Inscription and the WoW Economy

In preparation for the coming release of The Warth of The Lich King, Blizzard has released their latest patch 3.02 or Echoes of Doom. This is a huge patch - 1.6G - opening up the additional content that is a feature of WotLK. The Stormwind harbor is now open to all and the new Inscription profession is up and running. You can even get a haircut at the local Stormwind barber and earn points with the new Achievement system!

As I mentioned in my last post, the release of WotLK content will have a major upheaval on World of Warcraft economy with the release of hundreds of new items and recipes. The Inscription profession, especially, will have a profound effect on the supply and demand of many basic items on the Auction House.

If you haven’t had time to try it yet, the Inscription profession allows ‘Scribes’ to enhance spells and abilities such as a Mage’s Fireball or a Rogue’s Backstab. A scribe does this by creating Scrolls, Glyphs and Vellums.

The basic materials for the Scribe are parchments and inks. Parchments are purchased from goods vendor (usually located near the Inscription trainer). Inks are made from pigments, obtained from milling herbs. It’s a similar model to Prospecting and Jewelcrafting. Once you train as a Scribe you acquire the skill of milling, but you must purchase an inking kit (like the Jewelcrafters kit).

So the basic materials of Inscription are derived from a variety of herbs; therefore, a good complimentary profession to have - you guessed it - is Herbalism. If you have Herbalism as one of your primary professions, you’re going to be in great demand. As a side note, those players with Herbalism as a profession also gain the ability ‘Lifeblood’ which allows you to leach health from the soil. Very cool!

I predict that Herbalism will become the new Mining with this latest patch release with the demand - and therefore price - of basic herbs going through the roof. As an example, the basic price of Peacebloom has risen from 5 silver a unit to over 50 silver a unit on my server.

A Scribe can also create Vellums which allow Enchanters to cast their weapon and armor enchants upon, which can then be sold on the Auction House like the products of any other profession.

This will have a huge effect on the Enchanting profession. No longer will Enchanters have to shout their wares on the Trade channel (although they probably will), but they will now have a hugely increased market for their enchants, which in turn will make this profession very popular.

Finally, the Scribes ability to create Glyphs will also be in great demand. Already I’m seeing folks hawking their wares on the Trade channel as players scramble to buy these items from the Auction House.

Wrath of the Lich King

The World has changed. The Lich King Arthas is stirring and his armies of undead are unleashed. All life on Azeroth is threatened. The World of Warcraft needs heros.

Are you ready for Wrath of the Lich King?

On November 13th 2008 the long awaited expansion to World of Warcraft will be released, and the land we have come to know as Azeroth will be forever changed.

It was bound to happen. With every major release or patch of WoW there is some form of upheaval. We saw it with the Burning Crusade where the gold economy of the game shifted, and we saw it with the release of the Sunwell with the addition of daily quests and the gold obtained on quest completion.

And the same will happen with WotLK.

There is no doubt that WotLK will have a profound effect on the gold economy of the game and the strategies needed to level our characters. For one thing, the land of Northrend is entirely designed for level 68 and above. So, while it’s possible to purchase the expansion below this, your level 10 Gnome in shabby gear probably won’t be much of a match against a level 70 Death Knight with dark, necromatic power! This means that speed leveling your character to at least 68 is going to be essential if you want to survive the frozen wastes and the Arthas hordes of undead.

WotLK will also bring hundreds of new recipes and thousands of new items. This will have a profound effect on every part of the wow gold economy and we’ll see huge shifts in prices over the months as players join WotLK and the market settles (sound familiar).

One thing the beta players tell me is that the gold price of many items will be through the roof. We’re talking of thousands of gold for a simple ring. So if you thought 5000 gold for your epic flying mount was a push, you had better tighten your belt for WotLK!

The gold economy will also be affected by the addition of the the new Inscription profession. This will allow you to permanently enhance your spells and abilities. A sort of enchanting with steroids. Inscription will demand new materials and reagents as well as recipes - some of which will be hard to find. These reagents and recipes will command top prices on the Auction Houses of Nothrend for those who understand and know where to find them.

So are you ready for WotLK?

Here’s the good news. I’m expanding the Journal of Marcus Ty and WoW Gold Guide to cover the content and gold creating strategies of the Lich King. For those who have subscribed, get ready to receive updates to my Journal.

The Wrath of the Lich King is coming.