Herb respawn rates up
by Basil Berntsen 
Feb 10th 2011 at 2:00PM
Most realms' herbalists have noticed this change and have been herbing their hearts out. If this does not change, we can expect a drastic reduction in prices for all inscription- and alchemy-based products that require Volatile Life or herbs. I haven't seen as drastic an increase in other herbs that Whiptail, but Volatile Life, at least, will be cheaper while this lasts. Also, herbalists I've talked to are saying that all the herbs in Deepholm and Twilight Highlands are respawning faster, but that hasn't translated to anything I can measure yet. The way they're describing this, though, is that it feels like it did before the Dec. 8 hotfix that reduced the number of nodes.
Many of the realms I've looked at so far are showing a trend of increased supply without the decrease in price, but that's mostly because herbalists haven't started to see unsold auctions. If the supply continues to come in at this rate, the farmers will start undercutting each other harder.
If you want to take a look at other realms, the fastest way it to scroll down to the "Other Markets" section on the page:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
gandar54 Feb 10th 2011 2:07PM
I thought I noticed a faster spawn for elementium in twilight highlands, I may be wrong though.
gandar54 Feb 10th 2011 2:46PM
I got about 12 stacks in 45 minutes last night.
gandar54 Feb 10th 2011 2:50PM
on the contrary, i just looked up Elementium Bars on UJ and it seems that spawn rate has gone down...
Kay Feb 10th 2011 2:08PM
As someone with Alchemy on my main character, i welcome this change, in addition to the reduction of needed herbs for flasks. Before the patch it felt like it just took far too long to farm up the mats for flasks, especially for casters(which i would say ofc as a caster).
Yay for more changes that reduce the grindey aspects of the game!
Ruth Feb 10th 2011 5:44PM
Mats wise, they actually cost more: They still require twenty-four herbs [eight each of three, as opposed to six each of two and twelve of another], but now they require two more volatile lifes than before.
Price wise it may be a little lower, but I can't see it dropping much unless you have a market absolutely flooded with volatile lifes.
Volatile lifes aren't dropping any more per herb, simply that whiptail is more common. But as you don't need as much whiptail to produce the same amount of flasks [one third is a huge decrease], there likely won't be much of a change in the amount of volatile lifes on the market. Especially when the DMC market is so lucrative for scribes and each card uses thirty of them.
When you add the Living Elements transmutes into the equation as well to soak up more volatile lifes, I could easily see the prices for flasks going up a touch to compensate for the changing prices of everything else.
Kay Feb 10th 2011 6:35PM
It used to be 12 of 2 herbs and 6 volatiles, so it has gone down in absolute number of mats.
I also found i'd naturally gather more than enough volatiles in my farming, and not have to worry about them at all, it was the herbs i had to think about. Also, I stockpiled quite a few in the weeks leading to the patch, as i did assume a rise in price. Time will tell for the volatiles, the week after a patch is always crazy for prices.
Ruth Feb 11th 2011 8:38AM
Yes, my bad. I'm mixing up the requirements for different things. I still get the impression that the price of most herbs and crafted items won't drop though.
Rhabell Feb 10th 2011 2:10PM
After flying up and down that Nile impersonator in Uldum last night, I would bet my shape shifting wings the spawn rate on whiptail is WAY up.
Scooter Feb 10th 2011 2:11PM
Oh I can confirm that over here on earthen ring. Respawn rates were faster and I frequently found herbs spawning in close proximity.
(cutaia) Feb 10th 2011 2:11PM
Out of curiosity, how do we determine when increased herb supply is due to higher node respawn vs. less demand due to changes in recipes? For example, how much of the current supply is due to the reduction in herbs required for flasks?
Is it essentially based off of the numbers plus anecdotal evidence? Does Blizzard often change respawn rates stealthily like that, or do they generally give some notice in patch notes?
Are five question marks too many for one comment? How about six or seven? Yeah, you're right. Seven seems like too much.
Noyou Feb 10th 2011 2:26PM
I thought it was faster respawns. I headed to Uldum right after the patch- which maint ended earlier :) I farmed 17 stacks of whiptail in about 45 min and 109 volatile life. I also noticed they added Wasps and snakes/serpents to the rivebanks. They do things like that from time to time if you remember the spawn increase in thorium in the Un'goro crater. I was among the few crazy people who farmed 500-1000 thinking it was a bug :p You bring up a good point Cutaia about needed less mats to make certain things but it does seem that they increased the spawn rate at least of whiptail in Uldum. Seven ? seems a bit much but it's my favorite number so knock your socks off. :)
Iirdan Feb 10th 2011 2:28PM
Having flown a few routes around Deepholm for some of those delicious potions, Heartblossom rates definitely appear to be up.
Jesse Feb 10th 2011 2:31PM
Yes, Blizzard does stealth updates to the respawn rates to trade good spawns.
You can tell it's an increase in spawn rates because if you look at posting activity in the UMJ page you can see that the quantity of posts has gone up. It's not just that sales of Whiptail have reduced. (in fact my server shows a spike in sales too and the price is still falling)
Fionualla Feb 10th 2011 2:51PM
I was wondering how much of the increased supply was due to the ability to purchase herbs and elementium ore with Justice Points.
Saeadame Feb 10th 2011 3:59PM
I think we can say that it's a respawn increase. A guildie of mine says he farmed around 14000 Whiptail (for reference, that's about 700 stacks) in about 5 hours, and that's WITH competition from others. I've seen several people advertising "WTS Whiptail in bulk" in trade. It's a good time to be a crafting profession for herbs =).
schnaps Feb 11th 2011 3:34AM
sorry dude bu there is not way he farmed 14000 in 5 hours. that's over 2 stacks a minute. even at the ridiculous increase in spawns, you just cant herb that fast
Scooter Feb 10th 2011 2:12PM
I also found a lot more ambient creatures roaming around in certain zones.
neogramps Feb 10th 2011 2:23PM
Yeah, the banks in uldum now have wasps and snakes, instead of just crocodiles
Croe Feb 10th 2011 2:13PM
I noticed this over the last couple of days. No sooner do you herb whiptail than it respawns.
I'm pretty sure this is unintended as it is similar to the abundance of herbs / mines when Cataclysm launched.
Blizz will probably nerf it shortly, so make hay while the sun shines.
Gennifurfur Feb 10th 2011 2:16PM
On Anvilmar-US last night Heartblossom was spawning around me faster than I could pick it!