WoW Journal - 5-July-2006

I was playing World of Farmcraft last night, farming the same spot all evening long. I was following a reader's advice to try to find the pattern for the robes of arcana. I had checked the AH first, and found there was a pattern there for over 5 gold, and several robes for over 2 gold, but I still thought it might be worth getting the pattern myself. The pattern for the robes of arcana drops either from the voidcallers in the Tower of Althalaxx in Darkshore, or from the Defias enchanters in Duskwood. As the drop-rate is similar, and I remember the tower being quite nasty to solo, I searched for the enchanters in Duskwood.

The best spot I found was Addle's Stead, the farm just south of the road when you enter the zone from Westfall. In and around the house and the barn are about a dozen spawn points which either have a rogue or an enchanter. My priest being level 28, and later 29, and the Defias being level 25 to 27, the only dangerous part was the barn with its 4 spawn points. But I found that if I killed the guy closest to the door and then ran away, I could kill the other three on the second attempt, as without the guy in the middle they aren't linked any more. I also tried classic "spawn breaking" tactics, but found they didn't work in that situation, as the 4 mobs in the barn always spawn simultaneously, even if you killed them one by one.

After a bit over an hour I found the pattern for the robes of arcana. But I had also noticed that the area had 4 spawn points for chests, and that the Defias gave quite good loot, and the xp weren't bad either. So I just kept farming the place for the rest of the evening. I didn't find a second pattern, but ended up with a bag full of greens, lots of cloth, good cash, and dinged to level 29. The gameplay was more like Everquest than World of Warcraft, but for a change for one evening that wasn't so bad. You can learn a lot about a camp spot, and how exactly mobs behave, if you farm it for a longer time than strictly required for doing a quest. Thus the only quest I finished there was getting the Defias docket from the Addle's Stead farmhouse (not the barn) for the Missing Diplomat quest line.

I don't know yet if the pattern is going to make me any money. The spider's silk you need for the robe are relatively expensive, at 25 silver apiece on the AH. So making the robe costs around 1 gold. I put up three robes for 1 gold bid, 2 gold buyout, undercutting the other tailors by 40 silver. But at that time there were 8 other robes on the AH, and the owners can always further undercut me. But for playing in a different way for once, the evening was well worth it.