Patch 4.2 Preview

Patch 4.2 (“Rage of the Firelands”) is set to go live tomorrow during the maintenance window (June 28/29), and it presents some good opportunities for gold making (NOTE: in the first video, I give the date as June 21… Blizzard changed the plan and postponed the patch by a week after I recorded).

Most of the gold action will be driven by the arrival of a lot of new high-end crafting patterns, associated with the new quest and raid content Blizzard is introducing in this patch. In particular, there will be about 30 new Blacksmithing and Leatherworking recipes for rare and epic armor items. There are also new recipes for Tailoring, Engineering, Jewelcrafting and Inscription.

These plans and patterns have heavy material requirements for volatile elementals (notably Volatile Fire and Volatile Water), Living Embers, Chaos Orbs, Pristine Hides, and Hardened Elementium Bars.

Here is a complete Auctionator Shopping List (import file) with all of the items you should be watching once the patch goes live:

• Patch 4.2 Auctionator Shopping List (txt file for import)
• How to work with Auctionator Shopping Lists (Import/Export)

The best bet for pipeline profits will be the Volatiles. Prices for both Fire and Water will rise sharply from historical levels, and I think you’ll also see increases in price for the rest of them as well. Volatile Life may be a good opportunity on some servers, if Alchemists get busy with daily transmutes to create Fire, Water and Air.

The demand for volatiles, as well as the other materials listed above, will develop gradually, as these recipes start to drop for players running the new content. Check your auction houses today (any time prior to patch 4.2 going live), and you’ll probably find the volatiles going at or below historical average prices. There’s only one thing to do: BUY! Then watch for the prices rise to start moving after patch day. On most servers, there will be opportunities to trade repeatedly, with prices bouncing around (but mostly “up”) over the next month or so.

What about the rest of the materials? Living Embers and Chaos Orbs, all you can do is wait for the patch, then watch for pipeline action following the usual methods (track prices, establish target buy and sell prices, test, and scale up).

Living Ember is a new item arriving in patch 4.2, and it will be tradable on the auction house. It is the new Primordial Saronite, and it will follow the same pricing trajectory as previous items of this kind: it will come on the market in small numbers at *very* high prices, then gradually settle down. Watch for early bargains and pounce on them, these should be going for 2500g – 4000g at least, no most servers – in the early going.

Chaos Orbs are already in the game, and they bind on pickup. But they *may* become tradable for the first time with this patch (Blizzard has confirmed this will happen with a patch at some future date). As of right now, I don’t think the change will happen this time. But watch for them, just in case. If the Orbs do become tradable, the price of armor crafted using Orbs will drop sharply.

Patch 4.2 Gold Making Preview – June 21

(runs 5:00)

Click to download: Patch 4.2 Preview (MP4 format)

Patch 4.2 Gold Making Update – June 27

(runs 5:00)

Click to download: Patch 4.2 Update (MP4 format)