Ualaa and his Amazing Alchemy Guide  | read this item

Introduction
While we can take a single toon and fly about gathering mineral or herbs, the same as any other one-boxer… and possibly even have a few toons doing the same at one time, switching between them. This is not really that much more efficient a means to make gold then we could do as single boxers.

Dailies are a decent method to compound our extra characters into more gold then a one-boxer makes, from doing the same thing as one character. It requires a route which is based off of either kills or drops where each toon can loot from every corpse. My current route takes 45 minutes on the first team and an hour on the other two teams, and makes 1100g in the process. But dailies are repetitive and boring, even if they are consistent. It is getting rather hard to make myself run the route each day.

Something better…
I’ve read a few threads on making gold as a boxer. Dailies seemed to be the answer, but they are becoming a chore to do.

Transmutes on the other hand…

Your toon needs to be level 65, in order to advance to a 450 Alchemy skill. In addition, you would like to be 68th for the specialization; in our case Transmutation specialization (which requires 4x Primal Might – BC era, 1x Primal Fire/Water/Air/Earth/Mana).

Transmutation Specialization is a chance for 1-4 extra items to be made, for the same material cost. While it does not proc often, it will easily pay the cost of the 4x Primal Might after a couple of procs.

I currently have 22 toons who are 70th or above, and who have an open profession slot or a profession I don’t mind dumping. I’m really considering the Druids and Warlocks/Priest (pvp teams) as well, not sure that I want to level Engineering on them or not; 10 more Alchemists is decent coin. 20 to 30 toons, able to do transmutes.

There are currently six epic gem transmutes in the game. Five of them are vendor trained, while the sixth is the quest reward for having done five or more epic gem transmutes.

Chances are good, gems are here to stay. In Cataclysm, the skill level will likely be 75 higher then it is now, the gems will have a new name and better stats, but the system will be the same — which means the profit potential of the method will remain.

Checking the auction house for historical and current data, specifically the pre-transmute costs for the materials; on my server, they are:

- Ametrine (1x Eternal Shadow, 1x Monarch Topaz)….. 20 Gold
- Cardinal Ruby (1x Eternal Fire, 1x Scarlet Ruby)…….. 80 Gold
- Dreadstone (1x Eternal Shadow, 1x Twilight Opal)….. 25 Gold
- Eye of Zul (3x Forest Emerald)………………………….. 20 Gold
- King’s Amber (1x Eternal Life, 1x Autumn’s Glow)…… 35 Gold
- Majestic Zircon (1x Eternal Air, 1x Sky Sapphire)……. 30 Gold

And then checking the value of the post-transmute (and cut) gems:

- Ametrine cuts, 165-210 Gold………………….. Up to +190 Gold
- Cardinal Ruby cuts, 170-200 Gold……………. Up to +120 Gold
- Dreadstone cuts, 150-250 Gold……………….. Up to +225 Gold
- Eye of Zul cuts, 160-210 Gold…………………. Up to +180 Gold
- King’s Amber cuts, 130-190 Gold……………… Up to +155 Gold
- Majestic Zircon cuts, 130-190 Gold…………… Up to +160 Gold

Obviously, if you don’t have a Jewelcrafter capable of epic cuts, your profits will be less. However, the Jewelcraft daily is extremely easy to do — combine two gems (prospect ore or purchase on the AH), with a drop off of a low-mid 70th mob, for a couple of gold profit if you bought the gems on the AH. You also receive one jewelcraft token, and epic cuts cost 4 tokens each.

Some Math

Transmutes are on 20 hour cooldowns, which essentially means we get one transmute per day, for each character who is a 450 Alchemist.

When starting out, we will naturally make the most profitable gem transmute, based on the cost of the materials versus the sell price of the transmuted and cut gem. However, we will not want to flood the market as we would like our cut gems to actually sell.

Ideally, our Jewelcrafter will have several cuts. I have 8 so far, which means with 22 Alchemists, I would have approximately 3 of each gem for sale each day. With 32 Alchemists, I would have 4 of each gem up at once.

The more cuts we have, the more flexibility we have. If I had an epic cut for each epic gem I were to produce, this would be the ideal. I could post my one gem of each type, with an excellent chance it would sell. With a single cut and 20 gems placed, it is very unlikely all will sell within 20 hours and I again flood the market with 20 more of that gem. Our Jewelcrafter(s) are an important portion of the system.

The math… assuming an average of 150 gold profit on a transmute/cut.
- 01 Alchemists = 0,150 Gold
- 05 Alchemists = 0,750 Gold
- 10 Alchemists = 1,500 Gold
- 20 Alchemists = 3,000 Gold
- 30 Alchemists = 4,500 Gold

Even running 30 Alchemists… It will be a relatively quick process to log six sets of toons into the game (5 toons per set), press a keybind which has the crafting macro on it, and then have my JC toon cut each gem, and have the auction toon list them. A quarter of the time of running dailies on the most geared team, and the profit of dailies on four teams.

The Plan

I detest farming, but at some points it will be necessary. There is an abundance of Northrend herbs on the auction house. There are generally enough Outland herbs, but this bracket can cost a fair bit. Classic warcraft era herbs are not always available in large enough quantities, which means farming will be required at times.

1) Run at least four teams through the daily route, over the course of two days. If you only have one team at 80th, adjust your plan to an alchemist every four days, instead of every two days. In my case, my route is 1,100g in 45 minutes on the main team, or an hour on the other two teams. The reason for 4 daily runs, is purely gold; AH purchasing everything has ranged from 2,700 to 3,800 gold.

2) Over the course of these two days, AH purchase as many herbs as possible of the types used for the alchemy guide you are following. There are numerous alchemy guides for free. A google search found this for me: WoW Alchemy Guide 1-450. It is not necessarily the best guide, but it works. It has general guidelines, such as 55x Sungrass, or whatever. I will over purchase as often as possible (at least until the last few toons), as the next Alchemist can use surplus herbs.

3) Level up an Alchemist every other day, using the herbs purchased. In the event of not enough herbs, have my herbalist toon do a little farming. I actually have a herbalist (and skinner/miner/enchanter) per team, so can have herbalists in three places at once. This is not the preferable option, but I’d rather farm a little then be at the mercy of hoping someone will list something.

4) Repeat the above process… hopefully cranking out an Alchemist every two days.

5) Run the Jewelcraft Daily, every day to expand my repetoire of cuts. The ideal, is one cut per Alchemist.

Some Macros

This one is over 255 characters, if you leave it intact you’ll need an addon which allows for longer macros… something like IS Boxer, Macaroon or Supermacros.

Alternatively, you could break it into smaller macros, and give a piece to each toon. If you are transmuting five different gem types across a five man team, each toon could have their own macro.

It will do whichever transmute you have materials for.

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Majestic Zircon” then DoTradeSkill(i) end if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Eye of Zul” then DoTradeSkill(i) end if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Ametrine” then DoTradeSkill(i) end if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Dreadstone” then DoTradeSkill(i) end if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Cardinal Ruby” then DoTradeSkill(i) end if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: King’s Amber” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

You could break it into:
(Have not tested the smaller macros)

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Ametrine” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Cardinal Ruby” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Dreadstone” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Eye of Zul” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: King’s Amber” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

/cast Alchemy
/run for i=1,GetNumTradeSkills() do if GetTradeSkillInfo(i)==”Transmute: Majestic Zircon” then DoTradeSkill(i) break end CloseTradeSkill() end

And one more macro. This one will find the transmuted gem in your inventory, then open a trade window to the desired toon.

/run for i=0,4 do for x=1,GetContainerNumSlots(i) do y=GetContainerItemLink(i,x) if y then if GetItemInfo(y)==”Ametrine” then PickupContainerItem(i,x); DropItemOnUnit(”ahtoon”); return; end end end end

Just substitute the gem type and change the DropItemOnUnit to point towards either your AH recipient, your Jewelcrafter, or the toon who will be mailing to the desired character (only one toon will be on the same account, for instant mailing).

Addendum

The alchemy guide I linked, has needed “x” amount of each herb. While there are other paths out there, they will end up being similar.

Having followed this guide for two toons so far, this is what I’ve needed. The link for each herb, is to the thottbot resource map for the zone with the best spawn rate.

Next run through, I’ll take note of which herbs are orange recipes (Fixed number of herbs) and which are yellow/green (Estimated number of herbs).

060 x Peacebloom……… Elwynn Forest or The Barrens
060 x Silverleaf………… Elwynn Forest or The Barrens
030 x Briarthorn……….. Darkshore or The Barrens
015 x Mageroyal……….. Darkshore or The Barrens
040 x Stranglekelp…….. Wetlands or The Barrens
030 x Liferoot………….. Swamp of Sorrows
030 x Kingsblood……… Stranglethorn Vale
045 x Goldthorn……….. Stranglethorn Vale
005 x Wild Steelbloom… Stranglethorn Vale
070 x Sungrass…………. The Hinterlands
015 x Khadgar’s Whisker Stranglethorn Vale
004 x Iron Bar ………….. Mining in The Badlands
001 x Black Vitriol………. Mining in The Badlands
004 x Purple Lotus………. Tanaris
004 x Firebloom…………. Tanaris
019 x Arthas’ Tears……… Western Plaguelands
040 x Blindweed…………. Zangarmarsh
055 x Golden Sansam…… Zangarmarsh
015 x Mountain Silversage Hellfire Peninsula
040 x Felweed…………….. Terrokar Forest
055 x Dreaming Glory……. Terrokar Forest
020 x Ragveil……………… Zangarmarsh
020 x Netherbloom……….. Netherstorm
015 x Talandra’s Rose……. Zul’Drak
050 x Goldclover………….. Howling Fjord
060 x Tiger Lily……………. Sholazar Basin
005 x Pygmy Suckerfish…. Fishing in Borean Tundra
010 x Adder’s Tongue……. Sholazar Basin
010 x Icethorn…………….. The Storm Peaks
165 x Lichbloom…………… The Storm Peaks
010 x Dark Jade…………… Mining Saronite/Titanium in Icecrown
010 x Huge Citrine………… Mining Saronite/Titanium in Icecrown
010 x Eternal Fire………….. Wintergrasp when your faction controls it or Seething Revenant
045 x Fire Leaf……………… Borean Tundra
015 x Frost Lotus…………… 6.5% chance at any node