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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Min-maxing archaeology
by Alex Ziebart 
Dec 13th 2010 at 11:00AM
What does one do after hitting level 85? Spend three straight days digging up rocks, of course. Zin'rokh, you will be mine. Even if your model is upside down now.
MoarHeroisms asked:
What's a good time to use the green archaeology fragments to solve artifacts? Is it a good idea to use a handful at once?
I think it's a matter of personal preference. If you save it for when a rare discovery pops up on your archaeology panel, you'll be able to learn that rare discovery faster. If you use them as fast as you can and as early as you can, it will get you through the commons faster for a chance at a rare. Which is better? I'm not sure yet. Personally, I use my greens right away, but that might not be the best way.
Vorenos asked:
Quick poll: What's your favorite Cataclysm instance so far?
Vortex Pinnacle. I think WoW's djinn are somewhat silly, but Vortex Pinnacle is absolutely beautiful, and Altairus has very cool mechanics. It's even more exciting on heroic.
Grim Batol is fun, but I'm not a big fan of the drake bombing run. Screwing that up can add a good extra 30 minutes on a run, and at that point, you might as well start the instance over and try again. It's just too punishing if you screw it up. It's not like wiping, running back, and reassessing a boss. It makes the entire instance significantly longer. Don't get me wrong, I love the instance and think the mechanic is really neat; it's just too punishing if you do poorly.
The bosses in Grim Batol are great too. The ettin, Forgemaster Throngus, is basically just a redo of Pit of Saron's Forgemaster Garfrost wherein the weapon swap mechanic actually matters. I think that's cool. Plus I've always wanted more bosses that make use of their shields.
Enigma asked:
In the beta, worgen had an awesome animation when switching to human form (not from). First one arm changed, then the other, then in a back-arched howl the rest would go. Now we just have a *poof-you're-a-worgen* thing.
What happened?!
Nothing happened. It's still there. The only time it doesn't happen is when you transform in combat, because you probably don't want to be stunned and stuck in a long transformation sequence when you're getting ganked and/or trying to fight something. If you transform manually, it will play the transformation animation in full.
Henrah asked:
One of the first few quests in Hyjal has you transport Fandral Staghelm from his prison to the Emerald Dream. Why exactly was Fandral imprisoned in the first place? Is there any in-game lore or event that I missed to explain this?
Unfortunately, no. That entire scenario is explained in the recent Stormrage novel. Blizzard hasn't put much effort into keeping players that haven't read the novels in the loop. I'd hoped they wouldn't have repeated the Obsidian Sanctum error, but they sure as heck did.
If you don't want to be spoiled on the end of the Stormrage novel, stop reading now.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: The Queue, Archaeology
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 9)
Nadia Dec 13th 2010 3:10PM
You can't fly in Tol Barad.
Why in the world would the faction that lives there reward anything but a cool ground mount that you can use in their zone?
pancakes Dec 13th 2010 6:36PM
The reason that it's thought they might be flying mounts is that they require 300 riding to use.
Silverblade Dec 13th 2010 11:07AM
Fandral is a stuck-up, arrogant idiot. Malfurion is an epic leader for his race. End of story.
niko Dec 13th 2010 11:21AM
but see, that's exactly why I like Fandral. He's not some typical EPIC LEADER RAWR archetype.
gotta keep it interesting, folks!
Christoph Dec 13th 2010 12:08PM
You know, I hear Staghelm's son died. It's been very hard on the poor Night Elf :(
Matthew Dec 13th 2010 12:10PM
Fandral:Malfurion = Garrosh:Thrall
Kroof Dec 13th 2010 12:34PM
Stinking Night Elves, stinking Garrosh.
All shall be cleansed in the purifying fires of Basic Campfire!
Grovinofdarkhour Dec 13th 2010 1:12PM
Can't get on board with "Fandral:Malfurion = Garrosh:Thrall". Fandral's more of a genuine thwart-your-plans bad guy. Garrosh may be a lot of things, but he ain't a flat-out bad guy.
Sure, we may know the "why" of Fandral's going bad, but he still seems little more than WoW's version of Jaffar the snake-dude from Disney's version of Aladdin.
While I feel obligated to admit that I'm still a huge Malfurion fan (he may be a little one-dimensional, but it's okay because it's the Dimension of Awesome), I can easily admit Garrosh and Thrall are both more nuanced, thought-provoking characters.
Pyromelter Dec 13th 2010 1:15PM
grovin you had me until your last statement. Because Garrosh Hellscream is about as nuanced as a baseball bat to the cranium.
Grovinofdarkhour Dec 13th 2010 1:44PM
Pyro - I'd agree if we were talking about "old" Garrosh, but I'm not. He transformed from sullen, redpox-ridden teenager from a shamed lineage to prideful fight-picking hothead pretty much the moment he found out the truth about his father, and he was about as one-dimensional as could be when he frothing at Thrall's elbow like a leashed attack dog. Now he's learning just how much more there is to leadership than "put an axe through it" and it's fascinating to watch. Every time we encounter him lately he's surprising us.
Sure, they kinda set us up by making him so predictable back then, so that he seems even more unpredictable now, but that's effective storytelling.
Pyromelter Dec 13th 2010 3:30PM
Grovin, are you playing the same game as me?
You said:
"Now he's learning just how much more there is to leadership than "put an axe through it" and it's fascinating to watch. Every time we encounter him lately he's surprising us."
http://www.wowpedia.org/Quest:To_Be_Horde...
Now, I would agree he doesn't "put an axe through it." But he threw the damn guy off the cliff. I don't see what is surprising about it. Fun, fascinating, sure, but there isn't a lot of nuance. "Do as I say or I'll throw you off a cliff" doesn't really show me the depth of leadership that you are attributing to him.
scherbaddie Dec 13th 2010 4:44PM
Did you ignore the rest of the scene?
Garrosh Hellscream says: Was my command to murder innocents, Krom'gar?
...
Garrosh Hellscream says: "Honor," Krom'gar, "No matter how dire the battle... never forsake it."
...
Garrosh Hellscream says: Mercy... Chieftain, on this day I learn from you.
This is not the "Propose? I will show you what I propose!" Garrosh Hellscream from Warsong Hold.
Also, "put an axe through it" makes me laugh every time I read it.
Thyrial Dec 13th 2010 6:11PM
@Pyro: Read the Shattering... I personally went from utterly hating Garrosh to KIND OF understanding him... He learned ALOT from Saurfang during his time in Northrend, though he'll never admit it. He's still a very abrubt person and most definitely hates the alliance, but he's not blinded by his hate like he was in early Wrath. While he wants to fight and show the might of the Horde he's also come to understand the value of diplomacy in certain situations. Will he ever try to make peace with the alliance? Not a chance... but at this point even Thrall is beginning to think that a real peace isn't possible due to the large differences between Alliance and Horde societies and that if there will be no peace that the Horde needs a leader like Garrosh,
Artificial Dec 14th 2010 2:22AM
Epic leaders are epically boring...
Bart Dec 13th 2010 11:07AM
When does the new PvP season begin and where are the new lv85 PvP vendors?
Tomatketchup Dec 13th 2010 12:12PM
Tomorrow, Blizzard said they would release the next season a week after Cataclysm's release so that all could catch up to level 85.
Can't find source though, sorry.
zweitblom Dec 13th 2010 11:09AM
Ah, yes, Archeology. Remember when they promised to make Fishing more interesting? They did by coming up with a secondary skill that is even more boring.
Oskiee Dec 13th 2010 11:21AM
If lore isnt your thing, then archeology isnt your thing. To bad too, so far, its been a nice, relaxing thing to do when im getting fed up quests.
One thing though, archeology does kinda feel like scanning in EVE Online... just saying.
rhorle Dec 13th 2010 11:22AM
The only boring part about archaeology is flying to your new dig sites. It is at least involved and you have to move and search a little. Not like fishing where it is stand in one spot and click till you pass out.
N-train Dec 13th 2010 11:26AM
I have kind of mixed feelings about archaeology at this point. Being a history and archaeology major, I love the addition and the effort that they put in in terms of the items and back-stories is quite fascinating and is just one more way to make the world more real and deep. I like the interface and the surveying tool, and its definitely a profession I plan on maxing at out at some point.
That being said, I don't think the effort even comes close to the rewards for anyone who doesn't like lore (and even then, thats debatable) or who gets unlucky. If you're not a mage, expect spending about 10-11 minutes of flying to every 3-4 minutes spent surveying. On top of that, the grey items you get are entirely worthless for anything but the flavor text (10s is about average sell price). Fishing, even in low lvl areas, requires a lot less time and effort and yields more profit.
While I really do enjoy archaeology, I don't really find it worth the effort I've been putting in, I've hit 200 skill on one char and 175 on another without seeing anything but common items, so maybe I'm just bitter on that front, however I will keep up with it cause I find it enjoyable.