Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Oh the places I can go: travel items in Warcraft


I'm a bit particular about in-game travel: I like to make it as short and painless as possible. Because traveling is what your characters do in between doing stuff you really want to do. Granted, we have it pretty nice now with flying mounts, a generous amount of portals (I'm looking at you, Shrine) and flight paths. But whenever I have to hop continents/worlds, I rely on a handful of vanity items that help to ensure I'm never short of options for quick travel. I recommend everyone have these items in their bags.

Ring of the Kirin Tor: Port to Dalaran with a 30-minute cooldown. Use Dalaran as a launch point for Northrend travel for achievements like Frostbitten, hunting the Time Lost Proto Drake, and a weekly Malygos kill for a chance at the Blue or Azure Drakes. Remember that southern Kalimdor is accessible from here via a portal in the Violet Citadel that takes players to the mouth of the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. Or just take your faction portal to your major city. Requires earning exalted status with the Kirin Tor.

Shroud of Cooperation: This cloak is unlocked when your guild has all 10 classes at 85 and can be purchased from the guild vendor at Honored reputation. It allows travel to Orgrimmar/Stormwind once every 8 hours. Yes, that is a mammoth-sized cooldown, but I rarely rely on it; only during times of heavy travel do I find my hearthstone, Astral Recall (shaman), and Ring of the Kirin Tor on cooldown. Only if I need to get to Orgrimmar with no time to spare will I use this before the items with a shorter cooldown. 

Wrap of Unity: Same great taste as the Shroud above with half the fat cooldown. This is unlocked when your guild reaches level 15 and can be purchased from the guild vendor at Honored reputation. This one sees even less use than its counterpart, as I'll often use the 8-hour cooldown before the 4-hour.

Cloak of Coordination: Even better taste with only a 2-hour cooldown. Unlock this when your guild crafts 500 epic items of ilvl 359 or higher. Like the others, it can be purchased via the guild vendor once your character has reached Honored reputation. Our guild hit that milestone last week!

The Brassiest Knuckle: This ring may be more difficult for some to acquire as it's tied to reaching rank 4 in the Brawler's Guild and costs a whopping 5,000g. Triggers a 1-hour cooldown after porting to your faction's Brawler's Guild which is conveniently located in Orgrimmar or Ironforge.

Potion of Deepholm: Why would anyone want to go to Deepholm? I know, right. But if for some reason everything I have is on cooldown (I think it's happened once) and I need to get to my faction's major city, I'll pop a potion because the room you end up in has a portal waiting to take you there.

Blessed Medallion of Karabor: My main is in the middle of the quest chain that rewards this item, even though it's not very appealing to begin with. After all, the Black Temple is a pretty out-of-the-way place in an out-of-the-way zone in an out-of-the-way plane of existence. There's a level 25 pet battle tamer in Shadowmoon Valley, as well as Netherwing rep and the 6 Netherwing Drakes that can be purchased at Exalted. Other than those two reasons, and perhaps aside from farming Black Temple, I can't see much of a reason to travel Shadowmoon Valley.

Argent Crusader's Tabard: I must qualify that I once possessed this item. In an effort to create some bank space, and before the convenience of self-service item restorations, I destroyed this tabard along with a handful of others since I'd already acquired the Thirty Tabards achievement. Really, if you're meaning to head to Icecrown Citadel you're better of porting to Dalaran. Given my disdain for dailies and the fact that jousting sucks, I don't plan on going back to earn the required currency to buy this one again. This item can be purchased from the quartermaster at the tournament for 50 Champion's Seals.

Innkeeper's Daughter: Possibly my favorite travel item. Yes, it is a stand-in for your Hearthstone, but after eight years of staring at the same icon, the Innkeeper's Daughter is surprisingly refreshing. Currently, this takes me to my Shrine where I can choose any of the major city portals in addition to Shattrath and Dalaran. I didn't have to spend much time with Dwarven archaeology before this one popped up as a solve.

Of course, don't forget the portals; Disciplinary Action has compiled an excellent list, and was the inspiration for this post. In doing research, I found this comment on Wowhead that seems to list almost all travel items in-game, including several I don't have. Are there any on that list you'd suggest I definitely get my hands on?



2 comments:

  1. I knew there were items that you could use as ports but I never realised there were so many! Generally I do a lot of my travelling on my mage for ease. The Shrine has really helped when using other characters though.

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    Replies
    1. Looks like we're getting another one (trinket) that will port us to the Timeless Isle come 5.4.

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