Hello, class, and welcome to Archaeology 101. Today, we'll show you how to get started in this profession, as well as where to go, what to do and how to do it. I know I'm not as dreamy as Indiana Jones, so I won't be expecting apples on my desk or eyelid tattoos. But I'll also not be interrupting class to run after Nazis, so I've got that going for me ... which is nice. I will be taking questions and comments from the chat room, however, which is after the break.
Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the
video replay by clicking the image above.
Tags: 101, archaeology-101, archaeology-trainer, guide, how-to, live-guide, live-stream, orgrimmar, overview, professions, stormwind-city, stream, streaming, tips
Filed under: Cataclysm, Archaeology
Dec 13th 2010 at 1:00PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
droknar Dec 13th 2010 1:55PM
Just a recommendation for people starting out. Save ALL of your fragments from digging until you reach 100 skill, as that is when you will not get skill ups from digging any more. After that, it's 5 pts per finished artifact. So hit 100, then go ahead and 'solve' the artifacts you've managed to get fragments for.
hillarie.furman Dec 13th 2010 2:22PM
I keep hearing this, but after digging up artifacts about 30 times now, I am stuck on 95. Every additional dig gets me so close to giving up and solving.
Ste Dec 13th 2010 4:56PM
You are probably right, but like hillarie.furman I tend to start solving at 95.
Definately don't solve any before then though, will save you a lot of time.
Aris Dec 13th 2010 5:16PM
I can't upvote this comment enough and wish I had known before jumping in and excitedly making my artifacts as I leveled. I didn't find out until I asked why I wasn't getting levels any more after clearing a half dozen or so sites (at 96).
I had one guildy manage to get to 100, and another gave in at 94. Realistically, if you're in your mid-90's you're talking about assembling one more artifact for 5 points. With all the digging we'll need to get max level, I'd say once you hit ~95 start assembling as soon as you can't take it any longer. The time it'll take to assemble one more artifact to cap is probably just not worth the headache.
Of course, the flip side to that argument is that if you grind it all the way to 100, you'll have that many more artifacts on hand for immediate assembly so take that for what it's worth. Hmm... another thing I hadn't considered is, I suppose near cap it probably takes more than ~30 fragments to assemble an artifact. I recently completed my first rare (the companion pet) and it was 85 fossil fragments. Maybe it really IS worth grinding to 100.
droknar Dec 13th 2010 6:22PM
Yeah, it took a long while for me to get up past 95. Averaging one point maybe every 3-4 dig sites. Sadly I didn't know about the 'save your fragments' tip until I was up around 75 or so :(
All in all it's a fairly slow going profession, much like fishing. But I kinda like the mindless stuff, too. Good for down time.
ammosj Dec 13th 2010 2:18PM
I haven't watched yet but nice Caddyshack reference....
litofeit Dec 22nd 2010 12:56AM
There is no after the break, this is not so professional. Just a teaser and a huge ugly add.
Dawood24 Dec 13th 2010 3:04PM
She states several times that dig sites are all over and not based on your level. Thats not true. If you start it at lvl 20 it will only give you dig sites for your lvl in appropriate zones.
Maccabeus Dec 13th 2010 3:13PM
I just finished the Harrison Jones questline in Uldum, and was fortunate enough to have Raiders of the Lost Ark come on USA last night.
It was great fun picking out all the characters and lines Blizzard stole for their NPCs and quests.
Randolyn Dec 13th 2010 3:28PM
It appears that the recipe for the alchemy-only mount (Vial of the Sands) can only get obtained through max-level archaeology and is bind on pickup. Is that true?
Is there any other item in the game that requires max level for both a primary and a secondary profession to obtain? I can't think of one off-hand. Leads me to believe that perhaps this recipe will become a drop or purchasable at some point.
SR Dec 13th 2010 3:51PM
I remember hearing that the recipe is a huge gold sink of around 30k gold. Could be wrong, don't take my word for it.
As for the two-profession thing, I think alchemists still use fishing to get oils and such. I remember my guild bank being FILLED with pygmy oil used for alchemy.
Randolyn Dec 13th 2010 4:30PM
True, alchemists use pygmy oil, but you don't need to be a fisherman to get it. (You can buy it off the AH.) Right now you HAVE to be an archaeologist to get the recipe for the alchemy-only mount.
I probably shouldn't worry about it, I'll never get enough gold to make it anyway.
Sylvaine Dec 13th 2010 4:58PM
From what i understand, the recipe is obtained through archeology. It is contained in a "canopic jar" which is one of the artifacts that you can solve from tol'vir fragments. But there is only a chance (% unknown) that the recipe will be in there, there have been reports of empty jars. You must be an alchemist for the recipe to drop (not sure what alch level). I believe you begin getting tol'vir digsites at archeology level 450, but you must also be high enough level to go to uldum because that is where the dig sites spawn. The materials to create the recipe cost close to 30k, not sure if that is adding in buy volitals or just the items purchased from the merchant.
So in a nutshell, you will need to save up 30k gold, be lvl 85 and have 525 alchemy and at least 450 (count on 525) archeology, then you must spend a lot of time farming the right dig sites to get the right artifact to solve, then you must get lucky and hope the recipe is in the jar when you solve it.
myjunkmail1x Dec 13th 2010 3:51PM
I'm finding 4 max digsites per continent and the green items will drop before 100. I've gotten a couple somewhere between 60-75.
Thanks for the tip about saving and not solving before 100. I made the same mistake on my first Archaeologist.
myjunkmail1x Dec 13th 2010 3:53PM
I'm finding 4 dig sites max per continent and greens do drop before 100.
Kurtis Dec 13th 2010 5:01PM
Gah! Robin, why did you have to start streaming 5 minutes before I went into a 3-hour meeting? :( Watching now... Need to start on Archaeology as soon as I get to 85 and finish maxing my other profs.
Drager Dec 13th 2010 5:02PM
My guildie leveled 80-85 completely via archaeology. He got the bone raptor pet and mount then set off on quests for some great gold.
Matthew Dec 13th 2010 6:49PM
I might do this on my now defunct druid - thanks for the advice!
tarvis2 Dec 13th 2010 8:10PM
can wow insider do a non video guide to this because imo text based guides are easier to reference if u need to quickly check back on something and are also available easier to those of us who can watch video guides if we are browsing on mobile devices
Andostre Dec 14th 2010 11:00AM
Agreed. Also, the video is over an hour long! No way I'm sitting through that for "the basics."