Prince Nazjak's respawn timer was a mystery, and everyone had a different theory. Some said he spawned once a week, some said every four hours, some said every six, and some said every eight. There were even claims that he spawned between midnight and six in the morning on Tuesdays or Thursdays, with only one or two spawns per week depending entirely on luck.
Either way, plenty of players camped Prince Nazjak, and nine times out of ten, they left empty-handed. Many camped him for several days without ever seeing him. Add in Tidal Charm's 43% drop rate—meaning even seeing him did not guarantee the drop—and the number of people who actually owned one was pitifully small.
Right now, no one had discovered the shipwrecks or Prince Nazjak yet. No matter how long his respawn timer was, if Gabryell went to kill him now, he was guaranteed to be up.
After checking both shipwrecks and finding no sign of Prince Nazjak, Gabryell finally spotted him in the underwater ruins.
Azeroth might not have much of anything else, but it certainly had no shortage of princes and princesses. With their warped sense of aesthetics, Blizzard had shattered everyone's fantasies about royalty and dragged them back to reality.
Prince Nazjak was a naga, wandering around with a trident in hand. Maybe in his own mind, he was some mighty ruler of the seas.
Gabryell did not stand on ceremony. He hit him with a Frostbolt to wake him up. Just because he was swimming around in the sea holding a trident and calling himself a prince did not make him the ruler of the ocean.
The prince's dream shattered, and he angrily attacked Gabryell.
Mages could only pick up Ice Barrier at level 40. Without it, getting hit would cause spell pushback, so Gabryell leaned on the Mage's kiting advantage and slowly wore the prince down.
This prince was a total pushover. He did not last long before going down.
"I should've called Luna over to loot this."
Gabryell did not immediately loot the corpse. One of World of Warcraft's many superstitions was that you had to let a boss's body cool before looting it to get good drops. Loot too quickly, and you would only get junk.
After waiting for about ten seconds, the prince's corpse was thoroughly cold. Only then did Gabryell step forward to loot it. If Tidal Charm did not drop, he would just come back and kill him again after reaching level 40. In any case, Prince Nazjak's secret would not be discovered anytime soon.
Tidal Charm (Uncommon)
Bind on Pickup
Unique
Trinket
Requires Level 36
Use: Stuns the target for 3 seconds.
15-minute cooldown.
"I got it!"
Gabryell was rarely this excited. In WoW Classic in his previous life, he had killed the prince six full times before it finally dropped, and only he knew how painful that grind had been. Yet not long after he got it, PvP in WoW Classic had died down, making all that effort basically pointless.
Fortunately, this was not WoW Classic. This was World of Warcraft in 2004. PvP would not die. It would keep thriving, especially after the level 70 arena system opened, when professional PvP tournaments would even appear.
Aside from Tidal Charm, the prince also dropped a Big-mouth Clam. Gabryell opened it right away. Open a hundred of these things, and ninety-nine of them would probably just contain Zesty Clam Meat.
Zesty Clam Meat (Common)
Golden Pearl (Uncommon)
"Damn."
Gabryell had never imagined that the very first Big-mouth Clam he opened in the game would contain the most valuable item inside: a Golden Pearl.
What made Golden Pearls valuable was mainly their use in a few key things: Truefaith Vestments, the Priest Tailoring robe; Runed Arcanite Rod, an essential Enchanting tool; and Enchant Weapon - Spell Power. Among them, Enchant Weapon - Spell Power consumed the most Golden Pearls.
Enchant Weapon - Spell Power
5-second cast
Permanently enchant a melee weapon to increase spell damage by up to 30.
An essential weapon enchant for caster DPS. Each enchant required two Golden Pearls. In the mid-to-late game, as fewer players leveled normally, Golden Pearls would become scarce, their price would rise, and they would become one of the most valuable Enchanting materials.
"My luck today is insane."
Gabryell closed his bags in satisfaction. This trip to kill the prince had been extremely rewarding.
"Looks like my character isn't that unlucky after all. The trash dungeon drops must be because Carlos's character is cursed. It has nothing to do with me."
If Carlos knew what he was thinking, he would probably challenge him to a real-life duel.
Getting Tidal Charm from the very first prince, plus an extra Golden Pearl, meant Gabryell could continue leveling with peace of mind. He teleported straight back to Ironforge.
Back in Ironforge, Gabryell went to the bank and stored the Golden Pearl. No one knew its value yet, so even if he listed it on the Auction House, no one would buy it. Only after everyone reached max level would they slowly begin to understand what it was worth.
Especially after Molten Core was cleared and Enchant Weapon - Spell Power started dropping, its price would truly soar and it would become extremely valuable.
Gabryell closed the bank, equipped Tidal Charm, and filled one of his two empty trinket slots. It would be a waste not to use it.
After leaving the bank, he went to the Auction House across the way and, on a whim, searched for Golden Pearl. The result showed no listings.
"Once everyone reaches level 40, Golden Pearls should slowly start appearing. I'll come back then and pick up the bargains."
Golden Pearls only sold to vendors for 1 gold. Players who did not know their true value would list them on the Auction House for only a few gold more than the vendor price. Buying them up at that point would be no different from walking down the street with a sack and picking up money.
Gabryell thought of another item players would consider worthless while leveling.
Fuse.
Common quality. Vendors would not buy it, and keeping it in the bag wasted space. Most players who got one while leveling would destroy it immediately. A small number would try listing it on the Auction House, hoping to make even 1 silver if they could.
He searched the Auction House and got an unexpected surprise. There were nine of them, each priced between 1 and 3 silver.
Gabryell happily bought them all without hesitation.
"Browsing the Auction House right now really is like walking down the street with a sack and picking up money."
After successfully sniping those bargains, Gabryell continued searching for other items that would be valuable at max level but were currently worth nothing. As long as someone had listed them, he bought them all without mercy, clearing out as many as there were.
After buying up those future valuables, he moved on to other items he could flip for profit, while also listing the useless green gear in his bags.
Once that whole process was done, the gold on Gabryell's character broke past 200 again. When he reached level 40, he could buy a basic mount first, then ask Dreamshade to reimburse him at level 45.
To solo farm the Zul'Farrak graveyard at level 42, he had to have a basic mount. Without one, even if he used safe spots along the way to drop combat, he would not be able to reach the graveyard. Even with a basic mount, if he got knocked off too far from a safe reset spot, he would still die.
Solo farming the Zul'Farrak graveyard at level 42 was a major challenge. Given the current players' understanding of the game, even if Gabryell published the method, only a handful would be able to pull it off.
Of course, Gabryell would not be stupid enough to reveal the Zul'Farrak graveyard solo farming method now. After level 60, when the time was right, he would make a video series explaining how to solo The Deadmines, The Stockade, Scarlet Monastery, and the Zul'Farrak graveyard, boosting his status in everyone's hearts.
As for higher-level solo farming methods for dungeons like Maraudon, Stratholme, and Dire Maul, he would not reveal those. They were the foundation of his income, and he was not going to let too many players get involved and create the same situation as later WoW Classic, where everyone was farming Maraudon, Stratholme, and Dire Maul.
Gabryell crafted the higher-level bandages he needed for solo farming in the city, then took a gryphon to Menethil Harbor and boarded a ship to Theramore Isle in Dustwallow Marsh on Kalimdor.
"Gabryell, are you going to Theramore Isle?"
Carlos had just finished a Scarlet Monastery Graveyard run. He took off his headset to get some water, glanced at Gabryell's screen, and saw him waiting for a boat.
Gabryell said, "I'm heading to the territory of Azeroth's most devoted daughter."
"Devoted daughter?" Carlos was confused.
Gabryell chuckled. "The Alliance's favorite peace-at-any-cost diplomat. Depending on who you ask, she's either the faction's conscience… or the reason Daelin Proudmoore died."
"Who?" Carlos still did not understand.
Gabryell shrugged. "Who else? The ruler of Theramore Isle, Jaina Proudmoore."
Gabryell kept the rest to himself. Years later, Blizzard would even let players fight Jaina in a raid, giving more than a few Alliance players a chance to vent old grudges. Horde players probably felt the same way when Garrosh became a raid boss.