Garrison Newbisms

For those of us who didn’t play the beta, or read prior to release, we went into Garrisons pretty blind.  As I’ve touched on, they are a far better mechanic than I first expected.  When I heard they were a “required” part of leveling, I was not impressed.  Until I actually did the leveling and it does tie in very well together.  Plus, instead of just being a hero, you’re at the forefront as a commander.  It’s a nice little touch.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and lollipops.  Take, for example, yours truly.  Out of the gate I built a Gem shop and an Enchanting shop. The Enchanting shop was a no-brainer for a toon who had no professions at the time.  Free disenchanting is a fantastic feature for all the BoP mail rares like to give my Druid.  Plus, at level 2, weapon enchant transmogs.  Good deal.  The gem shop not so much.

For the most part I did it thinking I would get a gem or two every work order…which I could easily fill via the mine.  Instead I got a bunch of soulbound crystals that are fantastic if you’re a Jewelcrafter.  I know Tumunzahar will definitely be looking forward to one of those.  Occasionally my work order would result in Sorcerous Earth or Sorcerous Air, which in the first week of the expansion yielded some solid returns on the Auction House.  So after a while I realized the error of my ways and just switched to the Storehouse.  Not the most viable choice, but gives me bank and eventually guild bank access.  So I’m ok with that.

The big thing for me is the desire to get the Garrison to level 3.  I want to open up the Pet Menagerie and also get my other buildings leveled.  What I hadn’t been able to figure out, is why that wasn’t happening.  To do so, you need 5k in gold (which in this expansion is ridiculously easy) and 2k in resources.  For the longest time, I couldn’t stockpile half of said resources.  I had no idea why.  I know the best way to get them is through your Garrison, rares, quests, etc (without changing your buildings).  What I knew, but didn’t pay attention to?  This:

Yup.  Silly, right?  I normally run anywhere from 8-15 missions a day, and did so all along as I leveled.  At no point did it occur to me that I was burning through more resources than I was acquiring.  At 10-30 resources a mission, there was no way I was ever going to meet my goal.  Now that I’ve made that discovery, and righted myself, I can begin the push to 2k.

What about you?  Any foolish errors along the way or did you plan yours out well in advance?