It’s finally here, the Umbral Ink Shuffle. You’re probably wondering, what do you mean it’s here? In Shadowlands, the primary ink we can trade is Umbral Ink. We need the valuation of Umbral Ink to be low enough to make the shuffle worthwhile, and with Umbral Ink averaging 48g on E.U, that moment is finally here.
Before my extended break, you might have read a snippet from my previous post regarding the potential of using the new Shadowlands Ink Traders to shuffle Umbral Ink for Old World Inks. The prices for certain Old World Inks have since gone up in value over the last couple of weeks. The drastic changes could result from the new shuffle or players merely using Old World herbs and pigments to craft their own Old World Inks for crafting or selling.
Before I get started, the valuations used in this guide are from The Undermine Journal (TUJ) and for the region, EU. They are also an EU Median Price. Median is the average price of an item for the region, not the realm. Before you follow any advice detailed below, I urge you to check The Undermine Journal for the exact valuations for the items mentioned for your region and (more importantly) your realm. Failure to adhere to this advice will return incorrect values and incorrect profit margins. Also, consider crafting Umbral Inks for greater profit if Umbral Pigment is cheap enough.
If you read my post from August 2020 about the Roseate Pigment shuffle, you’d have shuffled and stocked up many Old World Inks in preparation for Shadowlands. Many who used this method might have finally sold off their inventory/stock and now use the new shuffle or alternative means. If this is the case, this could explain the increase in prices too. Roseate Pigment was as cheap as 15g on average before Shadowlands released, meaning 30g-45g (or greater) for Old World Inks was a lucrative shuffle. Now Umbral Ink is approximately 40-50g, and we’d need to sell shuffled Old World Inks at 75g or above to make this a viable/profitable shuffle too.
For the readers unfamiliar with this shuffle, here’s a brief breakdown.
Purchase/Craft Umbral Ink
Visit your nearest Ink Trader.
Option 1) Trade one Umbral Ink for one profitable Common Ink.
Option 2) Trade Ten Umbral Inks for one Uncommon Ink (*)
(*) I don’t believe option 2 to be profitable at this time.
In alphabetical order. Price = The Undermine Journal’s (EU Median Price) Average price by the region!
Because Scribes require the above Inks for leveling Inscription and are necessary for crafting Glyphs, these would be in high demand. If these valuations concur with your realms valuations, I suggest using this shuffle, but only for the inks profitable on your realm.
Inks that could become profitable at a later date.
Common Inks:
Uncommon Inks: (remember to calculate 10x Umbral Ink for 1 Uncommon Ink with this trade)
If this shuffle isn’t profitable for you on your realm, please be patient. Umbral Ink’s valuation will continue to fall further as the quantity outgrows the demand, otherwise known as supply and demand. The population of your realm will also dictate Umbral Inks valuation, as outlined below.
Example:
Outland – Umbral Ink (20g) High pop
Azuremyst – Umbral Ink (219g) Low Pop
With a new patch on the horizon and potentially many players following this guide, Umbral Ink’s supply may fall and not meet the current demands, slowly increasing its valuation. I urge you to adapt to any future changes and monitor this market closely. Immediately stop using the shuffle if it becomes unprofitable.
The ink trader shuffle has been a steady stream of income over previous expansions, and early signs show that the Umbral Ink shuffle in Shadowlands will be just as profitable. As more people get into this market, we may see a fluctuation in Umbral Ink’s value – the ink’s supply and demand and the emergence of a new patch will ultimately dictate this. We must monitor this market and immediately adapt to any changes in price, failure to adapt will lead us to lose gold and potentially lose any profit gained.
Thank you to Wowhead for use of their data. All links for items within my blog, direct you to their site. This helps the reader understand the items within my guides.
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Today I thought I’d check out the BETA tab on Wowhead again, but this time, to check on the changes coming to the ink traders. One of the easiest shuffles in BFA was buying cheap Roseate Pigments and shuffling them for higher-priced Old World inks via the ink trader, as it was very profitable on low-medium populated realms. Upon the release of Shadowlands, the inks required to purchase Old World inks will change. Today’s blog post will delve into these changes and what it means to you if you’re like myself and shuffle inks to flip or use them for Old World crafts within Inscription.
It’s essential to begin by reminding you that this is information from Shadowlands BETA. The developers can and will make changes up until release, so please bear this in mind and check for future updates.
The ink needed to do the ink shuffle from the ink trader in Shadowlands is called Umbral Ink. To craft this, you will need three materials,
You will need one Umbral Ink to purchase one common ink, and you’ll need ten Umbral Inks to buy one uncommon ink, as highlighted below. As a kind reminder, when posting any uncommon inks to the Auction House, make sure your pricing reflects the cost of the ten Roseate Pigments. This can easily be forgotten and will lead to losses in potential profit.
As with all new expansions and the influx of new items to craft, materials are going to be very costly due to the demand being more significant than the supply. As the weeks and months progress, the supply will slowly move in line with the demand, and the prices will fall to an acceptable rate. The problem is, Umbral Ink is a required material for 18 crafts, including Darkmoon Card of Death, Contracts, and Missives. Later in the first patch, will come the release of the new Raid: Castle Natharia, meaning Vantus Runes will become important too. Umbral Ink will be in high demand due to the Darkmoon Card, Contracts (to help players boost their reputations), and Missives (which adds stats to crafted gear).
The Darkmoon Card was very profitable at the start of BFA, and as history shows Darkmoon Trinkets during the first patch are normally best in slot trinkets, and will undoubtedly be again in Shadowlands. With all these crafts in mind, the Umbral Ink will have an importance in crafting, so we don’t want to use it shuffling inks. As with the current situation with Roseate Pigment in BFA, as the demand for Umbral Ink declines, the value will drop, and the need to find alternative methods to sell it/trade it will arrive and Umbral Ink will be at it’s cheapest value, as you see today with Roseate Pigment.
So our alternative is, if you need Old World inks, I suggest stockpiling the inks you need using the Roseate Pigment shuffle now, while the cheap pigments are there, trade the inks you need and store them in your bank. Be sure to trade them before the ink trader changes in Shadowlands, or you’ll be stuck with large quantities of Roseate Pigment, unless you need them for Legion crafts of course!
I have already done this method on all my characters that have Inscription. The one thing worth bearing in mind at this point is the increase in players leveling in different Old World zones. As you’ll know, you can now level in whatever zone you wish to level 50, and this means that Old World materials might start flooding the Auction House. Thus herbs and pigments currently in low supply may start increasing in supply in Shadowlands, bringing the crafting costs of previous inks cheaper than the cost of the Roseate Pigment shuffle. Currently, it’s not easy to ascertain how much of a difference leveling will have on Old World materials, but we must keep a close eye on it and adapt where necessary.
Any method of stockpiling before a new expansion is always a gamble, so please only participate in this, if you have the capital to risk it. The risk is minimal if you have a Scribe. Otherwise, always note the average price point at which you purchased your Roseate Pigment before Shadowlands and make sure you sell your Old World inks (that you traded) or Roseate Pigment at a profit to avoid any potential losses.
I hope this post highlights the new changes to the ink trader in Shadowlands and maybe opens some new markets for you, to make gold in World of Warcraft.
Thank you to Wowhead for the source of information within my blog post.
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