Alchemy The alchemist mixes herb s found by Herbalism and reagent s in order to concoct elixir s , potion s , oil s , flask s and cauldron s with a variety of effects . A player can create healing , invisibility , elemental resistance and mana potions ; oils to coat weapons ; and much more . Alchemy is useful to all character classes . Melee fighters can use alchemy to create buff and healing potions . Spell casting classes can use alchemy to create mana potions and related buffs . You can create potions for yourself , sell them to others , or give them to your party members and friends . Alchemists are well loved when they hand out potions . Proficiencies and training . Prior to patch 4 . 0 . 1 you needed five different types of vial s . Potions , elixir s and flask s required some type of vial , which could be purchased from any trade goods vendor . There were five types of vials : Empty , used to create lower - level potions ; Leaded , used to create mid - level potions ; and Crystal , Imbued , or Enchanted vials , used to create higher - level potions and flasks . This is no longer the case . There is only one vial now , the . Herbalism is not technically required , but is highly recommended as nearly every alchemy recipe requires Herb s to make and herbalism can alleviate most of the cost of leveling up . Also , the wide variety of different herbs makes it difficult to simply purchase what you need from other players , because many potions will require more than one type of herb to make and the herbs are often very expensive . Perks . As of patch 3 . 0 . 2 , all alchemists gain the passive ability which increases the effectiveness of any elixir or flask that the character has a recipe for . Transmutation . High - level alchemists can also perform transmutation s on elemental materials and some metals for use with other tradeskills . Arcanite , which is used in high - level pre - Blacksmithing recipes , cannot be mined – it can only be transmuted from Arcane Crystal , which is derived from Thorium . Other transmutations are possible ; see the recipe list below . Before an alchemist can perform transmutations , he or she must create a ( or equivalent ) . This stone must be in the inventory or equipped to perform any transmutations , and it is not consumed when a transmutation is done . Making multiple Philosopher ' s Stones will not reduce the cool down time . Philosopher ' s Stones are also soulbound and cannot be disenchanted , so it is not advised to create more than one . As of patch 2 . 4 , all transmutations EXCEPT Arcanite and Titanium ( as of Patch 3 . 3 ) share a cool down timer . After transmuting Gold , Truesilver or Truegold , you must wait until real - world midnight before performing any other transmutation . Other cooldowns vary based on the level of the transmute . However , you can transmute as much Arcanite as you wish without any kind of cooldown . Elemental essences can also be transmuted . Essence of Undeath can be transmuted to Essence of Water , Essence of Water can be transmuted into Essence of Air , and so on . Essence transmutes have a cooldown of 20 hours , as does a transmute of Iron into Gold . There is also a transmute for transforming a Heart of Fire into three Elemental Fire s on a 10 - minute cooldown available with reputation gains from the Thorium Brotherhood . In Burning Crusade . Burning Crusade introduced the transmutation of Primal ingredient s ( see diagram ) : to to to to ; to to ; to to ; to to . You can also transmute Primal Fire , Air , Earth , Water , and Mana into . ( Note : there is no transmutation required to convert 10× motes into 1× corresponding primal . This is available to any player as a stacking mechanism . ) Motes can be converted to Primal elements but not converted back — and since motes are used in some recipes , be cautious when farming as to which you will need . ( Miners have the ability to break down Primal Earth and Primal Fire back to motes . ) Burning Crusade also introduced the transmutation of the , the , and the . Transmuting the Earthstorm Diamond or the Skyfire Diamond puts a shared cooldown of 20 hours on all other transmutation , including Heart of Fire . In Wrath of the Lich King . Wrath of the Lich King introduced the transmutation of Eternal ingredient s ( see diagram ) : to or ; to or ; to or ; to or ; to or ; and lastly to or . In Cataclysm . Cataclysm introduced the transmutation of Volatile ingredient s . However , it isn ' t a cycle between ingredients , but from a base of 15 always via . In non - Cataclysm zones , the will randomly transmute into 14 - 16 of the other 4 types of Volatiles ( , , , or ) , but in Cataclysm zones the type is predetermined : Uldum yields , Deepholm yields , Mount Hyjal yields , and Vashj ' ir yields . The newest ( as of patch 4 . 0 . 3a ) non - elemental transmute , and most sought after , is . Discoveries . There is a small chance that an alchemist will make a discovery and instantly learn a new recipe when making a transmutation or crafting an elixir , potion , or flask . Alchemy Specializations . Once you reach Alchemy skill 325 and level 68 , you may begin a quest to learn one of three specializations : Potions , Elixirs or Transmutations . Being specialized gives you a chance to create an extra 1 to 4 ( for a total 5 ) items while crafting pre - Warlords of Draenor items and while within the field you have specialized in . For example , a Master of Potions may be able to craft more than one using the same materials needed to craft a single potion . While the exact percent is not known , people have speculated that this ability can happen anywhere from 10 - 25 % of the time . A frequently cited figure in the official World of Warcraft Professions Forums is 15 % of the time the extra items proc . According to the theory detailed below , extra items proc 15 % of the time , and so one creates approximately 1 . 18 times the product due to procs . One theory is that each extra item created also has a 15 % chance to create its own extra item . Probability in this type of case is multiplicative and luckily analytical – we do not have to do a Monte - Carlo analysis to determine the probability . It works the same way as the probability of flipping N number of heads in a row with a coin . The chance of flipping 1 head is 50 % or a 0 . 5 probability . The chance of flipping 2 heads in a row is 0 . 5 * 0 . 5 or . 25 or 25 % . The chance of flipping 3 heads in a row is 0 . 25 * 0 . 5 or 0 . 125 or 12 . 5 % So , if the 15 % assumption is correct , when creating an item , you have approximately a 15 % chance of creating exactly two items instead of one , a ( 0 . 15 * 0 . 15 ) or 2 . 25 % chance to create three items instead of one , a ( 0 . 15 * 0 . 15 * 0 . 15 ) or 0 . 3375 % chance of creating four items instead of one , and a ( 0 . 15 * 0 . 15 * 0 . 15 * 0 . 15 ) or 0 . 050625 % chance of creating exactly five items instead of one . This will lead to approximately 1 . 18 items created per creation ( instead of the regular 1 . 00 ; assuming a 85 % chance for 1 item ( 100 % minus 15 % ) , a 12 . 75 % chance for 2 items ( 15 % minus 15 % ) , and so on ; if you interpret it as 0 . 050625 % , 0 . 3375 % , 2 . 25 % , 15 % , 82 . 361875 % then it would be approx . 1 . 20 items ) . Specialization in Warlords of Draenor . None of the profession specializations work on Draenic recipes . This means that you will not get procs from any of the flasks , potions and transmutations listed under the Draenic Alchemy tab in your Alchemy window . This is done to reduce the impact the professions make on the gameplay . Specialization quests as of Mists of Pandaria . Specialization quests were updated with Mists of Pandaria . Total AH Materials Cost : approx . Total AH Materials Cost : approx . Total AH Materials Cost : approx . Changing Specializations after Patch 4 . 3 . To change specialization you now click the small , red " unlearn specialization " button , located next to your current specialization icon in the professions pane of your Spellbook . Once you unlearn your spec you will be offered the specialization quests again . You must complete them each time you switch specialization . The old system pre - Patch 4 . 3 of " pay a fee to change specialization " no longer exists . In Patch 4 . 3 , Alchemy Specialization quests have been moved to the Alchemy trainers and the old quests have been removed . The three new quests and rough costs from Auction House prices for materials are : Total AH Materials Cost : approx . Total AH Materials Cost : approx . Total AH Materials Cost : approx . Changing Specializations pre - Patch 4 . 3 . Players can unlearn and relearn a specialization repeatedly . The cost to unlearn is one hundred and fifty gold . To unlearn a specialization a character must speak with the NPC who teaches that specialization . Once you are unspecialized again , you can see any of the three specialization trainers and specialize without additional cost or questing . It may be worth considering taking Potion mastery , as you will generally make all the needed quest items in the course of leveling Alchemy , and then switching to Transmutation or Elixir . Note : You must speak to the correct specialist to learn and unlearn that specialization . The NPC in Shattrath City no longer offers all 3 quests to re - specialize and is only the elixir master . Note : Each of the Mastery quests below has an optional lead - in quest available from : Master of Potions . Trained by Lauranna Thar ' well in Cenarion Refuge , Zangarmarsh . This quest requires : Master of Elixirs . Note : Flask s also benefit from Elixir Mastery . Trained by Lorokeem in Shattrath City . This quest requires : Master of Transmutation . Trained by Zarevhi in Stormspire , Netherstorm . This quest requires : Mount . With the , which only Illustrious Grand Master alchemists can make , anyone will be able to transform into a that will be able to carry another person . This mount costs approx . in vendor materials ( for and for 8 at each ) , in addition to 8 each of , , and , as well as 12 bars of . The recipe for this mount is received through max - level sites , inside an item called a . The recipe only appears for grand master alchemists ( Alchemy level 450 or greater ) . The is not restricted to those with Alchemy only . It is not Bind on Pickup anymore and can be traded and sold on the auction house . It is the prerequisite of the achievement .