Realm First 85 - Part 4!

Published on December 2nd, 2010 11:11 AM

17 Comments

Surprise!

While I never intended on writing a part 4, I received tons and tons of awesome feedback from parts 1, 2 and 3. Special thanks go out to the MMO Champion folks, who were instrumental in fine-tuning and improving the plan to realm first 85. Check out the MMO Champion thread here, the comments in there are generally helpful (if not hilarious - come at me bro, come at me!). Also check out Sinshroud's latest post in Realm First 85 - Final Version. Hit him up with some +rep while you're there.

I've got some sweet tips for you guys today, the first is courtesy of Avell;

Originally Posted by Avell

My idea of getting 82 in 2 hours and 10 mins is like that:

Have 22 quests done i quest log.
Discover entrance to Blackrock Caverns only (so you are 100% you are gonna get it in random dungeon)

1. Go to vashj'ir, do quests for mount only and go to http://www.wowhead.com/npc=40221#starts asap.
2. Set your hs to shimmering expanse, use mage's portal or some other thing to get to dalaran, turn in quests you had.
3. Join random dungeon and do it only once (Blackrock caverns gives like 600kXP the first time you do it due to quests and 100kexp bonus for it being random)
4. HS to vashji'r and progress in people-free zone.

I got to 82 in 2 hours and didn't even finish second subzone before i dinged. So it's 100% working, don't have to even touch 3rd subzone in that case

Overall this seems like a sound plan, let's just hope that Blizzard didn't slip in a bread crumb quest at the last minute. I'll say it before and I'll say it again: if you're going to run a random dungeon, make sure your entire group is reliable and READY for the encounters. I was watching several videos of groups running regular dungeons and wiping several times on some bosses. This isn't WotLK folks, this is Cataclysm, where dungeon bosses are juiced up on steroids.

Next we have a correction to my initial statement about some daily quests not rewarding XP, courtesy of Lucetia:

Originally Posted by Lucetia

Wanted to point out in the section where you wrote this:

"Depending on how far you had progressed at each quest hub, you may end up short. There are several dailies offered near the Shadow Vault, these should make good fillers. If you decide to go off the beaten path here, just remember:
Cooking dailies do not reward XP.
Fishing dailies do not reward XP.
Weekly quests do not reward XP."

Cooking and Fishing dailies do reward XP. Orgrimmar/Stormwind, Shattrath, Dalaran dailies do. I have confirmed this with lower level toons and level 80+ toons in the Beta. Weeklies I am unsure of, but they should reward XP as they are no different than any other daily as the WG ones reward XP and are weeklies as well.

Now, I had tested this myself and concluded that they did not reward XP. Blizzard had been toying with some quests and needed to hotfix them the following week. I think I may have done my own testing within this time frame. Regardless, I shot a few PMs back and forth with Lucetia, and I think it's safe to assume that he or she is correct. Just keep in mind, you still want to pick up clustered dailies, not scattered ones!

Our next batter is the honorable Thud, who asks:

Originally Posted by Thud

Hey,

Do you even know what's going with the achievement if I transfer?
I mean.. my realm now is like..very high populate in addition it is a PvP server.. I am not in a mood of getting gang'd by the opposite fraction the whole time I'll level up and waiting in (censored) long queues..

I was thinking about transferring my character to a low-pop server, do the realm first and after 3 days go back on my original realm.
Will the achievement stay in my feats? Any thoughts?

While transferring to a low pop realm may eliminate some of the competition, it also kills the purpose of realm first, in my eyes. If you're doing it for fame and fortune, stick to your server. If you're doing it for the feat of strength and nothing else, I'd say go ahead and transfer. Nevermind, this is incorrect. Do not transfer servers if you want realm first.

I'm quite sure the achievement will stick even through a server transfer. I've never heard of any achievement being removed due to a transfer - this should remain true for realm first. Not to mention, I've seen 2 players with "realm first - level 80" on Thunderlord (Shockington and Applemask, I believe).

Escanor brings up a fine point about guild levels and perks;

Originally Posted by Escanor

There's just one thing i'm still a bit confused about: fast track.

I tried to get some information here and there how the whole thing will start off and i found out that you'll need around 16 million guild exp to get to rank2. with the daily cap it would be around 2,4 days to achieve that. I read on some official and unofficial forums that you may get rank 2 just with having a lot of achievements (like we're legendary) and just pop in to level 2 on the first day. if you're not in a guild like that your chances for a rf85 would be almost 0 if there are the same dedicated players like yourself.

In response: It seems to me that blizzard wouldn't allow such an advantage, but you never know. I'd advise asking top guilds for a temporary spot - tell them you're making a very serious attempt at realm first. If you have a good reputation on the server this shouldn't be a problem.

Last but not least, the esteemed Veronika (ding ding +rep) points out an alternate (and possibly optimal) pre-questing plan, as quoted below:

Originally Posted by Veronika

I've thinking about the best (and quicker) Cataclysm first steps about the 25 Northrend Daily quests. Completing Wintergrasp ones may suppose a waste of valuable time if your faction isn't controlling the zone, making you flying too much to dailies hub outside the citade. In the worst case, if the battle for WG is active and full, you'll also be teleported out.

Sons of Hodir ones seems to be the way to go. Why? More daily quests available than Wintergrasp making you skip the Skybreaker surrounding ones, so less time wasted.

If you persist in the WG option:

-Log out in Dalaran.
-Log in at midnight. Learn Flight Master's License and Illustrious farming professions.
-Verify your faction owns Wintergrasp or if is in battle. Use Dalaran portal if available or Fly to Wintergrasp, turn in all quests.
-Use [Argent Crusader's Tabard] to teleport to Argent Tournament grounds, turn in all quests.
-Fly to the Skybreaker zone, turn in all quests.
-Hearth to Stormwind and onward to Hyjal

The most time consuming parts in the WG option are flying from Dalaran to WG if no teleport available and from Skybreaker to surrounding area daily quest hubs.

If you like the SoH option:

-Log out in SoH Hub in Storm Peaks.
-Log in at midnight, turn in all quests.
-Use [Argent Crusader's Tabard] to teleport to Argent Tournament grounds, turn in all quests.
-Fly to the Skybreaker, turn in all quests.
-Use your [Ring of the Kirin Tor] / [Jaina's Locket] (gold is not supposed to be our problem

),or Fly to Dalaran. Learn Flight Master's License and Illustrious farming professions.
-Hearth to Stormwind and onward to Hyjal

The most time consuming parts in the SoH option is flying from Skybreaker to Dalaran.

Some good insight once again by Veronika. If you haven't yet unlocked Sons of Hodir, you have plentiful time to do so before Cataclysm. Whatever you do, make sure you're in and out of Northrend quickly, as it's very important to be ahead of the pack in Hyjal or Vash'ir (whichever you chose).

-----

As a final note, it seems to me that far more players will be attempting realm first this time around. Maybe it's because the grind is shorter. Maybe it can be attributed to all the awesome guides out there. Who knows. That being said, there can only be 1 per server, and I won't be too bothered if I come in 2nd, 3rd, or even 10th. I recommend not setting your hopes too high either - this is just a game, and though we're passionate about it, there's no reason to get upset over something like a lost race to server first!

That's all for today, Sterling beaming out!

_{This article was originally published in forum thread:

Realm First 85 - Part 4!
started by
Sterling} _{View original post}

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17 Comments

xandamere - December 2nd, 2010, 12:48 PM

You can't get a realm first if you transfer. There's a cooldown of 60 days, I believe, from when you transfer to when you are eligible for a realm first. Apparently Blizzard wants to discourage this practice.
- Reply

Maker - December 2nd, 2010, 02:43 PM

While I'm sure some guilds will be able to get Fast Track relatively quickly, several achievements have much higher thresholds.

Since the legendary achievement was specifically mentioned, you must be revered with the guild for your legendary to count towards the guild. No recruiting people to immediately unlock achievements for you.
- Reply

Sinshroud - December 2nd, 2010, 03:36 PM

Not sure if you saw my post in your final version that I posted recently Sterling, might wanna take a look to see if there is anything else you can add.

http://consortium.stormspire.net/sho...ull=1#post5220
- Reply

Veronika - December 3rd, 2010, 01:24 AM

Once again thx for the quote and the rep+!

As a final note, it seems to me that far more players will be attempting realm first this time around. Maybe it's because the grind is shorter. Maybe it can be attributed to all the awesome guides out there. Who knows. That being said, there can only be 1 per server, and I won't be too bothered if I come in 2nd, 3rd, or even 10th. I recommend not setting your hopes too high either - this is just a game, and though we're passionate about it, there's no reason to get upset over something like a lost race to server first!

All of this stuff is great, but at 82 i´m stopping leveling to farm Deepholm mining nodes. Going for realm first 85 will be hard as hell in my server, so i’m not going for it. I prefer to work on [Realm First! Illustrious Engineer] (maybe miner too) cause linking it on my trade macro looks great :P (profit is nice too).

As sterling said: “there can only be 1 per server”, so if you are typing /who X often (when X is your level +1 or +2) and find some toons levelling faster, is time to reconsider if realm first! illustrious profession is a better option for you. I feel that you shouldn’t delay that decision too much… maybe 83 will be too late.

Good Luck!
- Reply

Gevlon - December 3rd, 2010, 02:35 AM

Not like I would even think off going for realm first (I'll be sleeping until 6:00 AM Tuesday), but I have an extremely effective trick that's not been mentioned:

Have a friendly or well paid healer! A girlfriend, a brother, another RL friend or a well-paid guildy can double-triple your grinding XP/hour and cut your quest completion to half/third.

The trick is simple, you are not in group, you tag and massacre mobs while he heals you. With healer and proper gear you can pull 4-6 mobs and just AoE them down. It's especially useful for warlocks who can make mana from healing and warriors who get rage from the mobs hitting him. If you have tanking spec, it might be the best to pull every living being and just tank them down. Make sure that your healer just heals and don't damage, as it would decrease your XP.

Of course this trick has limited usage, as your healer doesn't do quests so get phased out soon. But even if he can help you for a half level, it can mean the difference between realm first and seeing someone else being realm first when you are 5% away from 85.

I did not test it, but if you are warlock (mana from health) or warrior (rage from mobs) and more than one healers, than you may can ignore quests and just AoE-grind in a spot where no one else care and the mobs respawn fast.

Similarly: you may pay some good and reliable guildies to be your instance group and grind blackrock until you are 82.
- Reply

Sinshroud - December 3rd, 2010, 03:16 AM

Originally Posted by Gevlon

Not like I would even think off going for realm first (I'll be sleeping until 6:00 AM Tuesday), but I have an extremely effective trick that's not been mentioned:

Have a friendly or well paid healer! A girlfriend, a brother, another RL friend or a well-paid guildy can double-triple your grinding XP/hour and cut your quest completion to half/third.

The trick is simple, you are not in group, you tag and massacre mobs while he heals you. With healer and proper gear you can pull 4-6 mobs and just AoE them down. It's especially useful for warlocks who can make mana from healing and warriors who get rage from the mobs hitting him. If you have tanking spec, it might be the best to pull every living being and just tank them down. Make sure that your healer just heals and don't damage, as it would decrease your XP.

Of course this trick has limited usage, as your healer doesn't do quests so get phased out soon. But even if he can help you for a half level, it can mean the difference between realm first and seeing someone else being realm first when you are 5% away from 85.

I did not test it, but if you are warlock (mana from health) or warrior (rage from mobs) and more than one healers, than you may can ignore quests and just AoE-grind in a spot where no one else care and the mobs respawn fast.

Similarly: you may pay some good and reliable guildies to be your instance group and grind blackrock until you are 82.

Ah so the mighty Gevlon finally joins? :P

Yeah what you say is very true, I've used similar tactics before and also had players who simply help me in keeping my questing linear. As in, don't you hate it when you are trying to get to a quest objective, but keep getting sidetracked or delayed because of mobs attacking you? Simply get a dps or two (preferably a hunter for the quick ranged shots, distracting shot and pet tanking abilities) to follow you and your healer, only intervening when you are busy racing to get to a quest objective.

In some situations, simply being able to get in and get out, accept and complete is faster than accepting quest, fighting your way through this big cave to the quest objective, fighting your way back out again etc. Especially if it's part of a big chain quest because it means you are able to unlock more quests faster than your competition, and hopefully get into a new questing hub that isn't as over crowded.
- Reply

Unregistered - December 4th, 2010, 06:31 AM

Im almost certain there can be more than one realm first, I believe there was a blue post with LK launch that said if two people got it "within a short window of each other" they would both get it

this could be just bad memory, or something they removed entirely tho, but Im almost certain that was stated back with LK's launch.
- Reply

Unregistered - December 5th, 2010, 10:24 AM

There's a one minute window after someone gets a realm first achievement for someone else to complete it.
- Reply

Bramblebone - December 6th, 2010, 09:07 AM

This may be too late to help many people but I just discovered it. If you do [Among the Champions] and then abandon it you do not loose your Mark of the Champion. This could allow you to get one extra daily in as you can pick it up after launch after you turn in one other quest. I hope some of you have time to utilize this still.
- Reply

Sterling - December 6th, 2010, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by Gevlon

Not like I would even think off going for realm first (I'll be sleeping until 6:00 AM Tuesday), but I have an extremely effective trick that's not been mentioned:

Have a friendly or well paid healer! A girlfriend, a brother, another RL friend or a well-paid guildy can double-triple your grinding XP/hour and cut your quest completion to half/third.

The trick is simple, you are not in group, you tag and massacre mobs while he heals you. With healer and proper gear you can pull 4-6 mobs and just AoE them down. It's especially useful for warlocks who can make mana from healing and warriors who get rage from the mobs hitting him. If you have tanking spec, it might be the best to pull every living being and just tank them down. Make sure that your healer just heals and don't damage, as it would decrease your XP.

Of course this trick has limited usage, as your healer doesn't do quests so get phased out soon. But even if he can help you for a half level, it can mean the difference between realm first and seeing someone else being realm first when you are 5% away from 85.

I did not test it, but if you are warlock (mana from health) or warrior (rage from mobs) and more than one healers, than you may can ignore quests and just AoE-grind in a spot where no one else care and the mobs respawn fast.

Similarly: you may pay some good and reliable guildies to be your instance group and grind blackrock until you are 82.

This tends to be how the fastest levelers do it. It would probably work for Cata as well, but the way levels scale, it might be faster to go out question past 82 (definitely faster at 80-81). As you mentioned, phasing becomes an issue, and zone access too. The best way to do it is to find a spot with a good respawn rate and kill mobs there for hours (this is how world first 80 was achieved).

Originally Posted by Bramblebone

This may be too late to help many people but I just discovered it. If you do [Among the Champions] and then abandon it you do not loose your Mark of the Champion. This could allow you to get one extra daily in as you can pick it up after launch after you turn in one other quest. I hope some of you have time to utilize this still.

If all your quests are dailies, you won't be able to complete a 26th. Otherwise this should work.
- Reply

Meyer - December 6th, 2010, 04:11 PM

Just a GL with the project, and if you do make "realm first" on your server Serling, I'll donate 50$ cash to the "First Monthly Contest - Win Cash Prizes and Other Goodies! "

Just to put some presure on you.. hehe.. GL.!!
- Reply

Sterling - December 6th, 2010, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by Meyer

Just a GL with the project, and if you do make "realm first" on your server Serling, I'll donate 50$ cash to the "First Monthly Contest - Win Cash Prizes and Other Goodies! "

Just to put some presure on you.. hehe.. GL.!!

Thanks meyer . I actually had a WHOLE bunch of things get in the way and it looked like destiny was against me.

But I'm going to bed now, as planned, see you in 8 hours.
- Reply

RavenC - December 6th, 2010, 07:47 PM

Sterling.

I',m sure you are asleep right now, in preparation for your big gig.

Just wanted to say thank you for letting everyone else have an insight to your ideas and to wish you the best of luck on your server firsts. After seeing your multitude of posts, I know luck is merely a chance factor, but I wish it all the same.

Have a great time getting your WINS! Screenies welcome!

Best
- Reply

Deater - December 7th, 2010, 08:47 PM

On my realm a DK got it in 12 hours, solo doing quests. No one was int he zone with him and he didnt run dungeons. Name is Xoss on Deathwing. Still cannot figure out how he did it legit.
- Reply

Khra - December 8th, 2010, 07:23 AM

The guild i'm in managed to get 8 server firsts... Also already have a 85 Worgen. Not sure how he did that!
- Reply

Sinshroud - December 8th, 2010, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by Khra

The guild i'm in managed to get 8 server firsts... Also already have a 85 Worgen. Not sure how he did that!

You could do a race change immediately Cataclysm was released. People had level 80 Worgen before I could even relog after the server announcement.
- Reply

Zerohour - December 8th, 2010, 09:47 AM

Any update on this Sterling? Just wondering if you accomplished the goal.

By the time I got home and was able to get logged in (3.2k man queue, 2.5 hour wait), there were over 49 85's already.
- Reply

Realm First 85 - Part 4!

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