Making Money From Motes and Primals

Primals are needed by just about every profession to craft a lot of the higher end items in the game and therefore sell for a lot of Gold. To create the Primals you will need to get 10 motes of the same type. There are many ways to get these motes. First, there are 2 vendors that sell all of them as limited supply items. They are Dealer Najeeb in Netherstorm and Dealer Tariq in Terokkar Forest. They are sold for only 16 silver a piece which is definitely a steal. Another way is through Mining and Herbalism. Both of these professions are excellent ways to obtain motes while gathering ore and herbs for even more gold to sell. Another way to get motes cheap is to keep a close eye on the Auction House. I have found a ton of auctions that sell the motes a lot cheaper than the primals they make. Check your server to see what the going rate for each Primal is and then compare with the cost to purchase 10 motes. In most cases, you can find bargains on the motes and make a quick profit by turning them into their respective Primals. Another way is to farm for them. Below is a list of the best places I have found to get each of the motes.

Primal Air
Pretty much any enemy that looks like a cyclone will drop Motes of Air .
There are 2 clusters of these guys that I have found to drop these motes about 40% of the time. The first place you should go is the Northeast corner of Nagrand to find a nice cluster of Storming Wind-Rippers at the Elemental Plateau . There are quite a few of them in this small area and not too many people come here because you need a flying mount. The other place is in Shadowmoon Valley where you can find some Enraged Air-Spirits. They can be found in a couple different spots in this zone. The larger of the two spots can be found in the southeast in the Netherwing Fields . The second spot that isn't as large but is less known by players is just north of the Altar of Shatar. As with all motes, it ‛ s not uncommon to find multiple motes when you loot so farming can at times be a very good way to get a lot of motes fast. Depending on your server, the going rate for Primal Water is around 20 Gold each!

Primal Earth
For Motes of Earth , the best place I have found is in Nagrand with the Shattered Rumblers . They are mid-level 60s and have a good drop rate. The Shattered Rumblers can be found all along the Southeastern edge of the zone by Oshu ‛ gun. Nagrand is also home to Tortured Earth Spirits and Enraged Crushers which also drop a lot of these motes. This makes Nagrand the best zone for Motes of Earth based on the level of enemy and the wide range of these elementals that can be found in this zone. On top of that, there are a lot of veins to mine here to get more motes. It's not uncommon to get 4 or more Motes of Earth from mining the Fel Iron and Adamantite Ore found here. Enraged Earth Spirits in Shadowmoon Valley also drop these motes and they can be found right the center of the zone at the Hand of Gul ‛ dan. They are a higher level of an enemy so they will take a bit longer to kill but the upside here is that they tend to drop better items so in the end this can make you additional gold. So if you are farming for these motes exclusively, stay in Nagrand. If you just want to make gold off the motes and the loot, both spots will work out very well.

Primal Fire
The Primal Fires are very popular and sell for insane amounts of gold. To get these motes, there are several excellent spots I like to go to. The first is at the Elemental Plateau in Nagrand where you will find Raging Fire-Souls.
Again, you will need a flying mount to get here. I got motes from these guys about every 3rd guy I killed and usually got multiple motes per loot. I have been able to get enough motes in an hour ‛ s worth of grinding to make 3 Primal Fires . This equates to over 100 Gold per hour at the Auction House and that's not including all the loot you are getting as well. The next spot to get these motes is in the Southeastern corner of Blade ‛ s Edge Mountains at Forge Camp Terror where you will find the Vile Fire-Souls . I found the drop rate here to be slightly better but these guys are harder to single out because they are packed in with other enemies. If you don ‛ t have your flying mount yet, don ‛ t worry, there are still other great places to go. One of my favorites that I went to a lot before I hit 70 was Hand of Gul ‛ dan in the center of Shadowmoon Valley for the Enraged Fire Spirits . Another great place is in the north eastern part of Blade‛s Edge Mountains at Skald for the Searing Elementals. Whichever of these places you decide to go to, if you have any fire resistance equipment, make sure you equip it because these guys will do a fair amount of fire damage.

Primal Life
One of the best places I have found is along the Eastern Side of the Bone Wastes. Here you will find Infested Root Walkers and Rotting Forest- Ragers. Both of which have a good drop rate and they are only level 64-65. Another great spot is at the Dead Mire in Zangarmarsh. Throughout this area you will see a ton of Withered Bog Lords which are a low level 60. These guys also drop these motes at very high rate and are very easy to kill. As long as there aren‛t very many players around, you will be able to get a lot of these motes in a very short amount of time. Between the 2 places, I usually try the Dead Mire first because these guys are a lower level and they are clustered in a lot closer together. On top of that, these guys along with the Withered Giants that you will also find here both drop a lot of Bog Lorg Tendril and Unidentified Plant Parts. Both of these items are needed by players to build up reputation in order to purchase special items. Instead of using these for myself, I will usually put these up for sale at the Auction House. The Dead Mire also has a lot of Fel Iron and Adamantite Ore as well as some herbs like Dreamfoil and Ragveil.

Primal Mana
Primal Mana is another one of the more popular selling primals that currently goes for about 25 gold in the Auction House. Netherstorm is just about the only zone that you can find these. I‛ve tried a lot of different spots in this zone and have 2 that seem to be better than the rest. The first is at Wizard‛s Row in Kirin‛var Village where you will find Mana Seekers and Mageslayers . Both of these have a good drop rate for motes of mana and because not very many people go here, you should always be able to find plenty of these to kill. This spot is a gold mine when it comes to making Primal Manas. The other spot is the areas just north and south of Area 52.
where you will find a lot Mana Wraiths and Nether Rays. You should get these motes about 1 out of every 3 kills from these guys as well. Also, if you have Herbalism as one of your professions, keep an eye out for Netherbloom
which can be found a lot in these areas as well. Stacks of these will fetch you about 50 Gold each! I've never had any problems collecting motes at either of those 2 places but if you are looking for a 3rd spot, another mob I like to focus on is the Mana Snappers. They drop these motes at a decent rate and for being a level 68 mob, they are pretty easy to kill as well. Also, because they are found on the edges of the islands where most people don't go, you should be able to find more than enough of these guys to grind.

Primal Shadow
Primal Shadows sell for the least amount of money between all the Primals but with the loot you can get while collecting these, it does add up to a nice amount of gold. One of the best places is from the Terrorfiends in Hellfire Peninsula. These guys can be found all over the Pools of Aggonar. They are around level 61 so they can be killed very fast. These guys also drop a ton of Netherweave Cloth and Runecloth on just about every kill which is a nice supplement to the Motes of Shadows that you are collecting. I have also gotten a couple lockboxes and a lot of greens as well. Another great spot in Hellfire Peninsula is to the South at The Warp Fields. Here you will find a lot of Uncontrolled Voidwalkers which drop motes about every 3rd kill or so. These voidwalkers respawn very fast and not very many people come down here. Both of these are easy spots that are pretty close together which is nice for those that aren‛t level 70 or don‛t have a flying mount yet. If you are a higher level and can take on some of the higher level mobs in the Outlands, a great spot is the Ruins of Farahlon in Netherstorm for the Hound of Culuthas who will also drop a lot of greens.

Primal Water
You may have noticed while you were completing the Rather Be Fishin' quest at the Silmyr Lake in Terokkar that the Shimmerscale Eels drop a lot of Motes of Water . These eels are only level 62 and drop like flies because of their low hit points. If you mine, you will also find a lot of ore around the perimeter of this lake. I got enough motes here to make about 4-5 primals per hour and got about 2 stacks of Fel Iron Ore as well. With this plus the other loot that I sold, I make about 80 Gold per hour here. If you have your flying mount, then you should definitely head over to the lake at the Elemental Plateau in Nagrand for the Crashing Wave-Spirits . They are level 70 but have a higher drop rate and will also drop a lot of nice green items. These guys also respawn pretty fast so even if there are a couple other people here, you shouldn‛t have any problem staying busy. One other great way to get Motes of Water is by fishing. Just about any high level water that you fish in, you will fetch you a lot of these motes. Keep your eye out for spots such as Pure Water which will get you these motes a lot faster. Also, any lakes that you see water elementals around the shoreline are also great because you can fish for the motes and get them as drops from the mobs nearby. A couple spots where I have found this to work out very well are the Lake surrounding Halaa in Nagrand with the Muck Spawns and the Blackwind Lake in Skettis at Terrokar Forest with the Skettis Surgers.
Just keep an eye out for Mountain Colossus who is the 72 elite that patrols this area. Other than that you should never have to worry about this place being crowded because not to many people know about it and there are tons of mobs scattered throughout.

Primal Summary
If you aren‛t farming a specific type of mote, then there are 2 places I like to go to that are great overall for motes. The first is the Elemental Plateau in Nagrand. This is a higher level area but you will find several different types of motes and all elementals here have a very high drop rate. The other great overall spot that I like to hit is at the Hand of Gul‛dan in Shadowmoon Valley. These are mid to upper level 60s that don‛t require a flying mount. This area has a wide range of elementals so you can get many different types of motes here as well. As mentioned earlier, there are 2 vendors that sell motes as limited supply items. Below is a table that shows where these can be found.