the Deathblow X11 and they simply won't do for...doesn't matter, I should have gotten rid of them awhile ago.  While on my high from my shiny new daggers I decided to go for broke and level my engineering from 372 to 440 for the new headdress.  Now I can no longer swim in my reserves. Being the forward thinker that I am, I saw this coming and stopped selling my stacks of Cobalt and Saronite as soon as the Wrath market crashed.  The stockpile that I had accumulated on my bank alt managed to push me through 415, at which point I hit a wall.  I simply did not have enough Saronite in reserve to finish out the last 25 skill points.  After picking up a handful of stacks - and dropping another few hundred gold - 437 was mine.  Three freaking points away. A few relogs later, I had everything I needed and then some.  My spree scored me 440 Engineering, some new on use effects for my gloves (breaks stealth), boots (doesn't break stealth) and cloak, a Gnomish Army Knife, Moll-E, Scrapbots, crap to sell and all the mats for Weakness Spectralizers.  It took me just over half of my gold reserves, but I replaced three slots I desperately needed to with some of the best non-raiding pieces available. Solidsamm is still a far cry from the needed 214 expertise rating, but he is slowly getting there.  Thanks to all the new gear, the 315 poison hit cap isn't far off.  Hopefully these changes help out my pitiful DPS from the other night.  Now to get rid of this god awful belt... As I type this my Weakness Spectralizers are currently being hammered out.  Crap, now I need some gems.../me heads off to the Auction House, good thing I still have over 2,000 gold left!  Yesterday wasn't the biggest drain on my account ever, but it certainly was the most time consuming series of purchases.  What's the most you've ever spent in one day?

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Ever feel like your career choice is going nowhere? You’ve put in your time, and invested a lot in your job, but in the end you are just not getting enough out of it to make it worthwhile? You feel like you should stay out of loyalty, but in the end you just know you would be far happier doing something else?

Well I am at that point in life. While I have certainly served my tenure, I just see no reason to stay an engineer. Yes I’m talking about my WoW profession, what did you think I was talking about?

I have been an enchanter/engineer for as long as I can remember. I have been a perfectly happy enchanter, I get a nice boost from the ring enchants, and I feel like I am providing a valuable service to my guild (although I wish I could get a few more shards). Engineering on the other hand, has always been about one thing for me. The goggles. In TBC they were the first epic I acquired at 70 and I wore it all the way until I was leveling again. I loved the goggles, and they were worth the entire profession. Now things have been a bit different. I excitedly leveled my engineering again in Wrath, and crafted the goggles as soon as I could.

Then I ran Naxx 10, and found that that T7 helm would replace them for me. That’s right - the item that lasted me all the way into the Black Temple in TBC was replaced by an item from the first 10 man dungeon in Wrath.

So after spending thousands of gold and tons of time leveling engineering in Wrath I am seriously considering just dropping it all together. I’ve never been one to change my professions, and I’ve taken pride in the fact that I’ve had the ones I do for so long, but I just don’t really see the point anymore.

My thought is it may be time to pick up jewelcrafting. The stat bonuses seem much greater, as does the money making potential. I understand this will be an expensive prospect, but I think in the long run it will be worth it. I could really use a more profitable profession, and those special gems and trinkets look just awesome to me.

So what do you think loyal readers? I am asking for some advice here. Should I stick with engineering until 3.1 with hopes of some new patterns? Or should I drop it right away and stat my new career as a JC? Perhaps there is even another career choice I should consider? What do you think? I am in need of career counseling.

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Sometimes I have to stop and think that I made the wrong choice as far as my professions go. Being a tank I have grown accustomed to always being out of gold due to massive repair bills, but if I had made the smart choice I would have picked a profession to help balance that out. I didn’t. I am an enchanter/engineer, so I have two crafting professions. This means I don’t gather up mats, I have to buy them to level my professions. So it is safe to say I have spent a fair bit of time trolling the auction house looking for good deals. With the expansion being so new, there are lots of spikes and valleys as the market settles on a price for these new materials, but there is one trend that holds true no matter what. You gatherers are making a killing selling your mats! Prices on some of the more sought after mats have been just mind blowing. I know prices vary highly from server to server. But I am guessing we are all seeing the same trends. Being an engineer I’ve had to buy up lots of cobalt, saronite, and titanium bars to level up high enough to craft my goggles. This was an expensive process for me. The prices were just sky high, early on I saw stacks of lower level bars going for hundreds of gold each. Prices for herbs and leather haven’t been particularly low themselves. I imagine that those that are supplying these mats are getting very wealthy from them. I have several gathering friends that have straight up told me they have more gold then they know what to do with. That sounds like a good problem to have? I am pretty jealous of you guys that have built in income everyday from smelting titansteel. I’m fully aware that enchanters don’t have it so bad, and that enchanting mats are fetching a small fortune as well. My priority was leveling enchanting with those mats. Perhaps now that I am at 450 I can start to get some money back there. As far as my engineering goes, I am looking for clouds and gathering eternals… but these income methods seem to pail in comparison to the true gathering professions. It’s clear that there is gold to be had in Northrend if you know how to do it. So how are you doing? Are you gathering up a small fortune? Or are you the one lining the gatherers pockets?

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Late last week, news started coming out about the new mounts that would be introduced with the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. I, for one, am not a mount collector, so I simply read the news and moved on with my life. That is, until last night when I caught a glimpse of one of those mounts, The Hog. The Hog is an upcoming rideable mount that, according to reports, is a permanent mount (not a temporary quest reward) which can be summoned like all other Wrath mounts. To top it off, it is even in the current build of the beta! There is other information about The Hog that has been gathered through datamining of the game files. First off, the mount currently isn't flagged for Engineers, but due to its look it will likely be restricted when it goes live. So be sure to take it for a spin in the beta. Next, it appears that the bike's speed might be tied to its rider's level, much like the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade. Therefore, the higher the toon, the faster the bike will go. As of now, I haven't spoken with anyone who actually owns the sweet ride, so this information is simply rumors based on the aforementioned mined data. That hasn't stopped me from getting incredibly excited though. I have always fancied the engineering mounts over the animals since The Burning Crusade. Not only do I think the engineering mounts look better, but they are just far less common due to the restriction. But wow, does The Hog look awesome or what? The screenshots even make it look like The Hog may allow for an extra passenger! Sadly, The Hog does have a knock against it. It seems that the developers have seen fit to put some restrictions on the bike - possibly for noise pollution. The Hog can only take you around in style in Northrend and Outland. Shucks, can't tear down the shores of Westfall. Oh and in response to one of my earlier blogs, is that close enough to a car for you?

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How do you choose your professions? If you just want to make money, clearly there is a general consensus that taking a couple of gathering professions such as mining and skinning would be best. Just head out for a little while, gather up some materials, and sell them. No sinking money into leveling, no rare recipes to find, no investing in mats to make something and hoping it sells. However, if you want to make your character as effective as possible in battles, it will probably cost you a bit of cash. All of the crafting professions have a few items that can only be used by characters with the right profession, but some are better than others. A couple of the nice ones are engineering for goggles, leatherworking for drums, enchanting for ring enchants, and alchemy and jewelcrafting for trinkets. Let's say you decide ring enchants and drums are best to make your character top the dps charts. How are you going to make that profit? Doing enchants and making armor kits will only make you so much money, especially if you have to buy mats. So, now you have to make an alt in order to provide mats and make a little more money. But don't you want to make your alt as uber as your main? I guess that's just something you'll have to decide for yourself.

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