If like me, you're waiting for the Age of Conan launch and you're coming from other games with typical MMORPG combat systems, you may want to watch Gamespy's excellent Combat Tutorial video which demonstrates very clearly the differences in combat from what you're probably used to.

Physical melee combat is quite a bit different, with directional attacks and combos. I would describe it but you're better off watching the video. Casting is mostly the same as you would expect from World of Warcraft, at least until they introduce spellweaving at a later date.

How to get an epic flying mount

If you want to skip the rest of the article, I'll sum it up in one mantra: "Quest, don't spend".

I'm sure there are plenty of get-rich quick schemes for WoW, but this guide presents a straightforward method which any player can follow. I spent all my gold prior to The Burning Crusade, I entered Outland at 60 with just 9 gold to my name. I did have an epic ground mount, so that was a boost, but there are ways to make up for that paltry 690g or so.

Update (June 28, 2007): The daily quests that Blizzard has added for various reputations are also an excellent source of gold. I've highlighted some of them in Daily Quests, the gold rush.

Step One: Decide that you want one.

Seriously, take a moment to decide if getting an epic flying mount is a priority for you. It's going to cost 5200g, plus 800g for the basic flying mount skill before it (there's no way to skip that prerequisite unless you're a Druid). It's a fair chunk of gold, so spending on other things while saving for an epic mount is counter-productive. You've got to want it. You can do without the blazing speed: Flight paths will get you most places within good time, near most every instance in Outland.

Really decide if you'd rather spend the gold on something more useful to your combat, professions or whatever.

Okay decided? Good. Next step...
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Step Two: Step away from the auction house.

This guide doesn't pretend that playing the auction house is a way to get rich. For most folks, auction house schemes are just time consuming. The time you spend staring at AH prices could be spent making the gold you need, from the source, out in the world of Outland. If you were great at working the market to get rich, you probably wouldn't be reading this guide.

Don't even spend too much time selling materials. If you have a gathering profession, go ahead and sell leather / herbs / ore, but price them to sell rather than wasting time constantly checking your auctions. As for greens ("uncommon" quality items), I honestly vendored every green weapon that dropped while I quested. I didn't try to sell a thing to other players, because for me, the time wasted was better spent getting back out there for more gold.

Step Three: Put your crafting professions on hold.

Gathering professions are a reliable source of gold, but crafting professions are not. If you're an enchanter, only disenchant armor, sell weapons instead. Myself, I sent some bind-on-equip greens to my enchanting girlfriend but I sold every green quest reward, I recommend you do the same even if you're an enchanter yourself. Otherwise, ask yourself, which is more important to you? 375 enchanting, or flying at 280% speed?

Blacksmithing, Engineering, Jewelcrafting, Alchemy: These are professions that you should concern yourself with AFTER you have an epic flying mount, because you will be able to gather materials much faster at that time. You can probably store up some cloth or leather for Tailoring or Leatherworking, but don't worry about making stuff with other materials until you've gotten to your goal.

Step Four: Put PvP on hold.

Unless you need to be in Battlegrounds or Arenas to save your sanity, save PvP grinding until later. If PvP rewards are more important to you than your epic flying mount, see Step One.

Step Five: Get to level 70.

This may seem obvious, but you have to be level 70 to fly. Also, the amount of gold you can make at level 70 is so much greater than previous levels. Even more importantly, at level 70 you get bonus gold in lieu of experience for completing quests. How you get to 70 is up to you, but I have some recommendations:

• Level up doing instances as much as you can. The more quests you save for 70, the more gold you'll make.
• Go ahead and do all of the lower level quests, especially Hellfire and Zangarmarsh quests, because these may be hard to find and sort out after you've outleveled them. Don't believe any of those power-leveling guides. Do the quests in order, don't skip quests and go straight for the "red" ones, instead get the full experience out of the lowest "green" quests (they're easier and faster that way anyway). This should keep you organized on quests when you get to 70.

Step Six: Quest, quest, quest.

Quests are the best source of gold. Not only do you get gold instead of exp @ 70, but you can also sell the quest rewards. Go ahead and wear the gear that suits you best and sell the rest. Vendor any greens that drop, especially weapons, then get yourself back out there and quest some more.

Start with solo quests. Don't get wrapped up worrying about group quests, even if you like the pretty rewards. Ignore the group quests in your log and keep on soloing. Group when the opportunity presents itself and is convenient rather than wasting your time with the LFG tool. You can try some of the group quests yourself, many of them are actually soloable, especially in Hellfire, Zangarmarsh and Terokkar. When I finally ran out of solo quests I gathered together some guildmates and we all took care of a bunch of group quests in one fel swoop. You can do that per zone or even save them for multiple zones.

When you solo, all of the drops belong to you, all of the silver from humanoids go to you and all of the experience as well.

Step Seven: Quest some more.

I cannot stress this enough. Questing at level 70 is the fastest way to legitimately make gold in World of Warcraft. For myself, even though I quested to level up from 60 to 70, I still had enough quests left over to make 4100g. You can make more, especially with Blizzard adding new quests with the first content patch since the expansion.

Step Eight: Grind your reputations.

If you run out of quests and you've still got a bunch of gold to go, it's time for your rep. The way I see it, you probably want to grind out your reps anyway, so get to it. Aldor or Scryers especially, get yourself to Netherstorm or Shadowmoon Valley and start killing demons or blood elves. Kill them in droves. They will drop your marks, signets, armaments or tomes... plus they will drop decent silver and the occasional green. Find a good place to farm, but be wary of the typical places where people say are the best spots, because they're likely swarmed with other players. Carve out your own personal farming space and keep at it.

You're killing two birds with one stone here and with your goal of a very fast flying mount fixed in your vision, you may find getting Exalted with Aldor / Scryers to be no trouble at all, that's how it was for me. When you've done that, go ahead and grind out Consortium or Kuranei reps if those interest you. The other reps are a good idea too, they require instancing but you can get your heroic keys in the process anyway. These are great goals on their own, but you can pursue them with the intent of gold for your mount.

Step Nine: Borrow.

No, I don't mean beg in Ironforge. If you've got just a bit of gold left to go, let a guildmate or a good friend know. Explain to them how you plan to use the extra flying speed to pay back the gold: with your gathering professions. And do it just like that. If you borrow 500g, you can pay that back very quickly by zooming around collecting ore or herbs. Enchanters or Skinners will get less of a boost from this step's plan obviously. This is the point where selling on the AH can be worthwhile, ore sells for a good deal these days especially with jewelcrafters prospecting ore for gems.

If you haven't managed to afford your epic flying mount after these steps, it means that you broke the mantra and spent gold.

And that's it. I don't have any magic to give you. No tricks, just a direct way to play the game and save up for your mount. I'm here to reassure you that it's not so hard to do, that if you put your mind to it, you can have an epic mount in a reasonable amount of time. Enjoy zipping around Outland and don't fly too close to Durn's knees. =)