Which Alch mastery to choose? Follow

Revision #1 6/14/2007

Alchemist's all thrive to have the same thing, their mastery. There has been much debate about which master to choose from based on the proc's of created items. My goal of this post is to help people decide on the mastery best suited for their playing needs:

Master of Potions: High perceived Proc Rate due to the ease of making more than one potion in a sitting. The easiest mastery to obtain, if you are lvl 70, and many say the most useful, especially for players that raid often. If you are a mage, shaman, priest or just anyone who uses a lot of mana, then this mastery might be the most beneficial for you. The proc rate is higher than that of transmutation just because you can create more than one item per day. Also buying some pots on AH can get costly, especially if you consume more than a stack per instance run. Not only can you use the proc'd pots, as you know, they sell on AH for a pretty penney.

Master of Elixirs: High Perceived Proc Rate due to the ability to make more than one elixir in a sitting. Probably the hardest mastery to obtain. The reason why this is the hardest is because of the Caverns of Time. You must first become attuned to run Black Morass before you can even finish the end of this quest. Not to say running Botanica in the aforementioned mastery is easy but it IS easier than running The Black Morass. Not only that, you have to make 15 potions that require not too easily attainable mats, especially the stoneshield. There are GREAT benefits to this especially if you are a tank or class that can make use of a lot of buffs. Warriors, hunters, and paladins, I'm looking at you. But don't forget our caster friends as well because many of the buffs from pots given can be of a use to them as well. There is more money in this mastery than that of Master of potions. This is simply because many of the most widely used potions, healing/mana, are dropped off of every day mobs and are generally sold for a lot less on AH. Elixirs, however, hardly ever if ever drop of of mobs. That way, when you make a Elixir of Major Agility and it proc's X 5, you have just either (1) just made about 20g off one proc, or (2) just supplied yourself with enough added agility to last you 3 hours of non-stop buffed play. Of course this is as high a proc rate as potions just because you can make more than one a day like our next mastery.

Master of Transmutation: Very low PERCEIVED proc rate. Not the hardest mastery to obtain but definitely the most time consuming. You must transmute 4 primal mights. This means that you CANNOT buy primal mights off of AH and then expect to turn them into the NPC who gave you the quest. In case not everyone knows, the ingredients for 4 Primal Mights are as follows:

Primal Air X 4
Primal Earth X 4
Primal Fire X 4
Primal Mana X 4
Primal Water X 4

On the average server, the cost for the mats to make primal might average around 80g a pop. Therefore, if you bought all of the mats off of AH, it would cost you an average 320g. But, it would also save you a considerable amount of farming time. This mastery takes you AT LEAST 4 days to obtain because once you make one Primal Might, there is a 23 hour cooldown on your stone. For player's that do not mind making their owns pots/elixirs or have friends in the other two masteries, this is a money making MACHINE!!!!! One primal might sells for around 90g a pop, depending on your server. If you proc 5, that's a 450g pay day. Not bad. The proc rate on transmutation's are perceived to be very low. It is not that it hardly ever proc's, it just seems that way due to the 23 hour cool down of your Philosopher's Stone. Hang in there though because when it proc's, it will all be worth it. I have found that one in every four attempts usually proc's for you. Same with Pots and Elixirs. Maybe the people, and myself included, are just luckier than others. This is verified in my case and may not be the same proc rate for every individual. I have been blessed with good luck. Not only are the monetary benefits great, it sure does help whenever you are gathering mats for your Alchemist's Stone as well. Alchemist's Stone:

Philosopher's Stone X 1
Earthstorm Diamond X 1
Skyfire Diamond X 1
Fel Lotus X 2
Primal Might X 5

FYI: The Alchemist's Stone takes the place of your Philosopher's Stone so you always have it on you as long as this trinket is equipped!

There is no one right choice when it comes to your mastery. It all depends on your playing style and ambitions for your character. I hope that this has helped and please feel free to comment on the post. Thanks and good luck.

Edited, Jun 10th 2007 4:13pm by Sourbeer

Edited, Jun 14th 2007 1:31pm by Sourbeer

I have had my transmutation mastery proc many times, however i have never seen it produce more than a x2 result. Is it even possible for it to produce x3,x4 or even x5? Can anyone confim this?

Reply: I have also only seen procs of x2 for transmutes so far. I wonder when I'll get the big fat x5 one :)

Yes. It is possible to proc X3, X4, or X5 when dealing with transmutations. The higher the transmutation proc, ex: X3, X4, X5; the less the 'chance' you have at the proc. You have a higher chance to proc a X2 than you do any of the others. This is not to say that it will not happen, it is just a lot rarer of an occurence. Hang in there, it WILL happen.