With Phase 5 just dropping now is the time to start looking ahead to phase 6 if you have not done so already. Phase preparations can be EXTREMELY profitable, or even just save you a ton of gold. I probably saved 1000 gold by getting NR gear early for Phase 5.
Everyone will be focusing on AQ
Right now everyone will be focusing their gold and playtime on the new content added in phase 5. With Phase 6 likely the last phase for Classic at 60 now is the time to prepare.
The major addition in phase 6 will of course be Naxxramas. This will prompt changes in consumable preferences, as well as adding a lot of crafted frost resistance gear and quests for tier 3 gear that requires materials in addition to the tokens dropped from Naxxramas.
Consumable materials have the largest effects
Materials used in new consumables or consumables that are drastically more necessary are usually the ones that see the largest and most sustained effects, whereas materials used in quests and crafts usually see a more short term effect.
New recipes in Phase 6
Phase 6 is fairly light on new recipes overall. There are no new consumables coming, just crafted gear. The most notable crafted gear coming is Nature resistance gear for leather, cloth and plate, which will not be particularly in demand as most players will be knee deep in AQ NR gear by then. A much more important set of recipes is the new epic frost resistance gear. This will likely be needed for Sapphiron in Naxxramas, and we can expect most raiders to want to get their materials some time between now and the launch of Naxx.
Frost Resistance gear
The materials required for frost resistance gear will obviously vary for each armor type. The table below lists all the materials required for a full set for each of the armor types.
In addition to the crafted gear it may be necessary with certain off pieces of frost resistance gear, so if you have any keep them on you.
Tier 3 quest turn-ins
The tier 3 set from Naxxramas drops as tokens just like the tier 2.5 gear in AQ. One major difference however is that the turn-ins require high level reagents alongside the token. I have not made a full list for every set, but below you will find a list of all the materials that are required. Most of these items are already heavy in demand however. It is unclear how demand will change from now until Naxx drops, but in general we should expect prices to rise as more and more gold is added to the classic economy.
Consumable use change
AQ will of course bring the first real Nature damage based raid bosses. In Naxx we will get bosses that may necessitate frost resistance (Sapphiron) and Shadow Protection (Loatheb) potions. Stocking up on either or their materials is a possible play, but we don’t yet know how tight the tuning will be this time around so the demand may not be as large as hoped for. Either way we should see these two see a bump in demand at the very least.
Good luck!
When do you think the bump in prices will happen? Will the timing be different for equipment/consumables/turn ins?
No idea exactly when, you’ll have to make your own analysis for that by looking at past phase launches