Goodbye, Dark Rune

With the revamp of Scholomance, we seem to have lost yet even more mog items. But I hold onto a smidgeon of hope that they'll put the models back in, some of them, maybe in Heroic... maybe. Maybe, right?

Also missing from this new Scholomance are Dark Runes. Maybe you've seen them before, and if you have you most likely vendored them. If you didn't... hold onto these. They are used in some crafting patterns for a few nice pieces of transmog gear, notably to me is the Darkrune Breastplate.
 

There are matching gloves, also crafted, but that's it for the set. You'll have to match up the rest on your own, which I am in the process of. But back to my point. I put off getting this chestpiece for far too long. It was the last Symbolic look-a-like color deviation I needed and because it was crafted I thought I'd just get it when I was farming out in Silithus. Well, I got the plan, but not before DARK RUNES WERE REMOVED WITH THE REVAMPLED SCHOLOMANCE. They drop no where else. When I realized, I ran frantically to the AH - after all, it's still a recent change, maybe there's some left. None. I asked in guild. No one had any. I ran to the other faction AH - one, for 2g, which I quickly bought. I spammed trade on both sides with a simple WTB Dark Rune and got only one seller... who only had one Dark Rune. I needed a total of 16 for both the chest and the gloves.

All right, pack rats, what amount will make you give them up?

That's right. WTB Dark Rune x14 14k. I got them very promptly from one of the AH players. Officially the most I've paid for transmog gear. I guess that evens out all the absolute bargains I've gotten.

Even if they put Dark Runes back in, which I doubt,

I regret nothing.

AoE Farming in the Open World

Just in case you are unaware, the majority of mobs in an instance do not de-aggro or "leash". So you can round up just about the entire instance and AoE them down. No problem.

But that's not the case out in the open world of Azeroth. There are some good spots where mobs are grouped and whatnot, but most of the greens they drop just aren't that great. The mobs that drop the best stuff - like Jade plate - aren't that well grouped. Can't round them up too well with damaging abilities either at max level because you one-shot them.

Here is your solution:

Shamans, aggro mobs with Purge. In order to kite them around and gather a few mobs, tab between the mobs and keep Purging so they don't just evade back before you're ready to kill them.

Druids, stay out of form and do the same with Faerie Fire. Tooltip has changed since the recent patch, but the small amount of damage it does is utterly insignificant and will not one shot mobs.

Priests, use Dispel Magic.

Not any one of these classes/don't have one/don't want to farm with it... hope isn't lost. Warlocks, use a dot spell that does not do initial damage - quickly tab between mobs and apply this dot before it ticks damage. (I am assuming the dot can go only on one target at a time, thus gaining aggro while dealing no damage.) Warriors, Paladins, and DK's, use your taunt. Paladins and DKs can even use consectrate/death and decay. Hunters, use distracting shot and slowing traps. Mages, I do not have one of you and thus do not have a picture, but you can use Spellsteal in the same manner as Purge, Faerie Fire and Dispel Magic. Rogues... Nobody loves you. Please help yourself to a chocolate chip cookie.

Now that you know how, where do you go? Un'Goro. Silithus. Winterspring. Best bet is Un'Goro and the Stegadons, as elite mobs have a higher chance of dropping greens. It'll still be long, tired, and somewhat unrewarding. Farming is not for everyone, but it gets you some gems if you persist.

Titles for Mogging

Chest: Robe of the Magi
Shoulders: Mercurial Mantle (H) (priest-only)
Gloves: Handwraps of Flowing Thought
Belt: Elegant Temple Garden's Girdle
Main Hand: Northshire Battlemace
Off-Hand: Ledger of Revolting Rituals (H)








There are shoulders that non-priests can get. They drop off of Heroic Nefarion: Mantle of Nefarius. Alternatively, if you don't like or don't have access to these shoulders - how dare you NOT like them - there is another pair of sensible shoulders that matches up with the robes: High Councillor's Mantle.

This outfit seems like it might be more suited to a Draenei who can better match the hair color to the greens of the dress. I enjoyed it simply for the novelty of running around with fountains on my shoulders.

Right about the time I acquired the robes and discovered how nicely these shoulders matched was right about the time the guild decided to go back for some old titles. As a priest that meant three chances at the shoulders! Heroic Nefarion was not forthcoming with the shoulders, but he was kind enough to only wipe us a handful of times. Heroic Cho'gal was also not forthcoming with the correct tier token, so down we went to spend the night with Sinestra who graciously died after a couple hours of derping with cutters. It was Heroic Al'akir that decided of all the different item tiers he could drop, of all the different class tiers he could drop, he would bestow me with exactly what I was after. I think he appreciated that I was one of the three left alive... or he was as tired of listening to me whine for purple toilet bowls as the rest of my raid.

Troll Priest Elegance

Chest: Elegant Robes
Shoulders: Amice of Brilliant Light
Gloves: Gloves of Unfailing Faith
Belt: Serenity Belt
Staff: Staff of Immaculate Recovery









I acquired my Elegant Robes for about 30g - incredibly lucky. With enough patience and diligence, however, you can acquire any BoE green on the cheap on the AH. But that patience and diligence just might have to last upwards of six months.

I chose some priestly adornments, though none of them are locked to the priest class. The shoulders, gloves and staff are from Black Temple. It's an easy run through with 4-5 people. It's doable with 2-3 if you classes have interrupting capabilities.

Luckily trolls have a matching hair color for these robes. Not wanting my blue skin to clash too harshly, I chose gloves that brought in the skin and even the jewels on the robe. Many Horde races would be familiar with the issues skin colors can cause in making a nice outfit - and I imagine Draenei and Worgen as well. It is something that should always be in the back of your mind when making a nice outfit.

Monk, Leather and Mogs

Bare with me as I do something a bit different today. With MoP's release date out, Sept. 25, I find myself scrambling to find the last pieces of potential Monk mogging pieces that I want. Others have their picks lined up already, here's a break down of my expectations for what Monks will be after:

Color: Green/Jade, Blue, Red

Name: Wanderer, Adventurer, Traveler, Bard

Theme: Bard, Pirate, Ninja

From that, I've started collecting pieces of the following:

Bard's Garb
Clefthoof Garb
Bandit Garb (though I expect Scouting Garb to outshine it)
Scaled Leather (tentative guess for female pandarens)
Swashbuckler's
Wanderer

I am noticably missing green items from that list, mostly due to space and me personally not being a green fan. Some green leathers are Jadefire, Huntsman's and Tracker's. I have some other pieces not listed as well including the ever popular Prospector's.

I'll be most surprised if Bard isn't popular amongst the Pandaren Monks.

With this, I need a pricing guide, so I found Farli and EpicPennyPouch's leather tier list, but needed to make some adjustments as some of the tiers have TOO much in them. Does mine work? No promises, this is just a personal pricing guide to start MoP with and adjust as needed.

Tier 1: (1,000g – 3,000g)

Cutthroat
Eye patches including Swashbuckler's Eyepatch
Helms like Ranger Hat
Bonechewer
Prospector

Tier 2 (550g – 995g)

Ghostwalker&Boneshredder
Rageclaw (Obsure joke of the day: because Red makes it go faster)
Black Whelp Tunic
Trickster’s
Grand

Tier 3 (500g – 900g)

Scouting
Tribal
Clefhoof
Imperial Leather
Swashbuckler's

Tier 4 (450g- 850g)

Bard
Wolf Rider
Bandit Garb
Imposing
Traveler

Tier 5 (300g-600g)

Serpentskin&Indomitable 
Pridelord&Chieftain’s
Huntsman’s
Insignia

Tier 6 (225g-395g)

Nightshade
Jadefire
Wanderer

Tier 7 (100g-250g)

Tracker's
Scaled
Adventurer

Weekly Mog and Hyperion Farming

Head: Circle of Flame (This is a low drop late. Hope for good luck farming!)
Shoulders: Mantle of Three Terrors (Dungeon drop)
Chest: Vermillion Robes of the Dominant (Dungeon drop)
Gloves: Infernoweave Gloves (Purchasable with JP in Shat)
Belt: Aboriginal Sash
Staff: Staff of Feral Furies (Horde only. Purchasable from the tournament vendors in Icecrown for 25 seals.)

I believe there is a Landslide on the weapon. I'm not really sure why. Power Torrent actually looks just fine as its fire goes underneath the green rather than over top.

This week's look was created to match some else's Hyperion plate set. If you're after the Hyperion set, check the AH for what you can. Some of the rares in Blasted Lands have a chance to drop Hyperion pieces. Then make your way to Molten Core. I suggest MC over Blackwing Lair simply because it is perfectly soloable no matter what your class is, though I'm told the droprates are lower. I disagree with that, and here's why: you can kill all of the trash in MC without killing a boss (minus the trash tied to bosses)! That means you can spend 15-20 minutes killing everything in MC - careful of Baron Geddon, he moves around quickly) - and then reset the instance. Rinse and repeat until you start seeing those Hyperion pieces. There are also other great potential green drops to keep your eyes open for while farming your set, notably Elegant Robes.

Also keep in mind that the head and shoulders aren't quite matching for the Hyperion set, so plan and research accordingly.

Happy farming!

Radioactive Spidermanwoman

I mog A LOT on my priest. So every day I make sure I browse the AH for cloth chests. Usually it's the same old same old, but that doesn't stop me browsing, waiting for the day when a little gem appears.

 

Chest: Venomshroud Silk Robes (Identical to Hibernal Robe, the one you are more likely to see)

Shoulder: Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads (priest-only)

Gloves: Gloves of Broken Fingers 

Belt: Ruthless Gladiator's Cord of Accuracy (purchasable with honor points)

Staff: Terokk's Shadowstaff 

Shirt: Green Martial Shirt (purchased from vendor in Dalaran)

I never knew about these robes until my husband had their twin drop in Stratholme on one of his mount farming runs. And, oh, I wanted them! But I also knew what a nice price they would fetch. I closed my eyes, bit my lip, and told him to go ahead and put them on the AH. (He sold them for 10k.) Two days later, in my daily browse, I found mine - for 42g. You can imagine how quickly I purchased them.

I include the shirt for several reasons: the sleeves are black, making the green lacing down the arms stand out, it gives a nice trim around the collar, and it makes the back look like a corset.

 

I'm a pretty big advocate for farming items, especially when the items are rarely-to-never-seen on the AH (you can check to see when the last time an item appeared on your sever's AH via TheUndermineJournal), but that doesn't stop me from checking when I'm in the city taking a break.

Last week, I undertook the challenge of acquiring the Jade set for someone. The biggest challenge here for me was the chest. Not seen on the AH for three months, low droprate, not farmable from an instance. I spent a lot of time in Winterspring, then in Un'Goro. I camped a toon in front of Gruff's spawn point, hoping to get lucky in one of my kills. I logged in this morning, checked the AH for the Jade Breastplate, and then hopped onto my camper toon just as a quester in the zone is killing it. I cried on his shoulder and asked what dropped. Not the item I was after, but some cute shoulders I told him to sell for a nice amount. I went back to the city and began my toonhopping to post auctions for the day. At the end of it, I searched the AH for the Jade Breastplate... lo and behold, there it was, for 10g, posted by that quester out in Un'Goro. THANKS, MATE! XD

The lesson here? Browse the AH. Especially if there is something you are after, even if it hasn't been on the AH in a while. Set up alerts if you have the addons or sites for that sort of thing (I don't). Because eventually that item is due back up. In the meantime... there's always farming!