Value of Engineering and Inscription mats

[Mikeshort]

So, I leveled mining and herbalism from scratch simultaneously and saved all the materials. After buying some extra stuff I have all the materials required to level both Engineering and Inscription from 1-600. (according to the guides on wow-professions.com)

My plan is to ditch one of the gathering professions and use the mats of one of the crafting professions for myself, and to sell the other full set of materials .

So, I have 2 questions:

First question: Should I choose Engineering or Inscription for my own? I heard Inscription makes more profit but I know Engineering is the 'fun' profession in WoW. I don't really raid (except for LFR) so the PvE benefits are not a factor for me.

Second question: For how much would I be able to sell both sets of materials? For which set do I get the highest price? My feeling tells me that Engineering will be worth more as the materials required are simply more then the mats required for Inscription, but I don't really have a clue about market prices. (For the record: I am on a low populated server (Balnazzar - EU)

[Gouca]

Engineering is not "fun" anymore, it used to be. Sure, you do have rocket boots and parachute cloak, but they're not useful in raids due to failures and in rated PvP you can't use either. Engineering offers Synapse Springs / Dodge for tanks, so it's good for momentary bursts, whereas Inscription provides passive bonus.

[Windfury]

It depends on your purpose for having the profession. Engineering can be fun, it can be useful on pvp servers/world pvp, can be useful when soloing raids, and it has just some plain fun stuff. If you're not looking specifically for maximising profits I'd go with engineering over inscription. If your purpose is to make gold then inscription will beat engineering any day of the week. That said if you're willing to farm spirits you can still make gold from engi, just nowhere near the same potential amounts as exists for inscription.

You really need to look at the prices for things on your server to calculate your best option regarding keeping or selling things though. The answer will vary based on individual server economies.

I will also add that when you're thinking about making gold from the professions think about how much time you want to put in and how compatible their crafting and selling methods are with your playstyle. Engi you can just level and craft whatever a day in 5 minutes and sell it for a profit, but that's limited by how many spirits you can get generally (pets/scope are regular sellers for engi and they take spirits). Inscription isn't as limited by spirits, but it takes a significant amount of set up and maintenance time to really maximise its potential, it takes months and months to learn all the glyphs via research, and no matter what it takes a bit of time at the AH (it's a fast moving market generally) listing and relisting to ensure sales of things like the shoulder enchants, it does have Darkmoon Cards as a quick once a day craft, but those are decreasing in value and will continue to do so.

[DeadmanWalking]

Unless dmf cards get a boost in 5.2 to stay up with the gear that is dropping then those cards will be worthless and the closer we get to 5.2 the less they are going to be worth.

[Mikeshort]

Thanks for the information, it was very helpfull.

However, how much would you ask (or pay) for a full set of mats to level Engineering or Inscription to 600? I'm guessing at least a few rich people who don't want to spend time farming or buying all the mats of the AH (which can take a few weeks since i am on a low population server and there are almost no low level ores and herbs on it) are willing to pay some decent money for it.

[Windfury]

Unless dmf cards get a boost in 5.2 to stay up with the gear that is dropping then those cards will be worthless and the closer we get to 5.2 the less they are going to be worth.

Thank god inscription also has glyphs, shoulder enchants, and off hands to sell. In all seriousness totally excluding the gold I made from decks inscription has made me 5 gold for every one from another profession this xpac. Of course it varies from server to server but enchanting and JC went through the floor on mine, while glyphs have held steady. Just the enchants/off hands alone have been competitive with the other professions. It is incredibly short sighted to see the cards as the only value in inscription.

Thanks for the information, it was very helpfull.

However, how much would you ask (or pay) for a full set of mats to level Engineering or Inscription to 600? I'm guessing at least a few rich people who don't want to spend time farming or buying all the mats of the AH (which can take a few weeks since i am on a low population server and there are almost no low level ores and herbs on it) are willing to pay some decent money for it.

I'd ask for ~50k for engineering and be prepared to drop it, probably a bit less for inscription mats. But that answer is so server specific, you really need to work out the value on yours, try the undermine journal, and I'm not sure if it's working atm but http://www.warcraftprofessional.com/ used to be able to give a fair idea of the market price of mats.

Honestly though I've rarely heard good things about profession packages, they sound like a great idea, but you have to hawk them in trade for ages to find the right person to buy, and most I know who've tried it have regretted it, and in the end have gotten less than they could have by selling bit by bit because they sold just to get rid of the stuff. I'd prefer just to slowly trickle the mats out onto the ah personally. Ask in trade, see if you get any bites, make up your mind from there imo.

[Gouca]

Tbh I play on a medium/high-populated realm and 50k would be twice the amount you can buy them from the AH for. Go for 20-25k.

[reflection]

Inscription just takes extremely long to get all glyph recipes. If that's not a problem and you want to maximise profit and you know how to handle a lot of items in the auction house I would go with inscription.

[Feindy]

leveled eng 2 months ago, cost me about 10k (without crafting all the gadgets like jeeves, just leveling)

[Deleted]

Engineering!! Think of it as a lifestyle, not a profession lol : )

[ninepointseven]

It's really just a matter between "profit" and "fun". I use the quotation marks because it's all objective. Inscriptions profit will (in a short while atleast) depend on if you're stubborn enough to repost glyph after glyph after glyph. The glyph market is a bitch to keep up with, from my experience. Engineering doesn't have to much of worth for you to sell, so it all comes down to if you think all the gadgets and fun items are worth it to you.

[Deleted]

Engineering isn't as good as it once was. Even creating the mounts you need a decent amount of gold to begin with.