Kaliope's WoW Crafting Blog

MoP Beta Files: Fly-thru for Kun-Lai Summit

2012-05-13T22:32:00.003-07:00

Shamanana has created a new video for us of the latest zone to be unlocked in Pandaria: Kun-Lai Summit. I haven't been there yet and I'm not quite sure how he got in either. It's bordered on all side by zones that are still closed. Either way, here is a video of the new zone for your enjoyment!

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Tailoring

2012-05-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

Another new build went up on the Beta servers today and we finally have some Tailoring recipes on the trainer! (sorry Engineers, Scribes and Jewelcrafters -- still nothing for you just yet). Just like the Blacksmithing recipes, these recipes have no item data. A name and a list of components is all we get to see. For that reason I'm not going to post every recipe, it's a lot of work when half the

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Zen Fishing

2012-05-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

At this time actual Fishing content is not yet available to players. Somehow El (of El's Anglin) has managed to piece together some interesting information about how it's going to play out. Instead of reinventing the wheel I'll just post a link to his excellent article on the new Fishing content coming in MoP: MoP Angler's Preview by El You can also see data-mined item information at

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Zen Leatherworking

2012-05-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today a new Beta build was released and with it we got some Leatherworking recipes! There are still some functionality issues with tradeskills, so I'm not going to try leveling up or anything. But at least we can see what's in store for us :) The first thing I noticed about the starter recipes is that they have no stats. Strangely, they also do not have the "random" flag on them either. I still

MoP Beta Files: Early Enchanting Functionality

2012-04-27T21:22:00.001-07:00

A new build has been deployed on the Beta servers and it appears we have a stable game :) Since I had already discovered the new enchanting dust was dropping earlier this week, I decided to do a bit more noodling with that today. I'm not really in a position to level Enchanting just yet (the recipes are still pretty spread out) but I can at least test it. I disenchanted a bunch of BOE greens I

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Krasarang Wilds

2012-04-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

As you may have noted from my latest tweets, the current Beta build is quite buggy for most of us testers. The application is crashing every 1-5 minutes for me, which makes it difficult to test some things. That said, I've been leveling Mining on a premade Monk in the hopes that I can avoid copying my own JC/Miner to the Beta realm. This build also unlocked a third zone for us: Krasarang Wilds.

MoP Beta Files: More Fun Stuff!

2012-04-24T14:09:00.002-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since we had a new Beta build and I'm just waiting for new content to be added. I leveled Kaliope to 87 so she's currently XP locked. I haven't quite finished the current zone but I'd prefer to wait until I can get XP again. The only gathering profession available is skinning so I continue to prioritize that over questing when I hit an area riddled with bodies. I'm

MoP Beta Files: Random Arch & Farm Info

2012-04-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I logged into the latest build on the Beta realm and a new zone had been unlocked. This looks to be the next zone in the leveling progression: Valley of the Four Winds. I was excited to finally be there after trying to infiltrate several times previously and being forcibly booted from the zone. Plus, two of my dig sites were there and I had not been able to access any dig sites in the

More Archaeology Goodies from the MoP Beta

2012-04-09T12:05:00.009-07:00

Over the weekend I received two new emails with some additional Archaeology information from the latest Beta build. Apparently we'll be getting two new races in Pandaria, the Pandaren and the Mogu.Greeneggs sent in some new images of the Mogu racial goodies. Here is a Mogu fragment:And here is the Mogu page in the Archaeology journal:Greeneggs also sent this nice pic of the Jade Forest zone map.

MoP Beta Files: Archaeology Changes & More

2012-03-30T05:36:00.007-07:00

I just got an email last night from Greeneggs with some new goodies he found from Archaeology. Apparently he started visiting dig sites in Pandaria and took some screenshots for us! And apparently he was able to dig at one site nine times before it was tapped out, which let him collect enough fragments for two artifacts. So it sounds like some much needed tweaks have been made to the digging

MoP Beta Files: Cooking Tidbits

2012-03-29T10:09:00.009-07:00

Just wanted to share part of a Blue post from Wryxian that went out this morning in response to a Cooking question:"Oooh, a cooking thread! Quelle surprise! *mock gasp*I actually don't have the answers for you on that. However, in place of them I do have some more information that might be of interest.So you might have heard for Cooking in Mists of Pandaria we will have specializations. At the

MoP Beta Files: Enchanting

2012-03-28T10:02:00.006-07:00

Today we have the Enchanting trainer recipes from the Beta, thanks to our handy helper Greeneggs! This appears to be all of the recipes currently listed on the trainer, although again the progression is rough. It still gives us an idea of where in the chain a recipe may be, although I expect them to be spread more evenly for release.525 Skill:550 Skill:575 Skill:600 Skill:The number of recipes

MoP Beta Files: First Aid

2012-03-27T15:16:00.008-07:00

Last night I also received some screenshots from the First Aid trainers in the Beta. You can see in this first image that Zen Master First Aid requires level 75 to learn and can be picked up at 500 skill:The first bandage can also be learned at 500 skill - the Windwool Bandage. This bandage heals a whopping 54k health! I can definitely see where the item squish motivation was coming from :)

MoP Beta Files: Mining

2012-03-27T10:38:00.005-07:00

Our intrepid Beta reporter, Greeneggs of Doomhammer, was kind enough to send out some additional screenshots from the Mining trainers late yesterday. We now know that the next level of profession skill is called "Zen Master"! You can also see the current leveling requirements for MoP Mining in this image:It looks like we'll need a level 80 toon with 500 Mining skill. The trainer prices may be

Alchemy Recipes from the MoP Beta

2012-03-26T22:25:00.008-07:00

This is our first look at new Alchemy recipes from the trainers on the Beta server. You can see from the skill level requirements that all the recipes are basically clumped into four groups. Likely this is not the way they will remain, but it gives us a rough idea of the intended progression. We can make some interesting observations - the flask recipes only use 4 herbs and a "golden lotus".

Panda Info is Rolling In!

2012-03-26T12:47:00.003-07:00

First, I apologize for being so quiet this week during all the Beta hubbub. I picked up a nasty head cold that decided to go rogue and infect my sinuses, so I've been pretty out of it. I've managed to keep up with the news via my iPad, but have not been functional enough to actually do much else.On the plus side, I received a lovely email from Greeneggs of Doomhammer offering to send goodies our

Farms!

2012-03-19T01:50:00.002-07:00

That is all ;)Ok, I suppose that is pretty skimpy. Not seeing anything else specific to professions (unless you count vague references to new glyphs). There is a lot of text to read through, so I may have missed something.Feel free to discuss!

Faction Rewind: Cenarion Circle in the Cataclysm

2012-03-13T23:38:00.001-07:00

Why would I care about my reputation with Cenarion Circle? Most players probably don't. But if you are a Leatherworker, I propose that you do. Anyone who's been following The Mogfather is probably familiar with his transmog lists. He's got a pretty solid track record of identifying attractive items that players seek out. Well, the Cenarion Circle sells four recipes for look-a-like gear that ranks

Flashback to Economy in SWG

2012-03-07T11:01:00.004-08:00

My husband sent me this interesting article written by a "goblin" style player from Star Wars: Galaxies. Since it's a slow news week (month, quarter) I thought I'd share it :) I was struck by how much of this sounded familiar within the context of our game, a handful of years later. Regardless of the game, clearly the techniques for creating and building markets are often similar. Check it out

BiS Recipe Viability in a 4.3 Market

2012-02-24T11:40:00.004-08:00

One of our readers asked to talk about whether "best in slot (aka BiS)" recipes are worth using in the current market. This is an interesting topic because there are multiple forces at work here. The most obvious answer is "yes" because there are always progression-minded players who will purchase a BiS item at a premium price. But hold on - we're currently on the last content patch before a new

Notes from the Diablo III Beta: Auction House Fees

2012-02-22T10:52:00.002-08:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted on the blog. Sadly there's just not much going on in WoW with regard to professions. I have been putting in a good bit of time on the Diablo 3 Beta and I'm working on a review post for that. In the latest patch they wiped all our characters, so I'm having to start from scratch. Luckily I'm taking the time to document more of the crafting process this

SWTOR: My Final Review, Part 2

2012-01-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

First, I should qualify my time in SWTOR and disclose that I spent around 20 hours in the open beta, and another 60+ hours in the live game. I leveled a Scoundrel to 25 and a Jedi Knight to 9 in the live game, and a Jedi Consular to 15 in the Beta. I feel like I got a pretty good taste of the leveling game with more time invested than a typical trial user would be able to spend. You'll notice

SWTOR: My Final Review, Part 1

2012-01-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

Since the new Star Wars MMO was released I've been playing in the live game in order to continue my coverage of the crafting system. I didn't feel like I had enough opportunity to really explore as much as I wanted to in the Beta, so I've been spending more time with it. I've just completed my full review and I've decided to post it in two parts - one for crafting and one for general impressions.

Lunar Festival is Almost Here!

2012-01-19T14:12:00.001-08:00

In case you guys aren't following the seasonal calendar, Lunar Festival is kicking off this weekend on Sunday morning. For those who've rolled new toons or just started playing in the last year, there are collectible recipes available from this seasonal event. The bulk of the recipes are for Engineers, they are able to buy schematics for a bunch of fireworks recipes. They also get access to

Faction Rewind: Timbermaw Hold in the Cataclysm

2012-01-09T09:53:00.001-08:00

A while back we started revisiting some Classic factions and reviewing how they can be leveled in Cataclysm. I recently found myself working on my reputation with the Timbermaw Hold to pick up some new leather recipes for a twink druid. In the process I noticed some significant changes, so I thought I'd share my findings with you guys. This will mostly be of interest to completionists who want