Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Mount Excavation, or "How I Farm for Dreams and Status"

As you should know by now, my main motivation in the game is to look pretty. For this, I need a gorgeous mount that matches my character's "theme" (I've been wanting a phoenix for Dusty since level 20, when the details came out), but amazing mounts often require a team willing to put in the time. Which is where most people get tripped up.

Although I'm a lucky girl and have wonderful family willing to farm Kael'thas once a week with me at 80, I realized the potential for my guild if everyone got that one mount they've been dreaming of since they first heard of it. For one thing, we're a family raid guild on a small server, fighting to be taken seriously as raiders (from Kara to Hyjal in a year). Having lots of gorgeous rare mounts would seriously amp up our "rep" on Zuluhed.

So I'm going to tell you how I set things up and let you see if you want to do something similar with your guild.

Mount Excavation Team
  • Mounts: Anything that needs a group and has a low drop rate. Zulian Tiger (drop about once a year), Razzashi Raptor (ditto), Ashes of A'lar (ditto), Raven Lord (can be farmed daily), White Hawkstrider (daily), and more will be added for Wrath.
  • Signing: Guild members sign for the mount they want. First Choice, Second Choice, or Support.
  • Rolling: You can tweak this if you want. My version is pretty informal because I trust the people in my guild not to leave after they get what they want, but in a competitive environment you may want to set up a sort of DKP system so people who farm more regularly have an edge. Currently, anyone with the mount on First Choice can roll (though they're asked to pass if they're new to the farming runs and someone else has been going longer). After that, Second Choice and Alts have their shot.
  • Grouping: Because of the low drop rate on some of these mounts (those farmed once a week can take a year or more to drop), it's wisest to form as many small groups as possible and limit the number of people farming the mount as First Choice to 1-2 per group. This way, your guild can get plural rare mounts in the same year. (Also, always put someone trustworthy in charge of each group if the environment is competitive.)
  • Time/Day: Once you have all the details worked out, pick a time and day to go at it. (The raid mounts require more planning in advance so that people aren't left out.)
It also helps guildies get to know each other and fosters good will. And, I think I already mentioned, makes your guild look and feel cool.

^_^

7 comments:

  1. That is a very good idea! :) I don't know how often you read your comments but I've done a search on your blog and found no trace of anything about the Phoenix Hatchling pet. If you don't have it already maybe that would be a nice pet to get to tide you over until Wrath of the Lich King? Think of it like the Harry Potter books if you will, with baby Fawkes and grown up Fawkes when you get your mount :)

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  2. Oh and if I weren't in Europe I'd probably transfer to the Zuluhed realm. Your guild sound really cool :)

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  3. Oh-ho-ho, trust me. I have the phoenix hatchling. XD I just never bothered to write it up, since it's pretty straight-forward.

    Can Europe folks not go to US realms? :*( /sniffle

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  4. Nice! :D Im currently in the process of finding as many groups for MGT as I can for my girlfriend. She of course spotted the phoenix hatchling and and loves it :) It's a worthwhile endeavour though, you can't just farm this minipet you need a fairly good group even in normal mode. One status pet I would like is possibly one of the crocodiles, you know from the fishing dailies? :)

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  5. The one thing I didn't really care about from the fishing daily was getting a pet (not very attractive). Naturally, I get a Chuck my first try. *sigh*

    I've found a good makeup for MagT to be: dps that's ranged and CC-heavy, so mage and warlock are very useful; healer with lots of hots for the last fight; tank that can aoe is best because of the pulls right before the second boss.

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  6. - Sorry for the long comment essay below btw -

    My favourite mini pet is the firefly. Im a healer so in dungeons/raids I get it out and alert people that while they still hear the friendly buzzing of Jim (the mighty firefly) they are quite safe. When he stops though, prepare to die :'( (minipets vanish upon player death). This is reinforced by the little caption the minipet has, 'Still flying...' which is quite ironic cause im a Paladin healer and we have a nack for lasting a while. Also all that idealistic stuff about Paladins being sort-of-angels and im still flying and not going to the dark side etc.

    Back on topic though, I agree with your group make-up and HoT healing is very useful but don't be too quick to dismiss Paladin healers at Kael'Thas.I've managed to beat him a fair few times on heroic mode too :)

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  7. Awesome. I just know it's harder for paladins b/c you have to move around so much and pallies are stationary while healing. It's really cool you're good enough to do it. :)

    I've heard "Still flying..." is a quote from the TV show Firefly--which I never noticed until just now is the same name as the pet. Firefly & Firefly. >_> It makes a lot more sense now.

    Yes, I am this oblivious most of the time.

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