The new Ilvl infusions in 10.1 require enchanting materials, which makes it a potential investment opportunity. So let’s look at whether or not you should stock up!
Infusions are huge
Obviously a very large portion of the playerbase will want to use these new infusions. In isolation this will mean players will need more enchanting materials per week than what we are going through currently. The big question is if this is enough to drive up the price. To get an idea about you need to look at a lot of factors including:
- How many materials are available?
- How much stock do other players / will they have when 10.1 rolls around?
- How many materials will the playerbase need per week?
- Are there any bottle necks for obtaining the recipe?
Material availability and usage
We’re going to look at all 3 enchanting materials. The table below summarizes the quantities available for all three, as well as the quantities used in the top two infusions. The last column shows the number of mythic ilvl infusions there are materials for. As we can see Vibrant Shards is the current bottle neck, but this is also a material you can mass produce with disenchanting.
The rate of crafting
How quickly players will go through infusions will depend on how we earn the new sparks of Shadowflame in Season 2. As players get a new spark there will be a new wave of players looking to get crests to upgrade their items. We can expect spikes to come through with new sparks and we might see the prices rise and fall with the release of sparks.
What will other players do ?
This is a question that is sadly impossible to answer. First of all, everyone who has looked at the PTR will have realized the same thing, that there’s the potential that these materials will go up in price and it can make sense to stock up on them. There’s still a long time until 10.1, so players will start stocking up now, both through just buying materials and generating them with shuffles. With a disenchant build you can generate all the enchanting materials, including the epic crystals from crafted gear with the right spec.
Recipe bottle necks
As of right now we don’t know if there are any bottle necks for the recipe itself. WIth the new sparks governing the ability to craft S2 items I don’t really expect the recipe to have a bottle neck. I presume we will be able to get it fairly quickly, even if the source isn’t in the game yet.
Should you do it?
Honestly I think it’s very uncertain. The big question is how easy it is for players to generate these materials profitably through shuffles. Demand will for sure go up, but whether or not that is enough to drive the price by much is uncertain. It has potential, but you have to make your own decision. If you invest, make sure you DON’T invest more than you are comfortable losing.