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Patch 3.2 has been shaping up to be a welcome event for professions in World of Warcraft. Soon, we will all have access to the next "tier" of gems and profession-unique buffs.

This week, I will be devoting the column space to answering some reader questions. Pre-patch notes and Public Test Realm data can often create confusion, especially when we know that anything could change before we ever see it live.

At the very end, I have included a bit of a spoiler, although I attempted to keep the details to a minimum and the wild speculation to a maximum.

Are the new flasks for Alchemists only? - Joemama
The new flask is called Flask of the North and can only be used by Alchemists with a skill of at least 400. This flask is clearly inferior to the Wrath raiding flasks because it is meant to be used in arenas. While it should give you a bit of a boost, Blizzard does not want everyone suddenly becoming Alchemists in order to compete.

Of course, if you play the game primarily for arena, then you might consider switching if you haven't already.

The most exciting changes for Alchemists will likely be the new epic gem transmutes and the fact that potions will stack to 20.

Will the epic gems mean all the current gems become obsolete? - Zef
This is a tricky question. Min-maxers and high progression guilds will start buying up epic gems right away, while other raiders may wait until their next upgrades, or continue to use blue quality gems until the price of epics comes down. Players gearing up for raids, or still clearing Naxx, will also likely not bother with the expensive epics.

For example, many players are still using the following:

• Enchant Weapon - Exceptional Spellpower instead of Enchant Weapon - Mighty Spellpower, because they do not feel that a mere 13 spellpower is worth 30 Infinite Dust, 6 Dream Shards and 6 Abyss Crystals! The former costs only 10 Infinite Dust and 2 Greater Cosmic Essences.

On the other hand, because Jewelcrafters will be buying Titanium en masse, miners will be out full-force gathering it, and Alchemists will be looking to snatch up epics for transmutations, we can actually expect that the supply of blue quality gems will increase, possibly with no significant growth in demand.

That being said, the demand might actually grow more than we might think. There are always new JCs on the horizon, newly motivated by the upcoming changes to level, and Alchemists will actually be using blue quality gems in some of their transmutations. For example, 3 Twilight Opals can be used to make one Dreadstone.

Are there plans to make the Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Tokens easier to acquire? - Valhalaar
Yes and no. There will indeed be a new way to earn them, but it will not be a bit competitive and expensive if you aren't one of those Jewelcrafters rushing to snag as much Titanium as possible.

Timothy Jones, your friendly neighborhood trainer and merchant will soon offer a quest entitled Titanium Powder. This is repeatable, and not a daily. Ten Titanium Powder can be exchanged for 1 Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Token, but as you can see, acquiring enough powder may take you awhile:

• Out of 12 Prospects (60 ore), Kaliope of the Crafter's Tome prospected only 10 powder, enough for one token. That's about 0.83 dust per prospect, although this is a small sample size.
  
• Ranjurm posted on the Elitist Jerks forums that out of 564 prospects (2820 ore), 417 powder was gained. That's about 0.74 dust per prospect (5 ore).

If these numbers from the PTR are brought onto live, you'd be looking at having to acquire and prospect roughly 3.5 full stacks of 20 Titanium Ore, give or take a bit, Ore in order to get enough powder to trade in for one Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Token.

I can't imagine that Blizzard will increase these chances because they seem quite fair. Their very aim when they created Jewelcrafting daily quests was to force players to dedicate time and effort in order to be "all-knowing" rather than having you rise to the top because you can pay for it, or have guildmates that will help you get the best drops.

If they made the tokens too common, all of this would be undone.

If you are planning to purchase some recipes right off the bat, I'd suggest that you start saving up your Titanium Ore and stop spending your tokens.

Is there a cooldown for the transmutes? - Spring, Elitist Jerk Forums
For now, the answer is unclear. It is possible that there will be no cooldowns, although this could change. If the market starts to flood with uncut epics, Blizzard will likely either implement a cooldown on one of the two transmute types (one type requires an epic gem and a couple of eternals, and the other takes 3 blue gems), or raise the materials needed for the transmutations.

WARNING! Spoiler!

What's with all the new cooking recipes? - Anon
Several of the new recipes seem to be holiday-themed. Specifically, Thanksgiving. In fact, they are going to make their appearance during Pilgrim's Bounty!

It would seem that many of the associated achievements will revolve around food, if you can even stand to look at pixelated food after your holiday meals.

I am intrigued to participate in a holiday that will involve one of our professions in the festivities, and looking forward to any substance that Blizz might add. I'd love to bake pies for the orphans and attack the Venture Co. for soiling our lands and making animals sick. Ideally, we'll all get pilgrim hats and cornucopia off-hands!

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Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out Insider Trader's Patch 3.2 Profession Changes Analysis for more information, WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for the latest.

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Filed under: Alchemy, Making money, Features, Jewelcrafting, Economy, Analysis / Opinion, Patches, Enchanting, Cooking, Insider Trader (Professions)