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Insider Trader: Gadgets for the modern Engineer
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Engineering has quite a few useful tools in addition to their famous repertoire of toys, but not every player knows how to make the most of them. There are many reasons for this, including: Not being informed on the latest improvements. Consumables may be less cost-prohibitive, for example, than the last time you checked. Believing the "Engineering is useless" hype that lingers from darker days, and feeling creatively blocked after an expensive and tedious leveling process. Being an irrational yet strangely normal cooldown and consumable saving individual. Awkward Zombie illustrates the latter nicely, and we've talked about stingy cooldown use in the past. This week, Insider Trader is going to discuss a handful of the Engineering tools that you really should be using to the fullest, and why.
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BlizzCon 2009 Insider Trader: Cataclysmic professions
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Over the course of several BlizzCon panels, we've been treated to a preview of how professions will be changing in Cataclysm, the next expansion pack. Pass through the break to learn all about: The new title and level cap. Revamped skill gains. Archaeology, the new profession! Reforging, a new dimension to crafting professions. Hints about the future of Engineering, Fishing, and Gathering. Information about things we wanted to see, but won't.
BlizzCon 2009: Archaeology and Path of the Titans
The upcoming expansion, Cataclysm, will be incorporating greater levels of character customization than ever before. From guild talent trees, a different talent tree system, new races and race/class combinations, to a new profession that will be all about customization. Enter the Path of the Titans, and the new secondary profession, Archaeology.Pass through the break for all the details, but be warned, spoilers lay ahead!
Insider Trader: Patch 3.2 Q&A
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Patch 3.2 has been shaping up to be a welcome event for professions in World of Warcraft. Soon, we will all have access to the next "tier" of gems and profession-unique buffs. This week, I will be devoting the column space to answering some reader questions. Pre-patch notes and Public Test Realm data can often create confusion, especially when we know that anything could change before we ever see it live. At the very end, I have included a bit of a spoiler, although I attempted to keep the details to a minimum and the wild speculation to a maximum. Are the new flasks for Alchemists only? - JoemamaThe new flask is called Flask of the North and can only be used by Alchemists with a skill of at least 400. This flask is clearly inferior to the Wrath raiding flasks because it is meant to be used in arenas. While it should give you a bit of a boost, Blizzard does not want everyone suddenly becoming Alchemists in order to compete. Of course, if you play the game primarily for arena, then you might consider switching if you haven't already. The most exciting changes for Alchemists will likely be the new epic gem transmutes and the fact that potions will stack to 20.
Insider Trader: Your guide to profession-specific buffs
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.The World of Warcraft's second expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, changed the way that we players, as tradespeople, view professions and altered the reasoning behind our choices to pursue them. The driving factor behind this change was Blizzard's commitment to make each profession seem beneficial and dare I say, fun, to any player, regardless of class. While we did see some changes in this direction in The Burning Crusade, such as an Enchanter's singular ability to enchant his/her own rings, this new vision for trades really hit its stride in Wrath. To accomplish this, Blizzard shifted focus away from bind on pick-up gear and added self-buffs and self-enchants, as well as some other incentives, to give players more choice. It used to be, for example, that PvP characters would take Engineering. Leather and 40+ mail-wearers would take Skinning to feed their Leatherworking. Tailors would take Enchanting because it allowed them to recoup some of the costs of crafting gear, and so on. In essence, we could choose between fun, PvP, gold-making, and the best gear. Now, we can purchase gear from the gear-crafters, and be free to pursue something else, should we wish. Today, Insider Trader is going to break down the incentives offered by each profession to help you choose what is right for you. Rather than focusing on fun items, I will be addressing stat bonuses.The purpose of this guide is not to tell you what you need to take in order to be the best raider, or make the most money, or have an edge in PvP, but rather to gather the information to one place and present it for your consideration. Don't forget to read through the comments section at the end of this article, as there are sure to be tips and stories from our readers!
Insider Trader: Farming recipes in Northrend
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.This week, Insider Trader will be listing the locations and mobs that will drop recipes to help you complete your collection and expand your knowledge to boost sales. Because this list is meant to be a reference for planning out your next farming expedition, I will not be including "world drops" that can drop from nearly any mob in a given zone or from a specific level of mobs across zones. UlduarThere are several epic crafting recipes that will drop in Ulduar. They have a chance to drop from each of the bosses on Heroic mode (25-man), although 10-man groups can also acquire them by downing the bosses on Hard mode. Currently, there are two Enchanting formulas, six Blacksmithing plans, eight Leatherworking patterns and four Tailoring patterns that fall under this category.Given Ulduar's close associations with Engineering, many people have been quite vocal about the lack of schematics in the dungeon, although many of the mobs can be harvested for parts and vendor junk.
Insider Trader: Jewelcrafting nerf incoming
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Bornakk just announced on the forums that Jewelcrafters are about to see a new nerf, and as a result, people are already beginning to weigh the benefits of switching to a different profession for min-maxing, or working out how they are going to re-itemize their gear. Bornakk:In the next major content patch we will be removing the prismatic quality of the jewelcrafter-only Dragon's Eye gems. Like other gems, they will have to match the socket color to receive a socket bonus. When this change occurs, players with qualifying jewelcrafting skill will be provided a yet to be determined amount of Dalaran Jewelecrafter Tokens as compensation. This probably won't be enough to entice players to drop the profession, but it is a bit of a blow. Stratfu points out that because Mage T8 is equipped primarily with yellow and blue sockets, the only way to actually meet socket bonus requirements will be to use sub-par gems. The JC-only Runed Dragon's Eye offers +32 spell power, and currently fits into any socket, conforming to meet the necessary color requirements. This is compared to the +19 spell power that the rest of us folks get from Runed Scarlet Rubies. While Jewelcrafters will still be able to use these gems, they won't be able to stick them just anywhere.
Insider Trader: Evolution of Fishing
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Patch 3.1 brought many welcome changes to the Fishing profession, including a Turtle mount and new Fishing daily quests. These not only add incentives to go out and fish, they also make doing a little fishing each day easier. Of course, players can never have enough improvements, and still have many gripes about the way that the profession works. This week, I will be discussing different perspectives on the activity, as well as the challenges that Blizzard faces when considering which changes to make, and which feedback to tackle.
Insider Trader: The patch 3.1 glyph market
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.If you are a Scribe who has not yet stepped into the glyph market since patch 3.1 went live on Tuesday, April 14th, then you'd better hustle! As we discussed pre-patch, the glyph market is undergoing a radical shift. For a limited time, perhaps very limited, it is soaring to epic heights. Unfortunately, this will not last, and I expect the market to take a sobering downturn in the next couple of weeks. This upswing is also affecting related markets, such as those for inks and herbs, and although we will likely see a bit of a price crash once the glyph market deteriorates, these should stabilize relatively quickly. Today, I will be reviewing why and how the glyph market is changing, and make some predictions for the future. I will also discuss how you can earn some of this post-patch wealth, as well as ways to continue making some profit even after the demand for glyphs drops. I will also be pointing you to some interesting stories around the web of how other Scribes are cashing in this week!
Insider Trader: All about patch 3.1
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.This week Insider Trader will be discussing everything craftspeople need to know about patch 3.1. By the end of this article, you will know what you should be doing to prepare for patch day, what will be changing, and how the community is reacting to these changes.I have been covering these topics to the best of my abilities as information has been released and altered over the weeks, but as we draw closer to patch day, the post-patch scene is becoming increasingly easy to visualize.
Insider Trader: Patch 3.1, profits and preparation
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Patch 3.1 is looming ever closer, and things are about to change in a big way. Today I'll be discussing how the patch is going to affect your professions, and how you can take advantage of this by maximizing your profits on the Auction House. Players have become increasingly bored with raiding because the content that was released with the expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, was too quickly conquered. Across the board, players are showing up to raids on an inconsistent basis, and many people now spend much of their time on the Public Test Realm playing through Ulduar. This has contributed to falling prices on the Auction House for raiding materials and consumables, because not only have many people stopped raiding, many others have decided to save their gold and raid without being buffed to the gills. What should you do in these tight times? Aside from the things for which you are currently saving, the patch will bring with it a 1000g bill to learn how to dual spec, costs to fund raid wipes, bring new consumables, and enchant and gem new gear. By learning what to sell and purchase and when, you can minimize your post-patch costs and make some gold while you're at it.
Insider Trader: Who keeps the shards?
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.In the Burning Crusade, an Enchanter's job in a raid or dungeon was to disenchant the boss drops that no one wanted into Large Prismatic Shards, and the entire group would roll for them. This was considered the standard, and was the fairest way to divide up the loot. Instead of rolling on the bind on pick-up items that were not wanted, in order to sell them to a vendor for profit or to help pay for the repair bill, they were turned into something more useful. Prismatics sold for more at auction than a vendor would pay, and the shards could be saved for when the characters needed something enchanted. All of this changed in Wrath of the Lich King. Suddenly, many Enchanters were acting like anyone who expected to roll for shards were selfish and clueless, and it has since become the norm for the Enchanter to keep all of the shards. This week, I'll be discussing the reasons behind the change, and reassessing just how fair the change really is.
Insider Trader: Your livelihood after patch 3.1
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Although patch 3.1 is still a few months from going live, it is already shaping up to be a positive force on the professions front. So far, we've been made aware of the following changes: Two new Engineering enchants (attn: tanks and spell power users). An engineered bind on equip blue trinket. A +hit elixir for the level 19 twink community. A deliciously ridiculous number of new glyphs, along with glyph changes. New Blacksmithing bind on equip epics covering spell plate, dps plate and tanking plate, as well as a spell dagger. New juicy, expensive enchants. Finally, a productive use for Black Diamonds. A new Jewelcrafting trinket. Lots of new Leatherworking goodies. Several Tailoring items, including a 32-slot herbing bag. Many current recipes, including Old World and Outland ones, are being rebalanced and updated. For details and analysis, follow me through the break. Keep in mind that these are subject to change, and that we will likely see even more developments in the future.
Insider Trader: Zapping in the North
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Engineers have plenty of fun tricks up their sleeves, and that includes a hip, quirky means of gathering. Specifically, they ride around on fancy machines zapping clouds into Crystallized elements, at least in the far North. Such elements are used in crafting, or combined in stacks of ten to form Eternal elements, which are also a common reagent in patterns and schematics. Both forms of these elements sell for handsome sums on the Auction House, and can be stockpiled for one's own needs, such as updating item enchants. This week's Insider Trader is devoted to helping you find those clouds and zap them with a vengeance!
Insider Trader: Tailoring Q&A
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.This week's Insider Trader will be devoted to addressing some of the reader mail that I've been receiving recently. Surprisingly, many of the questions and requests have come from Tailors who are confused about some of the changes made in Wrath.Here are some of the questions that have been shot my way: Why can't Tailors make bags bigger than 20 slots? We were making those in BC! Why can't Tailors make Tailor-only bags? Where do I go to make the specialty cloths? Northern Cloth Scavenging gets us scraps right? Why can't we turn those into cloth the way Leatherworkers can turn their scraps into leather? I'm not satisfied with what I can make as a top level Tailor. Should I keep it?
Insider Trader: Your bad self
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.In the World of Warcraft, as in life, we are constantly being faced with morally significant choices. Some players try their best to listen to the Angel on their shoulder, while others will do whatever suits them at the time. Proper etiquette is always in debate.Of course, as this is a virtual world, the moral implications of our actions are on a much smaller scale. Hitting someone for being annoying could cause many problems in my personal and professional lives, yet blasting someone similar off of a cliff in-game can be almost therapeutic. When it comes to gathering and crafting, greed crops up. There are many ways to get what you want, often at the expense of others. This week, Insider Trader will discuss the underhanded side of the professional world.
Insider Trader: Inscription from 305 to 450
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.For the past several weeks, Insider Trader has been walking you through the advancement of your Inscription profession. Inscription from 0-100 Inscription from 100-200 Inscription from 200-305 During the last round of skill-ups, we made a pile of ink that will be used today to level from 305 to 355, the point at which you should consider traveling to Northrend for further instruction, provided you are at least level 65. If you would like to delay having to gather or purchase Northrend herbs, you can level up to 365 using Outland herbs alone, giving you an additional ten points. I will outline this method as well but be aware that you will be dealing with green recipes.At that point, I will walk you through Northrend Inscription, providing you with a cost-effective and efficient method for maximizing your profession!
Insider Trader: Inscription from 100 to 200
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Last week, we began the journey towards becoming a Grand Master Scribe. Starting with the basics, we discussed how to reach skill level 100, along with some general tips and strategy, and there were many helpful reader comments.Today, we will continue from skill level 100 to hit 200, which will place you partway through what a level 20 is capable of training. When herbs are mentioned, clicking on any of the links will take you to a Wowhead page showing you where you can find them. If you feel you need more background information on inscription tools, milling, or research, check out last week's column to brush up on the fundamentals. Otherwise, pass on through the break!
Insider Trader: Crafting achievements pre-Wrath
Times are changing. Where previously you could merely craft epic swords and new-fangled flying machines, you can now craft success. Achievement points, the latest addictive means of displaying your awesomeness, are all the rage, and can be crafted up in a jiffy. Well, maybe two jiffies.As a level 70, there is one achievement you almost certainly have, and that is "Professional Master." This is awarded once you train the highest rank of any given profession, and serves as a little pat on the back for a job well done. Ready to go further? Get ready to maximize your fishing, cooking and first aid skills!
Insider Trader: Faction recipes for the rest of you
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Over the past few weeks I've been discussing the factions that hold recipes for the various professions, and how deeply liked you'll have to be to get your grubby hands on them. Almost all of the profession recipes have been covered, from the amazing and profitable acquisitions down to the pointless and boring. Of course, there are still a few straggler recipes out there that are meant for players whose professions are not getting much faction love, and therefore cannot make up an article of their own.This week I'm going to finish up the series by discussing the rest of the faction recipes, the ones for cooking and engineering. Although there are not many, and some are not even very good, the series just would not be complete without them. Formulas for enchanters Designs for jewelcrafters part one, and part two. Plans for blacksmiths. Recipes for alchemists. Patterns for leatherworkers. Patterns for tailors.
