Getting Ready for 4.3: Stocking Up

Posted by Aleithia at 8:00 AM

Last week I talked about what to dump prior to 4.3 hitting. But what should you be saving? Patch 4.1 and 4.2 both brought nice bumps in gear improvements, and as a result the gear enhancements for those items saw a nice bump in sales. Patch 4.3 brings not just some dungeons (like 4.1) or a raid (like 4.2), but both, plus the new Looking For Raid feature. With that in mind, here are some things I'm stockpiling in anticipation of higher profits, especially for the first week or so of the patch:

Enchants

A lot of the enchants that I sell have fallen close to the cost to make them, so I've been holding mine or even buying some of the cheaper ones on the Auction House. Once the new gear becomes available, the significant uptick in gear acquisition will send prices up. Weapon enchants are particularly lucrative as many people are still holding onto their Zandalari i353's or Molten Front i365 crafted weapons.

Leg armors are also going to be hot items. With more people involved in raiding, there will gradually be a stronger emphasis for having all of your gear enchanted. Tanks/Healers, notoriously big spenders compared to DPS, will be looking for top-end enchants to do everything they can to complete the LFR. On top of this, you have all the guilds that will be moving into the normal raids that need to get their raiders enchanted.

Enchanting Materials

Because of the new Maelstrom Shatter (1 Maelstrom Crystal shatters into two Heavenly Shards), I expect Maelstrom Crystals to rise slightly, and Heavenly Shards to drop to about half the cost of the Maelstroms. If you have a large supply of Heavenly Shards, you might consider trying to sell some of them on the AH prior to the patch, then repurchase them at lower prices once the price drops. Plan to have enough Maelstroms to shatter for your enchanting needs if you want to stock up now, as it's much more cost effective now to by the crystals for shattering later.

Gems

Yes, epic gems are coming in 4.3. But everything out of Blizzard suggests these are going to be very limited in drop rate. While everyone will want the epics, the reality is that most people will still be buying the rares. Red gems (Bold, Brilliant, Delicate) are always good sellers, so if your market has tanked, buy them up and hold for re-sale. Undercutting is frequent on my realm, so I've been able to pick up 100's of gems below the cost of Inferno's currently.

Orange and Purple gems will also be good sellers, though probably not as strong as the last cycle. Typically, hybrid gems are more important early in the expansion's life cycle because socket bonuses are more important. As you're able to get your mandatory secondary stats (Hit cap, haste soft cap, etc.) from gear alone, the socket bonuses are less important. That said, Blizzard has done a much better job of making set bonuses attractive in this expansion, so perhaps the drop won't be to bad.

Shadowspirit Gems should see a nice bump in sales as well as anyone who doesn't raid doesn't really have access to helms above i353 at this time. However, with the new dungeons dropping i378 helms, many people will be looking for upgrades. Again, the primary attribute shadowspirits will be your best sellers, but all should see a nice bump in price. Austere, Burning, Reverberating and Agile are some of my favorite to stockpile.

PvP Gear

With the release of a new patch, PvP gear will again see a bump in sales as the iLevel of our crafted gear gets bumped up a notch. This is a great time for people to get into PvP, so expect armor to rise in price. Don't craft it until after the patch, however, as existing armor doesn't gain power, only the recipes. After posting all my usual products, PvP gear making will be my next emphasis so I can get in on the initial rush. I plan to have the products queued and materials purchased and in my bags so I can immediately hit that craft button after getting in post-patch.

Consumables

I don't know about you, but unless I'm raiding, I haven't been consuming food and flasks. Even the troll dungeons don't need the buffs anymore for most groups. Looking For Raid, new dungeons and increased guild raiding will send food, flasks and potions up in price again. Right now, some of the traditionally highest priced foods on my realm are selling for 20% of their normal cost. If you're seeing similar (in food or flasks/potions), consider buying them up and reselling after the patch.

Volatile Fire?

I'm undecided on this one and curious to know what you all think. With the Molten Front and Firelands becoming "old" content, volatile fire farming should decrease. But I'm not entirely certain about that. Any advice to share with me and the other readers on this one?

I consider myself a somewhat casual auctioneer. I can be found via Twitter @Aleithia3. I also like getting email at Aleithia AT jasonthedce DOT com. Send me your questions and I'll try to write about them on the site.