Darkmoon Fair will be very slow...

[Horvat]

Unfortunately, you will find that the [url=http://wowpetaddiction.blogspot.com/2011/11/darkmoon-prize-tickets.html]article linked[/url] in the profiles for the new DMF pets is no longer accurate:

Daily DMF quests now only grant 1 prize ticket instead of the 4 apparently received on the PTR.

This means that after doing the 6 profession quests and 2 days worth of dailies, I am now at 30 tickets

I still have the Test Your Strength quest to do, which will give me 10 tokens.
5 more days worth of dailies is another 25.

And then there are the artifacts, whose frequency I haven't been able to check yet.

But even if you find all 9, that's only 80 tickers for a maximum per month of 145 tickets.

that will put collecting all pets at a minimum of 4 months.

[Thehermit]

This is really disappointing. It makes the event a lot more stressful now.

It really sounds like the artifacts wont be that easy to obtain, especially when the faire first comes out.

[Quintessence]

I've updated my post to reflect the changes to the faire on live servers. In an ideal situation (where ALL possible quests/dailies are turned in), players can earn 150 tickets each month the DMF is in town. This means it will take at least 4 months to acquire all 6 pets, but results may vary.

It is quite disappointing that it will take a bit longer to collect all the new DMF companions, but pets are always worth the work and the wait imo!

[Cassidhe]

Like I don't have enough pet related questing to do!

[Bees]

Some reports have said that artifacts and test your strength do not repeat each month. That means it will take even longer - only 55 tokens per faire, with ~50 extra which are not repeatable

[Moritach]

I'm actually happy this will take me some time to complete. If I could just get them all within one week then I'd end up with nothing to collect and nothing to do again... D:

[Quintessence]

Some reports have said that artifacts and test your strength do not repeat each month. That means it will take even longer - only 55 tokens per faire, with ~50 extra which are not repeatable

We'll have to wait for the next DMF to come around to test this theory. I certainly hope it's not the case, though, and the strength quest and artifacts can be turned in once per faire!

[Thehermit]

Run about 12-15 heroics and only 1 artifact has dropped so far.

There are a bunch up on the AH of every one for around 1000g though.

[Quintessence]

I'm not sure if it's a bug or not and if this was intended, but lower level dungeons drop the artifacts atm.

I received the Monstrous Egg artifact from backdoor Stratholme (level 51 dungeon) off of the boss Nerub'enkan (after a few instance resets). A few of my guildmates have reported that the last boss of Stockades dropped an Ornate Weapon artifact. There are other reports on Wowhead indicating that 4 out of 5 of the artifacts listed under [url=http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=6027]Darkmoon Dungeoneer[/url] are dropping from lower level dungeons as well.

So at the moment, "level appropriate" dungeons doesn't seem to be a requirement for some of the artifacts.

You can collect multiple versions of the same artifact, but as far as I can tell you can only turn them in once. Hopefully we can turn in the duplicates once again next month!

[LoonieTunez]

Running low level dungeons is a fair trade to spending 1000g on the AH for the artifacts. Working on my last one right now, RFC isn't giving this one up >.<

[Grogann]

yeah it seems they drop from more 'appropriate' than 'appropriate level' bosses. so the ornate weapon drops from warriors and the mysterious grimoire drops from casters etc... so far i managed to get all of them save the one that drops from 85 dungeons, and as previously stated they can each drop from a number of bosses.

Imbued Crystal - hydromancer velratha in ZF. taragaman in ragefire chasm would probably be easier for horde players.
Monstrous Egg - nerub'enkan in strath, but gahz'rilla in ZF drops it too, and is right next to hydromancer velratha.
Mysterious Grimoire - high inquisitor whitemane in scarlet monestary (cathedral).
Ornate Weapon - randolph muloch in stockades
A Treatise on Strategy - 85 heroic bosses only (maybe only 'command' type npcs?) Rahj in HoO is confirmed, and where i'll start my farming later today.
Soothsayer's Runes - raid drop only. baradin hold is fine though, and if it does drop everyone in the group with the guide book can loot the item.
Adventurer's Journal/Banner of the Fallen/Captured Insignia - pvp battleground drops (from slain players, not npcs, and not tol barad!) drop rate is pretty good so the price on the AH is likey to remain lower than the pve items.

hopefully it wont be long before some clever chap makes a more complete list of the various drop locatons.

[Khorah]

Laharl from Medivh has a good post [url=http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3657430592]HERE[/url] discussing the drops.

My guide to farming the artifacts needed for Darkmoon Dungeoneer:

I found these dungeons the easiest ones to complete if your wanting to farm these items. The reasons range from traveling distance, amount of trash needed to clear, running distance in the instance, and a few other things.

Ornate Weapon: Stormwind Stockades (Randolph Muloch) 4/8 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Because it's right in the middle of town & it's easy to reach.

Imbued Crystal: Ragefire Chasm, Taragaman. 2/2 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Because your right in the middle of town, & it's easy to reach.
Second best: Scarlet Monastery (High Inquisitor Whitemane)

Mysterious Grimoire: Zul'Farrak (Hydromancer Velratha) 1/2 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Ride in, kill her, ride out. Shouldn't have to kill any trash.

Monstrous Egg: Zul'Farrak (Gahz'rilla) 1/2 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Ride in, kill & ride out. And you will already be there if you are farming the Grimoire anyways (see above).

A Treatise on Strategy: Grim Batol (General Umbriss) 1/1 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Of the confirmed drop chances, this one is probably the quickest one to reach with the minimum amount of trash. Unfortunately the Treatise isn't 'farmable' like the other four since it can only be obtained through a level 85 heroic instance.
For this reason, my second best would have to be Stonecore (Slabhide). A lot of people run the instance for the chance of the mount drop alone, so you'd be knocking out two birds with one stone

I hit Strat up (as I was near there doing some Archeology) and didnt get single one. Hearthed back to SW and ran Stocks 4 times, with zero success, so just be ready that it is highly RNG dependent. The nice thing with Stocks is that Randolph Muloch is straight down the line, so a quick AoE clears the hall and quick hit takes him out.

[Ruzgofdi]

Laharl from Medivh has a good post [url=http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3657430592]HERE[/url] discussing the drops.

My guide to farming the artifacts needed for Darkmoon Dungeoneer:

I found these dungeons the easiest ones to complete if your wanting to farm these items. The reasons range from traveling distance, amount of trash needed to clear, running distance in the instance, and a few other things.

Ornate Weapon: Stormwind Stockades (Randolph Muloch) 4/8 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Because it's right in the middle of town & it's easy to reach.

Imbued Crystal: Ragefire Chasm, Taragaman. 2/2 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Because your right in the middle of town, & it's easy to reach.
Second best: Scarlet Monastery (High Inquisitor Whitemane)

Mysterious Grimoire: Zul'Farrak (Hydromancer Velratha) 1/2 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Ride in, kill her, ride out. Shouldn't have to kill any trash.

Monstrous Egg: Zul'Farrak (Gahz'rilla) 1/2 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Ride in, kill & ride out. And you will already be there if you are farming the Grimoire anyways (see above).

A Treatise on Strategy: Grim Batol (General Umbriss) 1/1 drops/kills ---> Why this is my choice? Of the confirmed drop chances, this one is probably the quickest one to reach with the minimum amount of trash. Unfortunately the Treatise isn't 'farmable' like the other four since it can only be obtained through a level 85 heroic instance.
For this reason, my second best would have to be Stonecore (Slabhide). A lot of people run the instance for the chance of the mount drop alone, so you'd be knocking out two birds with one stone

I hit Strat up (as I was near there doing some Archeology) and didnt get single one. Hearthed back to SW and ran Stocks 4 times, with zero success, so just be ready that it is highly RNG dependent. The nice thing with Stocks is that Randolph Muloch is straight down the line, so a quick AoE clears the hall and quick hit takes him out.

I would offer up Stratholme as an alternative. Nerub drops the Monstrous Egg, Lord Rivendare drops the Ornate Weapon, and Balnazzar drops the Imbued Crystal.

Granted, it takes one full run of both live and undead Strath to hit all those bosses, but it's a nicer grouping that doesn't have you trying to sneak into the opposite faction's city for one of the drops.

[Sundrop]

I followed the above advice and was able to farm 2 of each. I did strat for egg and weapon zf for Grimoire and sm for crystal. took some time but better then buying them. now i'm gonna farm the hell out of them and sell them off while the prices is good and then buy the rest or trade!

[Safina]

for those who worried about the artifacts unless it's just the pvp ones, you should still be able to get them next month and so on. Because someone had asked about the banners from the pvp ones and a blue stated that if you get copies of them, you won't be able to give it this month, but next month you will. So it seems to me like the yellow ! ones are once a month. Hopefully that applies to the rest of them =P.

[Doobjanka]

Spent yesterday running heroics and didn't see a single Treatise drop. In fact, no one in my guild has seen one yet!

[Ritsuka]

After spending the evening in Stockades, Scholo, Strat and random BGs, I am now only lacking the Cata heroic and raid artifacts! I'm also not done collecting Grisly Trophies, haha. She wants a lot of ears, sheesh.

I was actually kinda happy to have a new reason to spend time in my beloved Scholomance. I feel right at home in Undead Strat too. Just didn't feel right to be done with them in Wrath, after I got the last of their awesome epic drops at last. The pair of instances I STILL spend the most time in, six years running! XD

I was concerned about the PvP artifacts, as I NEVER PvP unless forced to for the sake of a pet or a mount (as seen here). In fact since I became a human (almost 2 years ago?) I seriously hadn't set foot in a BG. Or any of the post-BC ones, ever. But in just a few hours I had two of all three artifacts! Phew.

Still, I concur, this is gonna take quite a long time. Especially since I must pick up the mounts too. I just hope I've got them all by the time they introduce the next mount achievement. XD Most of that time will just be waiting for the Faire to come back around though.

[Shalura]

I was concerned about the PvP artifacts, as I NEVER PvP unless forced to for the sake of a pet or a mount (as seen here). In fact since I became a human (almost 2 years ago?) I seriously hadn't set foot in a BG. Or any of the post-BC ones, ever. But in just a few hours I had two of all three artifacts! Phew.

I am boycotting PvP until they fix the School of Hard Knocks achievement. But I checked the auction house, and there were a half dozen of each up for between 300-800g each. So I just bought them. They'll probably be even cheaper next month, this was after only a couple days worth of drops.

I've been farming Zul'Farrak on my Hunter, because she's an Engineer and can just use the portal to Gadgetzan. And I've been farming Stratholme and Scarlet Monastary with my Death Knight. I can just portal to Ebon Hold, and fly down. Apparently, you can't go directly from live side to dead side any more? Anyway, after I kill Balnazzar, I portal to Ebon Hold again, fly down to the service entrance, kill Nerub & the Baron, portal to Ebon Hold, take a flight to Hearthglen, and Scarlet Monastery is just over the hills.

Of course, Tuesday night I spent an hour and a half farming Scarlet Monastery, and didn't get any drops. Then Wednesday night I noticed I didn't have the Adventurer's Journal yet.

[Shalura]

Spent yesterday running heroics and didn't see a single Treatise drop. In fact, no one in my guild has seen one yet!

I saw an artifact drop in End Time, but I lost the roll.