TheUndermineJournal

Solo Queue for Island Expeditions is here!

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Solo Queue Island Expeditions in patch 9.1.5

Patch 9.1.5

The long-awaited patch 9.1.5 is finally live and brings a wealth of improvements to World of Warcraft – Shadowlands. Notable changes; Legion Timewalking, improved scaling for soloing Legion content, quality of life improvements for alts in Shadowlands, and much more.

The full patch 9.1.5 notes are here. 

But, above all, the long-awaited introduction of the solo queue (Private Tour) for Island Expeditions is here!

Island Expeditions:

Since the Battle for Azeroth expansion ended, players have found it challenging to queue for Island Expeditions due to the minimum requirements. You needed three players to play this content, and due to the emergence of Shadowlands, no one was queuing due to the new content available. 

However, developers had promised a solo queue (as early as Shadowlands 9.1) but found issues developing the changes. Thankfully, as of 9.1.5, these changes are in full effect.

Remember, there is a three-map cycle that changes every week. Each map has specific mobs, which in turn drop particular loot.

Why Do Players Want Island Expeditions?

Some players may not have played during Battle for Azeroth, or maybe didn’t have any interest at that time for Island Expeditions, and now they do and have realized how good they are. 

There are a lot of items that players will be interested in – notably, Mounts, Companion Pets, and predominantly Transmog. Sadly, the Transmog available still relies heavily on the cycle of three maps available for that week.

Remember, if you collect Seafarer Dubloons, you can also purchase Salvage Crates; again, these crates will rely heavily on the three maps available for that given week, so spend those dubloons wisely!

Check out Wowhead’s excellent guide here for updates on Island Expedition rewards.

How To Solo Queue For An Expedition?

For Horde players, travel to the city of Dazar’alor within Zuldazar, and speak to Captain Rez’okun at the coordinates [44.95].

Alternatively, if you’re an Alliance player, travel to the city of Boralus within Tiragarde Sound and speak to Flynn Fairwind at the coordinates [66.33].

Select the appropriate Private Tour (solo queue) for your ability.

The Effect on GoldMakers Selling Transmog:

The new addition will undoubtedly harm the Island Expedition Transmog market. Due to the limitations to the queue, the gear was harder to obtain; supply was low, meaning players that stockpiled the Transmog could demand higher valuations for specific items. I outlined this in a previous blog post here.

Transmog will be easier to obtain with players able to solo queue, thus driving down the valuation and increasing the supply. As the quantities increase, as will the valuations continue to decrease.

The power of ‘supply and demand‘ the greater the demand that outweighs the supply, the higher the fee you can demand. When the supply outweighs the demand, the lack of value you’ll get for your piece(s).

Monitoring and Adapting to the Market:

Over the next few weeks, it’s essential to monitor and adapt as the market adjusts to the influx of Transmog. Using The Undermine Journal, we can use the data they offer and get a headstart on our competitors.

Below, I’ve chosen my trusted piece, the Stinkrot Smasher. The item has earned me a lot of gold, and you can see why. There are three pieces on my realm and a total of 122 currently within the E.U region. This piece demands between 100k to 250k each, as shown in previous sales reports.

Stinkrot Smasher

However, these quantities will start increasing, so adjust your prices promptly, to stay ahead. If you don’t adapt quickly, you will be left behind with many items to sell, and it will only worsen – well, until the value has gone and the players farming find alternative markets.

Importantly, keep your eyes peeled on your realm’s pricing/quantity heat maps and the current regional Price graph. These graphs will show immediate changes that will assist you going forward!

Transmog – Items of Interest:

Here’s a reminder of some of the pieces that currently demand a lot of gold on the Auction House. This list will change, as mentioned above!

  • Dragonriders Harness
  • Duskhaven Jacket
  • Duskhaven Top Hat
  • Firekin Amice
  • Firekin Robes
  • Helm of the Tranquil Paths
  • Leggings of the Tranquil Paths
  • Plundered Barbed-Edge Dagger
  • Plundered Biting Shot Longbow
  • Plundered Blade of the Northern Kings
  • Plundered Flamecaster Stave
  • Razorfin Breastplate
  • Razorfin Helm
  • Razorfin Shoulderguards
  • Stinkrot Smasher
  • Vest of the Tranquil Paths
  • Wild Marauder Chainmail
  • Wild Marauder Helm
  • Wild Marauder Pauldrons

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Shuffling: Motes & Primals

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Shuffling Motes & Primals

Shuffling Motes & Primals:

Shuffling Motes & Primal’s isn’t something new but a reminder of a market that you can operate in to earn you passive gold on the side of your primary Auction House operations. The benefit here is discovering the value of your Primals on your realm (using TheUndermineJournal) and purchasing cheap Motes, that when combined into Primals, will net you a profit.

Although this guide is for Retail World of Warcraft, you can also use this method within Classic TBC.

What Are Motes and Primals?

Motes and Primals are an elemental crafting material introduced to World of Warcraft in The Burning Crusade (TBC) expansion. These materials were essential for many professions because of the expensive Transmog and materials you could craft.

There are seven different Motes, when you combine 10 of any one Mote, you’ll create a Primal.  Every Mote has been added below, with it’s Primal.

Thanks to the emergence of Relics in Shadowlands, many of these Transmog crafts are now suitable for players leveling characters. The Relic made crafted Transmog an ideal piece of gear, as you could upgrade your piece of armor as you level.

Combining Motes into Primals

It takes 10 Motes to combine into 1 Primal. By dividing the price of a Primal by 10, we know by purchasing a Mote cheaper than this number, we’ll make a profit! There is no value in buying Motes equal to or greater than this number, as we’ll lose gold in the long run after depositing fees.

Examples:

Here is the Regional Median Price (RMP) via TheUndermineJournal for the E.U. Region. I will use two examples here to show a profitable and non-profitable shuffle.

Profitable: Mote of Shadow and Primal Shadow.
Material E.U Median
Mote of Shadow 12g 79s
Material E.U Median
Primal Shadow 178g 00s
Non-Profitable: Mote of Air and Primal Air.
Material E.U Median
Mote of Air 158g 00s
Material E.U Median
Primal Air 1166g 00s

The Results:

The results from the above information suggest that shuffling Mote of Air into a Primal Air isn’t profitable. By dividing the Primal Air into ten, we know 116g is the maximum price we should pay for our Mote of Air. The Mote costs 158g, which is too high – we’d stand to lose gold doing this shuffle!

Alternatively, if we divide a Primal Shadow into ten, it equates to 17g per Mote of Shadow. The price of a Mote of Shadow is 12g, so we’ll profit 5g, which equates to 50g per Primal. 50g doesn’t seem a lot of profit, but that quickly increases depending on the amount of Primals you’re selling. If you were to sell a stack (200) of Primal Shadow, you’d make a 10,000g profit based on the valuations above.

Reminder:

When using TheUndermineJournal yourself to calculate potential profit, you must always use data for your realm. Whenever I use TheUndermineJournal to post examples, I use Regional Market Prices (RMP), an average price across the region because this is an average price.

Using your realm’s data, you will get precise data for your realm, thus returning better results. TheUndermineJournal is an excellent resource for gold-makers, but only if used correctly!

Alternative to Selling Motes & Primals:

If Transmog and selling Motes and Primals doesn’t interest you, and you have an Alchemist, check to see if it’s a Transmute Master. If you don’t have an Alchemist yet, consider creating one and making it a Transmute Master, as Primals are an essential material for some crafts, and you will get a 20% chance to proc an extra craft.

Primal Might:

The best material to craft is Primal Might. This material is also essential for crafting Transmog. You will need one of each of these Primals to craft this.

The E.U. Region Median Price (RMP) for Primal Might is 4,142g. The profit margins are more significant if we can purchase our Motes cheaper than the Primals. But, ultimately, if we’re an Alchemist with Transmute Master, we have a 20% chance to craft an additional Primal Might – this will bump the profit margin up considerably!

Adjust your minimum price to compliment the 20% proc chance as the crafting cost will be slightly less. Non Alchemists will not be able to post as low as us, meaning they can’t compete.

Shopping Scan With TSM:

If you want an easy shopping string, open up the Auction House, click on the Browse tab and enter this string into the search bar;

Mote of Air/exact;Primal Air/exact;Mote of Water/exact;Primal Water/exact;Mote of Shadow/exact;Primal Shadow/exact;Mote of Mana/exact;Primal Mana/exact;Mote of Life/exact;Primal Life/exact;Mote of Earth/exact;Primal Earth/exact;Mote of Fire/exact;Primal Fire/exact

This string will scan the Auction House for any available Motes and Primals.

Cheap Motes Via a Vendor:

There are two vendors that sell a limited supply of Motes. Once these have been purchased, there is a small cooldown until they become available again. It’s rumoured to be a 30 minute cooldown.

The vendors to visit are, Dealer Najeeb, in Netherstorm at coordinates [44.36]. Alternatively, visit Dealer Tariq, within Terrokar Forest, coordinates [39.70].

I leave a bank toon at either of these vendors and using the toy Katy Stampwhistle. Alternatively, if you’re an Engineer use your mailbox (Moll-e) to transfer these motes to your Auction House toon, or crafter.

Credits:

A huge thank you to Wowhead for the use of their item I.D.s. This post would not have been achievable without their website! All traffic redirected from my blog to their site.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

I hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for reading.

World Event: Midsummer Fire Festival

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World Event: Midsummer Fire Festival

Midsummer Fire Festival:

In World of Warcraft, we celebrate a World Event called Midsummer Fire Festival. This event coincides with the first day of Summer, alternatively known as the longest day. The Summer Solstice occurs between the 20th and 22nd of June in the Northern Hemisphere.

Continue reading for more information!

Continue reading →

Replica Transmog Market

/ Gra1980 / Leave a comment

First off, may I take this opportunity to wish all my readers a Happy New Year! Here’s hoping wherever you are that 2021 is a prosperous and safe one IRL and in-game for us all. Today’s blog post is my first gold-making post since an impromptu break due to IRL issues. As the Darkmoon Faire is in town this week, I felt it was beneficial to post this today for you all.

Today I’ll discuss the benefits of completing quests and other objectives to earn Darkmoon Tickets. Once we’ve obtained enough Darkmoon Tickets, we can consider purchasing Replica Transmog. Alternatively, buying Companion Pets if you don’t meet the level requirements to purchase Replica Transmog.

Earning Darkmoon Tickets:

According to the Wowhead Guide by Gamermoosh (Darkmoon Faire Made Easy), you can obtain 286 Darkmoon Tickets per Month if you complete every task (including the daily tasks). If you’ve not completed Silas’ Secret Stash quest, then you can earn an extra 100 Darkmoon Tickets. Remember, you can only complete this quest once!

While this guide is currently outdated it’s still in my opinion the best guide on Wowhead regarding the Darkmoon Faire. Please do follow the link and add some feedback if it helped you too. I’m sure the author will update his guide soon.

Darkmoon Artifacts:

The easiest method to obtain Darkmoon Tickets is earning Darkmoon Artifacts by completing content while carrying a Darkmoon Adventurer’s Guide in your inventory. Alternatively you can purchase the Artifacts from the Auction House. Because I don’t do a great deal of content myself, I struggle to earn my Artifacts, so I opt to buy them from the Auction House. These can vary between 100g to 1500g per Artifact depending on when you look to purchase them. Ideally, purchase them a few weeks before the Darkmoon Faire comes to town!

Full List of Darkmoon Artifacts.

What Replica Transmog to Purchase?

I’ve always used TheUndermineJournal and would still recommend it to others. Access the site and input your region and realm. In the search bar, add the term, Replica. This search will return you a list of all the Replica items on your realm with their; 

  • Availability 
  • Current Price 
  • Mean Price 
  • Last seen 

On my realm, the current Price is between 30k to 40k per piece. Remember to consider that each realm has its own valuation; this is why it’s imperative to correctly input your region and realm.

Here’s a graph from TheUnderminJournal illustrating the differing valuations per realm for the Replica Beastmaster’s Cap. 17.5k the cheapest and

Resetting Replica Transmog:

On some occasions, you will find some realms sell Replica Transmog for as little as 5k to 15k each. If someone has earned those Artifacts or completed the events and obtained their Darkmoon Tickets without any gold invested, 5k may be sufficient for them. If you feel that you can reset the market and get better value for the piece(s), it’s worth considering. 

Always check the availability column for the piece on TheUndermineJournal. If you feel that 5k is a reasonable valuation for your item, feel free to post it at that price point too. I’ve purchased items as high as 15k myself and successfully flipped it between 40k-75k. Only do this if you’re confident you can make that profit margin.

Alternative to purchasing Replica Trasnsmog:

As mentioned at the beginning of my post, if you do not meet the level requirements to purchase Replica Transmog, please consider purchasing Companion Pets from Lhara. These have no level requirements, and once learned and caged, you can sell these at the Auction House. 

Darkmoon Tonk and Darkmoon Zeppelin are the best valued Pets on my realm at approximately 15k each at level 1. I’ve added a complete list of Companion Pets below for you to consider before purchasing.

My Recent Replica Transmog Sales:

Here’s an image outlining my Replica Transmog sales since the release of Shadowlands on 23.11.2020. The profit margin is great, but the amount of sales are lower than usual, but this could be due to the new expansion. I expect these to start picking up, as people get more time to work on the Auction House.

Conclusion:

As you can see, there’s definitely value in selling Replica Transmog. You have to remember that Transmog at the best of times is a slow market and this is no different, but when you get that sale it’s worth while. The only benefit to this market, is due to the restriction to the amount of Darkmoon Tickets any one player can earn per reset as mentioned earlier in this post. You could regard this as a soft cap of Replica Transmog that will become available each reset. Obviously, this cap can be extended if a gold-maker in this market has a considerable amount of alts, this will then bypass that soft cap.

If you want to participate in this market, attempt to get one of each piece, this will improve your chances of a sale. The vast size of your inventory the greater chance you’ll have an item of interest to a potential customer – resulting in a sale. It’s also imperative that you value your pieces appropriately, use TheUndermineJournal to work out the best price for your region and realm. I’m the only seller on my realm, hence why I can demand 40k-50k per piece.

Feedback:

I love the Replica Transmog market, and the significant profit margins it can bring. Are you in the market already? Maybe you’re apprehensive and undecided on whether to get involved. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line below, and I’ll get back to you at the earliest convenience. On the other hand, If you’ve been successful in this market, feel free to share your success stories below.

Thanks for reading, guys, and again I wish you all a very Happy and prosperous New Year! Here’s to a better 2021 – finger crossed!