Breakfast Topic: Just how lucky are you?
by Josh Rose 
Jan 8th 2011 at 8:00AM
Getting random drops always involves a bit of luck. In a PUG, not only do you need to have what you want drop, but you have to manage to win a /roll as well. In guild groups, you have to have DKP or whatever currency your guild uses for a loot system. Gear for the most part comes from time; eventually, you get the loot you need, but getting these random drops becomes far worse when farming for low drop-rate items such as pets and mounts. Baron runs, heroic MgT runs, Anzu runs, ZG trying to farm the various whelp and raptor pets ... some of us spend hours or days or weeks, and still never see it.
I have been on a pretty major achievement kick since prior to the Cataclysm launch, topping off old reps, farming pets and mounts, doing fishing achievements, all the things that take a back burner to leveling and new instances and raids. Trouble is, I have awful luck. Being a druid, I have run Anzu so many times I lost count and have never seen the mount; same with Baron, ZG and heroic MgT. No mounts from any of these places in hundreds of attempts. On the other hand, I have a guildie who has both ZG mounts, both Brewfest mounts, the Horseman's Reins, Anzu, and Rivendare's Deathcharger. He even got two of the raptor pets from ZG the same week he got the mount.
How lucky are you when it comes to farming rare drops? Have you been able to go in and get the drops in a few attempts, or have you given up in frustration, cursing the WoW gods?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Swifteye Jan 8th 2011 8:05AM
I don't tend to aim for the big things (rare mounts being the most notable), simply because I'd rather be content not having it and not trying than be disappointed by not having it *despite* trying for ages.
I have, however, been able to get the Giant Sewer Rat on every single toon I've ever seriously leveled. It's my favorite non-combat pet and I always want to have it on any toon I'm actually going to spend a decent amount of time on... and the longest I ever had to spend fishing for it was four hours (and one toon got it in a single hour!). That's lucky enough for me, really. ^_^
mark Jan 8th 2011 9:18AM
i tend to do the same
but i do go for the farmable "rares"
the rat - mr pinchy - etc
ive been lucky at getting them though - much quicker than it should of been
Noyou Jan 8th 2011 2:29PM
Got that on my 5th alt as I was fishing for the jewel of the sewers. I also have the sea turtle on my rogue. I guess I am very lucky. Outside from that though, RNG is not on my side. When it comes to loot not so much.
Deathmedic Jan 9th 2011 8:43PM
I have run for the "Rare" mounts for years.....farmed the heroics everyday, did strat at least 5 times a day and have never gotten a "Rare" mount. Im so close to my 100 mount acheiv and i cant seem to get them! AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGG curse you RNG!!!!!
Ogri Jan 8th 2011 8:08AM
I've had awfully bad luck with gear drops in Cata, so bad it's getting silly. On the other hand, I won the Drake of the North Wind first time I set foot in The Vortex Pinnacle with a 99 roll.
Other mounts like ZG mounts, White Hawk Strider etc was just a grind. Killed Kael 27 times I think. Have the same grind going on with Anzu and also Skadi atm...
bobalobabingbong Jan 8th 2011 8:58AM
Same with me. I never win good loots like that Drake. But I got it first time I was in VP. With a 52 roll no less.
Naraxis Jan 8th 2011 9:19AM
after trying for literally 2 or 3 years to get horseman's reins and brewfest mounts and never succeeding my recruit a friend buddy goes into both of those joints for the first time in his life and gets both mounts on his first ever runs... not only that but he also got drake of the north wind on his first ever vortex heroic run... me i've run it every day since i could and havent even seen it. i feel like the rng hates me for all eternity and not just all this rare stuff i always loose loot rolls.........always.
Rhamona Q Jan 8th 2011 10:10AM
@naraxis it doesn't hate you, it just likes your friend...
Sean Jan 8th 2011 10:51AM
It takes a lifetime for me to get the drops I want. I've run more Cata dungeons than I care to count and I have only gotten two drops across two characters. If it weren't for rep gear and buyable BoE gear I would probably be near quitting.
Evandar21 Jan 9th 2011 2:00PM
Same with gear however, I got Anzu(First time in that inctance ever), white hawkstrider (+ 2 orbs) and Mr Pinchy on the same day. :D
Also got sea turtle 10min after getting titanium seal of dalaran.
Billlop Jan 8th 2011 8:08AM
Most of the time i enter a dungeon. Run it 20-25 times. Nothing drops so i give up :(
Gorth Jan 8th 2011 8:14AM
The RNG is a cruel mistress. A cruel, cruel mistress.
Despite that, I am relatively lucky- got the recipe for Vial of the Sands in my first Canopic Jar, I gleefully nabbed the healer trinket from Archaeology, and got both Anzu and the White Hawkstrider within a month of starting to farm it.
And I still do Kara every week, so there's that. :P
loreaddict Jan 8th 2011 11:40AM
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/dokk/turtle.jpg
Gentlemen, you will never be as lucky as this person.
Fellow fishermen, proceed to froth with rage and jealousy.
Sleutel Jan 8th 2011 12:12PM
@loreaddict:
I don't get it. Why am I frothing with rage and jealousy? I have my Salty title already. I'd even completed the tournament win before they added the Northrend one; my holdup was *%$%&*# Mr. Pinchy. And I also had my turtle pretty early after they added it. These aren't insanely impossible achievements; merely somewhat rare ones (especially Salty, because of the way it's limited per week).
loreaddict Jan 8th 2011 1:29PM
@Sleutel
She got the turtle and the dark herring in the same cast.
I'm no math expert, but the chances of that amount to a snowball in hell.
Shinhan Jan 10th 2011 3:36AM
Took me over 100 common nelf artifacts to get that trinket. One guildie got it on 2nd rare solve and other on 3rd.
Blazenwing Jan 8th 2011 8:22AM
I spent two years on and off farming with friends for the White Hawkstrider for my Dwarf Paladin, and I finally got it the week before Cataclysm launched. I have the Baron's mount on the same character - funny story, at the time it dropped, I was actually trying to complete her dungeon set 1 collection, only had the legs left, and the mount actually dropped before the lightforge legs did! :P
My gf and I also started farming the ZG mounts on every reset about four months before they were removed; only saw one mount drop the entire time, the Tiger, and I let my gf have it because, despite how much I wanted it, I knew she wanted it even more. (And karma, which I think is 50% of the reason why I finally got my Hawkstrider after giving her the Tiger, lol!)
On an aside, the friend who always went to H MgT to help me farm for the mount spent all of that time trying to get the Orb of the Sin'dorei. It never dropped for him in all that time, and he finally got it a week ago. Yesterday, he ran it again for old time's sake, and both the Priestess and Kael dropped one. Ain't that a you know what? lol
Thunderstriken Jan 8th 2011 8:25AM
The RNG system is lame, because it makes many of the more desirable items inaccessible to most while at the same time making it completely effortless to others, who might not have even wanted it all that much to begin with.
It's sad really, since it only takes about 1 minute and 45 seconds to think up a much better system. A far less random currency type drop, such as crystals, gems, tokens, and the like. Have a vendor who sells the, what used to be rare drop, items for a considerable amount of currency.
From the inception of the frozen halls 5-mans, I longed for the battered hilt. I ran the 3 dungeons hundreds of times and only saw it drop twice, losing both rolls. While others got several over the course of Wrath and sold them on the AH. Had there been a less random currency drop to purchase the hilt I would have had a hilt on all my characters I'm sure, given the sheer number of times I ran the instances.
Nick Jan 8th 2011 8:54AM
Maybe for BOP items. but mentioning the hilt makes me giggle. You want a currency you can save up to buy BOE items. I had enough of said currency to give my main the hilt as soon as I visited the appropriate npc.
With justice and valor points along side RNG we have all we need for BOP items.
I dont get why people farm BOEs like the hilt. Just buy them, the currency (gold) is easy to accrue.
Naraxis Jan 8th 2011 9:24AM
lol a funny story... i ran those frozen halls instances hundreds of times as well... saw the hilt drop about 6 times in my entire wrath days. i won only 2 of them and the two i won dropped on THE SAME HALLS OF REFLECTION one dropped from first boss one dropped from LK's chest i freaked out lol