Khor decided to be smart and level Archaeology almost immediately after turning level 85. I was still running my heroics and normal 5-mans in hopes of gear, but long queues required me to be doing something in the meantime.
I had tons of options: daily quests for reputation, grind and battle for more Obsidium Ore to level Blacksmithing, work on cooking and fishing, or start the massive task of leveling Archaeology to give myself a better chance of finding [Zin’rohk, Destroyer of Worlds].
I figured it would be easier to level Archaeology unhindered now, and wait a few days for things to slow down on the other fronts. Little did I know, with my schedule, I would be sitting at 515 Archaeology on day 5. It has literally sucked the life out of me.
Now, although I am glad I am almost done (without my weapon), I think it was the right choice. My guild isn’t raiding at least before New Years, and this daunting task is something I am glad I got out of the way. Tons of flying time between dig sites have left me yawning, which really detracts from how cool Archaeology is.
Now, I can return my focus to more important things, but here are a few of the items I have looted thus far:
I’m not nearly so far along as you yet, but I really enjoy archaeology. After a stressful dungeon, it’s a great low-impact activity that leaves me feeling like I’ve at least accomplished something.
I don’t mind the flying right now, because I’m flying over the revamped zones which often hold surprises from the way I remember things. With Crusader Aura and 310% flight speed, Azeroth isn’t really all that big.
It’s strangely addictive.
I’m really liking this prof so far, but i hate how the most stress relieving thing is tied to the RNG….its like a never ending joke for pallies (well in this case all of the classes) right now.
It’s a great activity to do while waiting for those 40 minute queues 🙂
I dunno what it is.. but as annoying as it is flying all over the place back and forth.. it is strangely addictive..I levelled my Priest 83-84 basically doing arch lol..and for my reward i got a nice epic level 70 piece of mail armor..too bad I dont have a hunter lol..
I haven’t gotten anything worth mentioning yet, but I agree with Darthal. It’s a decent time-waster while waiting on those ridiculous queues, especially since we’re working towards one of the best pre-raid weapons for us.
I ended up levelling my Paladin to 85 from about halfway through 84 via archeology because I was bored with questing and the stupid dungeon finder kept slapping me into Vortex Pinnacle and Stonecore every single time.
do you know what fraction the swored drops from i heard troll???
What lvl arch do u need to be able to get te sword??? Once u get the right arch lvl what are the chances of getting it as ur next solve???
Zin’Rokh is obtained from the Troll archeology tree. You need 450 skill to have a chance to unlock the it, but I’m not sure what the percentage chance of getting it is. It supposedly gets higher as your skill increases, though.
goddamn waste of time. leveled to 450 with dwarf/fossil/nightelf fragments. Saved 1500 troll fragments, and 40 tablets, burnt through all of them with nothing but grays. No blues, or the sword. I don’t know if its even worth it to go back and get more.
There are no blues from the Troll archeology tree. It’s nothing but Zin’rokh and a bunch of grey items, as far as I know.
Hit 450 skill this morning. I had 400 troll pieces saved up, but didn’t get Zin’rokh as a project. Back to farming during queues, I guess.
I think you have a do a few after you hit 450. I don’t think you hit 450 and poof there it is..
You may have to put 10 or so or more..
I’m still trying to get my green drake. I’ve had enough Tickbird hatchlings they should be able to fly me around quite well.
I got my Destroyer of Worlds before I reached 525. The sword is bigger than my toon! Worth every minute. Everyone is jealous, feels really good =)
Hey Aszmo, I got my green proto drake on the first weekx^^. And while in icc 25 and I got deathbringers will at the exact same moment.
No, I do not think of myself as a man of luck
@Sistrcristyn: I also got a couple of levels (but in the 60s and 70s) using archaeology. Along the way I also picked up the exploration ach., so
I’m reasonably pleased with it so far.
As long as I get the sword! If I don’t then grrrr.
My way to avoid it being super-boring is to work on something in parallel (professions or achievements). The least boring thing is to use flight paths for travel. That makes archaeology a great multi-tasking activity and less of a grind.
I’ve always been attracted with any sort of gathering/exploration on the side. For example, when my Pally was still newb, I’d have a pickaxe ready and mine any and all veins I could find while questing. Sometimes, I’d even deviate from my quest area to mine a single vein in the distance.
Of course, I haven’t grabbed Cata yet (next week… NEXT WEEK!) but I’m sure I’ll be into Arch.
Archeology is 525, I’ve completeled over 85 troll items so far and still no sword. So far, I’ve gotten the skeleton mount, skeleton pet, the mug that creates dancing dwarf ladies, a mirror that creates a clone of you, and a hearthstone that shares the same timer as your regular hearthstone (pointless). The rares that I’m working on now are the Puzzle Box and a night elf dress.
4 weeks at level 525 archy spending hours everyday and solving nothing but Troll artifacts. All I have is grey items. I know Blizz doesn’t want to make things too easy but this is at the point of rediculousness.
Does anyone know of a similar level 2h sword/axe/mace that would be easier to get?
@Kpat – Magmaw has a Mace that is reasonable, and there is a crafted 2h weapon that is reasonable for raid entry. I think the love for Zin comes from it being a non-raid 2H that is as good as the current raid reward. There is no equivelent.