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.
By admin
May 10th, 2008 at 09:33am
Under Fishing+ WoW Gold Guide
Until very recently, with patches 2.3 and 2.4, fishing was a skill mainly taken up by those players aching to relax. Casual questers who couldn’t play for hours and be all business, or raiders looking to escape the pressure, took to their favorite remote and beautiful areas with a rod, some music, and a <DND> tag.
In my small and tight-knit guild, fishing often meant story time. While I was feeling Zen fishing from the Forgotten Coast, another guildmate was storming the shores along Stranglethorn Vale, and we would exchange anecdotes and gossip. We took pleasure in our secret source for cloth, leather, ore and greens, as well as fish for alchemy, and helped finance our level 40 mounts through fishing.
Still, many players, if not most players, seemed to find fishing boring, slow and annoying. Fortunately, fishing has never been necessary for any character if it does not provide pleasure. Even cooks, who stood to benefit the most from fishing, could work around it, and push through any rough patches by buying small stashes of certain fish from other players.
Of course, now that fishing is more lucrative, its secrets more widely known, more people have shown an interest. As cooking became more important, so did fishing, not because you couldn’t maximize cooking without it, but because some of the best buff foods are made with fish. Those who need a constant supply can’t rely on the auction house.
Recently, Robin Torres wrote up some tips to leveling fishing at level 70, and this week, Insider Trader is taking an in-depth look at maximizing your fishing skill. For the inside scoop on reaching 375 as quickly as possible, or as profitably as possible, head on through the break.
There are two types of methods of reaching a skill of 375 that we’ll be exploring this week; that of the fastest, and that of the most lucrative. If you are intending to speed through this at level 70, the fastest method is going to be incredibly boring for you, but it will get you to the finish line sooner.
Equipment and preparation:
The right equipment will help you level faster, earn more money from fishing, and generally have a less frustrating angling experience. Let’s take a look at some of the easily obtained bonuses, and will not include items gained from winning the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza, or from the new fishing daily quests:
Fishing poles:
The [Big Iron Fishing Pole] can be acquired quite easily from shellfish traps in the ocean next to Shadowprey Village, a Horde outpost, in the Desolace. It may take you quite a few tries, and you will want underwater breathing potions or buffs. This is bind on equip, so you can snag it at auction if you feel you must. If you’re Horde, you can actually get the quest Clam Bait, which sends you out to open the shellfish traps.
The next comparable pole that can be acquired by either faction is [Seth’s Graphite Fishing Pole]. You’ll need at least 200 fishing skill and a level of 62 or higher, as this bad boy is the reward of a quest in Lower City called Rather Be Fishin’.
If you are Horde, there is a Horde-only quest in the Hinterlands called Snapjaws, Mon! Obtained at Revantusk Village from a troll on the docks, successful completion will grant you the bind on pick-up, [Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000]. The Alliance cannot obtain this fishing rod.
Enchants:
You may want to have an enchanter grant you [Enchant Gloves: Fishing] for the duration of your leveling. If you don’t want to replace your existing enchants, purchase a green from the auction house and get that enchanted.
Lures:
The two best lures are [Aquadynamic Fish Attractor] and [Sharpened Fish Hook]. The attractors can be purchased from fishing supply vendors, although they are of limited quantity. Many engineers can also make them, so you may find them on the auction house, or over trade channel. Be prepared to supply your own [Bronze Bars] x2, [Coarse Blasting Powder], and especially [Nightcrawlers] if need be.
The hooks are a reward from the fishing quests, but you may find them on the auction house.
The statistics:
According to El’s Anglin’, between skill 265 and 300, you will need to cast an average of 6 successful catches in order to gain one skill point. From 300 to 340, you’ll need an average of 10.5 catches to gain one skill point. Between 340 and 375, it’ll take you, again on average, 11.5 catches for one skill point.
From skill 1 to skill 375, you’ll need roughly 1700 successful catches. Because of this, you’re going to want to avoid areas that are over your head. In other words, if fish are getting away, you either need lures, or you need to go to an area that requires a lower skill level.
The super fast:
Once you have a skill level of at least 225, and have completed the Artisan fishing quest, Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme, you will want to pick a zone and stay there until 375. Although this may sound boring, the logic is simple. If you move along to areas that are on-par with your skill level, you’ll have more fish ‘getting off the hook,’ and you’ll gain skill points more slowly.
While you can fish in pools of fish and wreckage, for the fastest method, you should just stand still. Moving around from pool to pool can effectively double the amount of time it will take you to level the skill.
Here are the best areas from 225 on up, allowing you to prevent get-aways:
- Lordamere Lake in the Alterac Mountains, or alternatively, in the province’s river. The lake has pools of floating wreckage.
- In Arathi Highlands, there is a place called Faldir’s Cove along the southern coast, and it contains fish and wreckage pools. There are also murlocs along the coast, who are hiding an item required for warlocks to obtain their felhunter, in the quest chain, Tome of the Cabal.
- In the western Desolace, as well as the southern areas near Shadowprey Village, a Horde outpost, have access to ocean waters. You may come across naga, giants, crawlers, and other obstacles.
- Dustwallow Marsh is a great place to fish, especially since it is the home of Nat Pagle himself. You’ll be turning in your Artisan fishing quest, Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme, here anyway; you might as well hole up and start fishing. While some sections of the coast have murlocs and other monsters, there are whole areas accessible only by swimming, or cliff-diving. For those reasons, players on PvP servers might find these remote areas ideal for fishing sans harassment.
- My personal favorite from this group is Stranglethorn Vale. While there are any number of monsters you’ll have to contend with, from crocolisks to pirates, the floating wreckage and fish pools are abundant. Simply traverse the western coastline, up and down. Should you find too much competition, there is also an eastern coastal area inhabited mainly by pirates, including the odd island. For those on PvP servers, this is likely the last area in which you should be leveling fishing, as it is highly overpopulated. Of course, at level 70, you may find little trouble.
- In the Swamp of Sorrows, the murloc-inhabited eastern Mistyreed Strand is a nice place to fish, if you don’t mind the murloc chatter in the background!
- In the Thousand Needles, there are several little bodies of water that can be fished, including the waters around Darkcloud Pinnacle. While you’re fishing, you can kill the Boiling Elementals. They drop a ton of [Elemental Water] and [Bubbling Water]. This was my secret source for stacks and stacks of water for many levels. I often had enough to send stacks to guildmates and friends!
Should you reach skill level 300, ready to pull out your own hair, there are some fresh new zones you could inhabit, although those on a PvP server might be less inclined to move. Keep in mind you will need to read [Master Fishing - The Art of Angling], a book purchased from Juno Dufrain, a fisherman at the Cenarion Refuge in Zangarmarsh. To prevent get-aways, here are the zones you should consider:
- In Azshara, fishing in the Bay of Storms is calm and cheerful, contrary to its name. The area is bright, the naga don’t inhabit every inch, and there are tons of little islands and rocks to explore, with fish and wreckage pools found along the coast, or off any of the little islands. In fact, there are even blue, glowing, mist-like pools that you won’t want to ignore.
- In Felwood, there are pools of water dotted around the landscape. Although not the cleanest water available, the fish are (probably) not plagued.
- The Forgotten Coast of Feralas, perhaps my all-time favorite fishing haunt, contains pools of fish and floating wreckage, and is seldom frequented by anyone, save the odd fisherman. The Sea Sprays and Sea Elementals there drop a ton of [Globe of Water], [Enchanted Water], [Elemental Water], and a variety of recipes, greens and even blues. There are also rivers inland that can be fished.
- In the Hinterlands, there is both an eastern coastline, and inland bodies of water. The Alliance is likely better off fishing inland on PvP servers, as the coast harbors a Horde outpost, is frequented by the faction for various quests, and must be traversed to reach the mainland.
- If you are a druid, or acquired the flight path to Moonglade during the Lunar Festival, or by traipsing through the tunnels of Timbermaw Hold, you might find Moonglade an incredibly peaceful place to level your fishing. With no hostile mobs, and upper-level fish, as well as great scenery and out-of-the-way spots, this is ideal for PvP’ers, or those who like some peace and quiet.
- Tanaris has some great coastline, inhabited mainly by turtles and the odd giant. With lots of pools and sunshine, it’s a nice place to wile away the hours. Try fishing from Smuggler’s Cove, as the pirates there have lots of treasure chests, and drop a ton of cloth and potions. You can stop and kill the odd one to keep things interesting.
- Un’Goro Crater, never a favorite of mine for fishing, does have pools of water that contain fish. If you like the scenery, have quests there, or are so over-leveled the mobs won’t bother you, then you might find it a keen spot.
- The waters in the Western Plaguelands will also sustain you from 300 to 375.
Other quick areas, and a note on Outland fishing:
If you feel like being safe and simple, then stick to the pools of water in your favorite large city, park your character, put on some music, and prepare for the long haul. None of the fish will be worth more than a few coppers, but it is a fast and efficient path, with no traveling involved.
If you are Horde, or on a PvE/RP server, you might just want to stick to the pools of [Deviate Fish] in the oases of the Barrens, as they sell very well at auction.
Whatever you do, resist the temptation to go check out those cool pools of debris and new fish in Zangarmarsh and other Outland areas. Remember that your goal is to reach 375 and then go exploring. Should you cave in to curiosity, prepare to use some hefty lures, and miss on many, if not most, of your casts, especially at first.
Leveling fishing with an emphasis on gold, rather than speed:
Not everyone can stand in one place for hours and hours of in-game fishing, gaining skills, and bags full of fish worth a couple copper. If you feel you would be more apt to stick with the leveling process if you could instead fill your bags with profit, then this section is for you.
Method 1: Deviate Fish
There are two methods, and two areas, for catching these fish. If you are looking to avoid the opposite faction, then I recommend, as long as you are a high enough level, fishing in the waters within Wailing Caverns. You can also fish the waters in the oases of the Barrens. Roughly 30% of what you catch should be [Deviate Fish], and because you are simply standing and fishing, and not fishing using pools and having to move around, it is quite fast.
If you feel safe, you might consider shuffling around to the various pools of [Deviate Fish] in the same waters. While it will take you much more time to level, you will catch more valuable fish.
Method 2: Fishing up Pools
In the list of fishing spots above, you’ll find that many provinces have waters containing pools of various types of fish, as well as wreckage. Strategically, you can speed along and fish up [Oily Blackmouth], [Firefin Snapper], [Raw Sagefish], [Raw Greater Sagefish] and [Stonescale Eel]. In the trunks fished up from wreckage, you’ll find leather, cloth, spun cloth, greens, potions and more. The fish sell well to alchemists, although depending on the market, you might have more or less success, especially between the different types.
The sagefish can be cooked into [Sagefish Delight] and [Smoked Sagefish], and then sold to mana users for a decent price.
Method 3: Outland fishing
Yes, I know that I already told you not to do this. But if you’re prepared for a slower ride, and you want to make some cash, then you might want to consider fishing in Outland.
You’ll want to have a minimum of about 400 effective fishing skill, which can be achieved through lures, gear and other buffs. Until you have reached about 350 actual skill, I don’t recommend leaving Zangarmarsh, particularly the eastern waters. If you choose open water, non-pool fishing, you’ll level faster, but very few of the fish you’ll catch this way will be of value.
Unfortunately, if you don’t have your cooking skill leveled, you may have a tough time selling the raw fish, even from the pools. Once you have a base skill of 350, you can sweep out across Zangarmarsh, into Terokkar Forest, and certain parts of Nagrand.
Tip: Fish along the north of Serpent Lake in Zangarmarsh. As you go, kill the Bogflare Needlers unique to this region. About 1 in 1000 kills will yield you a [Captured Firefly], which as a fairly rare pet, can net you hundreds at auction.
By admin
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and I love the idea, but I’ve never committed to fishing long enough to be competitive in it. But I’m reconsidering that after reading these extremely fun tips from Resto4Life. Some of them are Druid specific (I bet the Shaman waterwalking spell would come in handy when trying to cross over to islands and through streams), and some of them are just silly, but it’s just the right kind of thing to get you in the mindset to do a little Sunday angling. The two sources Resto pulled from have more: Tree of Life has a few helpful tips, while The Game Dame goes in-depth in laying out exactly how to win the event.