Time is Money: Down with the cooldown

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Among the goodies that patch 3.3 will bring is a very welcome change. Transmute: Titanium will no longer be subject to a cooldown! This means that you can turn all of the saronite bars you can get your hands on into titanium bars; and saronite is so easy to obtain. Check out our previous guide to mining saronite.

So how will this change how you will go about making your money? Pass through the break to find out.

Predictions:

Right now, saronite bars and ore are extremely cheap. Saronite is notoriously easy to acquire, and with the influx of miners searching for titanium, it tends to get picked up en masse. This supply is much too high for the current demand, which consists of players leveling their professions, and Enchanters using Blacksmithing alts to create saronite gear to disenchant.

The majority of Alchemists out there are busy transmuting epic gems, and the primary source for those, as we all know, is from prospecting titanium ore. This new cooldown removal is going to send this whole system into upheaval.

No one knows the exact changes for sure, of course. They'll vary over time, factions, and servers. Still, approximations can be useful. Here's what Heartbourne over at Project Lore is predicting:

Before Patch 3.3:

Start selling your titanium bars now. If you can, smelt your ore and sell them as bars. On my server, at least, the bars are going for about 10-15 gold more than the equivalent ore (2 ore per bar).

As an example, I purchased 20 titanium ore for 300 gold. This was a bit of a steal; other days, that amount might go for about 380 gold.

After smelting, I had 10 titanium bars, which I sold for 490 gold. That is a profit of 190 gold, or roughly 38%!

In addition, you might want to start saving your saronite bars and ore, unless you want to continue turning them into gear to disenchant.

After Patch 3.3:

Even if the above predictions are off by a few per cent, the price of titanium in both forms is likely to fall, while the price of saronite will probably rise back up.

This is why I'm urging you to sell your titanium before the patch. Alternatively, you could have it prospected and transmuted into as many epic gems as possible, although this would only be wise if your guild intends to push through the new raid dungeon soon after patch day. The price of gems may temporarily go up as scores of players begin rapidly updating their gear, and if you intend to be one of them, preparing for that ahead of time will save you some money.

If this isn't the case, and you're not a Jewelcrafter, then avoid the gem market. You'll probably make more profit by hoarding saronite to sell post-patch and liquidating your titanium assets pre-patch.

Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.