Insider Trader: Inscription from 100 to 200
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Last week, we began the journey towards becoming a Grand Master Scribe. Starting with the basics, we discussed how to reach skill level 100, along with some general tips and strategy, and there were many helpful reader comments.
Today, we will continue from skill level 100 to hit 200, which will place you partway through what a level 20 is capable of training. When herbs are mentioned, clicking on any of the links will take you to a Wowhead page showing you where you can find them.
If you feel you need more background information on inscription tools, milling, or research, check out last week's column to brush up on the fundamentals. Otherwise, pass on through the break!
100-150
The herbs that you will be using are [Grave Moss], [Kingsblood], [Liferoot] and [Wild Steelbloom]. Aim for player level 20 and 30 zones such as the Hillsbrad Foothills or the Desolace. [Liferoot] is generally found near water, while [Wild Steelbloom] is found on cliff edges and other hard to reach places.
[Grave Moss] is a bit rarer, but the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard instance has a fair amount, as does the Kodo graveyard in the Desolace. Keep an eye out for bones and graveyards for this herb.
[Kingsblood] is usually out in the open, in the middle of a field, surrounded by friends. You like making friends, don't you?
Milling these herbs will produce [Golden Pigment] and [Burnt Pigment], with burnt being the rare spawn. You will also be upgrading your paper quality from [Light Parchment] to [Common Parchment], making each glyph cost a bit more to manufacture.
From 100-105, make about 25 [Lion's Ink]. During the milling process, you will also acquire [Burnt Pigment] to be used shortly.
From 105-120, the various class glyphs you will be able to train every five skill levels will only cost 1 [Lion's Ink] and 1 [Common Parchment]. From here on out, class glyphs will cost you two [Lion's Ink] instead of one.
Luckily, we can avoid running out of ink by utilizing first some leftover ink, and then some rare quality ink that you will have acquired from milling the above herbs.
At skill level 110, you will have trained the [Mysterious Tarot], which generates a random card from the deck it forms. Once you have all of the cards, you can combine it to form a quest item related to the Darkmoon Faire. Combining the cards does not make the deck bind on pick-up, so you can send the cards or the deck to alts, or sell them on the Auction House.
This is where your green quality pigment will come into play. If you have any leftover [Hunter's Ink] (see Inscription from 1 to 100), which is made from [Verdant Pigment], and [Midnight Ink] which is made from [Dusky Pigment], then make five [Mysterious Tarots], taking you to skill level 125, where they turn yellow.
Tip: If you can easily acquire the herbs necessary to make [Mysterious Tarot], while the herbs for this section are in scarce supply, consider manufacturing the cards from 110-125 and saving your [Lion's Ink] for later.
At 125, you will be able to train both the next ink, [Dawnstar Ink], which is made from the [Burnt Pigment] that drops rarely while milling the above herbs, and the next set of tarot cards, [Strange Tarot].
From 125 to 130, create [Dawnstar Ink]. At this point, we can begin to utilize whatever [Lion's Ink] we saved by making [Strange Tarots] earlier. For the next 20 points, up to 150, you will be able to create class glyphs using 2 Lion's a piece, or [Mysterious Tarot's] using 2 Dawnstars and 1 Lion's a piece.
Remember to retrain after every five skill points gained, as you will acquire new, orange-quality glyphs. Making these will ensure you use the least ink for the most number of skill points possible.
If you have enough materials to make X number of tarots, then make that number. The secondary, green-quality pigments are like a gift, and not using this bonus ink would be a waste. Acquire the rest of the points with class glyphs.
150-200
From 150-155, create [Jadefire Ink]. This is the new ink for this skill bracket, and you can produce it from [Emerald Pigment]. The herbs you will need to collect and mill are [Fadeleaf], [Goldthorn], [Khadgar's Whisker] and [Wintersbite]. The rare-quality pigment you will be using is called [Indigo Pigment], and will be used to make up [Royal Ink] for more tarot cards.
[Wintersbite] is found only in the Alterac Mountains, a snowy climate. I don't recommend trying to farm [Wintersbite], but rather, simply pick some up if you happen by the area. The other three herbs can be found in lush forests and jungles, such as Stranglethorn Vale and Feralas. Khadgar's tends to lean up against trees, while [Goldthorn] is reminiscent of [Wild Steelbloom], as it likes to grow out of reach.
From 155-175 you are free to make class glyphs. Each glyph will consume only one ink and one parchment, making these skill points very cost effective and efficient.
From 175 up to 180, make as much [Royal Ink] as you have the pigment to do so. Up to 185, you can create [Scroll of Agility III], which costs two parchment, but still only one [Jadefire Ink].
The last twenty points will be a mixture between producing [Arcane Tarot] cards for two Royal, one Jadefire, and one parchment, and making class glyphs that each require two Jadefire. Remember, [Royal Ink] is bonus ink and should be used up.
The tarot card will not turn yellow until skill 200, which is perfect. Make as many as you can, along with class glyphs that you train every five skill points.
Choosing class glyphs
Last week I discussed what you should take into consideration when choosing which class glyphs to create when leveling your skill, so check out the guide if you're having trouble.
The damage:
- 100-150 will require roughly 230 herbs, or 46 stacks of five. Of course, you save on this number if you have leftover herbs/pigment/ink to make [Mysterious Tarot].
- 150-200 should use up approximately 210 herbs, or 42 millings.
Filed under: Herbalism, Items, Walkthroughs, Features, Leveling, Guides, Making money, Insider Trader (Professions), Inscription






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
K Whitt Nov 7th 2008 4:57PM
The sheer amount of herbs (and thereby pigments) required for this profession and the levelling spread of 5 points at a time for orange range, makes it one of the most tedious and/or expensive tradeskills yet. I just hope those shoulder inscriptions and higher level offhands are worth it. So far the glyphs themselves have not been a return on investment. So bad that it is a worse moneysink than either JC, Enchanting, or BS, with no real possible money maker in the future.
I started with hundreds of stacks of herbs, and am still stuck on this skill, farming out more and more and more.
I will be more interested when we start seeing these "Encrypted" items, and maybe some of these items that randomly are found while milling (and what they might be used for).
AZShizzle Nov 7th 2008 5:02PM
Why is the link named http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/11/07/insider-trader-inscription-from-100-to-300/
Vesheth Nov 7th 2008 5:37PM
Lvling my mage Scribe i've found STV to be a very good place for Goldthorn and Khadgar's whiskers. Low on the Fadeleaf. Theres also Kingsblood and Liferoot you can pick up as you're wandering around if you need some of that ink for any minor glyphs that sell well. Arathi Highlands can also be a great place for fadeleaf and goldthorn and kingsblood.
Swamp of sorrows also has lots of fadeleaf, as well as blindweed which is probably part of the next ink bracket not covered here.
Finally a use for Khadgar's and Liferoot! formerly the most useless herbs in the entire game.
el Nov 7th 2008 5:49PM
Worth adding that Mysterious Tarot was taught at different skills, depending on which trainer you visited: From memory, 85 in Northrend, 110 elsewhere.
That's from beta, of course. What actually emerges next week is anyone's guess. Logically, Mysterious Tarot belongs at lower skill, because of the pigments used.
There were a few other quirks like that in the early 300s - just to keep us on our toes!
Frank Smith Nov 7th 2008 5:51PM
this shouldn't be a 4 part story just to get to 375. talk about milking your output.
Blondy Nov 7th 2008 6:39PM
Not only milking it but a little pointless since most of us who have scribes have leveled them already as much as we can until the expansion. maybe when the xpac comes out it will be worth reading.
Hummpty Nov 10th 2008 7:48AM
If you like to hussle, this is the proffesion for you! Made over 4k when 3.0 dropped, and looking to make a few more when wolk hits the shelves. See you at the AH!
tomarus Nov 7th 2008 7:04PM
As much as it pains me to say it, because it can cut into my money making ability (hurray for herbalism/blacksmithing) if you're at level 60 - 70 and just trying to grind your inscription skill as quickly as possible, but don't want to shell out the insane prices of herbs on AH, pick up herbalism and run around working on your exploration achievements. I've easily picked up close to 1000 gold in 5 or 6 days just running around exploring all of the sub-regions of the various zones that I missed on my way to level 70. Now if only I could figure out how to get to Darnassus without being flagged and/or killed by the guards...
Kopuliak Nov 7th 2008 7:33PM
just jump out before ship dock in Teldrassil and swim/run to cca 72,68 and die there.You will ressurect on Dolanaar GY.
Tinygimp Nov 11th 2008 8:21PM
I managed to max it out at what it seems to be 265 within 4 hours after it was released. Cost me about 2000g, I managed to make my 2000g back plus an additional 4000g after the first day, then from there it dropped to almost nothing. Just before the servers went down i posted a good 500 deathknight glyphs so hopefully once they have the mail situation fixed that i will come online to mailbox full of money.