Tag Archives: jewelcrafting

Game Info

Epic Gems and Jewelcrafting in 3.2

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Look, it’s a post! Yes, I know it’s not a pally post, but the 3.2-related stuff is still brewing.

4 July 09: Unfortunately this post has lost all its comments due to technical reasons.

Patch 3.2 brings with it WotLK’s long-awaited epic gems. The item names have been known ever since they were datamined during the beta, but they’ve never been available until now.

What Gems Are There?

There are six new gems, of epic quality.

  • Red: Cardinal Ruby
  • Yellow: King’s Amber
  • Blue: Majestic Zircon
  • Orange: Ametrine
  • Green: Eye of Zul
  • Purple: Dreadstone

What Cuts Are There?

As far as I can tell, based on datamined info from MMO-champion’s internal DB, every uncommon/rare cut in WotLK has an epic equivalent except the prismatic “Enchanted” gems (the ‘all stats’ pearls).

Edit: as of PTR build 10072, there’s now an “all stats” epic gem – the Nightmare Tear, +10 to all stats, unique-equipped, matches any socket, and requires a Dragon’s Eye and 5 Infinite Dust to cut.

The values on the gems are increased by 25-33% over the rare cuts, except with mp5 (which is in line with the boost to mp5 on gear in 3.2). So a +16 attribute rare cut will be a +20 attribute cut in its epic versions.

I’ve revised the Jewelcrafting Quick Reference Sheet: WotLK Edition to include all of these cuts.

This table includes all jewelcrafting gem cuts excluding BoP gems that are JC-only. It is current as of 25 June 09.

Jewelcrafting Reference TableJewelcrafting Reference Table

If you prefer it in PDF form, you can download a copy here: jc32a.pdf.

Last updated 25 June 09.

What Cuts Aren’t There?

The ‘prismatic’ quality of jewelcrafter-only gems is being removed – the Dragon’s Eye JC-only cuts will now have a specific color. Bold Dragon’s Eyes will be red, Brilliant Dragon’s Eyes will be yellow, and so on.

This will make it harder to meet socket bonuses and meta gem requirements for unpopular gem colors (*cough*blue*cough*), and many people had expressed a hope that Blizzard would add orange, purple and green JC-only gems.

Alas: such things are, so far, absent.

Where Do the Cuts Come From?

As you can see in the images linked above, there are 72 cuts for epic gems.

The patterns are BoP and require 450 Jewelcrafting to learn. They can be purchased from the Dalaran Jewelcrafting trainer, Timothy Jones, for 5 Dalaran Jewelcrafting Tokens each – so you’ll need a whopping 360 tokens to buy ’em all.

Edit: As of 3.2 going live, the patterns cost 4 tokens each, requiring 288 tokens in total.

Where Do the Gems Come From?

Blizzard have made it pretty easy to get epic gems, but nothing’s sure except death and taxes:

Jewelcrafting

You can prospect Titanium Ore for epic gems, although they’re not guaranteed. As a guide, I just did 13 prospects (ie 65 ore’s worth) and got:

  • 4 epic gems,
  • 3 rare gems,
  • 20 uncommon gems, and
  • 8 Titanium Powder (which can currently be used for a quest handin on the PTR; according to commenters Catreina and Megree, this rewards 1 Dalaran JC token per 10 powder).

Obviously, this isn’t a big enough sample to get a realistic idea of drop rates; this could have been a very unlucky (or lucky) batch.

Edit: I just did another batch of prospecting (9th July, PTR build 10072) and 350 ore netted me 18 epic gems, 8 blue gems, 99 green gems and 62 titanium powder. This looks like about a 1-in-4 ratio for getting epic gems out of a prospect, which is pretty expensive given the scarcity of titanium; that will likely keep epic gem prices high.

Alchemy

You can transmute all six colors of gem. The transmutes for five of the gems are taught by the Dalaran Alchemy trainer, while the Cardinal Ruby transmute is taught by a quest from the same NPC. It’s a simple quest, requiring you to complete 5 epic gem transmutes of any other color.

Edit: the transmute mats have changed; thanks to Simes for alerting me.

  • Red: Cardinal Ruby (mats: 1 Scarlet Ruby, 1 Eternal Fire)
  • Yellow: King’s Amber (mats: 1 Autumn’s Glow, 1 Eternal Life)
  • Blue: Majestic Zircon (mats: 1 Sky Sapphire, 1 Eternal Air)
  • Orange: Ametrine (mats: 1 Monarch Topaz, 1 Eternal Shadow)
  • Green: Eye of Zul (mats: 3 Forest Emeralds)
  • Purple: Dreadstone (mats: 1 Twilight Opal, 1 Eternal Shadow)

(Edit: Note that the mats for the Eye of Zul have changed again, as of build 10072; thanks to Michelle for the headsup.)

On the PTR the transmutes have no cooldown; however, Blizzard has given stuff a cooldown late in the testing process beforehand, so there’s no guarantee they won’t on this one too. (Edit: they now all share the same 20-hour cooldown timer as the titanium and Eternal elemental transmutes.)

Emblems

You can buy all six colors of epic gem from the Emblem of Heroism Quartermasters in Dalaran; they cost 15 Emblems each. (Edit: red, blue and yellow gems now cost 20 Emblems, and orange, green and purple gems cost 10 Emblems each.)

PvP

You can buy all six colors of epic gem from the Jewelcrafting Quartermaster in the PvP vendor centres in Stormwind and Orgrimmar. They’re currently set at 10,000 honor, which is the same price as rare gems on live servers, so I suspect that price may increase.

Game Info

Jewelcrafting Dailies

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More of my Google traffic comes from ‘jewelcrafting dailies’ than any other single search term, so obviously people are looking for some good information. Hope this helps.

Unlike most other tradeskills, there’s a daily quest for Jewelcrafters to complete. Each daily rewards you with 13.23 gold (or 7.4 gold and 12,650 experience if you’re doing it before level 80), 25 Kirin Tor reputation, and the most important thing: a Dalaran Jewelcrafter’s Token. These tokens are essential to acquire for any serious jewelcrafter; they’re used to purchase most of the core rare-quality gem cuts (for more on the cuts available in WotLK, see this post). The tokens are also used to buy recipes for high-quality crafted necklaces and rings, as well as the raw gems for JC-only cuts.

The Questgiver

All of the quests come from one NPC, Timothy Jones in Dalaran. He’s also the main Jewelcrafting Trainer.

Jewelcrafting Trainer Location

The Quests

You can’t do the daily quests until you’ve completed a basic starter quest from Timothy called Finish the Shipment, which just asks you to take him a raw Chalcedony gem. The quest is available at level 65 and requires 375 Jewelcrafting skill.

Once you’ve completed that, Timothy gives one daily quest a day, selected randomly from the following list:

Each quest involves combining a quest item from a Northrend mob with two different uncommon-quality raw gems. As with the starter quest, the dailies are available at level 65 and require 375 Jewelcrafting skill.

Note that there’s no actual crafting involved; once you have the quest item and the gems, just right-click the quest item to combine it into the final hand-in.

The gem requirements are balanced, in that if you did all six quests once each, you’d need two of each type of uncommon gem.

Blood Jade Amulet

The quest item drops off any Vrykul in Northrend.

  • Easiest for low-level JCs: vrykul around Kaskala in Borean Tundra, or outside Valgarde in Howling Fjord.
  • Closest to Dalaran for high-level JCs: vrykul in Ymirheim in Icecrown, or Valkyrion in Storm Peaks.
  • Can combine with: a run through Utgarde Keep or Utgarde Pinnacle, as it can drop from the Vrykul in there, or the various daily quests for Ymirheim (from Orgrim’s Hammer/the Skybreaker) or Valkyrion (from Brunnhildar Village).

Bright Armor Relic

Northrend Revenants

The quest item drops off elementals in Northrend.

The quest description says the item comes from revenants, the new style of elemental mob found in Northrend, but other elementals do carry them as well.

  • Easiest for low-level JCs: Ice Revenants at the frozen lake east of Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight, .
  • Closest to Dalaran for high-level JCs: Crystalline Ice Elementals in the North of Dragonblight.
  • Can combine with: farming in Wintergrasp, the Hot and Cold daily quest for Sons of Hodir, a Halls of Lightning run, or any number of other quests.

Glowing Ivory Figurine

The quest item drops off any shoveltusk in Northrend.

  • Easiest for low-level JCs: shoveltusk packs all over Howling Fjord.
  • Closest to Dalaran for high-level JCs: shoveltusk packs all over Howling Fjord.
  • Can combine with: not much. Farming for meat, perhaps, if you’re a cook.

Intricate Bone Figurine

The quest item drops off any proto-drake, small or large, in Northrend.

  • Easiest for low-level JCs: Proto-Whelps in the Ember Clutch in Howling Fjord.
  • Closest to Dalaran for high-level JCs: Stormpeak Wyrms in the centre of Storm Peaks.
  • Can combine with: an Utgarde Keep run.

Shifting Sun Curio

The quest item drops off any ‘scourge mob’ in Northrend. This basically means almost all undead. Check this list to see who drops it.

  • Easiest for low-level JCs: take your pick, seriously.
  • Closest to Dalaran for high-level JCs: mobs south-east of Mordrethar in Icecrown, or ghouls around Galakrond’s Rest in Dragonblight.
  • Can combine with: Ahn’Kahet, Drak’Tharon Keep, CoT: Stratholme, Utgarde Keep, Utgarde Pinnacle, Naxxramas, or any number of daily quests.

Wicked Sun Brooch

The quest item drops off any iron dwarf in Northrend.

  • Easiest for low-level JCs: the iron dwarves in Giants’ Run in Howling Fjord.
  • Closest to Dalaran for high-level JCs: Stormforged Dwarves around the Temple of Storms in Storm Peaks.
  • Can combine with: nothing significant.

Damaged Necklaces: The Non-Daily Repeatable

Apart from the daily quests listed above, there is one way to get Dalaran Jewelcrafter’s Tokens. Acquire a Damaged Necklace (which is a BoE drop, and usually sells on the AH for hundreds of gold), and use it to start the quest. The quest asks you to repair the necklace using an uncut chalcedony, and then return it to Timothy Jones.

Unsurprisingly, the Damaged Necklaces are as rare as hen’s teeth, and will possibly cost you an arm and a leg on your realm’s AH. (They’re 600g or more on my server’s Alliance AH, for instance.) However, if you’re desperate for extra tokens and you just can’t wait, they’re your only option.

Game Info, Media

Jewelcrafting Quick Reference Sheet: WotLK

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Finally, the WotLK version of the much-loved Jewelcrafting Quick Reference Sheet. The format’s changed slightly and it’s not as pretty, because Blizzard introduced a ton of new gem cuts in WotLK, and there just wasn’t room for them in the old layout.

This table includes all jewelcrafting gem cuts excluding BoP gems that are JC-only. It is current as of 3 November 08, final WotLK beta build.

Jewelcrafting Reference TableJewelcrafting Reference Table

If you prefer it in PDF form, you can download a copy here: jc30a.pdf.

Last updated 7 November 08.

Edit, later on 7th November: Sharp-eyed reader Canth spotted two duplicate entries; I’ve corrected them, and taken a moment to fix some formatting issues. If you downloaded the PDF already, you might want to grab the new copy.

Game Info

Professional Advantages

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Note: this post contains information on Wrath of the Lich King.

So, you’re wondering what professions will serve you best at level 80? Here’s a super-quick rundown of the crafter-only advantages of each profession, to help you pick.

In addition, I’ve listed the major epic items that each profession can make, even if they’re BoE, as there’s likely to be a lucrative market in providing crafted epics.

Current as of WotLK beta build 8982.

Continue reading Professional Advantages →

Game Info

New Jewelcrafting Patterns for Honor

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Eyonix has confirmed that the “new Honor items” are cloaks and trinkets, upgrades over the current cloaks and trinkets but not huge ones.

However, on the 3.0.2 PTR tonight I also espied a Jewelcrafting vendor in the Stormwind PvP vendor area, selling 12 uncommon gem cuts for 1250 Honor each.

All the gem cuts are for Northrend gems, require 350 Jewelcrafting to learn, and create PvP-focused gems. They are:

  • Durable Huge Citrine: 7 Spell Power, 6 Resilience
  • Empowered Huge Citrine: 12 Attack Power, 6 Resilience
  • Lucent Huge Citrine: 6 Agility, 6 Resilience
  • Mysterious Shadow Crystal: 7 Spell Power, 8 Spell Penetration
  • Mystic Sun Crystal: 12 Resilience
  • Opaque Dark Jade: 6 Resilience, 2 mp5
  • Resplendent Huge Citrine: 6 Strength, 6 Resilience
  • Shattered Dark Jade: 6 Haste Rating, 8 Spell Penetration
  • Steady Dark Jade: 6 Resilience, 9 Stamina
  • Stormy Chalcedony: 15 Spell Penetration
  • Tense Dark Jade: 6 Hit Rating, 8 Spell Penetration
  • Turbid Dark Jade: 6 Resilience, 6 Spirit

These haven’t been posted anywhere that I’ve seen, so I’m not sure if they’re truly intended to be on the 3.0.2 PTR – it’s an excellent use of Honor points, to be sure, but the Northrend-level mats rather make me doubt that they’ll be released before WotLK. I hope my doubts are wrong!

Game Info

Wrath: Jewelcrafting Tokens

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Note: this post contains information on Wrath of the Lich King, although it’s not hugely “spoilery”.

As a followup from my last post about new jewelcrafting dailies and patterns:

  • Dragon’s Eyes are purchasable from the Dalaran Jewelcrafting vendor, Tiffany Cartier, for one Dalaran Jewelcrafting Token each
  • Twenty-three rare gem cuts I discussed in the last post are now five tokens each, not eight. The eight meta gem cuts are still eight tokens each. This brings the total tokens required to 179 – about six months of daily questing, rather than eight.
Game Info

Wrath: Jewelcrafting Dailies & Epic Gems

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Note: this post contains information on Wrath of the Lich King, although it’s not hugely “spoilery”.

In my recent introduction to jewelcrafting in WotLK I noted that there were a few missing stat combinations that we could expect future jewelcrafting cuts to fill. Read more for information on a number of new rare gem cuts, jewelcrafting daily quests and new epic gem cuts in Wrath.

Edit for visitors from Google: I have three more recent posts you might find more useful: a guide to the epic gems in patch 3.2, a quick reference sheet for all WotLK gem cuts, and a guide to the Jewelcrafting daily quests. Hope they’re useful!

Continue reading Wrath: Jewelcrafting Dailies & Epic Gems →

Game Info

Jewelcrafting in Wrath of the Lich King

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Note: this post contains information on Wrath of the Lich King, although it’s mostly mechanical and thus not hugely spoilery.

The most recent WotLK beta patch introduced a number of new Jewelcrafting recipes, showing us the Northrend equivalent of some very familiar Outland gems – as well as some new contenders.

Read on for details of Northrend’s new uncommon, rare and meta gems, the many new gem cuts included in the expansion, and a new Jewelcrafter ability: Gem Perfection.
Continue reading Jewelcrafting in Wrath of the Lich King →

Game Info

Jewelcrafting Quick Reference Sheet: 2.4.2

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Sorry for the radio silence; for health reasons, I’ve been spending very little time online, and it’s really limited my blogging time. Still here! Not dead! And in the meantime, a quick update for this post:

The Jewelcrafting Quick Reference Table has been updated to include the four new jewelcrafting patterns introduced in patch 2.4.2, which went live this week.

This table includes all jewelcrafting gem cuts excluding BoP gems that are JC-only. It is current as of 15 May 08, Patch 2.4.2 live build.

Jewelcrafting Reference Table

If you prefer it in PDF form, you can download a copy here: jc24c.pdf.

Updated 15 May 08 with the four new cuts in 2.4.2 (Reckless Noble Topaz, Quick Dawnstone, Forceful Talasite and Purified Shadowsong Amethyst).