My current status:
60 Druid (main) - 300 tailor, 300 enchanter
55 Mage (1st alt) - 225 engineer, 100's alchemy

Currently MC is draining my resources pretty quickly. I'm trying to alleviate some of that. Herbalism/Alchemy seems to be the way to do it. Also, the combination of enchanting and potions can yeild some very nice mana/5 buffs, not to mention distilled wisdom and troll's blood.

I am hesitant to give up enchanting or tailoring on my main. I have some pretty nice formulae for both.

I started into alchemy with the mage but am finding it very expensive to further the profession by buying herbs from the AH.

I'm coming to the conclusion that I need to give up engineering for herbalism on the mage. I simply don't have time to level a rogue, which I would think is the optimal class for a gathering profession as they have stealth, dps, vanish, blind, ect. I am considering giving up tailoring on the druid instead, but as I stated before I have quite a few rare patterns.

The questions:
1. If I take herbalism on the mage is he going to be able to get the herbs needed for major mana, major health, and greater fire protection potions? Will he need more levels to be able to effectively farm?

2. Does stealth significantly improve farming speed? Is it worth considering dropping tailoring so that I can farm with stealth using a full resto druid? Note that the biggest things I loose on the tailoring side are the ability to make bags and mooncloth. Would it actually be worth it to level a rogue for this?

3. Is there a WoW equivalent to EQTraders.com?

4. Where is the dreamfoil hiding?

One more thing I'll just toss in there rather than making a new thread. I want to make brilliant mana oil. How many ZG runs should I plan on to reach friendly? Assume I've never been, even though I've been a few times.

Oh yeah. Thanks for the help :)

I am level 48 and have 300 herbalism and 300 alchemy.

I don't find stealth particularly helpful while farming. If I am in an area I need to worry about, they'll probably get me when I destealth to pick, but travel form on the other hand is great for speeding up the process as you don't even need to shift out to pick flowers.

1. I don't have those recipes yet, but if you tell me what herbs you need I can probably tell you where to get them.

2. Like I said I don't find stealth to helpful, I wouldn't cross a zone in stealth to get to a resource node just to avoid mobs (too slow).

3. Not familiar with the website you mention, but one of my guildies told me Allakazam (sp?) has something that tracks what is getting harvested where, and I believe there are add-ons that will do the same thing for you personally (track where you pick up particular herbs so you can find them again).

4. I have 2 nodes in western Azshara I can even get to at my level (although I really have to be careful with my huge aggro radius), and I have 1 on the eastern edge of Ungoro Crater (I have learned where to drop down on it from tanaris w/o dying or having to pass any mobs).

I have no information on ZG.

Just to add:

I find my herbalism supports my alchemy habit financially. Between nearly free pots and the profits I make selling herbs (herbs sell for more than the potions you make with them, go figure) I always have cash on hand to pick up non-herbalism ingredients (fish oils, thorium ore, elemental earth, etc...) and continue to buy more recipes. I also ship many free pots to my guildies (since the cost to me is minimal when I farm) and it has reaped me tons of good will and return freebies.

herbs sell for more than the potions you make with them, go figureThat explains why I'm getting pissed at the cost while still in the 100's.

If you've managed to hit 300/300 at level 48 I should be fine at 55. I can grab the major health/mana formulae from vendors. The only one I'll need to farm is the greater fire protection.

Basically I need a ton of dreamfoil and about half that of icecap. Crap, forgot arcane & shadow...

I'm going to drop engineering and take a shot at herbalism tonight. I think I know where a few hotspots are around Darnassus. I'll fill you in on how it goes.

Keep in mind if you drop engineering you will lose the ability to use anything you've made.

I'd say keep the tailoring and enchanting with your druid, as you have invested a good amount of time and money in them already.

The best part about farming herbs with druid isnt stealth but soothe animal. I dont think that a rogue would particularly be better at farming herbs. Soothe animal isn't even that necessary. As GW said, even when coming out of stealth (or soothing things) pats / mobs will aggro on you regardless. I see frost nova being a big benefit here. Running to an herb, drawing all the aggro a little away from you, nova'ing them in place, picking the flower then blinking away to go find another herb would work just fine. And I assume that you are going to be trying to lvl your mage at the same time, so going out to pick herbs in this manner and killing mobs at the same time is dually effective grinding :)

The greater fire protection recipie just dropped in LBRS, and another hunter in the group won it. Luckily he is a guildie and RL friend. So we are covered on that base. The major health pot recipie can be bought from a vendor, and is very easy to gather herbs for. Major mana pot drops in scholo, or you can do a quest to buy the recipie from a ghost vendor.

The main herbs for major mana pot are icecap, which can be farmed easily in hinterlands at lv 55. And in hinterlands, you will more than likely run into a black lotus or two, which are in high demand for making flasks. Dreamfoil and Plaguebloom can be farmed effectivley in wpl at 55, though they are more abundant in epl. Ungoro is a gold mine for mountain silversage. Another great place to farm herbs is Felwood. EVERYTHING is in felwood, from gromsblood to plaguebloom. Also, burning steepes (I think thats the name - land to the far se of eastern kingdom) has lots of firebloom and gromsblood.

A good place to lvl your herbing is in the swamplands around ST. There are tons of all sorts of mid level herbs there which are needed for various pots, such as major trolls blood (blindweed). Goldthorn is found in abundance in STV. Sungrass is all over the place in Feralas

Also, your guild will love you for being able to do arcanite transmutes every two or so days. Every pally and warrior I know wants an arcanite reaper, and pallys need tons of arcanite for their epic mount, etc. If you arent transmuting those for guildies, you can sell them for 5g every 2 days.

Thanks for the great info, both of you! I'm going to put in 3-4 hours tonight and see how close I can get to 300 herbalism.

EDIT 2/21: Ran around that area outside of Darnassus to the right. 0-75 is really easy here. I got back to Darnassus and the server rebooted. Ten minutes later it's not up and I'm here in TDG.

I'm not sure where to head next. I'm thinking Loch Modan and Ashenvale. After that maybe Wetlands. Then it's off to STV and Dustwallow. Then Swamp of Sorrows and Felwood. Does this sound like a good plan?

Don't bother with Ashenvale. It's too big and the herbs are too spaced out.

Loch Modan is _superb_ for 75-125 or so. After that I'd consider heading to STV.


I'd also recommend taking up fishing. Even at very low levels, fishing allows you to catch things like oily blackmouths, which are used in blackmouth oil, which in turn is used to make Free Action Potions. These pots sell for heaps, particularly on pvp servers. A good place to start fishing is in Stormwind. Once you get to lvl 50 or so, head to menethil harbour. There's a guy there who can sell you a better fishing rod, and also Nightcrawlers (needs lvl 50 fishing) to increase your fishing level, allowing you to catch fish in higher level areas. Oily Blackmouths can be fished pretty easily from menethil harbour. Converting the fish into the oil can help you level up alchemy too. :)


-Annik

I did pretty well farming that 75-125 range in Duskwood/ raven Hill Cemetery. I still run through there from Stormwind to STV sometimes to pick up some grave moss. (I made a fortune selling shadow oils, so I always keep an eye out for grave moss and fadeleaf).

Too true on the fishing thing too. I hate fishing, but realize now how Badly I need to spend a whole day leveling it up at some point. The most expensive alchemy ingredients I have to buy are the fish oils (blackmouth oil, firefin oil, stonescale oil, etc...).

I also never spent any time on cooking, but am finding myself buying sagefish delight and nightfin soup, so I 'll have to work on those once I get my fishing up as well.

What a lot of people do is to just keep a fishing rod and some lure in their bags all the time, and fish while they're waiting for the boat at menethil or theramore.

Stonescale Eels are one of the hardest things to fish. The best place to get them is just south of Steamwheedle Port, on the east coast of Tanaris. You're looking about maybe 10 eels an hour.

Nightfin Snappers are Sunscale Salmon are both used in making specialty buff food. Sunscale Salmon are easier to catch during the day, and Nightfin Snappers are much easier to catch at night.

Hot Fishing Tip!™ Fish with a friend. Fishing alone is like.. grinding, alone. The banter makes it bearable. :)


-Annik

What a lot of people do is to just keep a fishing rod and some lure in their bags all the time, and fish while they're waiting for the boat at menethil or theramore.My fishing is in the 50's. Waiting for the boat at these two places is the only time I ever fish.

I diddn't have much time in Loch Modan last night. The guild called out my druid for AQ20 as our gates just opened. I'll try Loch Modan and Duskwood tonight. I'm aiming for 150 tonight and 225 by monday.

Get a friendly guild engineer to make you some Aquadynamic Fish Attractors. They are uber-cheap to make, and are pretty awesome..

Also, check out an addon called FishingBuddy. It does some useful stuff like keeps stats on the drop rates of fish in different areas of the world, so once you've been around a bit you can tell at a glance whether a particular area has the fish you're looking for. It also allows you to right-click on some water to cast your line, and when you click on your bobble thing to grab a fish, it automatically recasts your line for you. Great for fast fishing.. :)
No ideas on links, kinda hard for me to find stuff like that just now being as my work's firewall blocks heaps of games-related stuff. Try curse gaming i guess.


-Annik

I went fishing more *just* because you two told me to. I can't do it. I snagged some fish attractors & a better pole. Maybe I'll try while watching TV or something.

Between Loch Modan (east side of zone) and Duskwood (south side of zone) I made it to 150ish. I went to STV and most stuff is 160-170. Skillups in Loch Modan are near-non-existant, Duskwood is slim but better.

Is there particular areas of STV that are better than others? The south side of the zone is where I've poked around so far. I guess I'll try by that Kurzen(sp?) encampment in the NE today.

Also, alchemy is coming along well. I snagged a component I did not have yet and made a few invis potions. Later yesterday I was in a spot in BRD where if I diddn't invis I don't think I could have snuck past. First application WOOT!

Just started questing into Un'Goro and my herbalism/ alchemy profits are through the roof!

Find the Mountain Silversage nodes, their like money in the bank. I've found plenty of dreamfoil there too.

I was running through there for the BRD "Love Potion..." quest and notice a ton of herbs that I could not get.

I did not meet my goal mainly because I got distracted with questing a +20FR to leg enchant. I got to 165 this weekend. STV seems to require about 170. I made two rounds of Duskwood trying to hit 170 and there were no more spawns.

I am going to try again early Saturday. Hopefully there'll be alot of spawns before the weekend crowd has a chance to bug up the timers.

I'm totally comitted now, though. I spent 150g for the greater fire protection formula but cannot learn it for some time.

I also have a nice farm route up in Alterac:
Fly to chillwind, cheetah south into Alterac and then turn up towards the abandoned village up there with all the rogue npcs. I usually get 2 fade leaf and a goldthorn right around that village. Then head north to a valley that runs east to west. There are little encampments in side canyons to the North, behind each are usually some good herbs (K whiskers, fadeleaf, goldthorn) there are also kingsblood nodes every couple hundred yards down the length of the valley. Sometimes before hitting the valley I'll run into the ruins of Alterac and grab some more wintersbite and goldthorn, then head to the valley (can also take a stab at the vendor for frost oil recipe which resells for 10x cost).

Nothing real high end, but stacks of those mid-herbs still sell well, and save me from buying mats as some are still used in high end alc. recipes.

I am going to start a skillup guide here for the herbalism end. I don't have much content yet but we'll fill it in. STV apears slow, but then I keep going in 10 minute increments so I should not judge. Got to 185 last night.

Skill 0-75 : Teladrissil. Make a right out of the Darnassus gates and search the southern part of the zone.

Skill 75-120/125 : Loch Modan (eastern part of zone) and Duskwood (southern and western parts of zone).

Skill 125-170 : Duskwood. *slow*

Skill 170-xxx : Stranglethorn Vale. *needs parts of zone*

The ridge above Kurzen's compound and down towards ZG has about 3-4 wildsteelbloom nodes and south of the compound you should be able to pick up 2 fade leaf 2 k whiskers and some kingsfoil or kingsblood (w/e its called). Makes about a 20 min walk around the compound pretty efficient.

More towards the middle portion of the zone is a big hill with one of the elite cats on top (can't remember which) that has 3 or 4 good nodes around it you can pick w/o fighting. Nearly every little ruin location has a purple lotus node.

I always found good farming in STV in my server, maybe pros have picked it clean before you're getting there?

Also wanted to share my personal Herbalism cash cow - Ghost Mushrooms, they are practically like gold pieces laying on the ground.

There is a location in the Hinterlands called Skulk Rock, and inside is a cave with 3 chambers, each chamber has a node and a supply crate with food and drinks. The place is also crawling with Green Slime and Jade Ooze. By the tim I grind through to the third node the first has respawned, I can pick up about 15 mushrooms an hour, and the slimes drop some greys that vendor well and coins themselves. All in all I make about 20g an hour (and at my level earn decent xp).

I always found good farming in STV in my server, maybe pros have picked it clean before you're getting there?I am going to try it as soon as I get home today. I'm on EST but the server's on PST. Maybe I'll have better luck @ 2:30 server.

There is a location in the Hinterlands called Skulk Rock, and inside is a cave with 3 chambers, each chamber has a node and a supply crate with food and drinks. The place is also crawling with Green Slime and Jade Ooze. By the tim I grind through to the third node the first has respawned, I can pick up about 15 mushrooms an hour, and the slimes drop some greys that vendor well and coins themselves. All in all I make about 20g an hour (and at my level earn decent xp)That's one helluva find.

I take it you know that you have to click the bobber when it jiggles, yea..?

Well, when I was levelling my fishing, here's where I all went to do it.

Stormwind Canals
Menethil Harbour (Wetlands)
Booty Bay (Stranglethorn Vale)
Steamwheedle Port (Tanaris)
Ashzara (some of the pools in the northeast)

At this point I did the quest that you get from a guy on an island south/southwest of Theramore. Completing the quest allows you to get a maximum fishing skill of 300. These days I can basically fish wherever I like, although my skill is still only 285 or so, mostly cause the need for me to fish has dropped since my little fishing campaign created a wave of awareness in my guild, and the people I was fishing for began to fish for themselves. I still do it occasionally if little hunters ask me where to get food for their pets.. It's nice being able to just grab some from the nearest river. :)

By the way, dunno if I mentioned this before, but you should get an addon called FishingBuddy. I'm at work and we have a nasty firewall so it's tricky for me to search for a link for you, but if you can find it, it has some awesome features to help you fish..


-Annik

Also wanted to share my personal Herbalism cash cow - Ghost Mushrooms, they are practically like gold pieces laying on the ground.

There is a location in the Hinterlands called Skulk Rock, and inside is a cave with 3 chambers, each chamber has a node and a supply crate with food and drinks. The place is also crawling with Green Slime and Jade Ooze. By the tim I grind through to the third node the first has respawned, I can pick up about 15 mushrooms an hour, and the slimes drop some greys that vendor well and coins themselves. All in all I make about 20g an hour (and at my level earn decent xp).

I just discovered this yesterday with my priest :) I flew up to Hinterlands to get the mallet for ZF, and in the process picked up a few random quests, one of them taking me to skulk rock. I happened to remember GWMort saying something about something profitable in there, and boom. Ghost Mushrooms. I am now mass producing elixer of shadow power, and my shadow priestess is NASTY. After I bank about 4 stacks of the pots, which will take 60 mushrooms, (and eat a few on the way O.o ) I plan on starting to sell them.

On to fishing - I have a fishing skill of 75/75 with priest. Where should I go to train past that (noob question), and where is a good place to lvl once I have? i.e. what level is booty bay? I hate that fishing doesn't tell you what lvl is required, similar to herbalism telling you what lvl is required to pick the herb.

Glad to help, and that you're not on my server (swiping my 'shrooms)!

...so hard to find time...

So, once I hit 180ish I could pick up everything but purple lotus in STV. Once I went there on off hours I saw what it was suppossed to be like.

I think I spent an hour fifteen going from 180 to 225.

Now, though, I'm having trouble finding the quest to get alchemy from 225 to 300.

Its not a quest, you get it from the trainer in Feathermoon Stronghold in Feralas

Of all the professions I've ever taken herbalism and alchemy take up more bank space than anything else. Tailoring can take up alot but you can compress everything by making bolts.

I thought alchemy would have a quest like engineering. I went out to the Ferelas trainer and found that it's just a simple train.

I'm very impressed by alchemy so far. I have a decent potion for every stat, even armor, +dmg, and damage sheilds. I also go through swiftness and wildvine potions like candy.

In the new patch there are going to be new 24 slot bags just for herbalism or enchanting items, should help a lot.

When the server gets back up I am going to buy some silk, make a bunch of low level bags, fill them with low level potions, and go to Goldshire. I'll sell the other half of the herbs. That should make some bank space.

Alchemy and Herb each fill a 16 slot bag on my toon. That on top of my additional armor set and bag full of random quest items that I don't remember what to do with, I only have my backpack to store stuff in. (4) 16 slot bags constantly full. Though it is nice to be able to randomly make pots when needed.

I love having a +25 str and +25 agi buff for an hour when I'm in feral mode, and the +25 int is nice for healing when a caster isnt around. And the elixer of mongoose and sages are just insane.

The elixer of agility sells realy well on the ah, and is super easy to make. An hour in Feralas gathering sungrass this weekend made me 20 agi pots, 5 which I keep on me and 3 stacks (of five) which I sold for 8g each. 24g per hour. Not bad. Plus it lvld my herbalism and alchemy with my priest, and the other random herbs that I picked sold for an additional 10g.(druid is 300/300. yes, both my toons are herb/alch)

Go check out swamp of sorrows post 225. That, feralas then Un'Goro and you will have more herbs than you know what to do with :)

When I see I have some herbs on me I am not using frequently, I move them to the bank. Same if I get some rare herb I know I need to collect bunches of to make top potions; I put them in storage til I get more.

Hit 300, got my recipies. Thanks for the help.

I made 50g last night solely on greater fire protection pots with no herb farming. Can we say "CASH COW".

Odd, if Ghost Bear was in here we'd have all four active posters who know the class well.