As you know, Bob, since 3.3 we’ve had three options when we roll for loot: Need, Greed, and Disenchant. Disenchant only pops up if there’s an enchanter in the group who can do the actual disenchanting; if you’re above level 70, Need only pops up if you can use the item and it’s the correct armor class for your character. (That is, priests can’t roll Need on plate and paladins can’t roll Need on cloth.) Below 70, that rule doesn’t apply (as evidenced by the mage who rolled on leather Agility gloves in RFC tonight because he wanted the higher armor and wasn’t paying attention to the armor class).

In general, the idea is that if you can use the item, it’s an upgrade, and you’re going to equip it now or within a few levels or when you get it gemmed/enchanted, then you can roll Need. Otherwise, roll Greed or Disenchant. This post is about the latter situation.

There’s a lot of disagreement (if the groups I’ve been in have been any indication) about which to choose. A lot of people think that you always Disenchant if you have the option and you don’t need the item, but as my friend Jess (who has not started up her blog yet) points out, that’s not always the best way to go. Unless you’re the enchanter or are specifically saving up mats, the best thing for you to do is actually to find out what the going AH price is for enchanting mats and for items of the level you’re likely to be getting in the instances you’re running.

On our server we have a bit of an odd situation. We have an auction-house mogul (hi Otto!) who’s artificially inflating prices on green items Just Because He Can, assuming that anyone who’s buying greens is someone with an 80 and therefore loads of cash. (This pisses off those of us who don’t have 80s on that realm, because we don’t really have the cash influx that he’s assuming, and we’re the ones who need the gear.) At the same time, because there are so many people running so many instances, the price of low-level enchanting materials has crashed – Strange Dust can be had for 2 silver a stack, where the Huntsman’s Bracers of the Naked Mole Rat that would otherwise generate the Strange Dust is selling for 10-15g because of inflation.

In this situation, do you really want to Disenchant that green? Wouldn’t it be better to roll Greed and then sell it directly? Sure, the odds of a Huntsman’s Bracers of the Naked Mole Rat selling on the Auction House might be kind of low (I’m not sure what class needs +Strength/-Hair; maybe a tauren with a glandular problem), but if they do sell, you’re pocketing way more than you would with the enchanting mats. (Actually, in our situation there’s a third option: price the bracers really low. Otto trolls the AH looking for low-priced items that he can resell at a profit, and you’ll probably be able to hook him with a price around 1-2g. Lower price, but much better odds of selling.)

By the same token, if you know you won’t be able to sell an item – say, if it’s BOP – then go ahead and roll Disenchant, because at least the enchanting mats will sell for something!

TLDR: Don’t just hit Disenchant blindly on your loot rolls. Make sure you know what the market’s like before you assume that enchanting mats are always better than the greens they’re made from.

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