Disclaimer: This tip is one I hesitate publishing because it’s heavily dependent on a number of factors that include (but aren’t necessarily limited to) the price of items on your server, your characters’ skills in Enchanting, Tailoring, Herbalism, and Alchemy. But it does work for some people, so here it is, with all kinds of caveats and warnings!
What you’re going to do is manufacture the Icy Cloak item using Tailoring skill, then disenchant it into Large Glowing Shards that you sell on the Auction House. If you don’t have inexpensive sources for Mageweave and Frost Oil, you’re probably going to find that it’s not worth your time.
To gain maximum profit from this tip, you need a character (or characters) with Tailoring of 200 or more, Enchanting of 200 or more, Alchemy of 200 or more, and sufficient Herbalism to be able to pick up Khadgar’s Whisker and Wintersbite. It’s possible to profit from this tip without having access to these skills, but the possibility starts decreasing rapidly the fewer of these skills you have.
Before you begin, go to your Auction House and price the following items:
- Bolts of Mageweave (or Mageweave Cloth)
- Silken Thread
- Frost Oil
- Thick Spider’s Silk
- Large Glowing Shard
On my server, buying enough of these items to make 1 Icy Cloak will cost me well over 6 gold pieces. The Large Glowing Shard sells for about 1.3gp. That means on my server it’s just not profitable to buy up the components, make Icy Cloaks, and disenchant them into Large Glowing Shards. I’d be much better off just selling the components than trying to follow this strategy. If things are different on your server, then you are on your way to making some gold!
You’ll need to acquire the pattern for the Icy Cloak from Micha Yance, a vendor in Southshore in the Hillbrad Foothills (for Alliance characters) or Ghok’kah, a vendor in Dustwallow Marsh (for Horde). Learn the pattern, buy up the components in the Auction House, make Icy Cloaks, then disenchant them.
If your server’s pricing for the Icy Cloak components is too high to turn a profit, you can farm a lot of the components and reduce your cost considerably. For example, Thick Spider Silk drops off the level 37-39 Darkfang Creepers in Dustwallow Marsh. Mageweave Cloth drops pretty often from level 45-49 Vilebranch humanoids in The Hinterlands. Frost Oil doesn’t drop from any mobs, but you can manufacture it with Alchemy of 200+ from 4 Khadgar’s Whisker, 2 Wintersbite, and a Leaded Vial. You might find the components for it cheaper on the Auction House than you can find Frost Oil itself. (In which case, making Frost Oil alone could be profitable for you.)
On my server, the Icy Cloak recipe alone sells for about 3.5gp and can be purchased for 13 silver, 50 copper. That’s a reasonably quick way to make a few gold… buy the recipe and resell it on the Auction House. The Icy Cloak itself appears to sell for about 10-11gp, so it’s possible I could buy up the components at 6gp and crank out Icy Cloaks for 10-11gp each for a while.
10-20 Gold Per Hour with Plaguebats
According to one source I read on usenet, it’s possible to earn 10-20 gold pieces per hour for level 55+ characters using this tip. In the Eastern Plaguelands there are 3 different types of Plaguebats roaming about. They’re especially prevalent in the northeastern end of Eastern Plaguelands. My source says that the plaguebats drop pelts, eyes, fangs, and ears which can be sold to vendors without any hassle, for a few silver each. They also drop a variety of green items, including lockboxes, which can turn 10-20 gold in the auction house for about an hour’s worth of fighting (or so I’m told).
50 Gold Per Hour at Level 38+
Another usenet source tells me that it’s possible for characters of level 38 and above to make 50 gold or more per hour in Stranglethorn Vale. The source tells me that you go to Gurubashi Arena, then slightly north, until you run into a mob called “Cold Eye Basilisk” and start killing all those you can. About 5% of the time, I’m told, they’ll drop a trinket called the “Cold Basilisk Eye” which can be sold on the Auction House for 5-10 gold each. My source claims to have collected over 20 of these trinkets in about 2 hours of farming, along with a variety of other green items and things he was able to sell to NPC vendors.
Becoming a Pet Dealer
In the game, there are a number of non-combat pets you can acquire. These include parrots, cats, and other animals. While these pets aren’t useful in combat, many players like the idea of their tough warrior running around with a little kitten following them. Players especially like picking up pets that aren’t readily available to their faction. Knowing this, you can pick up pets from vendors in your faction’s area, then take them to Gadgetzan in Tanaris to list in the Auction House. Then, players from both Alliance and Horde can bid on them. I’m told it’s possible to profit significantly from this.
