Thread: Living Steel - the Shuffling "Unsung Hero"

I don't recall seeing this posted here anywhere else, and it seemed so obvious to me, I thought I'd do it myself.

[Ghost Iron Ore] --> [Living Steel]

DO you ever feel like you've got so much ore you'd like to diversify into a new market? I believe [Living Steel] can be one of those markets. And with 5.2 coming, and the potential for this market to rise in both demand and value, it's something to consider. Here's my napkin math on how to make the MOST out of "shuffling" some of your ore into [Living Steel].

TL;DR
86.7. That's the "conversion" factor of one [Living Steel] to one [Ghost Iron Ore], or the other way around. Assuming you have Transmute Master Alchemist(s). In other words, if [Living Steel] is selling for 86.7 times the current market price of [Ghost Iron Ore], it is profitable. And if the value of [Ghost Iron Ore] is less than the cost of one [Living Steel] divided by 86.7, then buying it will result in a profit.

17. Is the "conversion" factor of one [Trillium Bar] to one [Ghost Iron Ore], or the other way around. Assuming you have Transmute Master Alchemist(s). In other words, if [Trillium Bar] is selling for 17 times the current market price of [Ghost Iron Ore], it is profitable. And if the value of [Ghost Iron Ore] is less than the cost of one [Trillium Bar] divided by 17, then buying it will result in a profit.


MATH ONLY (Assuming a 15% Proc Rate)
[Ghost Iron Ore] --> [Living Steel] = 86.7
[Ghost Iron Ore] --> [Trillium Bar] = 17

[Ghost Iron Bar] --> [Living Steel] = 43.3
[Ghost Iron Bar] --> [Trillium Bar] = 8.5

[Trillium Bar] --> [Living Steel] = 5.1


DETAILS

Transmute Master @ 15% (**Note I'm using a 15% proc rate for this. Historically it's been 20%, but to account for low volume fluctuations, I'm erring on the side of a lower proc rate).
Buy [Ghost Iron Ore] @ 3g each
Smelt two [Ghost Iron Ore] into one [Ghost Iron Bar]. Current investment = 6g
Transmute Ten [Ghost Iron Bar] into one [Trillium Bar]. Current investment 6g x 10 = 60g, - 15% proc advantage = 51g
Transmute Six [Trillium Bar] into one [Living Steel]. Total investment 51g x 6 = 306g. -15% proc rate again = 260.1g
260g / 3g = 86.7. So the value of Ore x 86.7 will equal your "cost" to make one [Living Steel]. Or the other way around, the value of one [Living Steel] / 86.7 will tell you your break even cost for buying [Ghost Iron Ore]

Transmute Master @ 20%
Buy [Ghost Iron Ore] @ 3g each
Smelt two [Ghost Iron Ore] into one [Ghost Iron Bar]. Current investment = 6g
Transmute Ten [Ghost Iron Bar] into one [Trillium Bar]. Current investment 6g x 10 = 60g, - 20% proc advantage = 48g
Transmute Six [Trillium Bar] into one [Living Steel]. Total investment 48g x 6 = 288g. -20% proc rate again = 230.4g
230.4g / 3g = 76.8. So the value of Ore x 76.8 will equal your "cost" to make one [Living Steel]. Or the other way around, the value of one [Living Steel] / 76.8 will tell you your break even cost for buying [Ghost Iron Ore]

Non-Transmute Master
Buy [Ghost Iron Ore] @ 3g each
Smelt two [Ghost Iron Ore] into one [Ghost Iron Bar]. Current investment = 6g
Transmute Ten [Ghost Iron Bar] into one [Trillium Bar]. Current investment 6g x 10 = 60g
Transmute Six [Trillium Bar] into one [Living Steel]. Total investment 60g x 6 = 360g.
360g / 3g = 120. So the value of Ore x 120 will equal your "cost" to make one [Living Steel]. Or the other way around, the value of one [Living Steel] / 120 will tell you your break even cost for buying [Ghost Iron Ore]

On my server, Ore is sub-2g each (1.85g x 86.7 = 160g), and [Living Steel] is selling for 400g+.

OTHER THOUGHTS

• This is an obvious one - daily CD. So either you have a nice army of Transmute Masters, or you have lots of friends willing to help you!
• Don't forget about selling the other bars along the way, especially Trillium Bars. These are also profitable, although I haven't calculated the factor for them it's easy to calculate.

Great analysis +rep!
I also strongly recommend having a blacksmith Living Steel Beltbuckle by getting that Klaxxi rep, took me I think 3 days tops...

I wondered if this fits with my recent strategy to enter the belt buckle market in order to enforce my vertical ore monopoly!

I have to buy more ore than I can process for gems and enchanting scrolls/mats, so I figured the following:

Make Buckles and sell them at or slightly below mats cost (so they actually do sell and I don't have to camp all day) -> When sold, buy more Living Steel and repeat -> Supply of Living Steel falls -> Prices for Living Steel rise -> More people want to make Living Steel -> Demand of Trillium bars rises -> People are buying MY trillium bars I create.

This way I can get rid of excess ore that I can't/won't process into gems and/or enchanting materials. What do you think?

Originally Posted by Anbieter

I wondered if this fits with my recent strategy to enter the belt buckle market in order to enforce my vertical ore monopoly!

I have to buy more ore than I can process for gems and enchanting scrolls/mats, so I figured the following:

Make Buckles and sell them at or slightly below mats cost (so they actually do sell and I don't have to camp all day) -> When sold, buy more Living Steel and repeat -> Supply of Living Steel falls -> Prices for Living Steel rise -> More people want to make Living Steel -> Demand of Trillium bars rises -> People are buying MY trillium bars I create.

This way I can get rid of excess ore that I can't/won't process into gems and/or enchanting materials. What do you think?

Sounds like a great plan. There are multiple paths you can follow with the Trillium and/or Living Steel bars, which I purposely did not address in my post. So if Belt Buckles are selling at the same value as Living Steel (400g, 400g, for example), you know you can diversify your bars by making Belt Buckles and still profit. if they're selling for more, then it's just more profit.

Same with the Masterwork Spiritguard mats, although demand for these is low, the mix of Trillium bars and Ghost Iron Bars for mats makes these a very easy source for profits.

Originally Posted by gardibolt

Another point is to always check the AH for the bars at each step of the process; you often can find the intermediate bars selling for less than the cost of the ores to get to them. Don't just look at GI Ore and LS prices.

Excellent point, +rep - thanks for pointing that out!