Farming Relics of Ulduar: Frostgrip's Hollow

Let's face it: the Sons of Hodir rep grind is one of the absolute most boring, painful rep grinds in all of Northrend. So, if you're looking to increase your Sons of Hodir reputation or simply just want to farm Relics of Ulduar to sell for gold, I have found one of the best spots in Northrend. It is a little cave which many people might simply overlook, but trust me - it's amazing.

The cave is called Frostgrip's Hollow. It is located on the Southwest side of Storm Peaks. It is found just off the southeast tip of Valkyrion and to the south of the Temple of Storms (see map).

Within Frostgrip's Hollow, you will find some Stormforged Loreseekers and Pillagers. They respawn incredibly fast, are easy to kill, and have an excellent drop rate for Relics of Ulduar. By the time you make one loop around the cave, they are already starting to respawn. You can farm here for long periods of time without stopping. They also drop various other items which you can vendor or auction, but mainly we're after the Relics here.

Also in the cave are some Saronite Nodes for miners and lots of Icethorn for herbalists. I usually average about 50-75 relics per hour, but your mileage may vary depending on how fast you can kill and how many other people are farming the same area. Giddy'up!

Farming Blood Elf Bandit Masks

This item doesn't boast any stats to brag about. It doesn't even have an armor value. However, there is still a market for this somewhat unique item. Why? Because it looks badass and anyone over level 5 can wear one. But, that's not why we're after it. We're after it because it sells for upwards of 100g on some servers.

So, how does one acquire one of these Blood Elf Bandit Masks?

1. Head to Azuremyst Isle. If you are Alliance this will obviously be a lot easier, seeing as how it's an Alliance zone. I don't think you need instructions on getting there.

However - if you're Horde, fly from Orgrimmar to Zoram Strand, Ashenvale. From there, head north through Darkshore until you hit the lovely little Alliance town of Auberdine. Find the docks and go all the way to the end. That boat takes you right to the doorstep of Exodar on Azuremyst Isle. The guards in Auberdine are only level 45 or so, so they won't be a problem... unless...

... you are below level 50. This might be tricky to get around all the guards, but it can be done. Just be willing to do a lot of corpse runs. Once you get to Azuremyst itself, all the Exodar guards can be avoided if you are careful.

2. Now that you've set foot on Azuremyst isle, you're going to want to make loops around the island sticking mainly to the roads. Write a macro that says '/target Blood Elf Bandit' and spam it while you ride around. Even hunters or people with Blackened Worg Steaks will need the macro because he is stealthed and therefore track humanoids will NOT work on him.

The Blood Elf Bandit who drops the mask spawns at random points around the island. Once he is killed in one spot, he will spawn in a new spot. He is almost *always* near a main road. He is only level 7 and most players will be able to 1-shot him. Hunters, locks, and DKs might want to put their pets/minions/ghouls away or they will kill the bandit and you will not be able to loot him.

3. Be prepared to kill him quite a few times before the mask drops. I believe the drop rate is only around 10-11%, so you will need to take the little guy out a few times before you can get your hands on his mask. Your mount is going to get a lot of excercise.

4. With mask (or masks, if you farmed a little extra you devil) in hand, head to the nearest AH and post that sucker up. It should sell relatively fast as it's a fairly in-demand item that not too many people know how to acquire.

Tyr's Hand is Still a Great Farming Spot

Tyr's Hand, located in Eastern Plaguelands may have been the prime farming spot back when the level cap was 60, but believe it or not, this little Scarlet encampment is still a great place to farm, even at 80. I encourage you to try it out for yourself and see what I mean. Seriously, farm your face off. I've pulled over 500g/hour in this spot by just mass pulling, killing, looting and watching Friends. Without the Friends part, but it is a good show. Oh, Ross!

Six reasons that make this spot great:

1. The mobs are only level 50+ elites. Basically, they're weaksauce. This means, at level 80, you can easily AoE the little Scarlet punks down in packs. It's like a hot knife through butter. The more mobs you can kill, the more you can loot. Simple.

2. The mobs drops a fairly substantial amount of silver. Some of these guys drop 20+ sivler/each, making it very easy to mass pull and profit. I haven't found anywhere else in the game where such low level mobs drop such high amounts of cold, hard cash. After a couple hours of farming, it really adds up. I have no idea where the Scarlet Crusade acquired so much wealth, but it's yours for the taking.

3. They drop greens. Lots of greens. If you're an enchanter, you can shard and dust these suckers, or simply sell your greens on the AH. Either way, the drop rate is pretty generous. Besides the greens, they drop an amazing amount of white quality items which vendor quite nicely. Some mobs even drop old world gems. Since jewelcrafting is hot right now and lots of people are trying to powerlevel it, these old gems sell for a nice amount.

4. Runecloth. Spend an hour here and you'll have about 20 stacks of runecloth. Runecloth is valuable because it's used for reputation turn ins with major cities and, therefore, always sells well on the auction house. Personally, I like to stockpile runecloth on a bank alt and save it for days when it's running low on the AH and then unload my entire stock.

5. The Enchant Weapon: Crusader formula drops here off the Scarlet Archmages. While the drop rate has been recently buffed, I don't think many people know about the recent change, so it goes unfarmed. I've gotten this recipe to drop numerous times and each time it sells for 400g+ on the auction house. Crusader is one of the best enchants you can put on the Bind On Account weapons, making it a highly sought after recipe. Besides this enchant, other enchants will drop as well, but none are nearly as profitable as Crusader.

6. Privacy. The place is a ghost town on most servers. Nobody is ever there. It's an overlooked little gold mine, so you'll have virtually no competition. Of course, I can't speak for all servers, but I can at least verify I've never seen anyone else there on mine (minus lowbies who innocently pass by doing their quests... and then I gank them).

So, there you have it. Give the spot a try and let me know what you think. Now, clear out your bags and get farming.