Thursday, July 26, 2012

Glyphing in MoP? The Consortium has you covered



As I was searching for information about how inscription is going to change for MoP, I kept coming back to the same place. The Constortium Forums. I enjoy gold blogs and podcasts, but when it comes to collaberation, speculation and the refinement of strategy, a densely populated forum is often where our gold community shines.

Here are some of my favourite posts from the Consortium, and the places to watch for the latest thinking about the glyph market in MoP.

[Inscription] Guide on "WINNING" with MoP glyph preparation

Kathroman has written an eight step guide to preparing for the glyph market come patch 5.0 and beyond. The best step of course, is step 8 which is coming back to the forum and bragging about how much coin you made with glyphs. Don't stop with Kathroman's guide there's some great discussion in the thread about ratios of older inks for stockpiling, the fact that as you stockpile closer to infinity inks, the ratio doesn't matter and speculation on the market conditions for MoP.

My tip for most of these posts it not to brag about your ink / glyph stockpile until you've read what some of these guys are planning. They are freakin' mental.

Inscriptionist - Directory of Changes for Inscription

Ravanys has put together a side by side comparison of glyphs for the transition from Cataclysm to Mist of Pandaria. The heading link takes you to the thread on the Consortium forums, here is the direct link to the Inscriptionist page.

The first use of the page is to track glyphs that will become faded in 5.0 / MoP. When patch 4.0.1 hit, there were a number of glyphs that didn't survive Deathwing's wrath, and were burned - [Charred Glyph]. Blizzard is introducing more than 50 new glyphs for the expansion, so there's really no excuse let too many glyphs fade, and currrently there's only a couple that appear destined for the scrap heap.

I've also been using the inscriptionist page to browse the new glyphs that we'll have access to. My absolute favourite minor glyph so far is [Glyph of the Blazing Trail]. I'm going to set some $@#% on fire!

Ratios for Ink Stockpiling

There has been plenty of discussion about stockpiling glyphs for cataclysm. I like Kathroman's approach to ratios:
if you have enough ink stockpiled, specific ink distribution will be negligible
If you aren't aiming for 100k+ inks, then it's worth reading some of the discussion.

Meyer on Ink distribution ratios

Somehow I momentarily managed to hijak the Goblinventory Discussion Thread while discussing stockpiling and general methods of storage using the example of stockpiling inks and glyphs for MoP. I jumped the gun on Meyer's earlier post on the ratio of inks, and he expanded with a bunch of additional variables, including weighting the stockpile towards glyphs for Monks.

Zman crunches Twitchie's Ultimate Glyph Performance List

ZMan was kind enough to take the data from my Ultimate Glyph Performance List and provide a distribution of inks based on my sales data.
Ink of the Sea - 35%
Ethereal - 23%
Lion's - 12%
Midnight - 11%
Jadefire - 10%
Celestial - 5%
Shimmering - 4%
I was pretty pleased to see 16 months of data broken down to the distribution of inks, so adding recipe information to my database is definitely on my todo list. Whichever set of figures you look at, they all agree that stockpiling with a preference for Ink of the Sea > Ethereal Ink > everything else.

[Inscription] Scaling your glyph operation to handle over 400 distinct glyphs in MoP

Last but not least, when I looked at all the new glyphs made with Mist of Pandaria materials, and saw how few glyphs would become faded I realised that my two character glyph operation wouldn't be able to handle the large number of distinct glyphs without some modification. So I wrote a quick guide on how I would scale up my operation and give a heads up that other glyphers might want to think how the changes will effect them too.

My approach to stockpiling for the 5.0 / MoP Glyph Market

First and foremost, I've been buying all the whiptail and cinderbloom I can get my hands on... and it has been some of the cheapest bulk herb buying I've done all expansion. This morning, after the MoP release date was announcement, I managed to pick up some freakishly cheap herbs as they were unceremoniously dumped on the AH.

I've picked up a guild bank, and sent a teary eyed alt packing from our 'quiet time' guild to start stashing glyphs. My usual operational stockpile is anywhere between 10 - 18 of each glyph, and I bulk craft with TSM about once per week. I'm in the process of adding a 20 stack of each glyph on top of that and storing it in the new guild bank - mostly so I can monitor the stockpile and not overcraft glyphs by accident. Once I have that out the way, I'll see how much blackfallow ink I have left over and do a conversion to older inks and most likely store all that in the mail.

The beauty of the way TSM is set up, is that I can manage both my operational inventory and my 5.0 / MoP stockpile at the same time. When I want to bulk craft to top up my operational inventory, I go into TSM Crafting options > Inventory Settings and deselect my storage guild from the 'Guilds to include:' drop down. I can then hit restock queue and beef up my regular inventory to 18 of each glyph. When I want to bulk craft for my stockpile, I add the guild back in, and it's easy to see which glyphs I've already precrafted.

I will be posting about the logistics of topping up my operational inventory from my stockpile once I figure out the best way to do it, so keep an eye out for that.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Two Character Glyph Operation


When moving items to and from guild banks started to break addons, and when those addons adjusted, it was still horribly slow, I decided I needed to change the way I ran my glyph operation. Storing my glyph stockpile in a guild bank, when I needed them every day for my posting cycle was slowing me down and causing me some frustration. As I thought about moving glyphs across to extra characters, I came across Stede's Guide: Optimizing Glyph Operations on a Single Toon over at the consortium forums, and went to work applying those principles to a full service glyph operation.

Go read it now.

By full service glyph operation, I mean I offer every available glyph to my server through the auction house (well I can say that now). I really like the idea of crafting not just for profit, but as a service to my server. In return for a reasonable mark up, and a lucrative income over time, I keep the auction house stocked with glyphs. ALL the glyphs. I'm not kidding myself that I do it alone. I get a lot of help from my competitors. However, if for some reason, [Glyph of Void Walker] actually manages to sell out or be absent from the auction house, I want to automatically post some the next time I post glyphs. On Dath'remar(A) everyone should be able to lob up to the auction house and get the glyphs they need, day or night.

Since my operation is a full service operation, I post my glyphs for 48 hours and never cancel (well only when I'm doing a reset, but I post back straight after). That way as I get undercut, I layer the market with glyphs, providing enough glyphs in cooperation with my competitors to meet demand.

Hopefully that is a reasonable rationale for avoiding trimming the fat for efficiency and instead attempting to make the most efficient operation across the minimum number of characters.

So I took my glyph performance analysis from my own sales, and set up two separate TSM auctioning groups, one for Twitchie and one for a posting alt.

Twitchie reserves 252 slots in his bank (7x [Royal Scribe's Satchel]) and performs two separate posts. I use BankStack over Dumpster purely because it was what I was already using. I first grab the bottom 4 glyph bags worth of glyphs and post. Then I run back to the bank and swap them for the top 3 bags worth and post again. Sometimes, just for fun I use my warlock summoning portal and Soulburn to make the trip faster and more exciting (this is going to rock in MoP).

One of the many beauties of TSM is that you can auto mail based on auctioning groups. My glyph posting alt reserves 108 bag slots (3 x [Royal Scribe's Satchel]) for glyphs and was able to grab the initial influx of glyphs out of the mail as fast as Twitchie could send them.



Having a character just dedicated to posting glyphs, means the character can stand right on top of the auctioneer and perform a posting cycle as fast as it takes to log in, post and log out again. With my alt having the worst performing glyphs, I lose little business if I decide I don't have the time or energy to log on to her each day.

So that describes the posting side of the operation, with thanks to some inspiration from Stede and a whole crap ton of [Royal Scribe's Satchel]s from Moordenar, my favourite rogue.

For the supply side, Twtichie does most of the heavy lifting. I purchase herbs as fast as my price threshold allows, and mail them over to Twitchie. Twitchie then 'sponsors' our television and movie viewing as subtly as possible while milling herbs and crafting inks. Sometimes, if he is too intrusive, Twitchie Enterprises resorts to bribery in addition to sponsorship and might take a back seat when we watch something romantic.

I use 3 guild bank tabs in Twitchie's exclusive guild that is home to some of our 'quiet time' alts. One tab is for darkmoon cards, volatile life, inferno ink and anything else BoE that is handy to have on hand. The other two guild bank tabs are reserved for herbs, pigments and inks as I work through processing them, mostly afk. I have 3 regular bags in my backpack that I exchange for 3 inscription bags to store batches of herbs for milling. When I have a full guild bank tab of blackfallow ink, I'll have a bulk crafting session for glyphs and add them to the stockpile across two toons for posting. For bulk crafting glyphs I use TSM crafting with the following settings:
  • Minimum Profit Method: Gold Amount
  • Min Restock Quantity: 4
  • Max Restock Quantity: 17
  • Minimum Profit (in gold): 12g
Once I have traded my inks and start to hit the 'Craft Next' macro I've keybound, I manually scan the list to add any extra glyphs to the queue, and the rest can be done while sipping coffee and browsing the interwebz.

Spreading my glyph operation across two characters has allowed me to craft and post efficiently, while avoiding the guild bank for my glyph stockpile that I post regularly.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

My Ultimate Glyph Performance List

Yes. Yes, you have this glyph. On... your... main.


I had delayed posting on my two character glyph operation because I wasn't satisfied with how little data I based my glyph performance research on. Now that I have all my sales data since February 2011 in a database, I can happily present... My Ultimate Glyph Performance List. The list is based on actual sales data rather than estimated sales data or just the average listed price on the auction house. I've already given the major disclaimer that it's MY performance list, meaning that it is limited to my server, and my posting schedule.

There are always side effects when I dig into my sales data.

Firstly, the bad news is that since MySales records the name of the item sold rather than the uinique identifier, I can't tell the difference between [Glyph of Death Coil] and [Glyph of Death Coil]. Doh!

Secondly, there's a couple of glyphs I've never sold. Embarrasing? Sure. Here I am claiming to be a demon possessing glyph $@#%ing master... and I don't actually have full glyph coverage. The two glyphs in question are [Glyph of Frost Armor] which is learned via Northrend Inscription Research and [Glyph of Colossus Smash] which is learned via a Technique sold by a freakin' vendor in Twilight Highlands. So I can forgive myself the mage glyph. Why? Because it's a mage glyph... and overlooking an extra Northrend Inscription Research is understandable. But Colossus Smash? My main is a freakin' warrior, and knows the glyph... and uses the glyph, frequently. I mean, who wants to waste GCDs on sunder in a 10 man raid, amirite? So I have no idea how I managed to get excited about the glyph in the patch notes, managed to pick it up for my warrior and completely forget how I did that (as if I'd buy glyphs from the AH (right?)) and then continue to overlook it for so long.

In any case, all is well and as of right now I have both of those glyphs up on the AH for anyone to purchase.

For the data below, I have orded it by the number sold, highest to lowest. That itself doesn't tell you which are the best and least performing glyphs, but I want to emphasize volume because everyone else seems to be preoccupied with price. I like to churn out glyphs and I like to sell them. Given I purchase herbs, mill, create inks and craft glyphs in bulk, I'm more volume oriented that price oriented when I consider how I divide up my glyphs.

If you look right down the bottom of the table, you can see even ordered by volume that there are a whole ton of trainer glyphs that have barely sold anything... in almost 18 months! The reason for that is that while my threshold for posting glyphs is probably reasonably low (go go volume!) I still have a threshold, and it's always above the cost of creating the glyphs in the first place. So at the very bottom of the list you get the choke points in leveling inscription where if you make glyphs you have to choose from one of those, so no matter which you choose, the AH is already flooded with them.... constantly.

All in all, digging into my data to look at glyph performance was a rewarding exercise. I have two new glyphs to sell, and I can move on in the next post to describe how I have set up my two character glyph operation.


Name#GoldAvgSource
[Glyph of Templar's Verdict]2441776273Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Howling Blast]2351631069Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Kill Shot]2301299957Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Mirror Image]2231499167Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Arcane Shot]211813639Trainer
[Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous]2101291962Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Mangle]200949547Trainer
[Glyph of Frostbolt]201932446Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Spirit Tap]1971272165Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Shield of the Righteous]1981147858Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Arcane Barrage]1961137758Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Heart Strike]1971121957Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Prayer of Mending]1921053555Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Obliterate]194865645Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Berserk]1941036753Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Armors]193921348Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth]186887248Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Levitate]180827046Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Holy Shock]174967756Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Explosive Shot]1691006160Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Shadow Word: Death]170782346Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Wild Growth]169906354Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Hemorrhage]166805048Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Hungering Cold]168789347Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Ice Barrier]167924355Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Dark Succor]164658340Trainer
[Glyph of Holy Wrath]165727444Trainer
[Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell]164889454Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Steady Shot]164687942Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Word of Glory]162611238Trainer
[Glyph of Dash]161584736Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Deep Freeze]159806951Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Horn of Winter]158646341Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Dazing Shield]156743548Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Seal of Truth]155682344Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Trap Launcher]155674844Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Penance]152835755Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Resilient Grip]152579838Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Chimera Shot]152853456Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Slow Fall]152562737Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Blood Tap]152624841Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Arcane Blast]149507434Trainer
[Glyph of the Ascetic Crusader]149683446Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Blessing of Kings]150606040Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Shockwave]146718849Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Lifebloom]147788254Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Feign Death]147566539Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Hammer of Wrath]144630644Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Unleashed Lightning]145910263Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Fireball]145691948Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Death Coil]143413729Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Battle]141407329Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Crusader Strike]140540039Trainer
[Glyph of Shield Slam]141618344Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Prayer of Healing]138534939Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Renewed Life]139570241Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Blade Flurry]139762255Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Mage Armor]139480735Trainer
[Glyph of Swiftmend]137580542Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain]136442233Trainer
[Glyph of Revive Pet]133424632Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Mortal Strike]134662349Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Divine Plea]134599745Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Riptide]131664851Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Shadow Dance]132747557Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Starfall]132441533Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Victory Rush]131550442Trainer
[Glyph of Divine Accuracy]131656650Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Dancing Rune Weapon]132583044Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Bladestorm]130578544Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Rebirth]128434934Trainer
[Glyph of Mass Dispel]128543042Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Thunder]128638050Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Path of Frost]126607448Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Dragon's Breath]126534942Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Devastate]126553644Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Polymorph]125475338Trainer
[Glyph of Rip]125372930Trainer
[Glyph of Haunt]125702156Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Innervate]123486740Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Truth]124535843Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Rune Strike]123380031Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Pestilence]122351529Trainer
[Glyph of Safe Fall]122468538Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of the Arctic Wolf]120408134Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Slam]120347829Trainer
[Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem]120468439Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Healing Wave]120556046Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Dispersion]118491842Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Seal of Insight]118465839Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of the Treant]118452338Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Bloody Healing]117493742Trainer
[Glyph of Disengage]117290525Trainer
[Glyph of Death's Embrace]116498343Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Tricks of the Trade]116610553Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Barkskin]115552348Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Frostfire]115543547Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Blessing of Might]113352331Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Death Strike]114403135Trainer
[Glyph of Blink]113303727Trainer
[Glyph of Unstable Affliction]113465341Trainer
[Glyph of Mind Flay]113314728Trainer
[Glyph of Kill Command]112463241Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Challenging Roar]112371733Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Frost Strike]111267024Trainer
[Glyph of Mending]111330230Trainer
[Glyph of Beacon of Light]110480544Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Molten Armor]110501046Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Adrenaline Rush]109462642Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Regrowth]107460343Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Blurred Speed]108373335Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Feral Charge]106269025Trainer
[Glyph of Lay on Hands]106328231Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Aspect of the Pack]105282227Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Shadowfiend]105375936Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Exorcism]105288227Trainer
[Glyph of Death and Decay]105424340Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Arcane Missiles]104273426Trainer
[Glyph of Enduring Victory]104402139Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Bestial Wrath]104449243Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Fortitude]104313530Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Inner Fire]102306230Trainer
[Glyph of Arcane Power]102305530Trainer
[Glyph of Water Walking]102381637Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Rupture]101474947Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Cone of Cold]100284528Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Conjuring]100277128Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Soul Link]100688769Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Bloodthirst]100350935Trainer
[Glyph of Lightning Shield]99369937Trainer
[Glyph of Chain Lightning]99453046Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Lava Burst]99506151Trainer
[Glyph of Poisons]99377838Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Preparation]98370538Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Insect Swarm]97275428Trainer
[Glyph of Lacerate]97341935Trainer
[Glyph of Aquatic Form]96411243Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Mark of the Wild]96288630Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Power Word: Shield]95229424Trainer
[Glyph of Guardian Spirit]95456748Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Demoralizing Shout]94345237Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Metamorphosis]93460550Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Fan of Knives]93390542Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Raise Dead]93317534Trainer
[Glyph of Berserker Rage]93263728Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Immolate]93357838Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Rune Tap]92277930Trainer
[Glyph of Corruption]92228225Trainer
[Glyph of Insight]91239826Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Death Wish]91258028Trainer
[Glyph of Command]90308734Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of the Monkey]90267930Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Ice Trap]90266130Trainer
[Glyph of Dispel Magic]89321736Trainer
[Glyph of Life Tap]89244627Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Psychic Horror]89343139Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Starsurge]88312536Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Blast Wave]88262230Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Sprint]87217425Trainer
[Glyph of Circle of Healing]87314836Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Rapid Fire]87277132Trainer
[Glyph of Living Bomb]86284533Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Concussive Shot]86336939Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Ferocious Bite]86201923Trainer
[Glyph of Overpower]86236928Trainer
[Glyph of Evocation]86281833Trainer
[Glyph of Slow]86305736Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Eviscerate]85224026Trainer
[Glyph of Earth Shield]85268032Trainer
[Glyph of Master's Call]84329139Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Backstab]84207625Trainer
[Glyph of Fade]84288434Trainer
[Glyph of Judgement]84237028Trainer
[Glyph of Pyroblast]83342141Trainer
[Glyph of Chains of Ice]83283534Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Fading]83232028Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Rejuvenation]83204425Trainer
[Glyph of Raptor Strike]82280734Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Mutilate]82239629Trainer
[Glyph of Pounce]82260332Trainer
[Glyph of Cloak of Shadows]82359444Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Water Shield]82164620Trainer
[Glyph of Feral Spirit]81374146Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Hex]81314739Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Resonating Power]80207826Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Lightwell]80320640Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Long Charge]80204426Trainer
[Glyph of Earthliving Weapon]79316840Trainer
[Glyph of Fear]78249532Trainer
[Glyph of Chain Heal]78304439Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Mana Shield]78216728Technique
[Glyph of Aimed Shot]77177123Trainer
[Glyph of Slice and Dice]76220029Trainer
[Glyph of Focused Shield]76246832Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Wrath]76155120Trainer
[Glyph of Shadowflame]76343045Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Pick Lock]75202327Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Moonfire]75150120Trainer
[Glyph of Lesser Proportion]75251934Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Faerie Fire]75195426Trainer
[Glyph of Scatter Shot]74247233Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Scare Beast]74195626Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Ice Lance]74233132Trainer
[Glyph of Renew]74176424Trainer
[Glyph of Ambush]74180724Trainer
[Glyph of Raging Blow]74239632Trainer
[Glyph of Killing Spree]71267738Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Blood Boil]71252636Trainer
[Glyph of Intimidating Shout]71229632
[Glyph of Flame Shock]71174425Trainer
[Glyph of Invisibility]71330547Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Drain Soul]71180625Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Thunder Clap]70156422Trainer
[Glyph of the Long Word]70242835Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Sinister Strike]70174125Trainer
[Glyph of Arcane Brilliance]69190028Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Blind]69167924Trainer
[Glyph of Conflagrate]69273740Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Bane of Agony]69240935Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Soul Swap]68171125Trainer
[Glyph of Typhoon]68227333Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Furious Sundering]68203830Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Vendetta]68312446Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Tiger's Fury]67140921Trainer
[Glyph of Silencing Shot]67187828Trainer
[Glyph of Immolation Trap]66160324Trainer
[Glyph of Shadow Bolt]66196330Trainer
[Glyph of Cleansing]66185028Trainer
[Glyph of Chaos Bolt]65206032Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Desperation]65164725Trainer
[Glyph of Light of Dawn]64169326Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Hurricane]64153724Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Death Gate]64158825Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Scourge Strike]64199331Trainer
[Glyph of Divinity]63224936Trainer
[Glyph of Water Breathing]63163826Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Icy Touch]62146224Trainer
[Glyph of Shackle Undead]62230337Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Garrote]62218835Trainer
[Glyph of Crippling Poison]61191131Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Savage Roar]59188032Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Hammer of Justice]59129122Trainer
[Glyph of Vampiric Blood]59188732Trainer
[Glyph of Unending Breath]59171729Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Revealing Strike]59180431Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Spell Reflection]58245142Book of Glyph Mastery
[Glyph of Serpent Sting]58139024Trainer
[Glyph of Frenzied Regeneration]57151327Trainer
[Glyph of Thunderstorm]56192034Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Healing Touch]56190034Trainer
[Glyph of Freezing Trap]56109420Trainer
[Glyph of Felguard]55205637Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Consecration]55138425Trainer
[Glyph of Righteousness]55134925Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Astral Recall]54134525Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Solar Beam]54158729Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Healing Stream Totem]54190735Trainer
[Glyph of Frost Nova]54128724Trainer
[Glyph of Felhunter]53160230Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Thorns]53115622Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Shadow]535314100Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Shadow Protection]53106320Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Rebuke]52167832Trainer
[Glyph of Divine Protection]52104120Trainer
[Glyph of Rapid Charge]52114122Trainer
[Glyph of Pick Pocket]52164032Minor Inscription Research
[Glyph of Ghost Wolf]52116622Trainer
[Glyph of Smite]51139127Trainer
[Glyph of Howl of Terror]51185636Northrend Inscription Research
[Glyph of Flash Heal]51103320Trainer
[Glyph of Bone Shield]50115023Trainer
[Glyph of Sweeping Strikes]50120624Trainer
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Deepsea Scale Farming in Vashj'ir



I went for an hour long farm for [Deepsea Scale] in Vashj'ir the other day, mostly because I have a shaman who will sit at 80 for a little while, going after the Herald of the Titans achievement that I completely missed the boat on at the end of Wrath. While the achievement requires Ulduar level gear, there's no reason you can't be as beefy as possible while farming for that gear and beating Malygos about his head. So [Deepsea Scale]s go into [Tsunami Shoulders] and since there were literally not enough scales on the AH to make one, let alone that they were 13g each... it was farming time.

Just to make leatherworking as painful as possible the shoulders are a random enchant craftable, so it's worth noting that I checked the AH and there was nothing but agility, which makes my resto shaman a sad Draenei. Of course adding insult to injury... when I did craft some they were also agility!

In Vashj'ir, I mostly killed the Slitherfin Eels quite close to the entrance to the zone, and every now and then followed a bread crum trail of Ravenous Threshers to mobs, that after consulting wowhead, don't actually drop scales. My hunter is my skinner, and I took the Vashj'ir iconic spirit beast for the run. Many people don't like Vashj'ir because it's a little harder to orient yourself in the water. To make things a little easier for skinning, I'd put my pet on defensive, swim to the middle of a group of mobs and just tag everything, letting my pet finish them off on top of me. That way I rarely had to swim over to a corpse, to locate it above or below me to skin it.

Deepsea Scales only came in at 35, but with my stock was enough to make a couple of shoulders. I got 10 [Tiny Treasure Chest]s which with vendoring gray items was 107g. The 6 [Strange Bloated Stomach]s were a little disapointing, I didn't realise there would be so few volatiles from them. Low level mobs drop [Savage Leather Scraps] like there is no tomorrow, giving me almost as much leather when compressed as the leather itself. I was pretty pleased with the number of 77 - 80 cata greens that dropped at 9, so it will be interesting to see just how much they will sell for.

Rather than report the full value of the haul on my server right now, I thought the discerning reader would rather look at the full list, allow for some randomness and have a much better idea of how useful this farming spot might be for them. I usually have a problem when other people estimate the value of a haul, because who knows how long it will take to sell those cata greens? Do I really want to process and sell all those cooking materials? So here it is...

The Haul

[Deepsea Scale]35
[Savage Leather]67
[Savage Leather Scraps]308
[Tiny Treasure Chest]10
[Strange Bloated Stomach]6
[Mosshide Hood]1
[Nazferiti Spaulders]1
[Nazferiti Belt]1
[Steelspark Axe]1
[Moonbrook Spellblade]1
[Yojamba Gloves]1
[Rethban Shield]1
[Mistmantle Cord]1
[Jasperlode Sabatons]1
[Deepsea Sagefish]19
[Sliced Raw Billfish]6
[Toughened Flesh]5
[Snake Eye]2
[Abyssal Clam]9
[Murglesnout]17
[Fish Oil]10
[Embersilk Cloth]4
[Giant Turtle Tongue]5
[Monstrous Claw]10
[Greasy Whale Milk]1
[Algaefin Rockfish]2
[Shiny Fish Scales]9
[Fathom Eel]5


Tiny Treasure Chest Contents

[Embersilk Cloth]53
[Volatile Fire]4
[Volatile Water]2
[Volatile Earth]4
[Volatile Air]4
[Pyrite Ore]4
[Elementium Ore]2


Bloated Stomach Contents

[Volatile Air]3
[Volatile Fire]3
[Volatile Earth]2
[Volatile Life]1