In my last post I talked about my plans for keeping around a Trial account to make sure I keep myself in the loop on World of Warcraft. As we saw, it will take a bit of preparation, and to get some good gear will take quite a bit of effort after that. That said, it sounds like a challenge. Now it is time to find out some things that you can do with a Trial account, rather than focusing on what limitations we are under.
This is Sutures, by the way, on the left – enjoying a well-earned nap in the Undercity inn. This brings me to the first activity – roleplay. While you cannot take part in a lot of it, low-level roleplay and city-based event roleplay are open to you if you happen to be on an RP server. The only thing to be worried about is the possibility that other characters over level 35 may not be able to hear your /say.
The limitations actually gave me a great idea for an in-game explanation for my inability to trade or use the Auction House.
Sutures is a member of the Hallowed Order of the Funeral Shroud. This order goes through life doing good deeds (questing) and defending their allies (pvp) while accepting no charity (trade) nor engaging in commerce (auction house). They do not raise their voice, nor speak in insidious whispers. They are allowed to use only implements that they made themselves, but must not choose to become artisans over their holy mission.
As such, I can explain away all the limitations of a Trial account in one fell swoop if I am ever asked about it in-character. But roleplay isn’t the only avenue at which a Trial account can provide hours of entertainment.
Achievements
Arena Grandmaster: Obtaining the Arena Master trinket in the Stranglethorn arena requires a combination of luck, persistence and sheer commitment. And then you have to do it 11 more times to get the Arena Grandmaster trinket. But it’s worth it in any case, because it gives +12 Stamina and can be used for an absorption shield. This is great for both PvP but consider PvE – if you are going to be an explorer, you’ll be (corpse)running. The more health you have the longer you last, and the shorter the total time spent.
Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza: With a mount, sufficient Fishing skill and your HS set at Booty Bay, you too can become a champion of the fishing rod! Winning this gives the Master Angler of Azeroth achievement, and you can win the Dread Pirate Ring (heirloom ring), Arcanite Fishing Pole (+40 Fishing), Hook of the Master Angler (fun item) or the Boots of the Bay (+15 fishing skill and can be used to teleport to BB). In addition, fishing up one of various special fish awards you with either the Lucky Fishing Hat (+15 Stamina, +5 Fishing), High Test Eternium Fishling (+5 Fishing), or Nat’s Extreme Angling Boots (+5 fishing, +12 Stamina), That’s a lot of Fishing (for those pesky high-level pools above your account paygrade) and Stamina (for PvP)!
Fishing: Fishing up Old Crafty, coins and rats in Dalaran, One that didn’t get away, Fish or Cut Bait series, The Scavenger, The Fishing Diplomat (careful corpse running), Fish don’t Leave Footprints, Turtles all the Way Down…you can almost complete Salty.
Cooking: Let’s do Lunch, Cooking Awards plus Chef’s Hat, most of the Chef achievements can be done on a Trial account.
Explorer: You will able to explore almost all of Azeroth and Kalimdor, assuming you’re not afraid to die a lot. While I believe you cannot be summoned to Outland (but I haven’t put that theory to the test) you can be summoned to all the Cataclysm zones and some you can simply walk in to. You will not be able to access Pandaria either.
To all the squirrels: Quite a few of these can be achieved with a Trial account, except of course those that in Pandaria and possibly Outland. The same goes for Pest Control.
World Events: Most of the world events have a component that you cannot do on the account of your level (such as the Frost Lord for Midsummer, the Elders for the Lunar Festival, Coren Direbrew for Brewfest – but everything else is doable.
Daily Quests: There aren’t many of these, but you can make quite some headway into achievement territory here:
- Daily Cooking and Fishing Quests
- Event dailies (Brewfest, Darkmoon Faire, Hallow’s End and so on)
PvP Achievements
Here is where there are a lot of available achievements for Trial characters, because this is all a scaling business. Call in the Cavalry, Freedom of the Horde, The Grim Reaper, Duel-icious, That Takes Class, Know Thy Enemy, Make Love not Warcraft, Honorable Kills, City Defender (in a raid), Wrath of the Horde/Alliance (in a raid), Kill the Enemy Leaders (in a raid), The Conqueror, Wrecking Ball.
That’s a lot of work, invested time and a hell of a lot of fun. But be aware that because of the specific level requirements, it’s not possible to get Battlemaster since that requires a few higher level BGs than you can achieve (must confirm this).
Darkmoon Faire
When your are on a Trial account, the Darkmoon Faire will be giving you an immense amount of fun and goodies. Remember to pick up the quest from a crier, and as soon as you get in to get your Darkmoon Faire Field Manual.
Test your Strength: A basic kill-300-quest which gets you 10 tickets, once a month.
Artifacts: All but two of the artifacts can be gained from dungeons and PvP at your level; those 2 require level 85 and can only be obtained from level 85 sources. That said, this means 55 tickets every month.
Profession Quests: 4 for each primary profession at 75+, 3 for each secondary at 75+, for a total of 20 tickets every month.
Daily Minigames: The various events at the Darkmoon Faire itself also award tickets and other fun items, once per day per event.
World Bosses: Join a raid to kill Moonfang and the Darkmoon Rabbit – you might even win something!
And what can you do with those tickets?
Sadly we cannot buy the replica sets, since they require level 57/58, which is a damn shame. No looking swanky for us Trial folks…
Buy mounts and pets: 90 tickets to a pet, 180 to a mount.
Buy Heirlooms: 110 tickets (one month abouts) will get you a piece of armor or a one-handed weapon; two-handed weapons cost 160 tickets. You can also upgrade the weapons at a cost of another 65 tickets, but don’t bother unless you like the name better – it only gives it scaling from level 80-85 instead of up to 80.
Conclusion
Even if you are only on a Trial account, there is enough to do that it will keep you busy for months, if not years. And this is without any possible changes because of Warlords of Draenor. It will be a little frustrating that there are some meta-achievements you simply cannot do (unless you had some of it done with a main account).