*except alchemy
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Even alch can be hit or miss sometimes with the mats going for more than the potion/flasks are worth
I wouldn’t mind seeing gem slots becoming deterministic again. The RNG between proc’ing with a slot is something I wouldn’t min seeing go away and making raiders in general more reliant on jewelers wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world I think. It’s difficult for the professions that don’t make consumables to remain relevant these days without something ridiculous like legendaries.
oh my god it’s mel brooks
I’m reading your book right now, it’s pretty great
Do you think that’s because alchemy is the only truly irreplaceable profession? Every other profession either makes things that you can either replace with the right comp (ie: drums) or makes things that you only need to buy once rather than every raid night (gems/enchants). The professions that make gear seem to get the shortest stick since other than legendaries, there’s not much demand for what they make.
No.
It’s already bad enough that many slots need to get an enchant to make a new drop usable. I prefer a world where an item drops and I can equip it right away. The sockets we have right now are like a happy medium that sometimes proc in certain slots but you don’t need to keep multiple gems in your bag in anticipation of filling slots.
Enchanting weapons is probably the only slot I actually like enchanting, as it’s a kind of “ritual” that celebrates attaining a new piece of the fattest kind of loot.
As far as other professions, I feel like alchemy and cooking are the only professions I find particularly immersive. I like that aspect of collecting rare herbs or cooking up meats, it reminds me of actual RPGs. Beyond that, I’m reminded of how that legendary I’m buying off the AH is actually costing 10$ worth of gold.
I still think we need to be able to just attain rank 6leggos via flux personally -
maybe, but I’d attribute most of it to how used alchemy is.
with enchanting and jewelcrafting for example, we get an item, buy an enchant or gem and don’t replace it for weeks/months, if at all.
with alchemy, we’re popping 2-3 flasks a night every raid night, pots every pull (or two if a stupidlong fight), health potions as necessary.
and tha’ts just for raid. the amount of alchemy consumables we use goes up astronomically if we’re running a bunch of keys.
it’s ridiculous, the earning potential of alchemy compared to jewelcrafting. enchanting makes a bit more because enchants hold their value longer. you don’t see the best enchants going for 40g a few days after release. gems are so cheap they may as well just hand them out on a vendor.
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Drop a guild bank. Problem solved.
Sorry, but gearing was more fun when it was customizable and professions had a normal and better use.
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Alchemists don’t make that much. Herbalists do. The margins are pretty small for alchemy because just about anyone can buy herbs off the AH and convert them into potions or flasks. This expansion doesn’t have alchemy procs or leveling specific potions/flasks like BFA so there’s no edge to be had.
hiow do i make a fresh post here?
So immersive, pulling out a magical chest from nowhere filled with thousands of potions, magical scrolls, thousands of pounds of meats, etc.
Disagree. I like Shadowlands gearing a lot, and mostly have minor nitpicks outside of the terrible patch-specific systems like Dom sockets or the cap on ilvl for M+.
ok well
it’s wildly unbalanced. they need to bring herbalism/alchemy in line with the other professions, or bring the other professions up to the standard of herb/alch.
we spend 1k gold on alchemy every hour, but a 40g gem lasts all tier.
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That’s true. And even more than that, it’s every individual raider who’s using those potions. Even for a regular consumable like food buffs, you only need one feast. For potions you need [raid size] x 2 combat potions per pull. It’s really the only profession that we’re constantly sucking down our gullet every raid night.
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Bad excuse. It’s a fantasy game. Might as well just say you can’t out on new gear, because it’s immersion breaking and you have to go to a dressing room to change your clothes. 
So boring, unimaginative and rarely happens? Got it.
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Do they though?
Some professions are “adventuring professions”, and some professions are “goblin professions”. There’s plenty of money to be made with goblin professions if you’re an AH goblin and corner the market on some specific server by targeting some specific slot/armor type. Yeah, I don’t really use leatherworking too much on a day-to-day other than turning some leather into kits, but that’s fine, I have a “goblin profession” and don’t really participate in the goblin game too much.
Honestly, I guess if I had to say, I would love to see Herbalism and Alchemy become secondary skills like cooking, as I see them mostly as useful skills for any adventurer to have. Sort of like a Witcher.
What’s boring about the gear? If anything, the gearing isn’t boring enough in a certain way, as Dom sockets were too distracting of a feature. I think 9.2 is hitting a nice balance of having some pieces of gear with unique powers but isn’t overbearing or distracting, other than tier.
Your BiS chest dropped but you can’t wear it because it’s sized for a Gnome and you’re a Draenei.
Amusing not serious at all thought I had - solve the problem by making potions a one-time-per-gear purchase like gems or enchants. Potions equip to your helmet like those beer-drinking hats with the straws. Or like one of those camelback hiking backpacks on your cloak.
Don’t worry Blizz I’ll send you the invoice. 
LOL that would give tailors, leather workers and blacksmiths something to do!
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I dunno, I make some decent cash just selling ore. Sometimes shadowghast ingots individually go for 200-300 a pop. Elethium fluctuates between 60-120 g and is available out the bunghole in korthia and zm.
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Casual players don’t engage with alchemy on that level, although they still have to engage with the leggo system. Even your laid-back 5th alt that you want to have fun with needs to buy an overpriced leggo to have access to core expansion features.
I’m not saying alchemy isn’t in demand, but this idea that all crafting professions are shafted is a joke. I consider Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, Tailoring, and Jewelcrafting to be way, way, WAY too important this expansion since they gate core gameplay features from players. If you had an alternative option to this get access to those cool gameplay features I’d be fine with it, but you don’t.
Every single player is having to engage with this on every single one of their characters, and many progression-minded players are having to spend new leggos every patch.
Fixating on 40g gems is a joke when Jewelcrafters can make leggo rings and necks. IMO at least.
Don’t understand why they dont bring the colored gem sockets back.
3 Likes