Making flasks in Patch 3.1 to give double the reward
by Adam Holisky 
Mar 23rd 2009 at 7:45PM
All flask recipes will now create 2 flasks for the same amount of ingredients, but flasks will only last half the amount of time.
This means where you used to make one flask of awesomesauce, you now get two flasks of awesomesauce. That's a lot more awesome for the same amount of sauce.
We can speculate that this change is in part to due to the difficulty ramp-up that will occur in Ulduar. We know that Ulduar is going to be harder, and so this change will help soften the time required to come prepared. And as someone who flasks and eats food religiously, this is a welcomed change.
Of course the downside to this change is that flask prices will drop on the AH, meaning people will earn less money off them. But at the same time, raw materials will likely go up a bit since folks will be wanting to have their flasks made for them now more often. We'll have to wait and see to be sure, however.
Edited on 3/23/09 at 9:40 p.m.: Updated with more recent information.
Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.Filed under: Alchemy, Analysis / Opinion, News items, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Robert Mar 23rd 2009 7:50PM
Wonder if this will double elixir master flask procs ?
DCoW Mar 23rd 2009 8:02PM
By hell it better.
Hampster Mar 23rd 2009 7:51PM
Look I can make a Blue and Red flask of Stoneblood at the same time!
CTD Mar 23rd 2009 7:52PM
How will people make less money off of them? The price will go down, but producers get more flasks for their mats, so it should balance out. This is a welcome change for absolutely everyone.
I'm wondering how it will affect Elixir Mastery though.
Firestride Mar 23rd 2009 8:17PM
I think you're right. I don't see how this will change prices much at all on anything.
Ceann Mar 23rd 2009 8:29PM
Because demand probably wont change drastically as a result of this and the supply will double. Competition should drive down prices.
Clint Mar 24th 2009 11:23AM
The flasks last half as long, so demand will increase. I don't think demand will double though. My guess... about a 20% net decrease in price.
Aykwa Mar 24th 2009 1:56PM
Doubling the output and halving the duration is simply a way to make flasks more efficient, and thus a more logical choice for more situations. If you have a 2-hour flask (4-hours for some), you're not as likely to down one for a heroic that will only take 45 minutes, as you will then waste most of it as you run around, get in groups, do dailies, etc. afterward. But if it only lasts 1 hour at half the cost, you are more likely to use it. It has become thus more situation-friendly, which should increase their use a little.
On the other side, if you typically run a full Naxx in 3 hours, and you previously used 2 2-hour flasks, you will now only use 3 1-hour flasks. This increase in flexibility and efficiency will result is a little bit of a decrease of use, compared to before.
In the end, I think it will all balance out and the only real byproducts will be additional flexibility on use.
Leviathon Mar 23rd 2009 7:53PM
The datamining missed that the flask duration was cut in half also so the change in the end doesn't do much really.
CTD Mar 23rd 2009 8:00PM
Even so, it's a nice change. In my experience, people are hesitant to blow a 2 hour flask (or 4 hour for herbalists) if they don't expect to get the full benefit out of it, i.e. they expect the raid to last for significantly less than the full duration of the flask.
This change should give more flexibility, while not changing anything for the producers of flasks (I imagine the new flasks will be roughly half the cost of the old ones).
Knucker Mar 23rd 2009 8:11PM
I wonder what will happen to those who are Elixir specced, does this mean we have a chance of making 10 elixirs with 1 set of mats? Or will it just make 6?
Knucker Mar 23rd 2009 8:12PM
Er, sorry, flasks.
Xavs Mar 23rd 2009 8:55PM
I hope that picture wasn't a basic RPG health/mana thing, I took it as a Matrix reference, like the Guards in Ironforge.
Knucker- I believe it would be 3-6 procs, 10 is a bit overkill.
Thomas Jespersen Mar 23rd 2009 9:00PM
Actually there is more to this. You make two flasks on the latest PTR build, but they only last 1 hour each now.
SkwidSpawn Mar 23rd 2009 9:25PM
The actual quote from MMO-Champion is: "All flasks recipes will now create 2 flasks for the same amount of ingredients but now last 1 hour instead of 2."
This is great for me, we raid three hours a night, so if you didn't have mixology you had to waste another half a flask, if you did you wasted an hour as well. This will save me money and make flasks more effective for me.
Zul Mar 23rd 2009 9:43PM
Making the game that much noob friendlier
slartibart Mar 23rd 2009 10:04PM
I don't even understand this complaint.
Jows Mar 23rd 2009 10:07PM
So raiding in even hour increments is now a requirement of being pro?
Lemons Mar 23rd 2009 10:11PM
This is a welcome change. I always flask up for raids and I find myself running around dal with and hour and a half left on a flask because the raid was called early.
Aaron Mar 23rd 2009 10:14PM
That's a crappy change for someone who just made 30 flasks of stoneblood already in the current patch in preparation for Ulduar. For that, I lost 15.