In World of Warcraft, players often invest many years to obtain certain loot items for their collection. The grinding required not only consumes time, but also takes a toll on nerves. No wonder some – as soon as possible – pay a fortune to end the agony.
Which grind are we talking about exactly? Since players can challenge a certain Kael’thas Sunstrider in the Fortress of the Storm from the WoW expansion Burning Crusade, there have been players eager for Al’ar’s Ashes. The red-and-yellow phoenix is also a treat for the eyes. Unfortunately, the drop chance is just 1.7 percent.
Some mount enthusiasts have been farming the flying mount for countless IDs over the years, often with multiple characters. And with every single run, players must navigate through the many phases of the battle while enduring the lengthy pauses and theatrical dialogue lines from the blood elf general and his officers. Ugh. It really gets to you.
Which rare mounts from WoW do you have in your collection?
Continue grinding until your ears bleed, or pay?
What shortcut are players taking? Player EQxd is excited on Reddit that after years of farming, he is finally also an owner of Al’ar’s Ashes. However, he never had any loot luck during all that time. Instead, he was able to buy the mount thanks to the regularly rotating offer on the black market, for 360,000 gold pieces.
A good investment, explains SugarHooves in his comment on Reddit: “Honestly, that’s a good price. It was such a pain to farm that thing. Not that it was difficult, just annoying. 360,000 to never have to hear BLOOD FOR BLOOD again.”
That this is almost considered a bargain is shown not only by the list of the 5 most expensive mounts in WoW that you can buy for gold, but also by the comment from Juvenhall on Reddit:
I paid around 2 million gold for it in December, exactly for this reason. I had farmed it for years with several twinks, and the journey there, dealing with Kael’s terrible dialogues and the pauses in the fight for the phases drove me insane. I hated it in Burning Crusade, I hated it while farming. Never having to go back was worth every copper piece.
The WoW player bedintruder had much more loot luck and can still understand these investments (via Reddit): “I had extreme luck. I only needed 2 weeks of farming with an army of twinks, 64 kills, and I would still have gladly paid 360,000 to skip it.”
What do you think? Would you rather keep farming, pay a fortune in gold to finally end the grind, or best not even start farming in-game loot items with low drop chances? Let us know in the comments! Speaking of hard grind: WoW currently has the worst grind in the history of the entire game.
