The Journey to Insanity V: That Time of the Month...

Picture courtesy of WoWWiki

Welcome to part 5 of The Journey to Insanity: a guide to the Insane in the Membrane achievement. This time around we'll cover the final faction required for the title!

The Darkmoon Faire faction is a bit odd. Like most of the factions we have dealt with thus far, you have access to easier methods of reputation gain until a certain point. However, unlike those other factions, you only have access to the easier DMF gains until 2000 Friendly.

So what are these "easy rep gains"? Well, once a month when the Faire comes around, there will be several NPCs that offer quests to collect x number of a certain item. Each item turn-in quest has "tiers" that you can work in until you reach a certain reputation level before moving onto a "harder" tier of item turn-ins.

TIER 1 (Doable until 500/3000 Neutral)

1. Gathering: 5x Small Furry Paw
2. Blacksmithing: 10x Course Weightstone
3. Engineering: 5x Copper Modulator
4. Leatherworking: 3x Embossed Leather Boots

TIER 2 (Doable until 1100/3000 Neutral)

1. Gathering: 5x Torn Bear Pelt
2. Blacksmithing: 7x Heavy Grinding Stone
3. Engineering: 7x Whirring Bronze Gizmo
4. Leatherworking: 3x Toughened Leather Armor

TIER 3 (Doable until 1700/3000 Neutral)

1. Gathering: 5x Soft Bushy Tail
2. Blacksmithing: 3x Green Iron Bracers
3. Engineering: 36x Green Firework
4. Leatherworking: 3x Barbaric Harness

TIER 4 (Doable until 2500/3000 Neutral)

1. Gathering: 5x Vibrant Plumes
2. Blacksmithing: 1x Big Black Mace
3. Engineering: 6x Mechanical Repair Kit
4. Leatherworking: 1x Turtle Scale Leggings

TIER 5 (Doable for reputation until 2000/6000 Friendly)

1. Gathering: 10x Evil Bat Eyes/10x Glowing Scorpid Blood
2. Blacksmithing: 8x Dense Grinding Stone
3. Engineering: 6x Thorium Widget
4. Leatherworking: 8x Rugged Armor Kit

Ok, so 2000/6000 Friendly still leaves A LOT left to deal with. What does one do for rep after the turn-in cut-off?

Spend lots of gold if you're not an herbalist/inscriptionist.

That's right. You have to turn in decks for reputation. Lower level decks made through inscription or purchased on the AH will yield 25 reputation per turn-in, and can be turned in at any time (the Faire doesn't need to be up) by using the completed deck to summon a Darkmoon Faire NPC.

The low-level decks are:

• Rogues Deck
• Swords Deck
• Mages Deck
• Demons Deck

Higher level decks (the ones that yield epic trinkets) can be crafted through inscription, looted off of mobs/bosses, or purchased on the AH. Higher level decks yield 350 reputation per turn in, plus the trinket, and can only be turned in when the Faire is up.

The high-level decks are:

• Level 60 Decks: Beasts, Elementals, Portals, Warlords
• Level 70 Decks: Furies, Storms, Blessings, Lunacy
• Level 80 Decks: Chaos, Nobles, Prisms, Undeath

If you're not an herbalist/inscriptionist, be prepared to spend big bucks on these decks. Avoid buying them close to the start/end of the Faire, as prices tend to skyrocket. Prices average on my server anywhere from 200g for anything but Nobles to in the thousands for the Nobles deck.

One thing you might try, if you're an inscriptionist and don't need a Greatness trinket, is selling any Nobles cards you create on the AH to finance the purchasing of other cards/decks.

These decks are the only feasible means of getting to Exalted with the Faire. The only other option is to do the random fortune quests offered by Sayge when the Faire is up, but these quests are randomly acquired and only yield 75 reputation, so don't depend on them.

Good luck getting your Darkmoon Faire rep up, and I hope you enjoyed the last guide in my Journey to Insanity series!!!!

The Journey to Insanity IV: Gettin' in with the Cartel

It's been a while since I have updated my Insane in the Membrane guide, mostly because I'm lazy, so here's the next installment - how to fix your now-wrecked Steamwheedle Cartel rep!

I don't know about you, but by the time I was done grinding my Bloodsail rep, I was sitting at 0/36000 Hated with all the Cartel factions. That's a TON of rep to work back through, and I'll warn you now, it's also a pain in the ass. But then again, what part of this achievement isn't? Hehe..

You have a couple options. The cheapest route, albeit the most boring, is to kill pirates. Now, you're probably wondering how killing pirates will keep you cool with the Bloodsail AND get you in tight with the goblins.

Like all good pirates, the Bloodsail hate other pirates, and so if you kill the right ones they'll be totally ok with it.

I used the pirates outside of Ratchet for a while. Each kill gained me 5 rep with Ratchet, and 2-3 rep with the other goblin factions. The exception to this number would be the one captain guy wandering around that netted me a whopping 25 rep with Ratchet every time I killed him. I've been told there are also pirates in Tanaris that you can kill, but I found the Ratchet ones to be the easiest, as well as quick on respawns.

Keep in mind: Every time you kill a goblin npc such as, I dunno, the Flight Master that will try to destroy you when you land, you lose a TON of rep. Your best bet in avoiding this is to fly into a nearby town and travel from there. Being Alliance, I came into Theramore and rode north along the shore.

This method can only be done up to a 11999/12000 for Ratchet, although I've heard a couple reports that the other factions like Everlook and Gadget will continue on. I haven't tested this myself, so I can't confirm or deny it.

Going about it this way is less luck-based, as well as less expensive. However, it gets kind of boring after a bit, so I'd suggest keeping some music on or watching TV while you do it.

The other way to up your goblin rep is through Dire Maul. You'll need to change over to this way when you cap your Ratchet rep regardless. HAHA, you only thought you were done in DM!!

There are 2 quests in DM North that can increase your goblin rep without hurting your Bloodsail rep.

Free Knot! : This quest requires you to get a Gordok Shackle Key to drop off one of the mobs, with the greatest drop chance coming from one of the little bosses throughout the instance, like Guard Fengus, etc. You take the key to Knot inside the instance and set him free for a whopping 350 rep with each Cartel faction. And yes, you can reset the instance and repeat it!

The Gordok Ogre Suit : This one can get expensive depending on how much of the stuff you buy and what your AH prices are like. You need to bring Knot:

• 1x Ogre Tannin
• 2x Rune Thread
• 8x Rugged Leather
• 4x Bolt of Runecloth

The tannin is lootable from a small container upstairs from Knot, and looting it will spawn another guard to kill. You can also sometimes find tannin in the cache that Knot leaves after you free him. I suggest doing this quest as many times as you can (depending on your tannin supply) before doing Free Knot!, because Knot obviously is....um.... free after that. This quest awards 75 Cartel rep per turn-in and can be repeated multiple times per instance reset. The ogre suits are unique, so you will need to destroy or wear yours before trying to redo the quest.

A mixture of both these methods will, hopefully, not be too terribly boring and allow you to get your rep back with these guys before too long. And then, once more, you can use the Neutral AH!!! T_T

The Journey to Insanity III: The Junk Collectors

( So, it's been awhile since my last post, with the end of the semester and RL obligations, but I have not forgotten about you, fair blog! )

This time we'll cover the Ravenholdt aspect of the "Insane in the Membrane" achievement. The achievement requires exalted status with this band of rogues and thieves, but even now, few non-rogues even know of their existence.

The Ravenholdt guild resides in a small clearing on top of a mountain in Hillsbrad, past the unmarked grave behind Durnholde Keep. Once you find the grave (on the NW side), travel between the gap in the hills north of it, and you will see a ramp up the mountainside on your right. At the top is a cave, and on the other side of said cave, the NPCs.

The purpose of this faction was mainly for a couple rogue-related quests back in pre-TBC days, and, not playing a high level rogue myself, I don't even know if they are even relevant to rogues anymore. The quests mainly involved rogue-ish activities like pickpocketing and lockpicking, and their sworn enemies are the Syndicate (the mobs in Durnholde Keep). You may even have one or both factions in your reputation tab and just don't know it!!

So, how does one go about gaining rep with this rather obscure faction? Obviously, if you are a rogue you will have an advantage, as you have a repeatable quest called Syndicate Emblems that you can complete until 250 into Friendly. After that, you get to join the rest of us in mob grinding and junkbox turn-ins, but at least you can do your own pick-pocketing.

Until 11999/12000 Honored, everyone has access to reputation gain through the Syndicate mobs in Durnholde Keep (just to be clear, the one in Hillsbrad Foothills, not CoT). They give 5 rep apiece, and are incredibly easy to kill ( assuming you aren't attempting this meta at, say, level 30). I always killed the mobs at the entrance first, and then dropped down into the lower level on the left. I one-shot Holy Nova-ed all the NPCs in the courtyard and buildings before moving to the right side. After you kill the mobs on the right and far right courtyards, backtrack to the right/middle courtyard, climb the wooden ramp, and head right around the top of the far right courtyard. Once those are down, backtrack and head up top. By the time you are done up top, the initial mobs should have mostly respawned in the lower left courtyard, making pathing for the grind very easy.

One thing to note is that there are lowbie quests in the area, and you may arouse some ire if you kill the Horde quest npcs or any low level Alliance. If you are doing this on a PVP server, remember that Southshore and Tarren Mill are often populated with very bored 80s who won't think twice of camping you if you kill a lowbie..... or look pretty.

By the time you hit 11999 Honored, you may be tired of grinding, but the hard part is still coming. If you're a rogue, you'll be pickpocketing 52+ mobs for Heavy Junkboxes for the repeatable quest Junkboxes Needed. Turning in 5 each time at 75 rep per turn-in, you will need 1400 of these junkboxes (or 1275 for humans) to reach Exalted. One of the officers in our guild got a ton of them in BRD while she was working on her Thorium Brotherhood rep, so you can check there.

But what do non-rogues do?

Here's the reallllly sucky part. Non-rogues have 3 basic options:

1. Level a rogue.
2. Bribe a rogue friend.
3. Buy these from sellers

*Edit* I originally posted that you could acquire these on the AH, but as someone was kind enough to point out, this is untrue. However, you CAN still purchase these through the mail. No wonder I could never find them... XD

I have seen a few people ask in Trade channel about these, and the general price on our server is 2-3g per box. You may find them for more or less, or not even at all. =(

I'm trying to level a rogue at the moment, but coming from a caster class takes a bit of adjusting...

All in all, I think that this may be one of the more time-consuming ones, just because few rogues seem interested in grinding out boxes from useless mobs for little cash. And for non-rogues, this can get expensive. 1400 lockboxes at 3g apiece adds up fast.

My suggestion? Grind the mobs until you can't anymore. Don't be tempted to turn in boxes early. Put on a comic skit or watch TV while you do it to help pass the time. Otherwise, you'll tire of it verrrrrrrrry quickly.

Good luck and have fun!!

The Journey to Insanity II: Those Who Hunt Elves

Ok, kiddies! It's time for part 2 of my Insane in the Membrane journal. This time, we'll be covering one of the more "wtf?" parts of the achievement: being exalted with Shen'dralar. There are virtually no quests for this faction, nor mobs to grind for rep.

The first thing you need to do, if you have not already, is to complete the quest Elven Legends for your faction. This gives no Shen'dralar rep, but is required to allow you to turn in the items you will need to collect later. If you are Alliance, you'll get this quest from Scholar Runethorn in Feathermoon (Feralas). If you're Horde, you'll start in Camp Mojache with Sage Korolusk. Both faction quests will require you to find Kariel Winthalus in Dire Maul. His body is located in the DM library (easily accessed from the very beginning of DM North if you have the key). Return to your respective quest giver to turn in this quest.

Next, you will want to travel to the little pavilion where the back door to DM is, east of DM. There, you'll pick up the quest Pusillin and the Elder Azj'Tordin. Yes! You get to chase down that damned imp again. Remember him from the DM key quest? You'll chase him around DM again, and kill him for the book. Return to the pavilion and turn the quest in for 500 Shen'dralar rep! If you don't have the Cresent Key, I suggest getting it from the imp, as it makes getting to the library very easy.

From here on out, your only option for rep is within the library. That's right! Book turn-in time! One option, although it can only be completed once, is to turn in your class book, which drops in DM and awards you the Seal trinket. That will net you 500 rep. The books are:

• [Codex of Defense] - Warrior
• [Frost Shock and You] - Shaman
• [Garona: A Study on Stealth and Treachery] - Rogue
• [Harnessing Shadows] - Warlock
• [Holy Bologna: What the Light Won't Tell You] - Priest
• [The Arcanist's Cookbook] - Mage
• [The Emerald Dream] - Druid
• [The Greatest Race of Hunters] - Hunter
• [The Light and How to Swing It] - Paladin
• [Foror's Compendium of Dragon Slaying] - Warrior & Paladin

The other option, which is what you will be doing the rest of the way to exalted is libram turn-ins. The librams in question, the Librams of Protection, Focus, and Rapidity drop in DM randomly, or can sometimes be found on the AH. I was lucky because I started Shen'dralar rep before the achievement was announced, so I was able to get a ton of librams on the AH for 5g and under. Now, on Bonechewer at least, they run at least 25g.

Each libram turn in gains you 500 rep. Sounds easy, right? Think again.

You can only carry one of each libram at a time. This also counts for banked items, so the smart thing to do is to mail them to a bank alt as you get them, and leave them in the mailbox there. As you are ready to use each one, you can have your bank alt send them back one at a time.

Each libram also requires "basic reagents" (yeah, right) to be turned in alongside.

• For a libram of protection:
• - 1 libram of protection
• - 1 pristine black diamond
• - 2 large brilliant shards
• - 2 frayed abomination stitchings (farmed in Stratholme)

• For a libram of focus:
• - 1 libram of focus
• - 1 pristine black diamond
• - 4 large brilliant shards
• - 2 skins of shadow (farmed in Scholomance)

• For a libram of rapidity:
• - 1 libram of rapidity
• - 1 pristine black diamond
• - 2 large brilliant shards
• - 2 blood of heroes (farmed in EPL and WPL)

Avoid the librams of rapidity if you can help it, as blood of heroes is a complete pain to find. There are spawn maps on sites like Thottbot and such, but they are not exact, nor will the blood of heroes spawn at all points at the same time. Beware, also, if you don't remember from your pre-TBC days, that looting this item spawns 1-2 elites. Easily solo-able at 80, but a surprise if you aren't ready.

Rinse and repeat the turn in/item farming/mind numbing process until exalted! Sounds like fun, doesn't it? =P

The Journey to Insanity I: Really Bad Eggs

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I've been working on getting the Insane in the Membrane achievement that will hit with 3.1. A couple friends of mine had mentioned wanting the title too at some point, but were completely unsure of where to begin, so I thought I'd post a little step by step update on the factions as I go along!

1. Honored with the Bloodsail

I chose to do this faction first, because it also awards you the Bloodsail Admiral achievement. It's very simple, although can be time-consuming for someone to solo. Here's what you do....

Grab a friend if you like, especially if they have an AoE, and head to Booty Bay. Most classes, with the exception of Death Knights, will be at least to honored with the goblin cities. The first step is to set yourself at war with Booty Bay under your reputation tab.

Next, you need to start killing some guards. The ones you need to target are the Booty Bay Bruisers. They patrol around town, and can also be summoned with the death of a civilian NPC (although that might garner you some hate from others trying to train/buy/sell in Booty Bay). I'm not gonna lie, the rep is verrrrry slow for a while. You will lose more goblin rep than what you gain in Bloodsail rep. Once you are hated with Booty Bay, things become easier. Killing the guard at the Plate N Chain building, while standing diagonal to the building's left corner against the railing, will cause an almost never-ending spawn of Bruisers.... It's pretty nice, until you need to eat or mana up, in which case I suggest you move to the right or left while killing the last Bruiser you wish to fight.

At some point, you will become hated with the goblins and friendly with the Bloodsail. It is at this point that you can grab the quests for the Bloodsail Admiral Achievement if you wish. Head out of Booty Bay, turn right, and head towards the Bloodsail ships out on the coast. Turning on your low level quest tracking might help, but the NPC you want is inside one of the ships. He will give you two quests. One is merely a gift of a pirate's costume. The other, required for the title, has you assassinate two NPCs in Booty Bay. After completing the assassination quest, turn it in for your title!

Now, just continue grinding Bruisers until honored! Now you have one part of the Insane achievement done!

If you'd like an incredibly detailed guide to grinding this portion of the achievement, check out Warcraft Pet's Guide to Bloodsail Rep!

Going "Insane"

Well, kiddies, I told you I liked doing things that most people consider a little odd, and so when Blizzard announced the upcoming "Insane in the Membrane" achievement, I couldn't resist. I'd been working on Shen'dralar rep for giggles for a while now, and now to get an achievement for it? Woot!

The achievement requires you to:

• Be honored with the Bloodsail Buccaneers
• Be exalted with all the goblin factions
• Be exalted with the Darkmoon Faire
• Be exalted with Shen'dralar
• Be exalted with Ravenholdt

Yeah, it's not for the faint of heart. Which is why I soooo have to do it. It's been going pretty well so far. I'm currently friendly with the Bloodsail, and working on getting to honored. Not difficult, really, considering any 80 can farm the bruisers in Booty Bay without an issue. The goblin factions are going to be trickier, but from the tips I've heard, I'm probably going to farm the various non-Bloodsail pirate camps in Azeroth for that.

I am levelling inscription to make extra cash in conjunction with my herbalism, so hopefully a ton of low level decks should cover my Darkmoon Faire rep.

Shen'dralar is simple, but can be expensive. I'm sitting at 0/12000 honored, with about 20 more librams stashed away, with shards and diamonds for the turn ins. You can farm the abomination skins in Strat, the Blood of Heroes in the Plaguelands, and the Skins of Shadow in Scholo. At 500 rep per turn in, if you can GET the stuff it's a pretty quick process, aside from the running back and forth (you can only carry one of each of the three librams at a time).

Ravenholdt is a bit tricky. I am currently farming the Sindicate mobs in Durnholde at 5 rep per kill (holy nova = win), but I'm not sure when that will stop being an option, and so I have done what I swore I would never do...I rolled a rogue. She's wearing the BoA shoulders, and levelling mining and skinning for extra cash. I'll be using her, alongside a rogue friend of mine, to pickpocket lockboxes.

Here's hoping that you'll be seeing Fuyuko the Insane not TOO terribly long after 3.1 hits. =D