Why bother with Potion Master?

[Occult]

Is it just me or is Potion master absolutely useless. Healing potions sell for nothing on most servers. Why would anyone choose it over flask/transmute?

[The Blackout]

Is it just me or is Potion master absolutely useless. Healing potions sell for nothing on most servers. Why would anyone choose it over flask/transmute?

Sell the strength, agility or intellect potions.

[Feali]

Because it is not about the Healing Potions but more about
Virmen's Bite
Potion of Mogu Power and
Potion of the Jade Serpent.

Which every raider should use.

[kaneem]

Yeah, it really is. Potions are so cheap to make, there is no profit in them. Unless Potion mastery gives you +200% proc rate or something like that, it is not worth it. In saying that, is there profit to be made off of Potion of Luck? I can't recall.

I run xmute mastery, and the profit off of that far exceeds Potion of Flask mastery. Especially with Flasks costing one Golden Lotus (costing 50-60g on my server) the flasks sell for about the same amount! So actually - I can't see the benefit of running anything but xmute myself. Unless others have fancy tricks!

[ablib]

Yeah, it really is. Potions are so cheap to make, there is no profit in them. Unless Potion mastery gives you +200% proc rate or something like that, it is not worth it. In saying that, is there profit to be made off of Potion of Luck? I can't recall.

I run xmute mastery, and the profit off of that far exceeds Potion of Flask mastery. Especially with Flasks costing one Golden Lotus (costing 50-60g on my server) the flasks sell for about the same amount! So actually - I can't see the benefit of running anything but xmute myself. Unless others have fancy tricks!

With the exception of the beginning of an expansion, I've never seen xmute to be more profitable over potions or flasks. Of course every server economy can be different, it's not at all uncommon for flasks and potions to cost the same as their mats, because the money that is made, is off the procs you get. On my server the mat costs for living steel is the same as one bar of living steel.

The proc rate on transmute, potions, and flasks are the same (I believe). However, where transmute falls short is you only get 1 shot a day at making it count. So far I'm on day 23 without one extra Living Steel bar. The mats on my server are equal to the cost of the living steel. I'm losing money. If I proc tomorrow, on day 24 and get 1 free bar that I sell for 600g, when you divide that over the 25 bars I will have, each bar only made me 24 gold a day, which is practically no profit at all. Whereas on potions and flasks, if you make enough, it's more guaranteed money in the long run.

Again, of course every server economy could be different. Living steel mats on your server may very well be considerably less than the bar of Living Steel.

[durrtygoodz]

Yeah, it really is. Potions are so cheap to make, there is no profit in them. Unless Potion mastery gives you +200% proc rate or something like that, it is not worth it. In saying that, is there profit to be made off of Potion of Luck? I can't recall.

I run xmute mastery, and the profit off of that far exceeds Potion of Flask mastery. Especially with Flasks costing one Golden Lotus (costing 50-60g on my server) the flasks sell for about the same amount! So actually - I can't see the benefit of running anything but xmute myself. Unless others have fancy tricks!

One flask costs 60g to make
That flask sells for 60g
Sometimes you get a proc for 1,2,3 or even 4 free flasks
And you cannot see the profit there?


Anyway, I'm potion master atm because I burn through them incredibly quickly during progress and I don't have any pot masters in the guild, but there are flask masters that can make flasks for me.

[medievalman1]

I'll admit, I don't use my potion master that often. But I do still find a use for them. I also find uses for my elixir master and my 5 xmute masters...

[Occult]

Take into consideration that most casual guilds only bother with flasks as well. I think maybe in terms of personal use potions master could be better, but in terms of profit it seems useless.

[Lantupointo]

I think you guys are all forgetting about Invis pots for challenge modes.

[Sorphius]

It's all about volume. If you only do a few combines here or there, you're best off going xmute.

On a high-pop competitive raiding server, though, pot spec prints money if you're willing to buy and craft in bulk. On Stormrage I used to make (and sell) over 1500 of each type of stat potion and around 300-400 of each type of flask every week.

With that kind of volume I was able to negotiate bulk pricing with farmers that let me buy my herbs for anywhere from 15-25% below the normal price, which meant I was able to turn a 5-10% profit on every potion and ~10-15% on per flask. Factor in the free procs on top of that, and I was making FAR more than my xmute specs did.

Bottom line: xmute for easy money, pot for profits commensurate with the effort you put into it.

[ablib]

I think maybe in terms of personal use potions master could be better, but in terms of profit it seems useless.

According to the Undermine Journal, the average cost, across all US Realms for 1 Silkweed and 1 Green Tea Leaf is 4.5 gold. The average cost for 1 Potion of the Jade Serpent is approximately 12 gold. Even if I get zero procs, I almost tripled my money right there.

Of course a particular realm could be different, and mine are selling for 10g right now (below average, due to it being the end of a patch), but I find it hard to believe potion spec is useless.

[Deleted]

yes its useless as you get tons of herbs for free to make them with the farm....

[Kalcheus]

Not everyone chooses professions/specialties for profit potential.

[Saegno]

As of currently I'm still selling my pots for a profit, not a huge one but a profit. I'm pot spec so all the procs I get are free money. As others have mentioned, Xmute gives you one shot at a proc where as pot spec gives you as many as you are willing to craft, which I usually craft around 1000 pots at a time.

It also helps the guild out since we have 2 pot spec alchs and the other is an alt.

I was Xmute for a while but I find that pot spec is more consistent profit where as xmute is very bursty.

[kaneem]

One flask costs 60g to make
That flask sells for 60g
Sometimes you get a proc for 1,2,3 or even 4 free flasks
And you cannot see the profit there?

To begin with, I never said there was "no profit", my point is it is piddly. The average proc rate is 10%, hence in this scenario you are talking at 10% (6g) profit (less auction fee) and once you consider the volatility of the market, such a narrow margin will see you frequently not posting on the AH due to the current buyout price. I.e. the cost of mats needs to only fluctuate by a few gold to make selling the flask a loss.

However... as for potions, I am rethinking some avenues here....

[Darksoldierr]

I'm potion master since TBC (mostly because i'm lazy ass to change), but it does pay well for mana potions and other short term buff potions listed above.

[PosPosPos]

Take into consideration that most casual guilds only bother with flasks as well. I think maybe in terms of personal use potions master could be better, but in terms of profit it seems useless.

Yeah well, please speak for yourself rather than for everyone. Any guild semi-hardcore onwards prepots every single (progression) encounter, which is extremely prevalent in the known "raiding" servers such as Frostmourne.

If you have woefully insufficient experience with server economy and its relation with raiding, please do not be so presumptuous as to blanket the entire wow populace with your severely myopic views.

[ablib]

Yeah well, please speak for yourself rather than for everyone. Any guild semi-hardcore onwards prepots every single (progression) encounter, which is extremely prevalent in the known "raiding" servers such as Frostmourne.

If you have woefully insufficient experience with server economy and its relation with raiding, please do not be so presumptuous as to blanket the entire wow populace with your severely myopic views.

He didn't say everyone. He said most casual guilds. So that may mean that he would agree with your statement that "any" semi-hardcore guild pre-pots.

Which oddly, is saying the same thing he's doing -- blanketing an entire group as doing something with absolutely zero concrete data to back up.

[Pascal]

Just saying I'm making a fuckton of gold off buying mats, making pots, and selling them.

I'm on a high pop realm, only buy herbs when they are cheap and sell pots when they are average/high, never low. I've been steadily making gold for awhile. I don't have to do anything else except check the AH twice a day and make pots. I'm hoarding them now for next week.

So, yeah. Easy yet reliable way to make money. There is always demand and it only increases when new content comes out, i.e. next week I'll be raking it in.

Oh, and just for reference, I proc tons of pots. I've averaged at around a 17%-18% proc rate. When you're making so many of them, that turns out to be a lot, not to mention the costs to make one pot is less than the cost of goods (at least on my server).

[Sarcon]

With the exception of the beginning of an expansion, I've never seen xmute to be more profitable over potions or flasks. Of course every server economy can be different, it's not at all uncommon for flasks and potions to cost the same as their mats, because the money that is made, is off the procs you get. On my server the mat costs for living steel is the same as one bar of living steel.

The proc rate on transmute, potions, and flasks are the same (I believe). However, where transmute falls short is you only get 1 shot a day at making it count. So far I'm on day 23 without one extra Living Steel bar. The mats on my server are equal to the cost of the living steel. I'm losing money. If I proc tomorrow, on day 24 and get 1 free bar that I sell for 600g, when you divide that over the 25 bars I will have, each bar only made me 24 gold a day, which is practically no profit at all. Whereas on potions and flasks, if you make enough, it's more guaranteed money in the long run.

Again, of course every server economy could be different. Living steel mats on your server may very well be considerably less than the bar of Living Steel.

Has someone not discovered Transmuting Trillium Bars? That's how I make my money. I buy up as much ghost iron while it's cheap and then turn it into trillium. The more I buy, the more profit I make. Usually I'll try to get enough so that I can guarantee 5 stacks. After procs (on a good day) I'll usually end up with about 7 stacks. That's a free 3-4k.