disenchanting

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  • Insider Trader: Patch 3.1, profits and preparation

    by 
    Amanda Miller
    Amanda Miller
    03.13.2009

    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?

    by 
    Amanda Miller
    Amanda Miller
    03.07.2009

    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.

  • Are disenchanters getting robbed by rolls?

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    02.21.2009

    Sardonis sent us a note the other day, with an interesting, if probably controversial, point inside: when we're in instances, Skinners take their skins, Miners take their ores, and Herbalists take their herbs (or of course they rotate around if there's more than one). At the end of the instance, we don't sit down and /roll on all of the herbs or ores that people have picked up. So why do we do it, Sardonis asks, with disenchanting shards?Good question. My first response was that everyone needs enchants, and everyone can use those mats. But if everyone can get their friendly guild enchanter to enchant something, can't you get your Leatherworker to use skins, or your Blacksmith to use ores? Of course, you could argue that Leatherworkers can get skins from anywhere, but disenchanted blues only show up in instances. If it's an item that required five (or even 25) people to get, everyone should have a chance at it. There are herbs and ores in instances, true, but those can be found elsewhere as well -- they don't need a group to get them. And what about Rogues who unlock chests in instances -- sure, we need them to open the chests, but they need us to get them there.You can get blues through questing and drops, though, too, so who knows who deserves what. Sardonis is at the point where he won't even say he's a disenchanter -- he'll just do a greed roll like everyone else, and if he gets the item, then he'll DE it. The tradition seems to be that we all roll when we've all helped drop some boss loot, but it's true that we'd never get the shards if it weren't for DE'ers. Maybe they do deserve to take what they make.

  • Ask WoW Insider: Getting rid of leftover gear

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    12.09.2008

    We're a bit late this week, but we've got a good question for you readers from Hylia, a Shadow Priest on Arthas. If you have a question you'd like to ask the readers of WoW Insider, don't forget to send it to ask@wow.com.I've got a question regarding the level 70 epics I've been pilling in my bank. Since I just hit 80 and I`m changing all my gear now, I don't know what to do. The thing is: I don't know if I should just sell my old gear or if I should disenchant it. I have over 20 of those purple shards too and I'm not sure they would sell well.Thanks in advance for the help.HyliaIt's a good question that lots of us are dealing with as we make our way up to 80: what do we do with the old level 70 epics? Personally, I've just been selling most of it -- I have kept a few sets, such as my Tier armor and a crafted set I made and socketed, but I'm not an Enchanter, and, like Hylia, I don't know how old shards would sell now anyway.What have you been doing with the old gear? Vendor, disenchant, or is your bank packed with Gigantiques so you can keep it all?Previously on Ask WoW Insider...

  • Ask a Beta Tester: Enchanting, legacy content, and a beta medley

    by 
    Alex Ziebart
    Alex Ziebart
    09.03.2008

    Welcome back to Ask a Beta Tester, wherein WoW Insider's stable of beta testers answer as many of your Wrath Beta questions as possible! Today we'll start off with burton888's question...Is there a "magic number" for Enchanting, in that you can disenchant everythng in the game (currently 275 for pre-WotLK content)?My 375 Enchanter was able to start disenchanting blues as soon as I hit Northrend shores, so I can't say for sure what the minimum level is. However, we can take some guesses based on what we saw in The Burning Crusade. As a few readers said, to disenchant epics it actually requires 300 Enchanting. 300 was the profession cap in WoW Classic. Assuming that trend continues, you will need 375 Enchanting to disenchant everything in Wrath. In the expansion after Wrath, it will probably take 450. Getting to 375 is a pretty safe bet.Red asked... How is spell damage affecting a Paladin's Ret Aura? Is it reduced like a standard DoT tick or even further? What are the numbers looking like with tested spell damage?

  • Insider Trader: Tradeskills for noobs

    by 
    Amanda Miller
    Amanda Miller
    04.25.2008

    You've entered Azeroth with a brand spanking new character and you're trying to find your footing in the world. Perhaps this is even your first MMO entirely, and while looking for guidance, you're overwhelmed at the sheer volume of information available. Sound like you? While our very own WoW Rookie column has a wealth of information specifically tailored to new players, this week's Insider Trader is going to go in-depth and personal with your profession choices to help make sure that you get the job you want. Whether you are looking for a challenge, thinking ahead to your future, or looking to maximize your profit, you'll find the advice you need to make an informed decision. Have you already chosen, and are regretting it? Never fear, I'll walk you through backing out of the deal and finding something that really suits you.Make sure not to skip the comments section, as input and personal experience will help you learn about the different outcomes you might face.

  • Breakfast Topic: How do you distribute 5-man loot?

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    03.16.2008

    I've noticed something a bit unexpected and confusing over the last few months: apparently, the way my server generally deals with loot in 5-mans is strange. Rather than rely on the in-game roller, we pass on all loot, and let people call need on a piece. Then we all roll need or greed on the stuff. If there's an enchanter in group, they can disenchant the loot for the winner on a greed roll and hand over a shard. Lately, though, since Blizzard started allowing server transfers, it seems a lot of the new 70s have come in and told us that this method is a bit weird. Why don't we just use the in-game rolling system? Why should enchanters be expected to automatically be willing to shard gear for non-enchanters without compensation? These are questions that are really alien to most of our server community, but there they are. So, I thought I'd ask you, dear readers. How do you deal with 5-man loot on your servers or groups? Do you just use the built in roll system? Do you use Master loot? Do you pass and discuss? Is it generally expected that an Enchanter will gladly shard loot for everyone in the group, or is it expected that an Enchanter only need shard his own loot?

  • Insider Trader: A disenchanted profession

    by 
    Lisa Poisso
    Lisa Poisso
    01.11.2008

    Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Back in the early days of the Azerothian economy, enchanters performed enchants with their own mats. You didn't sell anything you didn't have all the mats for, with the exception of special items such as Righteous Orbs for exclusive, high-end enchants like Crusader. When you were out of mats, you closed up shop for the day. Players laughed in your face if you asked them to provide their own mats, and anything for sale on the Auction House was overpriced to the nth degree. Enchanters developed relationships with crafters in other professions to create items that disenchanted into useful components. Players who leveled enchanting purely to disenchant items and sell the resulting reagents were frowned upon and hid their identities behind banker alts and mules.Today, it's a disenchanter's market. Disenchanting has become a profitable "gathering" profession in and of itself. Groups expect enchanters to "shard" items on the spot during instance runs so that members can choose a more valuable shard instead of an undesirable BoP drop. Disenchanting is a whole new "profession"! Read on for Insider Trader's look at disenchanting as a money-making venture in its own right.

  • Insider Trader: Some disenchanted evening

    by 
    Lisa Poisso
    Lisa Poisso
    12.21.2007

    Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling and using player-made products.A handful of my guildies and I rerolled early this week on a new-to-us server for a new-to-us type of game play (and yes, I'm exhausted from the whole "Just let me do this last turn-in over here, oh and here are the last six mobs for that collect quest, and then I gotta train, and then top off a few points in fishing ..." thing until 2 a.m. – I'll be needing all the Night Dragon's Breath Dip I can get to make it through the tail end of the work week). I can verifiably report that we have indeed discovered the promised land: a mature, friendly and humorous server population. (And no, I won't tell you which server we chose. This community is mine, all mine!) Although our intrepid little group plans to group all the way up together almost exclusively, I'm sure we'll be picking up the occasional PuGger. But somehow, I don't think we'll run into many problems with loot whiners -- the players here seem to have specced for level-headedness.On some servers, though, the atmosphere's not so holly-jolly. Mole hills blow up into mountains (and indeed, volcanos) before you can say "Who's in on this drop?" Today, Insider Trader takes a look at an issue that's left many an enchanter completely scratching his head: who disenchants items nobody needs during an instance run – and who gets to keep the results?

  • Insider Trader: Death of a salesman

    by 
    Lisa Poisso
    Lisa Poisso
    11.09.2007

    Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Forget the endless debate over "hardcore" versus "casual" – there's another moniker that we here at Insider Trader hold dear: "salesman." What's that? You don't know any salesmen in WoW these days? You're not alone. Times have changed since craftspeople toiled to build reputations as the go-to traders on their servers ... when Ironforge was the hub of civilization, where a few elite enchanters held court over the entire server with coveted formulae from such exotic locales as Stratholme and Scholomance.It's a brave new world in today's Outland. Most enchanters don't enchant for the general public at all, unless you provide mats and a tip. And in any profession, with so many other players on the servers who have the same patterns (even rare patterns are generally available from more than one player) and so many easy ways to make money (hello, daily quests!), there's little reason to hang around town to build a regular clientele. Components provided or created by other professions are readily available on the Auction House – there's no need to seek out and nurture relationships with another player from a complementary profession.Have the conveniences Blizzard has developed for today's crafters meant the death of the salesman?

  • Prevent disenchanting mishaps

    by 
    Jennie Lees
    Jennie Lees
    02.06.2006

    As an enchanter, I've had the odd mis-click, especially when disenchanting a lot of items at once. Despite a confirmation box when replacing enchants, there isn't one when disenchanting goods, which can be a source of immense frustration. Some players have reported getting accidentally DEd items back after petitioning GMs, but it's much better if you can avoid all that in the first place.That's where this addon comes in -- Safe Disenchanter lets you set a rarity threshold and will then ask you to confirm any disenchants above that level. Fantastic.If you're in the disenchanting business, you've probably already got Enchantrix, Disenchant Predictor or something similar -- but if not, they're also must-haves when wondering whether to DE or sell an item.[via WatchingWoW.com]