WoW: Cooking and Fishing Guide
MMORPG.com World of Warcraft Correspondent Deboarah Dietrich writes this handy guide to cooking and fishing with a special focus on the Warth of the Lich King expansion.
Cooking and fishing are two of the secondary professions available to players in World of Warcraft. Many people find these worthwhile skills to raise as one can catch fish, which can then be cooked and turned into a great source for stat buffs. Cooking and fishing are excellent professions to level up together. One catches fish, raising the fishing skill and then cooks them up, raising one's cooking skill.
Of course first one must obtain the skill to level up these professions. With the Wrath of the Lich King, there is a new land in the World of Warcraft, Northrend and the maxed out skills in our professions are no longer maxed out. Four fifty is the new three seventy-five.
Some will choose to race to level 80 and bring their professions up to speed at a later date. Others will raise their skills as they make their way through the appropriate zones. In any case, one will need a visit a trainer to open up the ability to level to the Grand Master rank in both fishing and cooking. Grand Master can be trained once you reach 350 in your profession. Training costs 35 gold, at this level. Those who are leveling up fishing for the first time can forego buying the book Master Fishing: Art of Angling. Master fishing can be purchased from the Northrend fishing trainers for 1 gold.
Where do I go for Training?
Trainers for the fishing and cooking professions are located in both the starting areas of Northrend: the Howling Fjord and the Borean Tundra. Horde will take the zeppelin from Undercity to reach Vengenace Landing in the Howling Fjord. The fishing trainer is Angelina Soren. She is located at 79.3/27, on the docks. The cooking trainer is Tom Kolichio who can be found at 78.6/29.4. Or if the Borean Tundra is more to one's tastes, just catch the zeppelin located to the right as you exit Orgrimmar. Once in Warsong Hold you head down to the lower level. You will find Fishy Ser'ji near the inn and the cooking trainer, Orn Tenderhoof, on the inn's main floor.
Alliance will take the boat from Menethil Harbor to Velgarde. They will find their fishing trainer, Byron Welwick near the water (not a big surprise there) at 61.4/63.8. Cooking trainer, Brom Brewbaster is located in the inn at 58.2/62.1. There is also a ship that runs from Stromwind Harbor to Valiance Keep. Once there, look for Rollic Macreel in the keep at 57.9/71.5 to learn Grand Master cookery. Old Man Robert teaches the fishing skill in the same area at 57.8/71.6.
Dalaran also has Master Fishing and Cooking trainers once one moves beyond the entry level areas for Northrend. Alliance will find Grand Master Cook Katherine Lee in the kitchens of A Hero's Welcome inn, between the Silver Enclave and Eventide. Horde will find their cooking trainer, Awilo Lon'gomba at 70/38 in the Filthy Beast inn. These cooking trainers also give the daily cooking quest. The fishing trainer is Marcia Chase who is found at 53.0/64.9 by the Eventide Pools in Dalaran. She is more open-minded and will train both Horde and Alliance toons.
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How to Level the Fishing Skill
After the training, now comes the levelling. Fishing has not changed radically. You can still stand in Org or Stormwind and level fishing from 0 to 450 one tedious cast at a time. As before, only successful catches count toward levelling. If you fail to catch a fish because your skill was not sufficient to guarantee 100% success, you wasted you cast, so be sure you have enough fishing skill to guarantee you will not fail to catch a fish.
According to El's Extreme Anglin' it takes an average of 12.5 successful catches to gain a skill point from 375 to 430. From 430 to 450 takes an average of 14.5 catches per skill point. So count on catching over 975 fish before you see that Grand Master Fisherman achievement pop up on your screen.
There are a number of mods that will make fishing a tad less tedious. Prospective anglers might want to look at Fishing Ace or Fishing Buddy. Among other attractive features, these add-ons enhance the sound made when a fish is caught. This makes fishing more tolerable by allowing one's eyes to leave the bobber and attend to other things like TV, a movie, or a good book. Just have the bobber positioned next to the bobber, ready for a right click when you hear that a fish is hooked. In a recent Blizzcast developer Jon LeCraft indicated that Blizzard feels our pain and wants to make fishing more fun. However, this appears to be in the brainstorming phase, so prepare for tedium as you level your fishing to 450.
What Skill Do I Need for Northrend Fishing?
Players will begin in the Borean Tundra or the Howling Fjord. The skill needed to fish in these areas is 380, so you will need some fishing enhancements to even cast a line at 375. You'll need a skill rating of at least 450 to avoid the dreaded, "Your fish got away" message. The same skill levels apply for Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills.
The Crystalsong Forest requires a minimum skill of 405, with 500 needed to avoid missing a catch. Dalaran and Sholazar Basin require a 430 minimum skill, 525 to avoid misses. The Frozen Sea has a minimum requirement of 480, with 575 if you don't want any fish to get away.
<>Where Can I get Equipment to Enhance my Fishing Skill?
If you don't already have a good fishing pole, both factions can do the Rather be Fishin' quest. This quest is given by Seth, who can be found in the Lower City area of Shattrath. The reward is a fishing pole at adds +20 to the fishing skill when equipped. There is a Horde-only quest in the Hinterlands. Find Katoom the Angler on the pier in Revantusk Village to get the quest Snapjaws, Mon. The reward from this quest is a pole that adds +25 to the fishing skill when equipped.
Once you have your pole, you'll want some good lures. There are a variety of lures, which can be purchased from vendors. There are two lures that add 100 points to fishing skill: the Aquadynamic Fish Attractor and the Sharpened Fish Hook. The Aquadynamic Fish Attractor is a limited supply item on the vendors that carry it, but can be made by engineers and is often for sale on the Auction House. Sharpened Fish Hooks are rewards from doing the daily fishing quest. Anglers with an oversupply of these items will also sell them on the Auction House.
There is a weekly fishing extravaganza in Stranglethorn Vale with many rewards that yield fishing bonus items. This event takes place every Sunday from 2 to 4PM server time. The winner will receive the choice of an Arcanite Fishing Pole, with +35 to fishing skill or a trinket that turns the user into a fish. They also complete the achievement Master Angler of Stranglethorn. Even if you don't win the event there are three rare fish that can be caught. These can be turned in for a hat, boots or fishing line all of which add +5 to the fishing skill.
The daily fishing quest can yield a +5 fishing hat and a +3 fishing line that be attached to a pole. Other fishing enhancements are a +2 to gloves enchant and the consumable, Captain Rumsey's Lager, which adds +10 to the fishing skill for 3 minutes. There is also an Underbelly elixir, which is a rare find in Dalaran. Its results are unpredictable and though there is a random +50 to fishing result, it appears to be too rare and too random to be of much interest.
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Cooking has changed quite a bit and will not be as fast to level as it has been in the past. The old fishing/cooking synergy will work till about level 415 in cooking. Then you will need to do the daily cooking quest in Dalaran. You need level 74 to start doing these quests. The quests rewards include Dalaran Cooking Awards. All recipes above the level of 415 can only be purchased with these Delaran Cooking Awards. Additionally the best, highest return recipes all use Northern Spices. Northern Spices are also rewards from doing the daily Dalaran cooking quest. They can also be purchased with the Dalaran Cooking Awards. If you want to get cooking up to 450, you will be doing these new daily cooking quests. Additionally, these recipes call for meats as well as fish.
Anything Else I Should Know?
There are other nice things one can get from fishing. Fishing schools will yield fish of a certain type, but this is also where one will find Crystallized Water, Northrend's version of the mote of water. Combine ten to get one Eternal Water. The respawn rate on these schools is much faster than was seen in The Burning Crusade.
There are a number of achievements for fishing up assorted coins from Dalaran's Eventide fountain. A new mini-pet, a Giant Rat can be fished up from the waters of the Underbelly in Dalaran. Here you can also fish up a Rusty Prison Key, which can be used to open a treasure chest, which yields rare quality weapons and armor or other rewards.
If you are looking for a good guide to levelling up your fishing and cooking, I recommend El's Extreme Anglin at http://www.elsanglin.com/ . El does an excellent job of covering the professions of WoW and is an great source of information.
