Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
If you ever listen in on trade channel, you might have noticed just how little trading actually gets done. Amidst the ego trips, show-offs, begging, insults, whining, wooting, and the like, you may notice another trend; that of complaining about prices for goods and services.
I often see people harassing others about the price of twink gear, crafted items, enchants, gathered materials, or even dungeon and world drops. Sometimes, the criticism is warranted, to protect the more naive members of the community. Most of the time, unfortunately, the comments begin to flow because players have not caught up to, and accepted, the cost of things.
For months now, Insider Trader has been diligently planning out routes to maximize your profession skills in ways that are efficient, profitable, and quick. Each week, you've stepped up and added your comments, thoughts, and professional secrets so that we can all benefit.
I've aimed to replace the boredom, tedium, frustration and bankruptcy that has been the experience of many crafters, with balance, profit, knowledge, and even (gasp) fun.
Now, as we round out the series, let's take a look through the guides that, together with their comments sections, will send you on a straightaway to 375.
Last week, Insider Trader began the journey from 300 to 375 jewelcrafting skill. While we were able to avoid using recipes that required faction reputation or that had to be farmed, the cheapest methods to 375 from about 365 may require a bit more effort to obtain.
If you are like so many other craftsmen, stuck with 375 seeming far away and expensive, then carry on through the break to examine ways to not only maximize your skills, but to attempt to make a profit while doing so, rather than running on a loss.
Featuring several distinct ways to reach 375, you will find that you have many choices to suit your own needs, your guild's needs, and your server's market. In addition, I've put together some links for further reading that you should find helpful.
Each week, Insider Trader takes you behind the scenes of the bustling sub-culture of professional craftsmen, examining the profitable, the tragically lacking, and the methods behind the madness. For more guides to maximizing your chosen profession, check out the final stretches for Leatherworkers and Alchemists alike, as well as part one of Jewelcrafting's final stretch. For a complete list of profession guides, feel free to peruse our directory.
Now that the cap has been raised to twenty-five, and a slew of dailies has been added as of patch 2.4, many players are finding themselves spending a few hours on daily quests each day. Personally, there are a few that I enjoy doing most days, including the bombing runs, and some that I'd rather avoid if I didn't need the gold to fuel my rather Outlandish habits.
I'm not sure if I could pinpoint a single culprit though. The longer quests bother me up front, because I get bored spending half an hour each day mowing through the same exercise. As such, the Shadowmoon Valley quests might be my least favorite, because aside from the competition, they take forever.
Which daily quests are giving you a daily headache, and why?
Despite the overwhelming support from our readers during our brief but flower-tastic adventures as HKO-Insider, I will be unable to delve any further into the professions of the Flower Kingdom. That's okay; they were prejudiced against jewelcrafters anyway.
Excellent article, very in depth and thorough. I'm eagerly awaiting the same treatment for my stalled JC.
How could I resist a request preceded by flattery? I might have even produced this last week, had patch 2.4 not have dropped; after all, we can't have all of our jewelcrafters stalled mid-level. I am looking forward to reading the comment section for this guide, as the cheapest way on paper always varies because of unique server economies.
For the first part of the guide, which will show you how to reach 355 jewelcrafting in the cheapest manner possible, pass on through the break.
Each week, Insider Trader takes you behind the scenes of the bustling sub-culture of professional craftsmen, examining the profitable, the tragically lacking, and the methods behind the madness. For more guides to maximizing your chosen profession, check out the final stretches for Leatherworkers and Alchemists alike. For a complete list of profession guides, feel free to peruse our directory.
As the author of AddOn Spotlight: For the Timid, I was skeptical once I saw the screenshots provided. It looked complicated, and impossible to set up. Fortunately, this guide will walk you through what to download, where to get it, and how to install it.
The guide also helps you configure the addon so that in the end, you will have a map complete with farming route to optimize your farming time. It also walks you through the mechanics of gas cloud tracking and harvesting.
This is a great guide, not only for engineers, but for any gathering profession. Even if you are weary of complicated addons that take time and know-how to set up, this guide will walk you straight through it.
What addons have you been using for your gathering and farming exploits?
Mileiamh has posted an idea for an auction house revamp in the official WoWsuggestions forums. Because neutral auction houses are located in neutral towns, and are therefore not frequently used, Mileiamh suggests that Blizzard could place faction neutral auction houses in "each of the pre-BC auction houses".
He posits that these new additions would "solve bad econom(ie)s on low pop servers" and eliminate the "need for opposite faction auction house alts". Furthermore, Mileiamh reasons that these auction houses would "likely supersede the old auction house" and therefore, could "replace [them] completely".
Seeing "no drawbacks", he seems excited at the prospect that the "items available to both factions" would be "greatly expand[ed]".
Taking the neutral auction houses as proof that "[B]lizzard seem[s] to have no problem with horde and alliance selling things to each other", Mileiamh invites everyone for further discussion. What potential benefits and drawbacks could other players point out?
The Khorium Toolbox has recently posted a very thorough article on all of the ways that you can, in fact, make money from being an engineer. Although you are unlikely to make back the cost of leveling the profession any time soon, it's provides some excellent ideas as a start.
Sell-worthy goodies include ammunition, non-combat pets, guns, and fun, quirky gizmos that are the characteristic trademark of the engineering profession.
As a hunter, I definitely benefited from the fact that my engineering guildmate could often provide ammunition, guns, and scopes. I helped out with mats, of course, and I really liked the hand-made aspect of the weaponry.
Some of these items will require you to max out your engineering, so check out Lisa's guide to pushing your skill up to the last.
Now that you have unlocked your daily quests in Skettis, it is time to actually do them. Many players, myself included, were introduced to dailies in the same way we learn about most quests; we just try them. When we become frustrated, we turn to the Internet.
Because of the repetitive and somewhat obligatory nature of daily quests, it is important to not only master them to minimize such frustration, but also to understand exactly what you are gaining in the long run. Knowing exactly how many rewards you are racking up will keep you doing these quests even when you don't feel like it. This will help you reach your goals, whether they are epic flight, the Cenarion Expedition flying mount, or anything else, you will need to be diligent if you want to save enough gold in a timely fashion.
Follow through the jump for a detailed walkthrough of each daily quest, as well as a few different summaries of your loot, put into perspective.
Whether you fancy a nether ray mount or are simply after some daily gold, you will probably want to start completing the daily quests for the Sha'tari Skyguard in Skettis. While they may prove difficult at first, with practice, you'll become faster and more adept.
In order to unlock these dailies, you will need to be level 70 and have at least basic flight. This is because Skettis is nestled in the top of a group of cliffs, and cannot be reached by mount or by foot. In fact, even if you were summoned to Skettis, you would only be able to do one of the two daily quests, as Fires Over Skettis entails bombing eggs while in flight. You will also need to complete two quests to gain access to your dailies.
The first of these unlocking quests, Threat From Above, can be completed without flight, provided you can get a warlock to summon you to the Barrier Hills, an area above and behind Aldor Rise, Shattrath. In fact, the second quest, which takes you to Skettis initially, could also be completed with the help of a warlock. Your dailies would then be unlocked, although you would still need flight for one, and want flight for the other. In addition, you would need to be summoned to Skettis every single day to actually complete the one daily you can do without flying.
Follow through the jump for an in-depth walkthrough for unlocking your dailies, as well as a bonus look at some non-daily, repeatable quests you can use to boost your reputation with the Skyguard.
Each week, 
Mileiamh
The Khorium Toolbox
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