Mixology

[Vand]

I am sure this is old news to some people, but I just read about the new passive bonus given to alchemists:

Mixology is a new passive bonus gained by alchemists learned from a profession trainer at skill level 50. It increases the stat bonus of elixirs by 25% and the duration by 100% (elixirs last 2 hours). It increases the stat bonus of flasks by 50% and the duration by 100% (flasks last for 4 hours). It has no effect on potions.

So one flask per night, and an extra 62.5 spell power to boot. That's actually a bigger increase than you can get from enchanting your rings.

OMG

[Wenge]

And only skill level 50! That's what? Two stacks of peacebloom?

[Vand]

I saw some conflicting information on the EJ forums, indicating that the extra effect from flasks is 25%, not 50%. That would put in more in line with other crafting professions' perqs.

Wanting to see which was correct, I logged on to the PTR, trained Mixology, and drank a 22866. The buff tooltip showed a 4 hour duration, but still only 80 spell power. So I guess we'll have to wait to see whether the benefit is 25% or 50%.

I really like the fact that every profession, even the gathering ones, are getting unique perqs. If you want to read about them, have a look at this post (http://elitistjerks.com/f15/t29288-wotlk_profession_thread/p35/#post904932) from EJ.

[Vand]

And only skill level 50! That's what? Two stacks of peacebloom?
While the Mixology skill only requires an alchemy skill of 50 to train, it only affects elixirs and flasks you can create. So you cannot just train to 50 and get any benefit from anything you'd actually want to use at 70 (or 80).

[Mithwen]

yeah, 19 SP is a bit of a letdown for a ring enchant, but it seems in line with other professions and so I imagine that mixology would work out to be the same. I hope the BoP wands are better than the links I've seen, cause those are lackluster. At least embroidering my cloak seems fun. Thanks for the links, Vand.

Having to make the flask yourself kind of sucks if you're unlucky like me and have been completely unable to proc a freaking flask of pure death recipe.

Also, I'm too lazy to check so you tell me: What are they doing with potion mastery? It seems like a complete waste of time to be a pot master now.

P

[Vand]

There is a new spell in alchemy that lessens the discovery luck factor. It is called Northrend Alchemy Research. It is a spell that requires a bunch of herbs, and you can do it once per week. Here's the tooltip text:

Experiment with Northrend herbs to discover a new Alchemy recipe. Can only be done every 7 days.

So chances are that between luck-based discovery (assuming it still exists) and the research, you should have your flask recipe fairly soon.

I have not read about any changes with regards to alchemy specialties. On the PTR, Vand is still an elixirs master, so I would assume that the specialties remain unchanged.