Inventory Management
by Elizabeth Harper 
Feb 17th 2006 at 11:00AM
The more time you spend exploring the world of Azeroth, the more items you eventually collect. And while
your inventory space maxes out at a fixed size (you only have so many bank and bag slots!), the number of items you
need (or want!) to collect continues to grow. My warlock carries around a set of stamina gear, a set of spell
damage gear, a set of fire resist gear, a set of shadow resist gear, and a set of nature resist gear, as well as
enchanting reagents, potions (health, mana, shadow power, etc), food/drink, and assorted quest items. However,
Blizzard is here to help - patch 1.9 introduced large (up to 28 slot) bags for warlock soul shards and patch 1.10 will
introduce large (up to 24 slot) bags for herbalism or enchanting items.Filed under: Herbalism, Enchanting, Patches, Items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Daryl Feb 17th 2006 11:38AM
What about those of us who aren't warlocks and don't have herbalism or enchanting?
James Feb 17th 2006 11:38AM
My problem is knowing which items are useful and useless to the various classes. I picked up a lifeless stone yesterday in RageFire Chasm, but I have no idea if it is useful to a warrior miner/blacksmith. I asked around politely for about 5 minutes, then decided to put it on the auction house in Orgrimmar. I hope I wasn't selling anything useful to my crafting, but the description didn't say anything helpful.
I often get stuck with items like that in my inventory because I'm not sure which ones to keep. I guess that comes with experience... Real life, not in-game. :)
Tryst Feb 17th 2006 12:06PM
There's an add-on called Auctioneer that would help you out with that. It tells you how much things are worth on the AH and to vendors and what professions use them all in a helpful tooltip box that appears when you hover over the item. But the general rule is "If it's gray, throw it away." So if the name of the item is in gray it's vendor trash, if it's in white, there's a possibility that another class can use it.
elizabeth Feb 17th 2006 12:19PM
The grey item rule works most of the time. But, of course, there are always exceptions... I believe most (if not all) of the generic (non-profession) turnin items for Darkmoon Faire reputation are grey, and they can be valuable.
Ed Feb 17th 2006 12:24PM
I hadn't realised there had been some special super-size bags introduced in the recent patch. I wonder if they'll bring out anything for skinners/leatherworkers...
As a hunter, I do find bag space a right pain. I have no different sets of gear (how can anyone afford the space), and tend to have my bags used as follows:
- 1 - Permanent stuff (like skinning knife, Ram, etc.) and quest stuff (like the stuff you need to take to X, or the tool you need to collect Y).
- 2 - Ammo pouch
- 3 - Leatherworking stuff (skins, thread, dye, etc.)
- 4 - Ingredients for cooking
- 5 - Food for my pet
Once I've cleaned out my bags by selling stuff at the end of a session, I start the next one with between 6 and 10 free slots (normally in bags 3 - 5). Half an hour out grinding in an area, though, and these are pretty much full and I start having to make decisions based on what Auctioneer tells me stuff is worth!
I do use the bank for some stuff, but I find that a bit of a pain (mainly because I only remember as I've jumped on the giffon from Ironforge that the thing I need for the quest I'm flying to is in the bank).
GlennZilla Feb 17th 2006 12:47PM
Well, as an Alchemist and a Warlock I am VERY excited about this new directions Blizzard is taking with specialized bags. I'm currently farming for the 28 slot soul pouch so that I can carry more shards with the same bag slot.
For those of you who want to know what an item is worth and don't "play the AH game", I suggest you look up WoWEcon mod. It's at http://www.wowecon.com. It allows you not only know what an item often goes for on the AH but also what it goes for across all servers and just on your server. It even has a new search feature!
I know on Twisting Nether the AH is really inflated and anything usefull in a PVP environment goes for 2-3 times the prices quoted on Auctioneer or Allakahzam. So getting the local server's price is invaluable.
James Feb 17th 2006 6:23PM
Thanks for the help, I'll try those two mods. I guess it was just frustrating that no one could take 15 seconds to whisper the letters "N" and "O" to me. I'm glad I at least checked the AH before I accidentally sold it to a vendor, the AH going price was double the vendor's selling price.
slybri Feb 18th 2006 12:15PM
I tried using the Soul Shard bags and I don't really care for it. Why sacrafice a 14 slot bag that can carry anything for a bigger bag that only carries shards? You're losing space for items, not gaining. I usually only carry about 5 or 6 shards in normal world PvE and usually end up tossing em to make room. In PvP it would be useful, and maybe a long instance, but 95% of the time, I don't need 24 shards on me. I need the bagspace for loot and gear!
If you're into carrying multiple gear sets there is a mod called "Outfitter" that is essential. It automatically chooses from your inventory items to create the best outfit for a chosen stat. Click on "Intellect" and it equips the items that will add up to the most Int. You can also create custom outfits and switch with a button press. I like to go +spelldam when starting a fight then switch to my mana regen/spirit gear immediatly after combat, getting the best of both outfits. It's almost cheating!
elizabeth Feb 18th 2006 1:45PM
I find that the use of soul shard bags depends rather heavily on personal play-style. I have a 28-slot one that I am immensely happy with - but then I always try to carry at least 28 shards, and sometimes more. If you don't usually carry more than 16 shards (the size of a traveller's backpack), you're loosing space in which you can store other items. If you usually carry around more than 16 shards, then you're gaining space - you were filling multiple bag with shards, and now you only fill one.
Azghoul Feb 19th 2006 7:58PM
It would be nice if soul shard bags or any of these other new bags were carried in one of your current bags like an item. Essentually you open up your 16 slot bag and inside it is your soul shard bag you right click it and it opens. Why must blizzard restrict the number of items you can carry so much. I mean even for bank slots 10 gold for a 3rd bag thats absurd just to store stuff you have worked hard to get. Its retarded.
Grendalsh Feb 20th 2006 1:02AM
I run both an enchanter and an alchemist. I already devote one bag on my alchemist entirely to herbs and potions, so having one of the new bags would be quite helpful. For the enchanter tho, the new bag would sit in the bank bag slots, as I never haul around all my enchanting mats. (30 slots and counting). Having more room in the bank to store my enchant mats would be nice.
To all those whining about not having enough slots and this being useless - Have ye ever gone backpacking? Have ye ever actually WORN armor? (Yes, I have - SCA) Have ye ever gone backpacking WEARING armor? Ask yer local Marine if he thinks not being able to carry around 4 suits of combat armor, plus rations, plus camping equip, plus weapons, etc.. is unfair. Not advocating D&D Style Encumbrance rule, but between mass and volume, where would ye carry all that stuff? When ye go out in the field, ye gotta make choices about what ye take, cause ye can only carry so much. The amount of items that Blizz lets us carry is absurd.
That being said, what DOES bug me is the way smaller items stack i.e. Alchemy vials stack 20, but potions stack 5. Essence and dust.. how much space can they possibly take up? If a slot can carry a shield or breastplate, or even a mount (yes, I know technically it's just the reins) then why can't it carry an equivalent amount (mass/volume) of smaller items. Let me carry 20 Greater health in one slot, I can still only use one per 5 mins.
Further, it makes sense to have extended bags for these skills vs say blacksmithing, as these two have far more TYPES of resources than the others, each of which would have to be in its own slot. If a blacksmtih kept a stack of each metal, that'd be like 8 slots. I regularly fill 2 12slots with partial stacks of herbs keeping up with requested potions. That's not including the odd non-herb potion component (sharp claw, Blackmouth oil, Mithril ore, etc). Now throw Transmutation on top, and wheeee!