Here’s a few of the things I generally avoid buying and reselling on the AH:

- Items that are near or just above the next expansion, but from the last: level 56-60 Vanilla WoW, level 66-70 BC…not big sellers as folks will be replacing them in just a few levels - with quest greens, no less.

- Random “of the” blues: Unless it has Agility, or is Bandit, Monkey, Bear or some other combo of “these are the two best stats of a commonly played class”

- level x0-x5 blues: A level 20 blue isn’t going to be bought by a PvP twink; 0-5 level blues are limited to those who are willing to spend a little gold to ensure that leveling isn’t going to be slowed down by a 3-pat.

- Pally stuff on Horde and Shammy stuff on Alliance: Just not enough players buying, so be prepared for many failed auctions.

- Spellpower plate: Even on Alliance, you’re talking only Holy Pallies buying.

- Class items: Totems and such, even wands….limiting your buyer pool here.

- Enchant mats: The Good - no deposit, The Bad - Random Heroics means everyone and their brother usually has them. A good buy is still a good buy, but it needs to be a really good buy now.

- Crafted Consumables: We’re basically talking ammo and armor kits here. Cheap to make, any crafter will simply put them up for less. But leg armors are costlier, and are specifically needed if someone gets new legs, so buying low and selling high on them still works. They are the exception.

 - PvP gear (the level 78 crafted blues): Iffy..they are cheap to make, but most crafters only use them to skill up. Many folks, though, wait until 80 to PvP, and so they do sell. The pally/shammy divide still applies, but since other classes can wear the pally plate, it’s ok. But the shammy mail…well, it’s only for shammies, so beware Allyside. The trick is to wait until only a few of a type are on auction AND they are lowlow priced…and to act quickly before someone skilling up undercuts you. I’ve sold full sets in 24 hours…and also taken two weeks to sell one piece.

- Level 213/226 drops: Routinely overpriced if they appear for sale. Folks are not gonna pay 1500g for something when a night of running Heroics will net them enough Triumphs for a better piece. But they might pay a few hundred, so if you can get one for 100-200, go for it.

That’s it…how I make all the gold I need on the Auction House. NO tricks, NO fancy mods….just 3+ years of experience, some knowledge, some common sense, and a dash of psychology.

/profit

I’m going to the Showboat in Atlantic City today, part of a fundraiser for the Band Parents association at my son’s high school. He’s not in any of the bands, but my oldest was, so…I’m going.

It’ll be a short trip via charter bus, as AC is about an hour away. This is the only time I go there, really, and I just bring a little money and try to play blackjack for an hour or so, then have dinner somewhere with friends.

If only I could make gold in AC like I do the Auction House in Ironforge.

OC (or rather, his AH alt) plays the AH to make gold. He covers his repairs, gems, enchants, and consumables for raids. He covers any alts leveling up so they’re respectable, and not in greens 20 levels below them. He covers their profession skilling up. He’s even (with the help of a horde AH alt), covered the cost of his new Mekgineer’s Chopper.

I do it by buying low and selling high, but it’s not that simple. A few folks have asked me how I do it, I’ve told them, and they don’t succeed. So I’ll put it out here:

I specialize in blues and purples, mainly level 2-80 armor and weapons. An AH search of level 2+ rares will also include things like leg armors and the level 54 and 60 class books and ammo, which I usually ignore. On most servers, this search yields 600-1200 items, depending on server economy and also how active the ammo-crafting engineers are.

I sort by price low to high and start paging down and through the list. I use a mod from wowecon.com, the free one, which shows the median sale price of the item across ALL servers (not the average price).

I’ve been doing this so long, and watch the AH almost every single day, though, that most of the time I don’t really need the mod info, just using it to note up or down price trends, mostly.

With the median sale price, I know what I can probably resell the item for; what I look for are items I can bid on, or buy outright, that are at 50% of the median price, or less. When I repost the item, I usually price it at 75%-125% of the median price. That guarantees me a 50% profit if it sells, and also allows me so leeway to raise the minimum bid if it doesn’t to absorb the cost of the deposit lost.

While the method is simple, the skill is in knowing *what* to bid on or buy.

Crafted blues/epics: Some are easy and cheap to make, so easy and cheap that folks skill up on them, and can basically use mats on hand to undercut a price. These are usually i200 level items that go for 15-60 gold. These I don’t buy unless I can get them real cheap, 5g or so.

Twink items: These are certain items, usually ending in an 8 or 9 level (18 or 39), that are the best items a BG twink can equip. While these are in less demand nowadays, folks will also spend gold to equip leveling alts with these, so the demand is pretty steady. The best are world drops, not crafted. But even crafteds sell well, because the mats to make them are in lower areas, and most folks don’t want to farm them.

Raid-gearing items: These are i200 items, level 80 required, that folks will check the AH for after they hit 80 so they can bump their gear a bit before looking for raid drops. Not as in demand now because of the Random Dungeon system, most popular are tanking drops and crafteds, as most want to be defense-capped to tank heroics (and so have little or no wait time in queue).

High level drops: Crafted items and BoE drops from high raids (currently ToC and ICC) are sold on the AH. Though they require a steep initial investment (500-3000g or so), folks will often put a drop up for a relatively low amount, or a crafted that they had mats for. Knowing what the item sells for, I recognize this, and can often turn 1500g into 3-4k gold in 24 hours.

I will leave it to the reader to research and learn what *specific* items included in the above work best.

Next post, I will note some things to STAY AWAY from on the AH, or at least, be wary of investing in them.

Posting will re-commence shortly.

Son back from college, work stuff, holidays, and guild things have all conspired to delay posts, but new ones will be up soon.

The Kitten Liberation Army needs YOU!

The KLA is currently recruiting to enable us to consistently raid 10-man Trial of the Crusader and Ulduar.

This is a Limited Recruitment.

We are recruiting people, not toons, and we ask that your main and primary play commitment be to the Army. We consider ourselves to be casual players, not hard-core, who want to play with folks we like and have an enjoyable raid experience. We do not use DKP or EP/GP loot systems, but simple MainSpec-OffSpec-Downarmor-Please God do we have to shard another? rolls with a LootMaster. We do not force specs upon anyone, or even classes, but also recognize that advancement is sometimes dependent upon not just being our best, but having our best.

While our attitude may seem cavalier, we believe that our highest satisfaction in this game comes from the shared experience of group success.

Both experienced raiders looking for a different atmosphere and those looking for their first raid experience are welcome to apply.

If you are an experienced raider, it is expected that you already know a fight, or at least understand it, needing only practice to execute it properly. And that you know your class and spec, needing little advice or help to perform at your best. While you won’t be carrying us, or us you, seasoned folks who are willing to occasionally help others and place their emphasis on enjoying the game and its social aspect are one type of player we want. Elitists need not apply.

If you haven’t raided much, or at all, but have the willingness and ability to learn the fights, your class, and your role in a raid, we want you too! If you’d like to explore a part of the game you’ve not yet seen, we’ve found a lot of satisfaction in seeing those we’ve helped improve end up being some of our best players. But it does take the desire to improve through work, effort and knowledge. Those not yet ready to dedicate most of their play time to this end are asked to wait until an Open Recruiting period.

Our mix of competent and talented players, combined with those eager to learn and improve, is small but dedicated to the success of our guild.

But we need a few more folks of like mind and body to enable us to meet our goals.

We are taking applicants that meet the following pre-conditions:

-level 76 or higher
-18+ (we don’t wish to compete with homework or parents)
-Able to at least listen in Ventrilo
-Main in guild (no alts looking to gear up while their main raids with another guild, please) OR
Main not played, with KLA toons your primary players
-Able to be on and play during most of our raid times (Server Times):
Mon-Wed, 8-10pm
Sat 9-12pm
These times may be extended, and/or other days made available for raiding, but we anticipate this to be our minimum schedule.
-Previous raid experience, either as a player or with the applying character is nice to have, but is NOT required.

Yes, we have 6 tabs and Vent. No, we don’t do drama.

Those interested should contact one of our Recruiters in game:

Dheede
Martaliza
Shidawg

Recruiters will quickly take basic info and doublecheck the pre-conditions before passing the applicant info to an Interviewer (an Officer), with whom the applicant will have a more in-depth conversation, to ensure that the applicant meets our needs, and that the KLA meets the needs of the applicant.

Thank you for your time and interest!

Garl “Oilcan” Flintlock

Deathgoddess has a DK dps blog and started a DPS questionnaire, which I picked up at Pike’s Aspect of the Hare blog. So with no further ado:

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary DPS?

Oilcan, hunter, spec’d SV raid and SV pvp.

What is your primary DPSing environment? (i.e. raids, PvP, 5 mans

Probably equally raids (10s with guild and 25s with outguilders) and 5mans, with about 20% pvp. Single boss 25s every week, and usually a couple nights each 10s and 25s.

What is your favorite DPS spell/ability for your class and why?

Hmm….hunter shots don’t LOOK very different from each other, rather boring to just *watch* a hunter dps…but even though I’m SV I do like when I can launch Volley. It just looks so different from my other shots. Oh, and Snake Trap…you know….SNAKES!!!

What DPS spell do you use least for your class and why?

Arcane Shot, because it shares the same cd as Explosive Shot. It’s not on toolbars and I’ve literally not used it in almost a year.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your DPS class and why?

Like Pike, I just LOVE being able to ignore Spell Lockouts. Mostly though, I think’s it’s just continous dps. Even when the raid has to move, or a boss teles or something, a hunter can still shoot, as most shots are instant. And if you see a hunter move, stop, move, stop, it’s because he’s stopping to get off his autoshot. It’s been a while since I’ve died on Heigen, so I like dpsing while dancing…and hunters are about the only class that can do it.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your DPS class and why?

Melee range, obviously, but that also ties in with the huge hit boxes of some bosses. Melee doesn’t have that problem with hit boxes, and casters don’t have a minimum range. Also, any movement fight. Even though I can still dps on the move, I lose autoshot mostly, and that’s 30% of my dps gone. Finally, pets are both a strength and a weakness. BMs obviously love them, but my wolf’s buffs mean a lot to my dps…and losing him takes a good chunk outta my dps.

Yeah…I know that’s three…

In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best DPS assignment for you?

Patchwerk. Let me MD the tank, stand stock still, and rock and roll while my pet is safe and buff-buff-buffing me

What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with most and why?

DKs (mmm…Agility) and ferals for Leader of the Pack are always nice. But I suppose Pallies…MIght, Kings, Wisdom, Sanc….as Survival I get more RAP from ALL OF THEM!!!

What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with least and why?

Locks actually, just because I have no idea how they do what they do. I have no idea why one lock will do 5-6k and another 2-3k. Seed of Corruption and Chaos Bolt are the only two spells I can even name…

What is your worst habit as a DPS?

um…<whispers>..pulling trash <20% off the tank so I can drop’em with Kill Shot while they’re running towards me…try it, it’s just so cool….

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while DPSing?

Pet buffs. And pallies dithering on Blessings.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other DPS?

Mostly. If your good. Tippytop endgame, I don’t know about, but if you’re equal geared and play your class well (not just good), you’ll be up there with or above me. Gearing up, it does seem that hunters hit 3-4k faster than other classes, in equal gear.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a DPS?

Recount, though not why you’d think. My DPS varies widely depending on the fight and buffs. I use Recount to check my crit rates and the damage spread of my different shots. I’m typically 40-45% Explosive Shot, 25-30% Autoshot, 10% Steady Shot and a few-5% Aimed/Kill Shot/others. If I’m at the low end on Explosive Shot, it means I’ve been late with cds or didn’t have DoTs up (talents boost my damage when I’ve DOTs on target).

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?

That it is easy. We look like we’re just standing there…our shots don’t look much different from each other…it certainly *looks* easy. But managing cds and priorities is a split-second thing, and often require judgement - Do I hit this now? Will doing so delay a better cd? If I delay this cd for another, will it be worth the bonus to the first, having the second up? Essentially, those multiple decisions are required every 6 seconds. Most may be relatively easy choices, but you need to be aware of them regardless…and you have only seconds to be able to evaluate a difference of just a second or two…when the consequence may be 20 seconds out.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new DPSers of your class to learn?

Pet management, easily, is the most difficult. Even for Warlocks, Hunter pets are just so different. And they’re so integral to our dps game, that bad pet management likely costs a hunter more dps than almost any other part of his/her play. And pets are usually the LAST thing a new hunter thinks about.

What DPS class do you feel you understand least?

Locks. Just…do whatever…I don’t care. I seriously can’t judge a lock by anything more than gear, so I don’t.

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in DPS?

Omen. Even with the threat tanks have nowadays, OC still finds himself right behind them, and usually close enough to watch, if not FD. Also, I still use Kharthus’ Hunter Timers, though usually for non-hunter stuff like Heroisms. No Quartz anymore, and I really don’t watch damage numbers. They are what they are (or were).

[Your class's preferred basic stat] over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?

Hit, until capped, there’s no easier way to boost your damage. Agility is a great stat for hunters in general and particularly for Survival (Expose Weakness), as it adds RAP and Crit, both the basics behind hunter dps.

Baby Tauren Hunter has hit 30, and Beastmastery is getting interesting. Pets start getting talent points at level 20, so up until then Baby T could out-aggro his pet. Growl has a 5 second cd, and combined with a pet’s intial attack, would generate about 300 threat. He could dps enough to steal aggro in those 5 seconds and so would usually wait a couple of seconds before shooting, allowing a second Growl to land before his damage pulled the mob. Freezing Trap at level 20 helped if he drew a second or third mob. But it was essentially the same process that Oilcan learned while leveling Survival.

But following a BM-only talent spec, at level 30 Baby T learned Intimidation. Intimidation + Growl + pet’s initial attack equals about 900 threat ^-^

Baby T, with pet on defensive and at max range, can open up with Arcane Shot - Multi-Shot - Serpent Sting , blow every cd he has, get in a couple AutoShots…..and when the mob gets halfway to him, his pet nails him…and BAM…pet has aggro on its first attack.

Intimidation is also useful to save for the *second* mob….Growl twice on the first, and hit Intimidation on the second, and Baby T don’t draw teh aggro

Level 30 also teaches two hunter spells from the Hunter Trainer: Aspect of the Beast and Feign Death.

Aspect of the Hawk increases the hunter’s RAP, and thus his damage…to the tune of about a 5-10% dps increase. While using Aspect of the Beast will reduce the hunter’s ranged dps, by increasing his pet’s dps, his pet will aggro better, especially nice against multiple mobs. And remember….BM pets’ dps will become a larger and larger part of a BM hunter’s overall dps as they level.

Finally, perhaps the one spell hunters have the all other classes envy: Feign Death. FD-Envy is an acceptable fact of life for non-hunter classes…..you all want it, you know it, don’t hide it.

With a BM pet able to hold aggro on two mobs, a Freezing Trap laid down for a third, and FD to divert a fourth or fifth…..at level 30 the number of mobs a BM hunter can take on is limited only by the damage his pet can handle. And with Glyph of Mending, that damage is quite a lot. Baby T and his turtle, OldWarsong, are both 30, and easily handled 5-6  level 29s.

I am BeastMaster, hear (my pet) ROAR!!

Well, Blizzard does, that’s who.

The Opening of the Gates of Ahn’Qiraj, and the attendant War Effort, were a staple experience on any server…until February 2009. After that, servers were opened with the Gates already open.

If you started playing WoW after that, or if you began before that but on a server with the gates already open, you’ve missed a rather incredible part of the game, unfortunately. OC’s own experience will be a subject for a future post(s).

Although pets and talents have changed much since I rolled Oilcan, this change is one that while not directly affecting my Baby Tauren, nonetheless plays a large factor in the difference between his leveling and Oilcan’s.

Oilcan leveled up to 20 or so before the War Effort started, and 30ish before the Gates were opened on Steamwheedle Cartel. Prior to the War Effort, his skinning was primarily for getting his Leatherworking up, and leftover mats that wouldn’t help his skillups anymore would be auctioned. A stack of Light Leather would typically sell for 5-10 silver. When the War Effort began, those types of basic mats could now be turned in for Signets, which could be turned in for rep…and prices, literally overnight, skyrocketed. Stacks of Light Leather and Linen Cloth were 5 silver one day, and 1-2 gold the next. A lot of folks got “rich” this way; Oilcan turned his in for rep. Since there were relatively few max levels (level 60 at the time), prices for other things like drops and crafted blues were also low to start (5-10g), but as folks got more gold, they began to rise. Things like Deviate Scale Belt had sold for 4-5g, and soon were selling for 30g. Until level 20, Oilcan thus had to scrimp and save sometimes for training money, and playing the AH really wasn’t possible….there just wasn’t the gold on server. After the War Effort though, the gold was there, and OC began playing the AH some.

This structure of a weak starting economy, suddenly bolstered by a server event, was a staple part of a new server. The contrast between OC and Baby Tauren is pretty startling: Baby T has never wanted for gold, even though he is NOT playing the AH. His first stack of Light Leather sold for 2 gold, the Trade Vendors in a start area or two had early trade recipes that auctioned for several gold, and even his extra crafted goods from skilling up Leatherworking sell for 50s-6g. His server is a new one, but with the Gates already open, folks are free to level, level, level and the economy is already strong and gold abounds.

With the Gates open, with easier XP gain, with max level now at 80…..all this means gold is plentiful. And with that much gold, and easier leveling, folks just don’t spend time grinding an instance for a certain drop. With less gold and longer leveling times, Oilcan actually ran instances not just once for the AP, or twice for quests…he ran them several times, sometimes 5-10 times, in order to get a drop he wanted. But it is MUCH easier now for folks to either simply BUY an upgrade, or it takes much less time for folks to simply LEVEL up to the next instance, the next drop.

Baby Tauren now joins LFG as soon as he logs on and takes a run group any chance he gets, simply because it’s empty most of the time. Not because folks don’t want to, or there aren’t that many folks on, but because leveling is too fast for folks to stick around a bracket long, and gold too plentiful to worry about a drop. No one cares about a level 20 dungeon quest when they’re gonna be 80 in a month. And if they want the AP, they’ll just come back and solo when they are a higher level.

Oilcan ran a fair amount of dungeons while leveling, and if it wasn’t for the BGs and RP and professions and so on, would have run more.

Baby Tauren is barely able to get even ONE run in before leveling past it, and that might be the biggest change in my play experience from Oilcan to now.

It isn’t often I get to spend close to 1000g on gems and enchants in a single night, but after topping damage and dps in VoA on Koralon, I won the Relentless Wristguards of Triumph that dropped (with a 99 no less). We had captured Wintergrasp just prior, and the 3 Wintergrasp Marks were just enough for me to get my Titan-Forged Chain Leggings of Triumph with 40 marks. I had 30+ Emblems of Triumph, so I went for the trifecta and picked up Windrunner’s Handguards of Conquest, my first Windrunner’s gear.

OC’s PvP gear, as mentioned before, is north of 800, so I gemmed and enchanted/leg armored the PvP gear for more dps, as opposed to stamina or resilience. I should end up with about 840 Resilience (down from the 870 previous), but with a 50 dps increase in white damage, a 9-10% increase, so I think I’m better off than before, as long as I’m not up against a pally

 

I like Koralon, as I get to stand and shoot, hence the *almost* 6k dps (dam, did I miss a cd? late hitting a cd? soooo close….). We wiped on Emalon 3x and ran out of time before WG reset the bosses because folks stood in the fire, but I topped those efforts, also, with 4700 dps.

Dead dps, doesn’t.

Several in raid were suggesting we kick a few undergeared dpsers (had a couple with GearScores under 3k, and several under 4k), to which those of us who were more intelligent responded with a resounding “STAY OUT OF THE FIRE”.

I’d rather have someone doing 2k the WHOLE fight, than a 4ker who dies 25% into the fight because they are stupid.

Again: Dead dps, doesn’t.

Seriously. GTFO the FIRE!

Every now and then, we get the urge to go back to a simpler time, a time without raiding and repairs, without all the complexities that come with having an 80. So we roll an alt, romp around the start areas mashing on stuff, and wonder at what we didn’t know then.

My only hunter has been Oilcan on SwC, until now. I rolled a hunter on a RP/PvP server….and found myself kiting my first mob kills around. KITING THEM. A skill that, when first on Oilcan, I wasn’t even aware of. It’s almost ridiculously easy, of course, killing things with single digit levels. But I wondered whether it was because I had a 80 hunter, or because of the changes in the game between now and 3-1/2 years ago.

The biggest change is a simple one: Blizz made leveling about 30% faster, by decreasing the xp needed to level. In other words, where Oilcan needed to fill 20 xp bars to ding, my baby Tauren only needs the equivalent of 14 bars. Faster leveling, though, has a significant impact on gameplay, in several areas.

Most apparent is quests going green faster. Oilcan could pretty much quest out an area and have only the last few, maybe, be green as he completed them. Baby T has hardly started in Crossroads and already 1/3 are green. Nowadays, finishing the quests in an area before moving on means those last ones will be GREY, well below your level. While this isn’t a bad thing for those just wanting to level, part of WoW’s appeal are the quests (some are among my favorite things in the game), and faster leveling means that most people today are missing out on a part of the game that Oilcan enjoyed very much.

Faster leveling also affects professions. Gatherers who jump to the next area based on level, rather than through the quest lines, find that their gathering skill did not have sufficient time to skill up enough to farm in the new area….and that they have to go back to what is now a low area to get more skill. Crafters find that what they might gather through routine play, and the crafts they can make with them, are beneath their level….they no longer have as much time as before in those areas to concurrently gather mats and craft things in order to keep them at their level. Instead, because their toon is leveling faster, they find that the crafted gear they can make is several levels below them. If they try to maintain their craft to match their level, it means having to buy stuff off the AH…because if they went out and farmed those mats…they would level even further ahead of their crafting. Oilcan was able to farm mats and craft his own gear while leveling, rarely resorting to the AH for even rare mats, because his longer leveling time allowed it. Faster leveling means that professions fall behind, which is why we see folks hit max level with professions 1/2 or 2/3 of max.

Lastly, because faster leveling means that folks pretty quickly are higher level than the quests in their quest log, it leads to a skill problem. If you don’t have to try hard, you won’t. If a mage or priest can whack mobs to kill them….through dozens of levels…casting only minimal spells….well, is it any surprise that many new 80s aren’t competent? Oilcan quickly found out the value of having a pet tank…because he was taking mobs at or slightly above his level in his quest log…and Elites above his level. But when those mobs a several levels BELOW you, well….you don’t learn to surf the edge. I’ve seen, in my travels, folks 10 levels above the mobs they were killing who thought that WAS the game….easily killing stuff.

I understand the business decision Blizz made about faster leveling. But it’s going to take some real attention and work for me to make the leveling experience of my baby T hunter something other than a boring run to 80.

I’m working on two series of posts, which is why I’ve not posted in a bit.

The first deals with PvP issues, based on observations since Oilcan has gotten back into the BGs and Wintergrasp:

1) Pallies are OP. When it takes 3-4 people to take down a single paladin, that’s OP. But why? Looking into hunter vs. pally PvP led me to look at other classes, too.

2) Hunter CC and slows seem to be less effective than those of other classes. Is it the hunter’s spells and talents, or his opponent’s? Is it his countermeasures, or those of his adversary?

3) The issue of incoming damage reduction, and returning health not through direct heals but through doing damage or being damaged, also is something I’m looking at. I’m not talking cast heals here, or damage mitigation, but spells and talents that give a class/spec hp back when dealing or taking damage, or those that directly reduce damage taken.

The second is: I’ve rolled a baby tauren hunter on a RP/PvP server. After a long raid night, or a long night of PvP, when others are off, I figured it’d be relaxing to tool around on a lowbie off-server. I’ve never played a tauren, so that’s new. Also, it’s been over 3 years since Oilcan leveled, and I was struck by the differences between now and then.

So new posts are forthcoming.