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This week Insider Trader will be discussing everything craftspeople need to know about patch 3.1. By the end of this article, you will know what you should be doing to prepare for patch day, what will be changing, and how the community is reacting to these changes.

I have been covering these topics to the best of my abilities as information has been released and altered over the weeks, but as we draw closer to patch day, the post-patch scene is becoming increasingly easy to visualize.
Alchemy, Inscription and Herbalism
Flasks are seeing a major overhaul, which was thoroughly covered in an earlier guide to 3.1 flask production and use. While the community remains open to these changes, the Flask of Stoneblood has been a major point of contention.

There are currently only four flasks available to high-end Wrath raiders, and Stoneblood the only tank-oriented one, as long as one is defense capped. Unfortunately, the hit points that it offered were arguably not worth the materials or the bother.

Currently, the flask offers up 650 hit points, and was set to increase to only 750 hit points for use in Ulduar. In the past few days, this number has been changed to a more appropriate 1300 hit points, although Bornakk cautions that we should not expect a similar increase for the other three flasks.

Rather, he suggests that in the future, new flasks might be introduced with a different mixture of stats. Not only does this allow for better customization, it's also a little more interesting!

Glyphs will be changing radically, making Inscription perhaps the most altered profession by the upcoming patch. Not only are individual glyphs being updated and new ones added in, the method by which glyphs are equipped and the frequency with which they will need to be purchased will also be different.

If you are a Scribe who has not been following these changes, check out WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1. This guide will have links to the glyph changes, new glyphs, and glyph analysis organized by class.

In addition, you should read through Insider Trader's guide to 3.1 profits and preparation, which covers in detail the changes that you will see in the glyph market and how you can take advantage of them.

Herbalists, in contrast, will not see any complex changes. The market for herbs post-patch will boom for awhile, as everyone re-glyphs and glyphs out their dual-spec, as well as returns to the habit of consuming several flasks or elixirs per person per week at raids. Please refer to our guide to post-patch profits and pre-patch preparation for more information.

The only other change of note is that Fire Leaf will no longer be used for the Flask of Endless Rage, so if you have any in stock, it might be time to liquidate. It will still be used in the Lesser Flask of Resistance, although it is only applied during certain encounters and not widely used. This requirement may be changed in the future.

Engineering
While there are some changes being made to this profession, they are not extensive, and came into controversy once a blue post confirmed that the developers are happy with the profession the way it is, and have no plans for an overhaul in the near future.

Reticulated Armor Webbing is a glove enchant that will be added with Wrath, and was set to add 200 armor to plate gloves alone, which was called into question on the forums. Recently, it was announced that the enchant will be usable on cloth, leather and mail as well.

The Gnomish Lightning Generator's damage has been nerfed, from 2610 to 3190 down to 1530 to 1870, although it will also carry a passive critical strike rating buff, and will have no cast time.

In contrast, the Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket will do increased damage, and will be removed from the GCD. Although it will still have its own cooldown, this is being reduced.

These two items, as well as the Hyperspeed Accelerators, will each invoke a 10-second DPS burst item category cooldown. This means that they will interfere with the cooldowns of each other, but not your talents and abilities.

Currently, Bornakk explains, the items would need to essentially be better than some of your spells and abilities in order to be worth activating. With their own shared cooldown, they can be popped one at a time (not all at once), and worked seemlessly into your existing rotations.

For earlier Engineering changes and additions, check out Insider Trader's guide to your post-patch 3.1 livelihood. If you would like to learn more about the community response and protest to the current state of the Engineering profession, or perhaps join in on the discussion, check out my analysis of the state of Engineering in 3.1.

Jewelcrafting
According to many people, this is the most profitable profession currently in the game, which either makes it over-powered, or indicates that the other professions need some serious work. On the whole, Jewelcrafters themselves are quiet pleased with their treatment.

Recently, some new Jewelcrafting recipes were discovered on the PTRs. For earlier changes, check out Insider Trader's first 3.1 writeup, which is still accurate, as none of the JC changes have been reversed.

Cooking
A new novelty item is being introduced with the patch, the Chef's Hat. Cooking is also set to become less of a hassle to learn and perform, with changes such as reagent-free fires and trainers that will know all the details that were previously only known by books, a dude in Gadgetzan, and Nat Pagle!

If any of your alts are currently working on their Cooking skill, it might be worth it to set it aside until post-patch. In addition, if you've slacked off on your Cooking daily quests, you might want to resume them, as the awards can be used to purchase that new hat.

Enchanting
Some new enchants are being added into the mix, and there is speculation that the price of Dream Shards will rise after the patch, so you might want to stockpile some materials, as well as vellum so that you can begin to sell the new enchants right away.

Blacksmithing, Leatherworking and Tailoring
New recipes are being added in these professions as well.

Confused?
If what you really want is a gigantic list of all of the changes, laid out in a manner that is easy to read, then check out Wowhead's 3.1 page. It consists of a giant list of links to the new items, and new tooltips for changes to old items, allowing you to browse through new equipment, enchants, etc with ease.

Tags: 3.1-preparation, 3.1-ptr, alchemy, blacksmith, bornakk, chef-hat, cooking, enchanting, engineering, featured, flasks, forums, glyphs, herbalism, herbs, inscription, insider-trader, jewelcrafting, joystiqfeatures, leatherworking, patch, patch-3.1, patch-day, patches, professions, ptr, ptr-3.1, ptr-patch-3.1, public-test-realm, tailoring, wow-3.1, wow-community, wow-patch-3.1, wow-professions, wow-ptr, wowhead

Filed under: Herbalism, Insider Trader (Professions), Making money, Features, Jewelcrafting, Economy, Tips, Analysis / Opinion, Items, Patches, Enchanting, Tailoring, Leatherworking, Engineering, Cooking, Blacksmithing, Alchemy, Inscription