Insider Trader: The Oil Industry

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

While the world outside WoW contemplates the future of the petroleum industry, casters nurse their own form of oil dependency: mana oils and wizard oils. Heck, if you're an enchanter, you may even be hooked on both! These weapon-buffing beauties boost various combinations of healing, mana regeneration, spell damage and spell critical strike rating ... juicy stuff for casters.

As with many consumables, The Burning Crusade era ushered in an enhanced rung of these weapon-buffing oils. Yes, they're higher level than the older versions ... But as Blizzard is so fond of reminding us, bigger is not always better. Most players seem to prefer the older oils, which offer the stronger oomph of two effects instead of one. However, today's shift away from Old-World components (in this case, the relative difficulty of obtaining Large Brilliant Shards in a post-Burning Crusade economy) stymies many an enchanter seeking to make and market oils, as well as many a consumer seeking an affordable way to buy them.

Oil it up
Mana and wizard oils are 30-minute weapon buffs that persist through both death and zoning. (They used to not persist through zoning, but this has been changed quite some time ago.) Because you can die and zone without losing their effects, oils are a superb choice for boosting output and staying power when learning new encounters.

Oils come in non-stackable vials containing five 30-minute charges. Click the oil and then your weapon to apply a charge to your weapon.

A note on "required levels": The required level of these oils refers to the item level of the weapon the oil is being applied to, not the level required by the player to use the item.

Let's take a look at the pre-BC and post-BC oils.

Mana oil: The old version
Brilliant Mana Oil
12mp5 and +25 healing
Requires level 45
Components: 2 Large Brilliant Shards, 3 Purple Lotus, 1 Imbued Vial
Formula Requires Zandalar Tribe - Friendly

The gold standard for healers, Brilliant Mana Oil provides a hefty bonus to both mana regen and +healing. Most servers have a sufficient population of Zandalar-friendly enchanters to get these made without too much to-do. The challenge to getting these made in today's economy lies with the components. Purple Lotus isn't too terribly difficult to come by, but Large Brilliant Shards are in short supply in today's economy. Most enchanters who take the time to farm old instances for shards remain intent on using them for their own oils. Consumers will have a much easier time getting these made if they farm up their own shards.

Mana oil: The new version
Superior Mana Oil
14 mp5
Requires level 52
Components: 3 Arcane Dust, 1 Netherbloom, 1 Imbued Vial
Formula requires Enchanting (310); available from Outlands vendors

With a gain of 2 mana per 5 seconds over the older oil but a loss of +25 to healing, Superior Mana Oil is generally considered inferior to the older Brilliant Mana Oil – but oh, how much easier it is to come by the components in this day and age! The formula is easily purchased in various Outlands locations by enchanters of skill 310 or higher. For non-healers, of course, Superior Mana Oil is desirable for its maximum mana regeneration. Hunters can dual-oil their dual-wielding selves to great effect in intense encounters.

Wizard oil: The old version
Brilliant Wizard Oil
+36 spell damage and +14 spell critical strike rating
Requires level 45
Components: 2 Large Brilliant Shards, 3 Firebloom, 1 Imbued Vial
Formula requires Zandalar Tribe – Honored

Brilliant Wizard Oil offers a sexy double-whammy bonus to both spell damage and spell critical strike rating, and the spell damage affects healing as well. Unfortunately, this oil can be harder to find on newer servers where fewer enchanters have had the opportunity to achieve Honored rep with Zul'Gurub's Zandalar tribe. Obtaining the Large Brilliant Shards to make these remains the primary hurdle for consumers, and as with mana oils, most enchanters who farm for shards want to use them for their own oils. Consumers will have a much easier time getting these made if they farm up their own shards.

Wizard oil: The new version
Superior Wizard Oil
+42 spell damage
Components: 3 Arcane Dust, 1 Nightmare Vine, 1 Imbued Vial
Requires level 58
Formula requires Enchanting (310); available from Outlands vendors

Few casters will want to trade a gain of +6 spell damage for a loss of +14 spell critical strike rating from the older Brilliant Wizard Oil – but the components for Superior Wizard Oil are much easier to come by in the BC era. Healers might want to consider these as a less-expensive alternative to Brilliant Mana Oil, because although wizard oils don't provide mana regen, the spell damage does also affect healing bonuses (and +42 healing ain't too shabby!). For enchanters who are unable to reach Honored with the Zandalar Tribe, this formula is a simple substitute, easily purchased in various Outlands locations by enchanters of skill 310 or higher. In fact, this formula serves as a great grinding product for enchanters before and after the 350 skill mark.

And finally, don't forget lower-level versions of these oils:
Minor Mana Oil
Lesser Mana Oil
Minor Wizard Oil
Lesser Wizard Oil

Lisa Poisso is a freelance writer, when she's not bugging guildmates to run Old-World instances to get shards to feed her mana oil habit.