In an upcoming patch we will be changing the way elixirs function, allowing a player to only have two elixirs on them at any one time. The change will allow you to use one offensive elixir, and one defensive elixir. All elixirs will be set into one of these two categories. This also means that although elixirs of the same type cannot be used at the same time, they will now stack with class buffs.

We’re making this change for a number of reasons.


* By allowing players to use any number of elixirs it was necessary that we balance raid and dungeon encounters with the idea that all players in the group had the potential of having all available elixirs on them. In many cases this resulted in the spectrum of elixirs being necessary for dungeon and raid attempts as they were balanced to be more difficult. This put a large strain on guild alchemists and their need of materials for the elixirs they would then distribute throughout the guild. With fewer elixirs being allowed, fewer elixirs will be expected on raids, and less herb and material collection will be needed when attempting raid or dungeon encounters. In turn this change allows us to design and balance encounters around it, keeping the difficulty in line with a clearer limitation of what each group member has at their disposal.

* Since the number of elixirs is now limited, we can also now allow them to stack with class buffs, so intellect elixirs will actually matter since they will now stack with arcane intellect. As mentioned previously we’ll be introducing some new recipes that would have simply been left unused before as they wouldn’t have been allowed to stack with class buffs.

* We’ve seen many requests for new recipes, and to some extent it was necessary that we limit how and when we introduce new recipes as any new elixir added in-turn resulted in a potential power increase for every member of a raid or group. With the number of elixirs on any one player now limited we can add more recipes than we would have been able to in the past.

* Flasks will work in this new system by taking up both the offensive and defensive elixir slots. We of course recognize this as a reduction of total effect of flasks, but as mentioned we will be balancing to take into account the use of a single flask on each player in an encounter.

* Potions (rather than elixirs) will not be affected at all by this system.



This change will generally not impact solo players who currently already only use one or two elixirs at a time, but will certainly be a restriction for players who tend to use a lot of elixirs simultaneously. In the case of raid and small group parties the change is a clear benefit. The need for herbs and materials, and thus the strain on a guild or individual alchemist to collect these items is lowered substantially, in combination with the encounters being tuned with the limitation in mind. This change to elixirs and flasks also allows us to improve and expand the alchemy profession in new ways, and removes the need to design and balance encounters around the potential use of all possible elixirs. We’re currently planning to implement this change in a future patch and we’ll release further details as well as information on the new recipes as soon as we’re able.

I imagine this will just mean more people turn to flasks rather than elixeis. Hopefully it will reduce the cost of flasks too as less of the normal pots will sell thus increasing the availability of herbs for the flasks. Whether that will be the case or not remains to be seen.

We were talking about this on comms the other night. I can see that the price of elixirs will go down which is a bonus for everyone apart from herbies and alchemists. If we are wiping a lot on an encounter then a flask might be better value anyway, but it says in the post above that only one flask can be used after the patch...

They mention lowering the strain on guild members who create the stuff, but in my experience the focus on making money in TBC is so high that people who make them are forced to use/sell them, rather than give them away. The mats are just too darn valuable.

I cant really see this change making a big change apart from the price. Im not sure that any of us pop more than 2 at a time anyway?

While talking about prices for stuff - the other day I thought I would save myself some gold by buying the herbs for 20 super mana pots. I sent them to an alchie who would benefit from the skill increase by making them. Only after I had bought the herbs did i realise that they cost about 3 times more than the pots would have done! I guess while people are still levelling up the agtherers are making off like bandits and forcing the crafters to sell at a loss. Ah well.

It's always been the way that mats cost more than the finished item except for very rare patterns. The Khorium belts I made to skill up cost me about 100g each yet they sell for 30-37g if I'm lucky :/

That's the thing I miss most about SWG, buying stuff through forum auctions, having them delivered to your vendor then whamming everything in your factories and buggering off to quest knowing full well you're going to make a huge profit.

SwG has the best system I’ve seen...
EvE's is ok, and so is FF XI's
WoW’s economy just seems to be well a bit lacking