There are two major changes that will affect the economy in patch 3.2. The first is the introduction of epic gems; the second is that Emblems of Conquest are now obtainable in all pre-Crusader dungeons and raids. We will talk mainly about epic gems for now.
Epic gems are obtained in a few different ways:
Alchemy Transmutes
Icy Prism. You cant save them up now, so dont try
Prospecting Titanium Ore
Buying with Honor or Emblems of Heroism
Buying them with Honor and Emblems will probably be very unpopular, as everything will be dropping Emblems of Conquest and players will be eager to grab new gear before they will grab new gems. The other three will have a profound effect on the market.
Transmuting an epic gem usually requires a blue gem of the same color as the desired epic gem and a specific Eternal. The following is a list of transmutes as they are now on the PTR:
Transmute: Flawless Amytrine: Monarch Topaz and Eternal Shadow
Transmute: Cardinal Ruby: Scarlet Ruby and Eternal Fire
Transmute: Dreadstone: Twilight Opal and Eternal Shadow
Transmute: Eye of Zul: 3 Forest Emerald
Transmute: Kings Amber: Autumns Glow and Eternal Life
Transmute: Majestic Zircon: Sky Sapphire and Eternal Air
The first thing to note is that players will be getting epic gems from a few sources. Players will largely be consuming the same amount of gems overall, as they will have about the same number of sockets. Some of the new recipes require epic gems, but it wont have a huge impact on the market. Since only some portion of the epic gems being consumed use current rare gems as a material means that consumption of rare gems is going to go way down. There will still be a market as the poor mans gem and as reagents for transmutes, but the prices of uncut and cut rare gems should drop significantly. Get rid of any stock that you have. The exception may be Forest Emerald, which requires 3 gems for the transmute. Only time will tell relatively how valuable they will be, but blue gems are used a lot by tanks, so Im predicting a good market for the epic blue gems and hence Forest Emerald. Also, expect Eternal consumption to go way up with lots of new recipes and the transmutes.
Titanium, this is going to be the game changer. People are stockpiling Titanium now, which may or may not be a good idea. It might be overvalued right now; its risky to do. However, with rare gems losing demand and rare gems being the result of Titanium prospects as often of epic gems, rare gems should lose a significant amount of value from this alone. The flipside to this is that the value of Saronite and Cobalt should crash, as they will no longer be valuable to prospect. This is going to be a huge window of opportunity for Blacksmiths, who can potentially make lots of BoE stuff and disenchant it. Expect Enchanting supplies to increase in supply in the long run and prices to drop.
Finally, note the materials for the new crafted items, including a new orb from the Argent Coliseum: Crusaders Orb. This list was complied by the writers at WarcraftEcon:
Titansteel Bar
Saronite Bar
Arctic Fur
Heavy Borean Leather
Icy Dragonscale
Nerubian Chitin
Moonshroud
Spellweave
Ebonweave
Crusader Orb
Various epic gems, Eternals, Enchanting materials
Deadly Saronite Dirk
Corroded Saronite Woundbringer
These will probably enjoy a small price boost in the first month or so of patch 3.2.
Remember, the first two weeks will be crazy, as everyone will want epic gems and consumption will be through the roof. Expect it to level off within about 6 weeks.
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