New craftables and valor BoEs for patch 4.3
by Fox Van Allen 
Nov 29th 2011 at 3:00PM
With every new patch comes new opportunity. And when patch 4.3 goes live today, there will be plenty of opportunity in the form of selling new i397 gear.
But what's the right route to maximizing your profits? Tailoring snazzy new pants for the fashionable mage? Sewing wristpieces for all those boomkin who are really into leather? Or maybe you're going to trade comfort for fashion and have your blacksmith hammer out a pair of Truegold pants?
Let's take a look at all your options, both crafted and BoE.
The basic materials
If you're itching to craft any of the new-for-patch-4.3 gear, you'll need some basic materials to get you started. Crafting the best, most up-to-date gear requires Essences of Destruction, this patch's equivalent of Living Embers. If the PTR is any judge, they won't be available for valor or justice points, but they will be available on the Auction House. Just be aware that they're likely to be extraordinarily expensive in the opening days of the new patch.
That's not all you'll need, however. You'll need plenty of your profession's best crafting material, whether that be Truegold, Hardened Elementium Bars, Pristine Hides, or Dreamcloth (which is staying soulbound). Volatile Fire, Air, Life, Earth, and Water all factor heavily into these craftables, as well. Finally, you'll need plenty of Chaos Orbs. Don't worry about needing to chain heroics, though -- they'll be purchasable on the Auction House in 4.3 just like the rest of the materials.
New tailoring patterns
Tailors are getting four new patterns in patch 4.3: two i397 bracers and two i397 legpieces. As you might expect, two of the pieces are itemized for DPS casters (Bracers of Unconquered Power, Lavaquake Legwraps), and two have spirit for healers (Dreamwraps of the Light, World Mender's Pants). All require Dreamcloth (either five or eight pieces) and Essences of Destruction. Just as importantly, all require you to find their respective patterns off of Dragon Soul trash.
Before you go crafting anything, check to make sure the crafted end product is worth more than the materials. And be sure to factor in any costs it took you to get the pattern, whether you bought it off the Auction House or could have otherwise sold it on the Auction House. Factor in the cost of materials for your Dreamcloth as well, whether you used the now-valuable Chaos Orbs or cooldown-gated Volatile Elementals.
New leatherworking patterns
Leatherworkers are getting a number of new patterns in patch 4.3 as well. Eight, in fact -- four different i397 bracers and four i397 legs:
- Bladeshadow Leggings Agility leather legs with hit and mastery
- Leggings of Nature's Champion Caster leather legs with spirit and haste
- Rended Earth Leggings Agility mail legs with crit and haste
- Deathscale Leggings Caster mail legs with haste and mastery
- Bladeshadow Wristguards Agility leather wrists with hit and haste
- Bracers of Flowing Serenity Caster leather wrists with spirit and haste
- Bracers of the Hunter-Killer Agility mail wrists with crit and haste
- Thundering Deathscale Wristguards Caster mail wrists with spirit and haste
Like the new tailoring patterns, you'll need to find the leatherworking patterns in the Dragon Soul raid -- or on the Auction House, if you're looking to take a gamble.
New blacksmithing plans
Blacksmiths are getting six new plans of their own. Predictably, this includes three i397 bracers and three i397 legs:
- Unstoppable Destroyer's Legplates DPS legs
- Foundations of Courage Tanking legs
- Pyrium Legplates of Purified Evil Healing plate legs
- Bracers of Destructive Strength DPS bracers
- Titanguard Wristplates Tanking bracers
- Soul Redeemer Bracers Healing plate bracers
The patterns come from -- surprise -- the Dragon Soul raid trash.
Know the Competition: Valor gear
The selling of BoE valor gear is always big business at the beginning of a patch. This should be no surprise -- it's one of the quickest ways to (moderate) riches.
It's a simple plan to execute. You grind the maximum number of valor points for the first week of a patch, then quickly grind a few hundred more when point limits reset the next Tuesday. You use those points to buy a raid-quality BoE, and then turn around and sell it as quickly as possible to the highest bidder. Rinse and repeat on all level 85 alts, and you can score a quick 10,000 to 20,000 gold on each.
In patch 4.3, valor vendors will have two different i397 BoE choices: bracers and boots. Obviously, the valor BoE bracers will have some overlap with the craftable BoE bracers from the professions above. It's hard to see the craftable BoE bracers being worth significantly more than the valor BoE bracers, and it's hard to see the valor BoE bracers being worth more than 10,000 or 15,000 gold. So be very careful before you go out paying top dollar (top gold?) for a BoE bracer pattern -- it may be next to impossible to earn your money back.
On the other side of the coin, those who are interested in selling BoE valor gear should do a quick back-of-the-napkin calculation to see what's offers a better return on investment: selling BoE bracers or boots. Just keep in mind that raiders will be unable to buy tier with valor points in patch 4.3, so there may be more sellers next Tuesday than usual.
Maximize your profits with more advice from Gold Capped. Do you have questions about selling, reselling, and building your financial empire on the auction house? Fox and Basil are taking your questions at fox@wowinsider.com and basil@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Hal Nov 29th 2011 3:13PM
Hm . . . will it be possible to do Dragon Soul trash runs the way people were doing so for Firelands?
And a better question, what are the drop rates like? After they nerfed the droprate in Firelands, I think my raid group saw one recipe drop thereafter.
Chetti Nov 29th 2011 10:34PM
My group has seen no recipes, at all. Two tailors, 4 patterns. None at all. :(
Jordan Nov 30th 2011 11:19PM
After the drop we saw 1 BS pattern drop and 1 LW pattern drop - it was DPS and I have turned quite the profit on it - however the drop rate reduction was insane.
terph Nov 30th 2011 4:32AM
Our group saw 2 tailoring patterns and 1 LW pattern. Was a short run too, just did first 3 bosses.
liam.perry Nov 29th 2011 3:14PM
Has there been any word yet on where the epic gem transmute recipes are coming from?
Ostentaneous Nov 29th 2011 3:14PM
Do the patterns or essences drop in the lfr?
Caylynn Nov 29th 2011 9:29PM
No
SamLowry Nov 30th 2011 12:00PM
Really nice, then, that the only way to get the gear that'll let you raid is to, um, raid.
Or hand over your first-born child at the AH.
goldeneye Dec 2nd 2011 3:25AM
Y'know, those first born have really dropped in AH value lately. Something to do with saturating the market ..
bhuddanad Nov 29th 2011 3:15PM
Now let's see how much the BoE's will really go for due to no tier pieces being available via Valor Points.
Jet Nov 29th 2011 3:16PM
Ah,more recipes and mats I won't ever get. Always fun to be forced to raid to make stuff. I'm all for raiders having the best gear,but why are they also the only ones who can make the best craftables? They will be getting better gear from drops anyway,won't they?
eel5pe Nov 29th 2011 4:09PM
I think you're a bit confused. The patterns allow you to craft the equivalent of current-level normal mode raiding gear, like the ones that dropped off Firelands trash. These are not like the Molten Front ones which were more accessible but inferior to raid-quality gear.
You say that you're ok with raiders having better gear, so why is it not okay that the patterns they have access to can craft better gear? Even if you had the patterns, you wouldn't have access to the mats unless you had a ton of money, and probably not for a few months anyway. So you're basically asking to have access to the best gear without raiding*, but you just said you're okay with raiders having better gear...
(*don't get me wrong, this is a perfectly fine stance to have albeit contrary to Blizzard's, but it's not a stance you said you supported)
Kuro Nov 29th 2011 4:28PM
You too can make the best craftables.
Just form a group to farm the trash or farm the auction house. You have to either invest time or money to get the sparkliest of purples.
trefpoid Nov 29th 2011 5:27PM
I didn't touch firelands and I still crafted the 378 and made huge profit. Just waited for the AH to be flooded with tailoring patterns, bought mine for 3k and *chaching*
gniver Nov 29th 2011 5:53PM
@ Eel5pe: The problem isn't that raiders get better gear to craft and the special materials to do it. The problem is that non-raiding crafters don't get anything interesting. Crafting could be a fun little mini-game for all of us who don't raid (and that is most players). But instead all crafting is used for is another "incentive" to make us raid.
I wish Blizzard would understand. It isn't some sort of "mistake" that most players don't raid. It isn't going to change "if only". Trying to use all kinds of game mechanisms to railroad people into raids is a waste.
Battleweep Nov 29th 2011 6:21PM
So what're you going to do with this crafted armour, if you're not going to raid with it?
Jet Nov 29th 2011 8:11PM
Actually,eel5pe,I'm not confused at all. I know the difference between Molten Front recipes and the ones,you know, I can't actually get. I never said I wanted the absolute best gear from crafting,as others seem to have bent over backwards to misinterpret from my earlier post. Last time I looked it took me the same points to max smithing out as it it does for a raider. I would even like to be able to make my own best gear from my trainer. Oh,Cata is over we will let you spend all your gold on orbs now,to make a 365 item. Or lower.
I am NOT asking to have the best gear without raiding. I do wonder how many people took down heroic Ragnaros with ease cause the absolute best in slot items came from crafting.
Shrikesnest Nov 30th 2011 12:11AM
@Battleweep:
What are *you* going to do with the BiS weapons that drop off of heroic Deathwing? Kill him harder? Be marginally more powerful in the opening area of Mists of Panderia in the twenty minutes before a better weapon is rewarded? Gear isn't just functional, it's a reward. As of right now, the only paths to reward are PVP (hope you don't mind dropping $400+ on special computer accessories and an expensive T1 line for minimal lag) or Raiding (see above, plus the awful process of actually *raiding heroics.* Yegh.)
Most people don't raid because they don't want to. Treating raiders like special snowflakes who deserve everyone's envy and affection is an old-world way of thinking, as dead as those old Vanilla questlines that sent you all across creation and made you collect 200 of something. People should raid because it's fun, not because they're douchebags who like to cruise by everyone else in a nicer car that they earned with their excessive free time. If you need to be rewarded for your entertainment time, it's clearly not entertaining you, and if envy is the only reward you'll accept then you seriously need to get a life.
Mists of Panderia is coming. Blizzard has pretty clearly indicated that they're expanding the game to reward people who - shock and horror! - like to do something other than raiding. God willing, either in a couple of expansions or when MMO subscribers are offered some real competition in the market, somebody will finally wake up and offer people who don't raid something above second class citizenship. (And while I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony made of solid gold.)
Gniver Nov 30th 2011 3:21AM
@ Battleweep:
I know it is hard for you raiders to imagine that ordinary players want stuff to strive for too.
I very much doubt that I can get you raiders out of your belief that you are entitled to the best gear/ coolest content/ most epic storylines/ best recipes/ jazziest titles/ biggest mounts/ highest guild levels / various special reps. I very much doubt that I can change your belief that us lowly peasants should never have stuff like that. Because peasants don't NEED it like you do, right?
So consider the money instead. Raiders are so few that their subscription fees must have a very hard time covering all that constant development time raiding demand. Why should 90% of the player base stick around to fund your raiding? For a chance to play a peasant permanently stuck in the mud?
Angus Nov 30th 2011 11:19AM
Quit bitching.
Look at Engineers, YET AGAIN not having a single pattern in the end game raid. That's 0 for 3 in expansions.
Again, there were no mid tier patterns either. Molten front doesn't count, and even it had more for every other profession. Both items from there were for hunters. Yippee.
So quit whining that you will have to wait a month to get a pattern from the AH and can then make a top end item if you spend gold, or can make a ton of gold making these things. Engineers are still sitting around waiting for *A* pattern to drop.