Phat's Weekly Lewt Review: MoP Style 10/19

So I haven't done a weekly review in quite some time, but I think it would be helpful to give you an insight into what I'm doing right now in game for gold making purposes.

Dailies
Even though I care about other factions, I always make sure I do my Tillers dailies.  They are the only faction (other than the crafting recipe ones) that directly relate to gold making.  Ironpaw Tokens are even extraordinarily useful in this time of the game, and will be in the months coming.  Cooking is turning out to be quite a lucrative profession for me, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.  Visiting my farm is one of the first things I do every day, as well as the Silk Fields just south of the farm for my Tailoring CD.  Very convenient.  My tailoring CD has to be one of my most favorite CDs of this expansion.  It takes raw mats and increases their value by at least tenfold.

Black Market Auction House
As a mage with ports to both Org and Vale I decided to set my main's hearth to the BMAH.  So far I've bought two heroic crafting patterns for their minimum 20k, and have flipped one for 30k.  I check this daily for great deals, and have already blown 80k on a mount.  Even though 80k was over my 50k threshold, I got a little caught up in a bidding war, which I shouldn't have.  I noticed the player bidding against me was running back and forth to the mailbox going up in 1k increments and decided to do 10k.  It got a bit out of hand.  Backfired you could say.  Oh well.

Transmogrification
I don't know how everyone else is doing with transmog gear, but so far it's been a great seller for me on my low pop server since MoP release.  I'd imagine larger servers are seeing too big of an influx of greens to be able to control the market, but I'm getting just enough greens in to hold my market down, and even though I'm not being good about reposting every 2 days, I've been making a lot using transmog strategies from last patch.

My Main's MoP Xmog
(Click to Enlarge)

On a related note I'm really loving the new look of the gear this expansion in every single way.  I love how when you quest all the questing gear matches, and that the gear is so intricate and not as generic as Cataclysm gear was.  It hasn't slowed down my transmog sales either, which is a bonus.  I think it is a step in the right direction from Blizzard, but I'll stop this rant right now before it turns into a monster.







Living Steel
I'm kind of disappointed with the way that Living Steel has gone this expansion, as Truegold had a much better presence throughout Cataclysm, especially in regards to profit margin.  I think it's mostly because all the crafted gear is raid finder level, so raiders can replace it pretty fast, and the non hardcore raiders don't bother buying it.  I've already dropped my 2nd JC for Inscription and I'm considering dropping at least 1 of my 4 Alchemists to pick up Inscription as well.  Mostly for the cards which will lose a lot of value after this upcoming DMF, but I think the trinkets will be in high demand through November DMF so the sooner the better IMO.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it's certainly what I've been focusing in on as far as gold making in the new expansion.  What are your opinions on the viability of Alchemy (or any profession for that matter) going forward in WoW?  What's your new favorite profession?


Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!

First Look: 5.1 PTR

World PvP
If you haven't read it already, check out the current 5.1 PTR Patch notes.  Blizzard is doing a lot of great things with 5.1, including heating up the Horde vs. Alliance conflict the way they have been saying they would.  For gold making I think this will be a great boost.  They're adding 2 outposts, one for each faction that reward rep and have objects to capture.  They are also awarding "commendations" for slaying the opposite faction on the shores.

This is really going to boost PvP in Pandaria, and I think it's going to be absolutely amazing for the crafted PvP gear market, because people who normally wouldn't care about PvP Resil/Power as stats will suddenly be very interested in it.  This will also provide a boost for the enchant/JC enhancements for PvP as well.

Battle Pets
There were also some changes to battle pets that tweaked my interest, the first being that there will now be tokens that drop from wild pet battles that can be used to upgrade pets from grey/common -> uncommon, or uncommon -> rare.  Better yet, they're not BoP, so they can be sold on the Auction House.  This is going to be a very interesting thing to see progress.  Basically it makes any uncommon pet you could sell into a rare, and will allow Pet Battlers to capture uncommon pets instead of hunting for rares, and upgrade them for a price.  This is interesting to me at least, because I've been dabbling in the pet battle system.  They're also adding a 3,000g reward for going through the entire quest chain and defeating the "Grand Master" NPC Pet Battler of Pandaria.  At the very least it will get more people interested in these things!

On my server, I've just seen the first level 25 battle pet posted in the auction house, a Winterspring Cub (of all things).  The seller is selling it for 15k with a 10k bid, which I think will be interesting to see if it pans out.  That's all from me for now, just wanted to get a quick post out about the gold making changes in 5.1, there are other cool features though, check out the Blizzard post I linked at the top! How do you think 5.1 will impact your gold making strategy?

Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!

Calculating the Value of Spirit of Harmony

Okay so you've been farming Motes of Harmony, both literally with the Tillers, and also by killing mobs and receiving drops.  Now you have a decent amount, but is it worthwhile to use it for a craft?  What's the price point for one of these things?  These are the questions I'm here to answer.

Point for Comparison
Since we have a vendor that will trade Spirit of Harmony for various goods, we can calculate the "Opportunity Cost" of using a Spirit of Harmony in a craft.  9 times out of 10 on any given server the conversion from 1 Spirit of Harmony -> 3 Golden Lotus will be the most profitable, BUT if you would like to compare the other options as well, The Undermine Journal has a neat tool for doing so for you.

Once on your server page, simply hover over Consumables, then select Elementals.

Click to Enlarge

After doing so you should see a page similar to this one, which will multiply by the number you can buy from the vendor by the current going rate for each item.

What this table shows us is that for every Spirit of Harmony you have, you can trade it for about 880 gold.  So if a recipe you're crafting has say 6 Spirit of harmony, and the raw mats + 880*6 = raw mats + 5280 is less than the price that you could get for that item, don't craft it! Now not everything is as black and white as say the LW or BS that NEED this in their Epic crafts, some professions have CDs that you can ignore by using SoH, and others have recipes you can buy with them. So the question for those professions is "Is having this extra CD/recipe worth the gold that these SoH are worth?" or "Is this PvP recipe worth 880g?" For example, on most servers an additional Living Steel CD for your Alchemist is NEVER worth the price of the 9 Golden Lotus I could get instead.  So it's just something to keep in mind.

Additional Valuation
So, you thought that was it huh?  Unfortunately for you it's not!   We have another problem because if you're Revered or greater with the Tillers, you have the opportunity to grow these from the ground!  Is it worth it?
Okay so make sure you've done the above step, which way is worth more?  What's a SoH worth to you? Let's say like the above example your server had the SoH worth 880g to trade in for Golden Lotus, but your LW craft for example takes raw mats that sell for 720g and 8 SoH, but you can sell it for 34k.  TUJ even does THIS math for you!

Click to Enlarge

Since it's worth crafting we can calculate the value of your SoH to be (Selling Price) - (Other Mats) = 34k-720g = 33.3k divided among 8 SoH = 4,162g per SoH!!  So it's definitely worth it for you to craft this item instead of trade it to the vendor.  On the other hand, if you determine the opposite, such as an Alchemist, that it's not worth it with your 90's professions, it's only worth 880g.

Now here comes the interesting (and slightly annoying) part.  Each plot in your farm grows 1 Mote of Harmony (1/10th of a Spirit).  To the LW each plot is worth 416.2g (very nice!), but to the Alchemist, it's only worth 88g.  Not that great...could you get more planting something else?

Currently the other Revered seeds won't (on most servers) get you something worth more than 88g, as they are the most basic of Raw Mats for professions.  BUT, right now there is a very high demand for vegetables!  So back to TUJ to check: Consumables -> Cooking

Click to Enlarge

You will be able to see a chart like this:

Note the price and that each plot will grow not one but five of these each day.  *Note: Ginseng is sold by a Tillers vendor. Basically multiply any of these numbers by 5 and you'll get more than that 88g.  Juicycrunch Carrot would be my go to because Intellect lovers are always my best buyers, but also note that Jogu the Drunk, for a fee, will tell you which one of these to grow each day to harvest 8 the next day.  So one of these will get a x8 multiplier instead of x5.


Now that I've thoroughly bored you to death, get out there and start getting THE MOST out of your Spirit of Harmony!! If you remember to reply after checking, leave a comment with your 2 primary professions and how much your Spirit of Harmony are worth!

Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!

Alchemy or Inscription?

This post is for Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival, which is on Oct 11th!

This month, the topic is:
Pick A Market Or A Strategy That You Planned To Focus On For The MoP Launch.  What Were Your Results?

Maxing My Alchemists
My goal was to level all my Alchemists ASAP and start doing my Living Steel cooldown, and honestly the first week it worked great.  Since you really only need Green Tea Leaves (the most abundant herb in Pandaria) to get the Living Steel Recipe, it was easy and cheap to get all my alchemists the Living Steel Recipe (learned at 550) by the first day.  It cost me around 7,500g to level all 4 to get Living Steel the first day, and I made 70k selling Living Steel that week.  Needless to say, I'm pleased with these results.  For the long run though I'm not so sure that it is the most viable gold making strategy to have 4 Alchemists, as my Living Steel  sales have started to drop off quite a bit, and they're starting to back pile.



Multiple Scribes
So now I'm considering dropping one of my Alchemists for a second scribe. By considering I mean I will do it if Blizzard ever gets their act together and changes the Inscription vendor!!  I would use my second scribe (maybe even a third) for crafting DMF cards, as well as probably a BoA Scribe Staff (after November's DMF).  So far I've been really good at putting off my personal wants (like obtaining a DMF trink ASAP) for more gold making.  I plan on getting a trinket, but I don't raid in a group that really pushes progression, so I have no need for an overpriced trinket right now, especially when there's gold to be made!  I think that the DMF trinks will sell well through the end of the November Faire, after that I'll be focusing in on my own cards/incription needs.  I only wish that I had multiple scribes sooner!

Do you have multiple Scribes, and if not, do you plan on making a second scribe?

Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!

The New 77-80 Market: 80-84 MoP Gear

As predicted, there is a new era of twink gear out that is equivalent to Cataclysm's 77-80 market (which is still alive and kicking).  Keep in mind that now is not a great time to sell, it's a great time to buy.  Lots of this will be on AH's for relatively cheap, but now is not necessarily the best time to post these, except leather (for monks).  Keep in mind that if you start posting at high prices will result in people undercutting you, ruining the potentially endless flow of great deals for the greens(and blues) on the AH.

Search Terms!
If you're using TSM, there is only one search that you need to do:

80/84/i364

These searches look for all items available to those in the range 80-84 with ilvl 364 and higher.  This will include all weapons and armor that came out in MoP available to this bracket.  There are 80-82 blues that are super OP, so keep an eye out for those, they're ilvl 409-425!

If you're using Auctionator you have to do 2 searches

***MoP Twinks
Armor/80/84/i364
Weapon/80/84/i364

And that's it!  You may want to go through this gear and hand pick the ones with the best stats, but at the current prices I'm seeing, if it doesn't sell, you can DE it for a profit!  Now is a great time to stock up on this to sell it throughout the expansion.  Even with a little gold you can make a decent investment, and expect high returns once a majority of the characters are at max level and not questing in the 85-86 zones that drop these!  Welcome to the new era of twink gear!

Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!

Enchanters: Work your Cooldown!

Today I'm going to be doing a post for all my enchanters out there.

Maxing your Enchanting with JC
Feel free to skip this section if you're at 600 already.
Since I had a Jewelcrafter and a Tailor I needed (wanted) to get to 600, I figured they can help each other out.  First start by prospecting 15(ish) stacks of Ghost Iron Ore.  Once you have your common gems, instead of cutting useless gem cuts, make Ornate Bands then Shadowfire Necklaces to disenchant.  This is what is suggested by wow-professions anyway until 527, I suggest going past that.  Craft it until you cant craft them anymore!  Then send em off to your Enchanter to use as enchanting mats to level enchanting.  **Note that you can now convert 5 Dusts to 1 Essence.  Do it until you have the ratio you need.  Enchanting 525-600 is a cakewalk after this, I suggest using the wow-professions enchanting guide. Congratulations!

Enchanting Cooldown!
That's right, enchanting has a daily cooldown this time around, namely to create the new Maelstrom, Sha Crystal.  These are most likely going to be in high demand the first few weeks, when raid gear won't be disenchanted (as much). The new Weapon and Bracer enchants require these (at 10 per and 6 per respectively), so the raiders will want to get their hands on these Crystals.  Since you can convert from Dusts -> Essences -> Shards -> Crystal, there are a few ways you can start out.  The Sha Crystal daily CD requires either:

5 Etherial Shards
25 Mysterious Essence
125 Spirit Dust

If you disenchant your gear as you level your enchanter or get some Shards from dungeons, you will easily be able to do this CD with all the mats you have.  Check your prices to see which of these is cheapest and convert it up the ladder!  This may not stay valuable as raid gear gets disenchanted in the future, but for the next few weeks, I imagine it will!

As always consult your servers auction house before starting this method.  Side effects include making gold, selling valuable enchanting mats, and having your friends ask you for gold.  Consult a doctor if gold making lasts more than 4 hours.

Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!

Top 5 Professions to Level ASAP!

Today I figured I'd do a post on what professions I personally will be leveling as soon as possible.  Mists releases at midnight on the west coast US, which is a relatively ungodly 3 AM for those of us on the east coast.  That being said I'm still considering setting my alarm and having a pot of coffee on hand, but right now it looks unlikely. Once I do eventually log, I am going to focus on leveling my professions before stepping into Pandaria.

Living Steel

My main focus though is the new "Truegold", Living Steel.  This new alchemy cooldown is used in 28 recipes, all but 10 of which will be craftable at launch, given the crafter has the correct (and in some cases absurdly high) amount of Spirit of Harmony in some cases.  This precious metal is used in many crafts.  16 total are required to craft the new JC Epic Mount (which will require Exalted rep to get all recipes for), 1 is required to craft the new Belt Buckle, as well as quite a few needed for the BS and Engineering Epics.  Let's just say there's going to be quite a demand for this item, especially from those elite raiding guilds on your server.

Primordial Ruby

A JC's Best Friend

My second focus will be leveling Jewelcrafting acquiring all of the Jewelcrafting Primordial Ruby base cuts (Delicate, Bold, Brilliant) ASAP.  These cuts will be learned through research or doing Golden Lotus Dailies at Revered.  **Here's the thing to consider with Jewelcrafting though**, they're scaling gem cuts this expansion.  This means they're scrapping the Cataclysm (and previous expansion) model of say 40 base stats total for all gems. Instead, the off color gems will have more base stats to compensate for the lack of Primary stats (Int, Str, Agi).  This doesn't concern me because I think during the first few weeks people will still be following their old gemming ways, and I'm not too worried about these not being HOT sellers.  I may however stop once I get the Brilliant cut, so I can diversify.  The more colors of rare gems I can cut the first few weeks the better.

Without Further Ado, my list:
Top 5 Professions to Level (IMO)

1. Alchemy
• As Stated above, Alchemy transmutes will be used in many recipes, so I will be focusing on leveling the Alchemy my 4 Transmute Masters as soon as possible, to get these xmutes on the AH before the price drops 1 copper!
2. Jewelcrafting
• Again as stated above I want to take good care to learn as many cuts as possible, as soon as possible, and you can start researching once you hit 550, so after that I'm going to stop and focus on other professions.  It's also useful to note I have 2 JCs for double the research possibilities.
3. Tailoring
• Tailoring also has a new daily cooldown that will be added, which again will be craftable at only 550, so getting my 2 Tailors up to burn their daily cooldowns is necessary as soon as possible again.
4. Inscription
• Once again, Inscription is another profession has a once daily cooldown (525), which is a necessary material for Darkmoon Cards(600).
• This makes the individual Darkmoon Cards way more valuable, and will focus trinket seekers on getting individual cards as opposed to full decks.
• Take into consideration that there is also 3 BoA Staves that require 20 of these first daily CDs to make.  Priorities!!! **Note that you can acquire 7 per week doing proffesion specific (level 600) weekly quests, so this is where maxing your Scribe comes in handy.
• I'm not sure if you need to be a certain level to access the area, if so you will need to obtain that level as well. 
5. Mining
• This may seem like a curveball to some, given my (and most gold makers) "Gathering isn't the best GPH" stance.  I still agree with this, and think my profession leveling order above will payout the most, but my go to craft, Living Steel Transmute requires 6 Trillium Bars EACH, each of which require 2 of each color of Trillium Ore (so needs 24 raw ore total, 12 of each color).

• This bar cannot be smelted by Miners until 600 Skill Level, which can only be obtained by farming nodes (no smelting skill ups), so you KNOW the bars are going to be in high demand, and are also going to be very expensive for the first few weeks. By having my own miner smelt the bars, I can cut my costs, and acquire some ore for the transmutes.  It's a win win (except I don't want to level my Tauren Druid, but oh well).

So this is it, my master plan.  If anyone is curious I will be leveling my Mage (Tailor/Alchemy) to 90 first after all this, and starting my farm ASAP, so my mage will be the first one to be able to benefit from the Tiller's Bonus Spirit of Harmony, which is nice because then I'll have the option to choose between the most profitable of the two daily CDs (Tailoring/Alch) that character can craft, based on established AH prices. 

So that's my plan (and suggestion) on which Professions to level first.  Which professions are you planning on leveling up first?

Cheers,

Phat Lewts

If you like my blog follow me on twitter, @PhatLewtsGold!!