Farming the BoP Leatherworking patterns in Icecrown

I've noticed I've been getting a lot of hits for Leatherworking in Wrath, and I'm sorry to say I've been lax about it. I'm currently 448 - those last 10 points are a doozy, but luckily, there is nothing currently in game that requires higher than 440, so those last 10 points are free to be leveled at leisure.

However, there are currently five (or six) BoP on drop patterns in Wrath - the embossing resist. Now, if you're a completionist, like me, you have to have these patterns, regardless of pressing need. I'm here to guide you through the farming.

First up is Fire Resist. This drops from the Skeletal Runesmiths in the south part of Malykriss: The Vile Hold (you may remember dealing with them for several quests, such as playing with your Lithe Stalker). It's easy to pull a lot of mobs here, so be prepared to deal with that. It took me all of three kills. Here's a SS for ya:


Next up is Shadow Resist. This drops from Cultist Shard Watchers on the second and top tiers of Corp'rethar, the Horror Gate. They are standing around in groups of four on either end of the second tier, and a big group of seven in the middle of the top tier. Careful you don't aggro the Gluth-like elites wandering around:


Once again, it's really easy to get two or three of you if you try to stay close, and their DoT is not pleasant, but being clothies, they are quick to die. It took me about a dozen kills before my success:


Frost and Nature Resists are found off of Damned Apothecaries and Cult Alchemists, respectively. They are found in the western circle of Aldur'thar, the Desolation Gate, the site of a daily. Not much to explain here, just farm 'em all until they drop, and might as well get your daily out of the way while you're doing it! These both took the longest to farm, not only because of competition, but just plain stubborn drop rate. The Frost dropped first for me:


Nature dropped last:


Don't bother trying to avoid the opposite mob once one pattern drops - they have such large aggro radii that they will typically come if you try to get the mob you want if it is nearby.

Finally, Arcane. This pattern drops from Frostbrood Spawn that are flying around Sindragosa's Fall (the site of the Wrath intro movie!), in the eastern part of the zone. This is by far the most difficult pattern to farm. You want to aggro the mobs on your mount, then fly to the nearest mountain or clear, mob-free ground to kill it. Careful though: You want to kill it on level ground, or at least have it fall someplace you can reach it. I lost several dragons when they fell and landed on the side of the cliff, totally unreachable to loot. If you are lucky (or suicidal) you can catch them as they spawn on the ground, but that can also mean dealing with 2+ Wyrm Reanimators at the same time. My tactic was to fly through the dragon, land someplace where it would come to me, sit on my mount, spam Serpent Sting to tag it, then pull it back to level ground using LoS or Silent Shot. I kept AotV on to make sure I didn't kill it too fast and it drop some place unreachable.

Now I've farmed a lot in this game, and while many people may think this is a pain, I found farming these mobs refreshing. It took new approaches to figure out how to get these mobs down in particular places, which is something one doesn't do during the typical grind.

Here is my success:


And maybe if you're lucky, High Thane Jorfus will spawn in the Western area for you while you're at it:

EDIT: As of 3.1ish, Arcane now drops from the Cult Researchers inside Aldur'thal. I suppose Blizzard realized the difficulty of farming them, but alas, I did enjoy the challenge.

Good luck, and happy farming!