Farming Netherwing Eggs
One question I get asked quite often is "How do you find so many eggs?". I currently have 4 characters with nether drakes, so I guess I can be considered somewhat of an expert. Roughly half of the farming I do for the exalted faction you need to get a nether drake comes from netherwing eggs. There arent alot of magic secrets to doing this, but I will detail the way I do it as well as give you some tips if you are struggling.
Dragonmaw Fortress
One big area for eggs that is often overlooked is the dragonmaw fortress. This is the fortress where you fought Zuluhed located north of the netherwing ledge. There are numerous spawns throughout the area, and whenever I am flying over to netherwing ledge I always stop by here first and spend about 5 minutes flying around and checking for eggs. Spawns are located all over the fortress, including the whelp pen, the blacksmith, at the top of the big spire, in the broken wagon, the stables, and in just about all of the towers. Before you make your journey to the ledge, do a few flybys of the fortress and you will be sure to get an egg or two.
Explore the Islands
After doing some fortress flybys, I make my way over to the ledge. Instead of just flying straight there however, I take the long route and do flybys on all the floating islands. There are alot of spawns on the islands, small and large. It only takes a few minutes and I am bound to find an egg about 50% of the time. I have had a bit more luck with the islands that are south of the ledge, and not as many on the north side. Perhaps this is just because of all the traffic coming from the ledge and the mainland.
Check the Peaks
After checking on the islands, I typically spend about 5 minutes flying over the peaks of the netherwing ledge. I have not found a huge amount of eggs on the peaks, or down low around the cystal nodes, but I think its just because there is so much traffic and the spawns are constantly being found. If its a really busy time of day and the ledge is crawling with people, I sometimes dont even bother with a thorough checking and just do a couple of quick passes.
Head Into the Mines
The netherwing mine has a load of eggs in it and I find a good third or more of the eggs in the mine. Since I am down here anyways doing the daily quests, this is a no brainer. You should do the daily quests, at least the easier ones such as the booterang, the 2 crystal gathering ones, and the ravager one. I have found eggs all over the mine, including inside carts, along the railroad tracks, underneath the drake, and in almost all the corner locations.
Other Tips
You will get better at noticing eggs as you find more of them. When I first started hunting for eggs I would often confuse mining nodes for them. After awhile you will be able to spot them from further away. Notice the glowing vapor that rises from them. This makes them easier to spot. If you are a human character, your farming will go just a bit easier and you will be able to finish your grind a couple of days earlier than other races because of the 10% diplomacy bonus.
If at all possible, try to do your egg hunting during the non peak hours. If you have ever been down in the mines during the peak hours, you may understand what I am talking about. Running around the mines at about 9pm EST on a Friday makes me want to logoff. Its a total kill stealing, ninja looting gankfest. I wake up early the next morning say 5am EST and the entire ledge is empty.
Dont give up! Alot of people I have known personally and in my guilds have either started the netherwing faction grind, or have just given up collecting the 5000 gold to even get to that point. There is a reason not alot of people have drake mounts, because its not easy. Personally the hardest thing for me has always been gathering the gold together. Thats the worst part, and if you are at the point of gethering eggs, consider yourself almost done! Just got to put the time in. Do your flybys and your easy dailies each day and go and do something else. You can do it!
