Alchemy 2.1 Changes

[Faction]

Taken from EJ boards. I still have not dug through WoW general posts to find blue confirmations. But since the thread is still active on EJ, I take its pretty safe to trust these notes.

After the comming patch, Elixirs will be seperated into 2 groups. Guardian Elixirs, and Battle Elixirs.
Currently the TBC Elixirs sit in the groups like this: (FLASKS TAKE UP BOTH SLOTS)

Battle elixirs:

Elixir of Major Shadow Power
Fel Strength Elixir
Elixir of Major Agility
Elixir of Major Fire Power
Elixir of Major Frost Power
Elixir of Mastery
Elixir of Healing Power
Elixir of Major Strength
Adept's Elixir
Onslaught Elixir

Guardian elixirs:

Elixir of Major Mageblood
Elixir of Major Defense
Elixir of Draenic Wisdom
Earthen Elixir
Elixir of Major Fortitude
Elixir of Ironskin

The herb cost (and the vial cost) for all elixirs have been reduced, however, so has the effect, e.g. Fel Strength Elixir changed to 90 AP down from 120.
There are also 4 new Elixirs waiting to be learned, from trainers and also from CE rep and Nagrand rep:

Elixir of the Ironskin

Increases resilience rating by 30 for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir.
Requires Ancient Lichen, Ragveil, Imbued Vial

Elixir of Major Fortitude

Increases your maximum health by 250 and restores 10 health every 5 seconds for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir.
Requires 2 Ragveil, Felweed, Imbued Vial

Elixir of Draenic Wisdom

Increases Intellect and Spirit by 30 for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir
Requires Felweed, Terrocone, Imbued Vial

Earthen Elixir

Prevents up to 20 damage done by a physical or magical attack for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir
Requires Dreaming Glory, Ragveil, Imbued Vial


Flasks have also been changed. All Flasks have had their herb cost reduced, and also their effect, so they are easier to get but less powerful.
Here is a list of the what the new flasks will look like:

- Flask of Fortification 500 HP and 10 Defense Rating
- Flask of Mighty Restoration 25 MP / 5sec
- Flask of Relentless Assault 120 AP
- Flask of Arcane Fortification 35 Arcane Resist 20 HP / 5sec
- Flask of Shadow Fortification 35 Arcane Resist 20 HP / 5sec
- Flask of Titans 400 HP
- Distilled Wisdom 65 Intellect
- Supreme Power 70 Spell Damage
- Chromatic Resistance 25 Resist All

And here is one example of what the material cost is for these new flasks:

Flask of Might Restoration - Patch 2.1
Regenerate 25 mana per 5 sec for two hours.
Dreaming Glory x7
Mana Thistle x3
Fel Lotus x1

Another example is the Flask of Supreme Power, which only need 7 Dreamfoil and 3 Icecap.

Because people will be using flasks more often, the drop rates for Fel Lotus AND the spawn points for Black Lotus, have been increased. (Fel Lotus will now drop 15% of the time)

There are also new [i]Zone Specific Flasks, these are flasks that can only be used when for example, you are inside Gruuls lair. Here are some of the flasks availible for Gruuls Lair:[/b]

Unstable Flask of the Bandit +20 Agi +40 AP +30 Sta
Unstable Flask of the Beasts +20 Agi +20 Str +30 Sta
Unstable Flask of the Elder +20 Int +8 MP5 +30 Sta
Unstable Flask of the Physician +20 Int +44 Healing +30 Sta
Unstable Flask of the Soldier +20 Crit Rating +20 Str +30 Sta
Unstable Flask of the Sorcerer +20 Int +23 Spl Dmg +30 Sta

Although there is no information about how these new flasks are obtained, there is further information which says items like Coilfang Armaments will lplay a role in getting these new flasks, and zone specific Potions.
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Patch 2.1 Alchemy are you!

These changes to alchemy obviously have far reaching effects on TBC raiding. A fully buffed member of a raid can look like this:

Flask + Food Buff + Weapon Oil + Potions

OR

Guardian Elixir + Battle Elixir + Food Buff + Weapon Oil + Potions

As you can see a 2 hour flask that lasts through death, and an Oil that also lasts through death looks like a better option. Also, Stamina buffs earnt though drinking, no longer stack with food buffs, so Rum is no longer needed.

You might be thinking: "but how are we going to kill bosses with so much less raid dps, because these flasks are rubbish compared to the old ones!" to tackle this issue, Blizzard are re-tuning all the TBC bosses, to lower their HP, and make them hit softer. In addition to this, they are buffing items and in particular, Teir Sets. The idea is that your armour should make more of a diference than your buffs, and getting an armour upgrade should actually mean something.

The end result of this, is that preparing for raids will be much easier, and you have more choice in how to prepare for them (1 flask or 2 elixirs). I'll leave it up to you to decide if this is a change for the better or for worse.