Master of your (alchemy) domain
Though it's certainly not required, the key to making money through alchemy is to pick a specialization. By choosing one of the three options -- Potion Master, Elixir Master, or Transmute master -- you give yourself the ability to make proc extra copies of whatever alchemy item you're trying to craft.
Which specialization should you choose? Let's take a look at the risks and benefits of each.
How does a Potion Master make money?
Not to be totally obvious, but Potion Masters make their money selling potions. (You don't say, Fox! You don't say.)
Every time you make a potion as a Potion Master, you have a ~20% chance to proc extra potions -- usually one extra, though rarely as many as four extra.
By becoming a potion master, you can effectively compete in your server's potion market more efficiently than any alchemist who is not a Potion Master. If it costs your competition 10 gold to make a potion, it only costs you about 8 gold, 33 silver on average. A skilled Potion Master can easily price a Flask Master or Transmute Master out of the potion market by listing auctions at or near the cost of materials. If you're not facing substantial competition, then those extra potions you proc merely pad your profits even more.
More so than any other alchemist, Potion Masters make their money off volume. Each potion may bring in only 1 or 2 gold in profit (though often more), but you can often sell 5 or 20 at a time. Your top customers will always be hardcore raiders -- these folks will frequently go through two potions per encounter. That's not to say casual players don't buy potions, too;Deepstone Oil and Potion of Illusion remain decent sellers on my server thanks to their "fun factor," and plenty of 5-man instance runners buy mana and health potions if they're priced attractively.
Demand for DPS potions (e.g., Volcanic Potion ) typically spikes on Tuesdays, the most popular day for raiding. Mythical Healing Potions and Mythical Mana Potions seem to be the most popular on weekends, though they sell fairly consistently all week long.
How does a Elixir Master make money?
In Cataclysm, they largely don't. Sad, but true!
There are a number of reasons why this could be the case. Some guilds continue to flood the market with unneeded flasks (elixirs) made while chasing after the Mix Master achievement. Further, with more guilds offering their raiders Cauldrons of Battle , fewer raiders are required to buy their flasks on the open market. Whatever the actual reason, the consequence is this: Flasks often sell for less than the cost of the materials that go into making them.
That's not to say it's impossible to make money as a Elixir Master. Each server is different, and of all the servers out there, I'm sure at least a couple have profitable flask markets.
Like Potion Masters, Elixir Masters get 20% more flasks through their procs. In many markets, these procs are the only difference between turning a profit and selling at a loss. The Flask of the Draconic Mind often flirts with profitability because it's the flask that's in the highest demand; you may be able to make money by exploring that route.
How does a Transmute Master make money?
Transmute Masters make money in three different ways: bonus Truegold procs, bonus Living Elements procs, and bonus gem procs.
Making money off Truegold is like playing a slot machine. Because of the high selling price of one bar of Truegold, when the proc happens, it pays off big. If Truegold is selling at an average of 500g each on your server, you'll average an extra 100g or so per day thanks to being a Transmute Master. With a lot of the new-for-4.2 blacksmithing recipes calling for Truegold, prices could be soon heading through the roof.
Living Elements shares a cooldown with your Truegold proc, but it's much less of a gamble. Transmute Masters seem to be guaranteed about five free volatiles every time they use their Living Elements cooldown. It's like free money every day, though the payoff is never as grand as when you hit that "Truegold x 5" proc jackpot. Demand for volatiles is always strong.
As of this current point in Cataclysm, making money by transmuting gems seems to be entirely limited to the act of making Shadowspirit Diamonds . There's no daily cooldown on making these, and with tons of new head pieces getting thrown into the mix for patch 4.2, these should see a nice bump in price over the following few weeks.Transmute: Inferno Ruby may also wind up being profitable if the demand for rare gems spikes with the new patch. Keep a close eye on your server's market.
Regardless of whether or not you choose to be a Transmute Master or not, your daily transmutation cooldown is one of the easiest sources of money you have as an alchemist. If the price of Truegold is far above the cost of mats on your server, any alchemist can score by creating bars. If Truegold isn't profitable, you should still be able to do well taking Volatile Life , often the cheapest of all the volatiles, and transmuting it into something more expensive like Volatile Air (do your Living Elements transmute in Uldum to guarantee an Air transmute), Volatile Water (do your transmute in Vashj'ir), or Volatile Fire (Hyjal).
The final note I have for a would-be alchemist mogul: Know your server's market. This goes beyond the pricing data in The Undermine Journal -- you need to know how much demand for potions, flasks, and Truegold/gems is out there and how that demand responds to fluctuations in price.
Why is this important? It's because there's an unusually high deposit required to list a stack of potions or gems on the auction house. Start by listing very few stacks at the start, see how they sell, and then start increasing the quantity you list if they sell out. Keep increasing your quantity until you find the point at which your presence in the market saturates it. If you're seeing 90% of your auctions come back unsold, you've either got a very aggressive competitor or you're listing too many items. Either way, it's time to adjust your strategy to avoid having all your profits eaten up by lost deposits.
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