The Aspiring Drunkard's Guide to Binge Drinking

**NOTE** - I still get a decent volume of in-game PMs with questions about "windows", a subject which I seem to have done a poor job explaining. Over time I've developed a rote "layman's answer" to these questions. In the interest of helping people better understand how to rapidly gain points - and to reduce the amount of in-game questions - I'm adding a section at the end of this post that will try to explain the process in more simple terms. Please read this over before PM'ing any questions.


One irritation people chasing the Drunkard title experience is that, after working hard to gather the alcohol they need, they are forced to spend weeks or even months of slow, steady drinking before they can display their new title. There have been a few threads about a method of rapidly acquiring minutes towards the Drunkard title. The idea is that you map zone while drunk, and when you reach your destination you'll (theoretically) be credited with the minutes you would have spent drunk if you had stayed put. Unfortunately, the information I've found on this topic is either incomplete or inaccurate (including numerous claims that zoning has been "nerfed", which it certainly has not).

I recently set out to max the Drunkard title with hopes that I could use zoning to achieve my goal more quickly. Like others who have posted on this subject, I found that when zoning to and from my guild hall (Warrior's Isle) after drinking I was being credited with 0-3 minutes drunk (usually 0). At first it seemed like this was entirely random, and the pace I was progressing at was not much better than what you would achieve through normal drinking and waiting. Eventually I noticed three things that changed this from a slow, random grind into a rapid and repeatable system:

1.) There is a "window of opportunity" every minute of real time during which you can accumulate Drunkard minutes through zoning. It is only during this window that zoning can raise your minutes. You can zone as fast as your fingers can mash the buttons outside of this window and will receive not one Drunkard minute for your efforts. I made this discovery while drinking in Marhan's Grotto. In this particular location the window of opportunity was 25 seconds during afternoon testing (more on that later), lasting from :05 to :30 past the minute on my watch. Obviously your watch will be set differently than mine, so some experimentation will be needed to pinpoint your start/end times. What's important is that this window is consistent - during every single minute of afternoon testing that I ran, the window began and ended at exactly the same second. Knowing this enabled me to comfortably achieve 12 Drunkard minutes each real minute through zoning at the Grotto. That was good, but it got me wondering if I could do better elsewhere. Which leads to the second point...

2.) The window of opportunity is different in every town, outpost, and guild hall I ran tests in 20 random locations across all 3 campaigns and found that every town/outpost has its own window of opportunity. Just like in the Grotto, these windows are consistent. However, the length of the windows differs from outpost to outpost. This means that it's more advantageous to zone from one outpost than another. In all but two cases (Ascalon City and Lion's Arch) the windows were unbroken stretches of time. The majority of the locations I tested had windows in the 15-25 second range. The absolute worst place to zone from that I found was The Great Temple of Balthazar with a paltry 5 second window. On the flip side, the three best places to zone from in my experience were Dasha Vestibule, Ember Light Camp, and Hell's Precipice. Each of these places featured a window ~48 seconds in length. This was long enough for me to consistently achieve 24 Drunkard minutes per real minute, a pace that lowers the time required to achieve the title from 167 hours to 7. If you're worried that my results may be overly optimistic, be aware that a number of people have discovered zoning locations featuring unbroken 60 second windows! At places like these 30 Drunkard minutes/real minute is achievable, reducing the time needed to max your title to just over 5 1/2 hours.

It should be noted, however, that different people zoning from the same location may experience different windows. This discrepency is due to the different guild halls being used. Each GH has its own window, and it's the overlap between your GHs window and the window of the location your zoning from that determines your overall window of opportunity for Drunkard minutes. Therefore, two people zoning from the same location but to different GHs will likely encounter different windows. What this means is that the locations that featured the longest windows for me may not work as well for you. Because of this, you may need to experiment some to find your optimal zoning location. What's important is that, while the optimal zoning point may vary, you will find that each outpost does have a definitive and repeating window of opportunity for Drunkard minute acquisition. At the end of this guide is a list that may help you determine the best zoning location for your GH.

3.) Window length at a given location may flucuate between day and night. At one testing location (Marhan's Grotto) I recorded a 25 second window in the morning and afternoon. Around 6:00 P.M. EST (11:00 P.M. GMT) the window changed to just 15 seconds, then reverted to 25 seconds the next morning. This behavior has repeated over a few days of testing. A few other test sites are not exhibiting this behavior, but the effect for me in the Grotto is repeatable enough that it's worth a warning: Your window in a given location may differ from night to day! My suggestion is, if you have picked a zoning spot and discovered its window, be sure to re-time the window if you intend to zone again from that location at a different time of day.

Here's an example of how zoning works. For the purpose of this example, assume the window of opportunity starts at 5 seconds Past the Minute (PtM):
First, drink up to level 5 (for info on drunk levels, see http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Drunk). For best results, do this outside of the window so you're prepared when it arrives.
:05 PtM -- Zone from outpost to guild hall. Lose 1 drunk level, gain 1 Drunkard minute.
:07 PtM -- Zone from guild hall to outpost. Lose ALL drunk levels, gain 2 Drunkard minutes.
:09 PtM -- Drink up to level 5.
Repeat until window ends.

As you can see, the first time you zone during a window while drunk you'll lose one drunk level (there are some mitigating factors that can modify this, but in most cases this is how it works). The second time you'll lose ALL your drunk levels. This is true even if you drink between your 1st and 2nd zones. So if in the previous example you had drunk back up to level 5 before zoning back from your guild hall to the outpost, you would gain 3 Drunkard minutes and still be reduced to drunk level 0. If you're using less potent alcohol then this would help speed things up. For more potent alcohol (flasks of firewater and spiked eggnog) your best bet is to get to level 5, gain your 3 minutes from zoning and then start all over again. I should also mention that I found absolutely no benefit from switching between different stacks of alcohol.

I've quoted a rate of 24 Drunkard Minutes/Real Minute. Please be aware: Your results may vary! There are several factors that will affect the rate you can achieve with even the longest window:
1.) Type of alcohol being consumed - I was working from a pool of alcohol that was composed of 90% spiked eggnog. Spiked eggnog is by far the best choice for this method not only because of the economic ramifications (mentioned later) but for maximum speed while zoning. Using spiked nog you can drink once, zone twice, and repeat. Using regular alcohol you'd have to drink 5 times, zone once, drink once and zone again to maximize your time. That's a bunch more mouse clicks to deal with.
2.) Access to a guild hall - All of my zoning was done from an outpost to the Warrior's Isle guild hall and vice versa. Zoning to/from a guild hall is best because of the "Guild Hall" button on the guild menu that transports you with one click. Without a guild hall you'll have to map travel, which will require more mouse clicks. And again, remember that your results will be influenced by the GH you're zoning from. Use the list at the end of this guide to help locate your optimum zoning location.
3.) Computer/connection speed - If you're working with spiked nog and have a guild, this will be your biggest limiting factor. My setup allowed me to zone once every 2 seconds. If yours is slower, your rate will correspondingly decrease.
4.) Window layout - I placed my guild menu just to the left of my inventory menu. This put the stack of nog I was working from right next to the "Guild Hall" button, so I barely had to move the mouse between the two.
5.) One-click "double-click" button - My mouse software allows me to program one of my buttons to function as a "double-click". This cuts the number of clicks needed in half, which is handy considering how much clicking you'll be doing.
6.) Reflexes - I would consider myself to have average reflexes. If you are particularly fast/slow (or if you're using "alternate" means of clicking), your results will change accordingly.

Finally, in answer to some potential questions/concerns...
For those wondering about the cost impact: Zoning is best used in conjunction with economically-acquired spiked eggnog. With this setup, zoning will speed you towards your title while adding absolutely nothing to your cost. With regular alcohol, however, you'll be forced to use 67% more than you would by drinking and waiting. Still, you don't have to have an inventory full of nog to reap the benefits of this system. Even if you have just one stack of spiked nog, used in conjunction with regular alcohol you could reasonably gain 1,000 Drunkard minutes about 15 hours faster than just drinking and waiting.
For those who feel this is a waste of time/too much effort: I was able to earn Incorrigible Ale Hound in just 4 days by spending 3 hours each day in the game, and half that was time spent testing and note-taking. People able to achieve the rate I did are looking at 7 hours of boring, repetitive, fast clicking. Those who can't be bothered are free to spend 167 hours of boring, repetitive, slow clicking, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
For those who feel this is "cheating" or an "exploit": I feel the challenge of the Drunkard title is in the acquisition of alcohol. Once you've put forth the enormous outlay of time (and, most likely, money) required to get the alcohol, actually progressing through the title track is both menial and (relatively) trivial. Yet it takes a great deal of time in its own right, forcing people to wait weeks or even months between acquiring the alcohol and acquiring the title. Some people will want to be able to display the fruits of their labor in the shortest order possible; others will take pride in waiting and resent those who try to speed up the process. If you fall into the latter category, that's completely fair and I fully respect your opinion. I simply don't share it.

With Wintersday behind us and a lot of spiked eggnog out in the wild, many people will likely be looking to make strides in their Drunkard title progression. While this information will only be helpful to a subset of those working towards their title, I hope that the tips listed here will help some of you reach your goal more quickly. And if you've already made it to the top of the title, all I can say is: "I love you, man!"



Reported 45+ second windows of opporunity
Notes: Permanently open windows are marked with an (*). Also, these results do not account for time of day. If you aren't achieving long windows using these same combinations, try again at a different time of day.

Dasha's Vestibule -> Isle of Meditation / Isle of Wurms (*) / Warrior's Isle
Droknar's Forge -> Isle of Meditation
Ember Light Camp -> Frozen Isle / Hunter's Isle (*) / Warrior's Isle
Hell's Precipice -> Warrior's Isle
Iron Mines of Moladune -> Imperial Isle (*) / Isle of the Dead / Isle of Solitude
Kamadan, Jewel of Istan -> Wizard's Isle (*)
Marhan's Grotto -> Wizard's Isle
Nolani Academy -> Isle of Solitude (*)
Quarrel Falls -> Isle of Meditation (*)
Seeker's Passage -> Isle of Solitude (*)

Droknar's Forge -> Talus Chute
Kamadan, Jewel of Istan -> Consulate Docks
These last two combos could be useful for players without a GH; bring a running skill to speed zoning


**Simple answers to all your questions (I hope!)**

Q: I don't get it... what the heck are "windows"?
A: If you've read through this post and are lost about the whole concept of "windows", here's what I want you to do: Forget about 'em. Forget I ever mentioned the word "windows" at all. Instead, follow these simple steps:

1.) Choose a town/outpost to serve as the place you're going to be drinking from. Go there now.
2a.) Drink 5 of the alcoholic beverage of your choice, OR...
2b.) Drink 3 of the alcoholic beverage of your choice plus 1 Flask of Firewater, OR...
2c.) Drink 1 Spiked Eggnog
3.) Zone to your guild hall.
4.) Immediately zone back to the town/outpost you just came from and check your Drunkard minutes in the "Hero" panel.
5a.) If you gained 3 Drunkard minutes, great! Repeat from step #1.
5b.) If you did NOT gain 3 Drunkard minutes, continue to zone between your GH and your chosen town/outpost WITHOUT drinking until you do eventually gain your minutes. Then repeat from step #1.

Q: It seems like I have to zone a bunch of times just to get my 3 minutes more often than not. How often should I get my minutes after the first back-and-forth zoning attempt?
A: Under good conditions you should end up at step #5a from my example much more often than not - say between 6 to 8 times out of every 10 attempts. If your success rate is worse than that, try zoning to your guild hall from a different town/outpost.

Q: Which town/outpost will work best for me?
A: Unfortunately I can't answer this question since it all depends on the guild hall you're zoning to. I suggest you take a look at the list just above this section and read through the thread to get some tips from others using the same guild hall as you.

Q: Do I need to use Spiked Eggnog for this to work?
A: No, you can use any kind of alcohol at all. The main advantage of Spiked Eggnog is the time you'll save - you only need to drink once per 3 Drunkard minutes gained instead of 5 times with normal ale.

Q: Where can I get Spiked Eggnog?
A: During Wintersday you could farm for Spiked Eggnog (this is how I gained all the nog that I used to reach IAH). Unfortunately the only means of acquiring Spiked Eggnog at this time is to buy it from other players. A purchase price of 300-500g per Spiked Eggnog is certainly fair, but because of scarcity it's likely that asking prices may be higher than this.

Q: How much alcohol do I need to reach Drunkard/IAH?
A: If you're using Spiked Eggnog, you need 334 for Drunkard and 3,334 for IAH. If you're using regular ale, you need 1,667 for Drunkard and 16,667 for IAH.

Q: That's a [explitive deleted] huge amount of alcohol! Isn't that going to cost a fortune? How much did it cost you?
A: Yes, unfortunately acquiring all the alcohol needed for this title can cost a great deal. If you don't have the cash, your best bet is to do what I did: Wait until Wintersday and farm your fanny off. You can lessen the farming you'll need to do by spending the time between now and then looking for cheap alcohol being sold by other players.

what does ptm stand for?

It's just the abbreviation I'm using for Past the Minute.

very nice guide - thanks for the info

Great job of research; well-written instructions. I have no desire at this point in time to go for a drunkard title, but when I do, I will keep this post in mind. Done correctly, you can obtain the title and still have a life in the game.


Edit: Congratulations on becoming an official guru guide.

Very extensive research. My hat is off to you. I'm defienly gonna do this.

Following your instructions I came to the conclusion that either your theory is incorrect, or the length of the window varies from person to person. For me, Ember Light Camp and Hells Precipice have a 5-10 second window, while Dasha Vestibule seems to have a window so small I can't use it.


Edit: What GH do you have? Maybe that can affect it?

That's very interesting, and I'm glad you brought it up because I had meant to include a warning in my original post that this might vary from person to person and forgot. I can assure you that the window in these locations were most certainly 48 seconds for me (tested over multiple days at different hours), but it is certainly possible that the windows may be different for different people. One thing that might account for the difference: I'm connecting on the American servers (eastern US, to be specific). How about you?

I'll make an edit to my post to note the possibility of different windows for different people. For now the important thing to note is that, while they may be different for each person, each outpost does have a definitive window of opportunity that can be discovered and utilized. Even if each individual has to work out their optimal zoning location, the principal still works.

logan90, could you run a few tests at some different locations and let us know the results? The guild hall I'm am zoning to is Warrior's Isle.

i sort of followed you guild but found that if you button mash the Guild hall right then the Hero screen changes to the next min you will get at lease 1 min but had 3 mins a few times.

Button mashing is not going to help you get minutes any faster. You need to learn the window of the locations you're zoning from and drink/zone appropriately. Otherwise you'll rack up drunk minutes during your window and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome outside of it.

Regarding sometimes getting credited with 3 minutes, you're noticing a quirk of the system. If you zone once between your outpost and guild hall during a window while not drunk, then drink and zone again, you'll instantly lose all drunk levels (so if you were at level 5 drunk, you'll be credited with 3 minutes). This works out to the same number of clicks as the system I illustrated (instead of getting credited with 1 minute and then 2, you're getting credited with 0 and then 3). It also removes the option of "topping off" with a low-power alcohol between the 1st and 2nd zone. For that reason, I prefer using the "drink / zone twice / repeat" system.

Very nice! Thanks for taking the effort to create and post this guide!

Cool, any tips for getting it in Pre searing?

For me Ascalon City has always been a good 'window' for this, I've never thought about it as extensively as you have in your guide (great one btw) but I've always used Ascalon to zone.

This "window" does change somehow. Maguuma Stade -> Imperial got me >2k minutes @ 3 minutes/2 zones, but the same thing the next day was 3 minutes/10 zones. I havn't tried zoning again, and that would have been toward a month ago.

Intersting guide. I usually work on my title while helping guildies run with lower level misions and quests. I'm a monk and don't need to look at much other than the party menu to do this so my method is more rewarding if not as effecient. I just drink another ale whenever a minute wears off the counter. I can rack up 20 minutes to an hour depending on the length of the quest or mission.

I have noticed that when I zone back to town from an explorable area I stay drunk (Not sure if this is always consistent.) I think this works from town to explorable as well. Even though the screen effect is gone the minutes continue to count. If I drink another drink the screen effect reverts the current drunken level graphics.

Probably not information that you can use in your guide but others who drink and quest might be able to use it. I'm too lazy (and cheap) to test the window of opportunity thing. I might have just gotten lucky the times I decided to check on my minutes.

..........SO COMPLICATED.........I have lvl 1 drunkard with only 3000 min left till lvl 2 and i got most of those minutes playing the game drunk. I go on DoA runs or SF runs or even trapping the UW and just use the Mini-map. Ill set a timer on my watch so it beeps every 2 min 55 sec and just click on a spiked eggnog in my inventory. Thats mainly how i got most of my minutes. Another method is just put all the stuff you want to sell on the character that your going for your title and just sit in LA and drink and sell. This guide works good but the title is about aquireing the alcohal and PATIENCE. Another reason that this is awry is that its probably condsidered a glitch. I dont like the fact that it only works sometimes but other than that its a great find. Keep up the good work and if you have any more promising stats ill be sure to try it out and get lvl 2. Thanks again and good luck (mabey they release a lvl 3)

I haven't whole-heartedly participated in getting this title, but I have gathered a couple of tips that people might find useful.

1. If you zone from one area to the next by walking through a portal while drunk, the drunk effects disappear (for me at least) for the first minute but then come back if you're above level 3. Example: while in town drink to maximum level (lvl5) visual effects, walk out of town, effects disappear, wait up to one full minute, lvl4 effects turn on, check title track to see that you've gained 1 minute. Therefore, just because you don't see the effects after zoning doesn't necessarily mean you've dropped to lvl 0...check your title track to be sure (if you've gained 3 minutes then you likely did drop to lvl 0)...so be careful of wasting your alcohol!

2. In the graphics options tab, uncheck "Enable Post-Processing Effects" so you can be drunk and play the game without the distracting visual effects. But then you have to be very conscious of what drunk level you're at by monitoring your title track.

Interesting guide. Like the others, I have gotten the level 1 title on each of my characters simply by leaving the game running during the day and clicking on a spiked eggnog whenever I happen to pass by the computer.

Level 2 is another story - it seems that following this method is probably the most efficient way to get the title on all of your characters.

You know what they should do......they should have it be an effect like Icy or a condition or sugar rush, stuff like that only it should say what level you are drunk. That honestly would put an end to all the problems

Wait, I don't understand. You are saying that there is a time window to rezone and earn drunk points right? So, it works like this?

Zone into Town (Timer begins)
Wait for Window to begin
Zone to GH, drink, Zone back
Repeat until Window expires

Now what? Does the window reset every minute?

Pretty close. Each town has a fixed window that repeats every minute, yes. Because we're each zoning to and from different guild halls (and since different GHs seem to have their own different windows), I can't tell you which town will have the best window for you. But once you've experimented (and it shouldn't take but a couple minutes to test a given location), you'll get the timing on your town's window down. Once you know it, you drink prior to the start of the window, then zone to AND from your GH, drink again and repeat until the window ends. Then start the process over again. Repeat until you're so hammered you can't see straight.

I also want to clear up one point of confusion that a couple people have mailed me about: This method is only more expensive if you use regular alcohol. There is no extra cost when using spiked eggnog! One of the reasons I posted this guide now is that there is a fair amount of spiked nog floating about with the end of Wintersday. So if you can get your hands on enough to make even a bit of a dent in your minutes at a reasonable price, go for it because it'll enable you to earn minutes much faster at no extra cost.

Finally, I'd like to be able to update my original post with information about the windows of different guild halls. I listed 3 outposts that worked well for me when zoning to/from Warrior's Isle GH. I believe that people zoning to/from a different GH may have different optimal zoning outposts. So what I'd love is for people to post places with long windows that they've found, and what GH they were using. This would help determine for sure if GHs impact window length. With enough information, it may be possible to make a list that would point people to the best zoning location for use with their GH.

So, it's like this:

1) Zone into outpost and start your 1-minute egg timer.
2) Wait for Drinking-Window to begin. (depends on the town)
3) Drink to level 5 or 6.
4) Zone to GH and immediately zone back to outpost.
5) Repeat seps 3+4 until Drinking-Window expires.
6) Start over at step 1 every minute.

Also: the Drinking-Window is different for every town, player computer and connection, so find your own best town. Right?

Yes, that's exactly it except that I'd flip #2 and #3 so that you're drinking to level 5 in preparation for the upcoming window. You don't actually have to drink during a window for it to count; you just have to zone then.

Having spoken with a few people who have been using this method to go for the title, it's clear that different people are finding different optimal zoning locations. Now exactly why that's the case is up for debate. My theory at the moment is that each of the two locations you're zoning from - the outpost and your GH - have their own windows, and you only get credited for minutes when the two windows overlap. Since it's likely that each GH has a different window, this would account for people getting different results from the same outpost. Hopefully people can start posting which location worked best for them and which GH they were using - then we can see if my theory is right and perhaps make a list of the optimal outposts to zone from for each GH.

Thanks for explaining it Awsome research!

Great thread - and excellent research!
I was just about to disagree with you that zoning had indeed been nerfed, when i read the part about the different locations. I remembered the first time i did the zoning - it was in Lair of the Forgotten (nice out of the way place that load fast), and i remembered that i got pretty much 3 min. all the time (may well be as much as the good places you mention).
When i tried zoning later (after farming like crazy all christmas) it was in some of the places near Ascalon and i figured it had indeed been nerfed, because i only got minutes some of the time and often not all in one zoning

You should get a medal if this work as well as you say it will! - Going to try tomorrow!

Cheers

worked brilliantly for me (about 10 secs downtime) Ember Light - Frtozen Isle

actually got through my stash I thought I'd be using for months in under an hour!

Time to get some more alchol...

Through Wintersday and a bit beyond, I had a method which worked every time all the time. I used my GH (Imperial Isle) with one particular town, namely Nolani Academy. Drink a spiked at Nolani, zone to GH, I earn 1 minute. Drink 1 nog, zone to Nolani, earn 3 minutes. Repeat as quickly as my fingers can manage, no resting or waiting was ever needed. 1 spiked, 1 nog, 1 round-trip, 4 minutes drunk time. Sweet,

But now, zoning between Nolani and my GH does almost nothing. Once in a while I'll notice 1 minute when zoning from my GH, but that's a rarity. I no longer experience a 3 (or even 2) minute gain in drunkard minutes.

OP I think you're onto something, but there's definitely more to it. Any idea why my results have completely changed?

I have been testing this for well over 2 hours now and have some imput.

I am working in Dasha Vestibule with zoning to guild hall "isle of meditation". I am able to almost 99% of the time able to use this method and have it work.

drink spiked nog - wait 3 seconds
zone to hall (1 min added) take absinthe or other 1 min drink - wait 3 sec
zone to Dasha Vestibule (3 mins added)

Repeat.

The only quirk im getting is that every few mins when i zone back to the guild hall i get 2 mins instead of 1. then it takes a couple zones to get the last 2mins. my guess is that this is where i hit the couple seconds where i cant zone to skip the time

Unfortunately I can't say for certain if there have been changes to the windows over longer stretches of time. My tests ran over the last couple of weeks. During that time the results have been consistent and repeatable. Now it's possible that changes to the game - something (maybe inadvertently) included in a patch, perhaps - might have an effect on the windows. I can say that the recent test weekend didn't change any of my results. Now that there's a greater awareness of these windows, we can pay attention in the future and see if we can notice if/when changes happen.

That's another quirk of the system. From my experience (and I hope I explain this well) you get awarded 2 mins. on an initial zone whenever you drink during one window and zone in the next. So when you're getting 2 mins. when you should be getting 1, it means you've just crossed over to a new window. And I too sometimes noticed a delay before being able to accumulate more minutes when this occurred. I was going to include a description of it in the guide (I was thinking of calling it "greed punishment" ) but the behavior wasn't 100% consistent so I decided to let it go.

Iron Mines >> Isle of Solitude = 48sec window for me.

I actually commend OP for figuring this out, I've been trying to for months and that he was able to do it earns him the title imo

truely one of GW's bigger oddities...

thanks for sharing, i'll share the link with some Drunkard hunters..

So how easy is it to get Spiked Eggnog now? I know I have SOME of it stashed in Amazing Storage Bob's inventory from Wintersday ... along with witches brew ... but not a great deal.

Where are people selling it and how much should I expect to pay for it?

The only other alcohol I can think of off the top of my head (that I know how to acquire) is Rice Wine.... which I know is 400 gold a bottle. Having to go through 2plat per 5 bottles and have some of it wasted seems like an absolutely insane amount of money to spend....
So...
.... Tell us about the nog, and I'll consider whether I'm going to try this trick before or after getting my 15k Kurzick Armour...

i don't understand it.... i drink an spiked eggnog in hell's prepracie or something and click GH and i loose all my lvl of drunkness

I have seen one Drunkard in pre-searing. From a practical standpoint, getting the ales 2 at a time from the hunters or buying them for 100g a piece would be more of a tedious process than actually getting the title once you acquire the ales needed. It takes at least five minutes to get two ales. As you need 1200 ales or so to allow for starting and stopping, it would take 50 hours just to get the ales!

It would take a group effort to get someone to the max drunkard title in Pre-searing.

To those reporting your window findings, thanks for the info! So far we have ~48 second windows reported from JMFD (Ember LC -> Frozen Isle), Pale-Dim (Dasha's Vestibule -> Isle of Meditation), and Kade (Iron Mines -> Isle of Solitude). If we could get another person with these GHs to confirm these findings, I'll edit my original post to include the information. And if anyone else has discovered locations that feature long windows, please post them along with which GH you're using!

During Wintersday it wasn't uncommon to see people selling spiked nog for 300g/per. The further we get from the event, though, the more rare and expensive it will get. If someone is selling now, I'm sure it'll be for more than 300g. IMO, anything up to 500g would be completely worthwhile to buy in mass quantities. After that, it's up to you and your budget to decide.

I'd also suggest that, if you can't find spiked nog and must purchase regular alcohol, dwarven ale @ 200g/per is a better deal than rice wine @ 400g/per. Both raise your drunk level by 1, so dwarven ale is twice as economical. As an alternative, you can try purchasing Monastery Credits (in Factions) or Battle Commendation (in Nightfall) from players in the 100-125g range. Trading in one of those will give you a hunter's ale, so that can be an even more cost-effective route.

Interestingly, the only place that works for me with the GH zoning trick is Deldimor War Camp. However, if I do try in another town or outpost and get 0 minutes, I just keep zoning between the two until I get my 3 minutes. My GH is Corrupted Isle, by the way.

I really don't get it, I've wasted 57 spiked eggnogs at 1 min each...
can someone explain it in-game?

You can actually get more Ales than just the two before you have to reload the map. There are bears to the east towards the healing Spring. *Just be sure to clear out all the Spiders, Crawl & Skale first so they won't hinder your time when you run back to git you a bear.

Well I'd test but my GH is a Isle of the Dead, so can't help there. But ill let you know if i find a town that works good.

Now time to get drunk!

EDIT - I quickly found that there is about a 15second downtime if you zone from Iron Mines --> Isle of the Dead. I just racked up 150 minutes easily. I can get about 3 minutes every 5 seconds. So every minute - with 15 second down time between 0:00-0:10 and 0:55-0:60 - i can get about 24-27drunk/minute.

Yes, I know about those. And I am not sure that clearing the area first would save you any time over going back to Ft. Ranik and reloading the map. I might give it a try. In any event, the process of getting that many ales in pre-searing takes an incredible time investment.

My hat is off to anyone that had the patience to get and sport the drunkard title in Pre-searing. It might even rival the LDOA title that everyone there these days seems to be working on (myself included).