WoW: Cooking and Fishing Guide

December 5th, 2008 at 09:11am Under Cooking+ Fishing

Cooking and fishing are two of the secondary professions available to players in World of Warcraft. Many people find these worthwhile skills to raise as one can catch fish, which can then be cooked and turned into a great source for stat buffs. Cooking and fishing are excellent professions to level up together. One catches fish, raising the fishing skill and then cooks them up, raising one’s cooking skill.

Of course first one must obtain the skill to level up these professions. With the Wrath of the Lich King, there is a new land in the World of Warcraft, Northrend and the maxed out skills in our professions are no longer maxed out. Four fifty is the new three seventy-five.

Some will choose to race to level 80 and bring their professions up to speed at a later date. Others will raise their skills as they make their way through the appropriate zones. In any case, one will need a visit a trainer to open up the ability to level to the Grand Master rank in both fishing and cooking. Grand Master can be trained once you reach 350 in your profession. Training costs 35 gold, at this level. Those who are leveling up fishing for the first time can forego buying the book Master Fishing: Art of Angling. Master fishing can be purchased from the Northrend fishing trainers for 1 gold.

Where do I go for Training?

Trainers for the fishing and cooking professions are located in both the starting areas of Northrend: the Howling Fjord and the Borean Tundra. Horde will take the zeppelin from Undercity to reach Vengenace Landing in the Howling Fjord. The fishing trainer is Angelina Soren. She is located at 79.3/27, on the docks. The cooking trainer is Tom Kolichio who can be found at 78.6/29.4. Or if the Borean Tundra is more to one’s tastes, just catch the zeppelin located to the right as you exit Orgrimmar. Once in Warsong Hold you head down to the lower level. You will find Fishy Ser’ji near the inn and the cooking trainer, Orn Tenderhoof, on the inn’s main floor.

Alliance will take the boat from Menethil Harbor to Velgarde. They will find their fishing trainer, Byron Welwick near the water (not a big surprise there) at 61.4/63.8. Cooking trainer, Brom Brewbaster is located in the inn at 58.2/62.1. There is also a ship that runs from Stromwind Harbor to Valiance Keep. Once there, look for Rollic Macreel in the keep at 57.9/71.5 to learn Grand Master cookery. Old Man Robert teaches the fishing skill in the same area at 57.8/71.6.

Dalaran also has Master Fishing and Cooking trainers once one moves beyond the entry level areas for Northrend. Alliance will find Grand Master Cook Katherine Lee in the kitchens of A Hero’s Welcome inn, between the Silver Enclave and Eventide. Horde will find their cooking trainer, Awilo Lon’gomba at 70/38 in the Filthy Beast inn. These cooking trainers also give the daily cooking quest. The fishing trainer is Marcia Chase who is found at 53.0/64.9 by the Eventide Pools in Dalaran. She is more open-minded and will train both Horde and Alliance toons.

How to Level the Fishing Skill

After the training, now comes the levelling. Fishing has not changed radically. You can still stand in Org or Stormwind and level fishing from 0 to 450 one tedious cast at a time. As before, only successful catches count toward levelling. If you fail to catch a fish because your skill was not sufficient to guarantee 100% success, you wasted you cast, so be sure you have enough fishing skill to guarantee you will not fail to catch a fish.

According to El’s Extreme Anglin’ it takes an average of 12.5 successful catches to gain a skill point from 375 to 430. From 430 to 450 takes an average of 14.5 catches per skill point. So count on catching over 975 fish before you see that Grand Master Fisherman achievement pop up on your screen.

There are a number of mods that will make fishing a tad less tedious. Prospective anglers might want to look at Fishing Ace or Fishing Buddy. Among other attractive features, these add-ons enhance the sound made when a fish is caught. This makes fishing more tolerable by allowing one’s eyes to leave the bobber and attend to other things like TV, a movie, or a good book. Just have the bobber positioned next to the bobber, ready for a right click when you hear that a fish is hooked. In a recent Blizzcast developer Jon LeCraft indicated that Blizzard feels our pain and wants to make fishing more fun. However, this appears to be in the brainstorming phase, so prepare for tedium as you level your fishing to 450.

What Skill Do I Need for Northrend Fishing?

Players will begin in the Borean Tundra or the Howling Fjord. The skill needed to fish in these areas is 380, so you will need some fishing enhancements to even cast a line at 375. You’ll need a skill rating of at least 450 to avoid the dreaded, “Your fish got away” message. The same skill levels apply for Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills.

The Crystalsong Forest requires a minimum skill of 405, with 500 needed to avoid missing a catch. Dalaran and Sholazar Basin require a 430 minimum skill, 525 to avoid misses. The Frozen Sea has a minimum requirement of 480, with 575 if you don’t want any fish to get away.

<>Where Can I get Equipment to Enhance my Fishing Skill?

If you don’t already have a good fishing pole, both factions can do the Rather be Fishin’ quest. This quest is given by Seth, who can be found in the Lower City area of Shattrath. The reward is a fishing pole at adds +20 to the fishing skill when equipped. There is a Horde-only quest in the Hinterlands. Find Katoom the Angler on the pier in Revantusk Village to get the quest Snapjaws, Mon. The reward from this quest is a pole that adds +25 to the fishing skill when equipped.

Once you have your pole, you’ll want some good lures. There are a variety of lures, which can be purchased from vendors. There are two lures that add 100 points to fishing skill: the Aquadynamic Fish Attractor and the Sharpened Fish Hook. The Aquadynamic Fish Attractor is a limited supply item on the vendors that carry it, but can be made by engineers and is often for sale on the Auction House. Sharpened Fish Hooks are rewards from doing the daily fishing quest. Anglers with an oversupply of these items will also sell them on the Auction House.

There is a weekly fishing extravaganza in Stranglethorn Vale with many rewards that yield fishing bonus items. This event takes place every Sunday from 2 to 4PM server time. The winner will receive the choice of an Arcanite Fishing Pole, with +35 to fishing skill or a trinket that turns the user into a fish. They also complete the achievement Master Angler of Stranglethorn. Even if you don’t win the event there are three rare fish that can be caught. These can be turned in for a hat, boots or fishing line all of which add +5 to the fishing skill.

The daily fishing quest can yield a +5 fishing hat and a +3 fishing line that be attached to a pole. Other fishing enhancements are a +2 to gloves enchant and the consumable, Captain Rumsey’s Lager, which adds +10 to the fishing skill for 3 minutes. There is also an Underbelly elixir, which is a rare find in Dalaran. Its results are unpredictable and though there is a random +50 to fishing result, it appears to be too rare and too random to be of much interest.

Cooking has changed quite a bit and will not be as fast to level as it has been in the past. The old fishing/cooking synergy will work till about level 415 in cooking. Then you will need to do the daily cooking quest in Dalaran. You need level 74 to start doing these quests. The quests rewards include Dalaran Cooking Awards. All recipes above the level of 415 can only be purchased with these Delaran Cooking Awards. Additionally the best, highest return recipes all use Northern Spices. Northern Spices are also rewards from doing the daily Dalaran cooking quest. They can also be purchased with the Dalaran Cooking Awards. If you want to get cooking up to 450, you will be doing these new daily cooking quests. Additionally, these recipes call for meats as well as fish.

Anything Else I Should Know?

There are other nice things one can get from fishing. Fishing schools will yield fish of a certain type, but this is also where one will find Crystallized Water, Northrend’s version of the mote of water. Combine ten to get one Eternal Water. The respawn rate on these schools is much faster than was seen in The Burning Crusade.

There are a number of achievements for fishing up assorted coins from Dalaran’s Eventide fountain. A new mini-pet, a Giant Rat can be fished up from the waters of the Underbelly in Dalaran. Here you can also fish up a Rusty Prison Key, which can be used to open a treasure chest, which yields rare quality weapons and armor or other rewards.

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The Cooking / Fishing Combo Guide for Alliance players

March 1st, 2008 at 12:44am Under Cooking+ Fishing

This guide is intended to give you simple step-by-step directions to get your level 40+ Alliance character from zero to 300 in both cooking and fishing at the same time. It is not the only way to skill-up these professions, but it is a very easy way that requires a minimum of travel and keeps you in relatively safe areas. I created this guide because the only fishing/cooking combination guides I could find were written for horde characters. I used bits of this guide as a starting point and filled it out with specifics for us good guys. All drop percentages and location details were borrowed from Thottbot and Allakhazam.

A note on fishing: Fishing levels up at the same rate no matter where you fish. It is entirely possible to go from 1 to 300 skill points without ever leaving a newbie zone (except for training and the artisan quest, obviously). This would be incredibly boring and you wouldn’t get all the useful / lucrative fish (not to mention not being able to skill-up cooking at the same time), but it will take no longer than if you fish in level-appropriate areas.

Apprentice fishing and cooking (1-75)

1. Get apprentice Cooking from Gremlock Pilsnor in Kharanos, Daryl Riknussun in Ironforge, or Stephen Ryback in Old Town, Stormwind.
2. Get apprentice Fishing from Arnold Leland in Stormwind. He on a small dock in the canals in the NW corner of the trade district.
3. Buy a fishing pole from Catherine Leland, who should be near Arnold. You should also get a couple Shiny Baubles and the recipe for Brilliant Smallfish while you’re there.
4. Go to any body of water in Elwynn Forrest and start fishing! Northshire will be easiest until you get to 20 or so. You should get Brilliant Smallfish 60% of the time.
5. When you’ve got an assload of Brilliant Smallfish, find a cooking fire (or make one yourself) and cook up your fish.
6. Repeat until you have between 50 and 75 skill points in both cooking and fishing.

Journeyman Fishing and Cooking (50-150)

1. Hit up Tharynn Bouden in goldshire for the recipe for Longjaw Mud Snapper
2. Go back to Stephen Ryback in Stormwind for Journeyman Cooking
3. Find Arnold Leland again for Journeyman Fishing, and get some Nightcrawlers from his wife too.
4. Start fishing right there on the dock. You mostly want Longjaw Mud Snappers - their drop rate is about 65%. You will also get some Bristle Whisker Catfish here. Keep them for later.
5. Reel in the Longjaw Mud Snappers and cook them until your fishing skill is up to 100.
6. Return to Catherine Leland and buy the recipe for Bristle Whisker Catfish and a bunch of Bright Baubles.
7. Head to Redridge and start fishing Lake Everstill for Bristle Whisker Catfish. You should get around a 60% drop rate.
8. Fish and cook away until your fishing and cooking are between 125 and 150

Expert Fishing and Cooking (125-225)

1. For expert fishing, get the book Expert Fishing - The Bass and You from Old Man Hemming in Booty Bay. He’s in a little house on the docks with a fishhook sign out front.
2. You need to get the book Expert Cooking from Shandrina in Ashenvale. This book will teach you Expert Cooking. She is on the northern shore of Mystral Lake.
3. After you get the cooking book, head north to Astranaar and start fishing for more Bristle Whisker Catfish. It will get your cooking up to 175, but it turns green at 160 so you’ll have to make a bunch. Your fishing won’t level very fast either after 140 or so. You just have to keep at it.
4. When you’ve gotten your cooking up to 175, head to Menethil Harbor and buy the recipe for Rockscale Cod from Stuart Fleming on the docks.
5. Take the boat to Theremore and start fishing for Rockscale Cod.
6. You’ll probably need Bright Baubles to catch anything here at this point, and you can get them from Helenia Olden in town if you don’t have any on you. She is in the 1st big house on the left as you enter Theremore from the docks, just behind the griffon master. She also sells other recipes you might be interested in.
7. Catch and cook all the Rockscale Cod you can - They drop nearly 60% here. You will sometimes catch Spotted Yellowtail also. Hold on to them for later
8. This is where you’ll start to really notice the difference in skill-up speed between fishing and cooking. You’ll max out your cooking in no time, but your fishing skill will still be well under 200. You can stay here if you want, but once you get to 200 you’ll get better fish if you move on to Feralas (see below). Save any Zesty Clam Meat and Spotted Yellowtail you catch while there.

Artisan Fishing and Cooking (225-300)

1. Unlike the other skill levels, you need to be maxed out (225) at expert to get the artisan quests for fishing and cooking. The quests will not be available to you until you’re at least level 35 and have 225 skill points.
2. The artisan cooking quest is Clamlette Surprise. You will probably be ready for this quest long before your fishing is up to 225, but that’s ok. Head to Gagetzan in Tanaris and talk to Dirge Quikcleave in the Inn to get the quest.
   1. One of the requirements for the quest is 10 pieces of Zesty Clam Meat. The easiest way to get zesty clam meat is fishing off the dock in Feralas, as you should have been doing for the last 20 skill points or so. They don’t drop often, but all this extra fishing will help you get the skill caught up with cooking.
   2. The other two quest items are Giant Eggs and Alterac Swiss. The eggs drop from the Rocs in tanaris, as well as owlbeasts in the hinterlands. The swiss is sold by innkeepers in several towns. Check here for the full list. Return to Dirge Quikcleave in Gadgetzan when you have all the items, turn in the quest, and you’ll be an artisan cook.
3. Remember that Spotted Yellowtail I told you to save? Now you can cook it up all tasty-like after you get the recipe from Gikkix in Steamwheedle Port, Tanaris. Gikkix also sells the recipe for Poached Sunscale Salmon, which you can use at cooking level 250. Your best bet is to get them both now so you don’t have to come back later.
4. To receive artisan fishing, you have to do a quest called Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme. Nat is on one of the small islands due west of Theremore. The coordinates (for those that can use them) are 58,60.
   1. The quest requires you to get one each of 4 rare fish. I suggest you read the comments on Thottbot and Allakhazam to find out exactly where you need to fish for them. I personally got 3 of the fish in 10 casts or less, while the 4th took over 45 min. Anecdotal evidence suggests these fish may be timed drops. If somebody else just caught one, it might be a while until another drops. Take this into consideration if it seems like it’s taking forever to get one of the fish.
   2. Once you’ve caught them all, head back to Nat and complete the quest to become an artisan fisherman.
5. To max out both fishing and cooking, head on back to Feathermoon Stronghold in Feralas. You will probably need bright baubles to catch anything here, but it’s worth it. In addition to lots of spotted yellowtail, you’ll sometimes catch valuable fish like Firefin Snapper and Stoneskin Eel (which go for 50s each in the auction house).
6. Fishing in this area will also occasionally yield Glossy Mightfish. The [http://www.thottbot.com/?i=3659|recipe for cooked Glossy Mightfish] is in limited supply, but might be worth it for the +10 stamina bonus you get for eating it. You’ll have a pile of these by the time you’re done.
7. Continue to catch and cook Spotted Yellowtail until you either top out at 300 or fall asleep from boredom. Cooking will go quickly with the Spotted Yellowtail recipe staying orange until 260 and remaining point-worthy all the way to 300. Fishing however slows to a crawl. You’ll only be getting about 1 point per 5 or 6 fish at 240, and it’s down to 1 in 10 by 280.
8. If you feel so inclined, you can pound out the last 10-15 points or so of fishing in Zul’Gurub. You will need to be in a raid group to get inside the instance (you can disband as soon as you get in), as well as being at least level 55. I’m not sure what the exact level requirement is to fish here, but you will definately need an Aquadynamic Fish Attractor and possibly a Big Iron Fishing Pole as well. The good news is that the Lightning Eel and Plated Armorfish you catch will make it worth the price of admission. As soon as you enter ZG, jump off the stairs to the right and you can fish off the platform without aggroing any mobs.
9. Remember, once you’ve maxed out cooking, you can work on fishing anywhere and it will continue to skill up at the same rate. Instead of grinding away at it all at once, you’re better off using it as something constructive to do while you’re waiting around for something else.

Good luck, happy fishing, and bon apetit!

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Cooking Trainer List

February 29th, 2008 at 11:54pm Under Cooking

Alliance

Expert (you need to buy a book to become Expert, cost is 1 gold)

• Shandrina - Ashenvale, Silverwind Refuge

Horde

Expert (you need to buy a book to become Expert, cost is 1 gold)

• Wulan - Desolace, Shadowprey Village

Neutral

Artisan (you need to do the quest “Clamlette Surprise” to become Artisan)

• Dirge Quickcleave - Tanaris, Gadgetzan

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