Barter bricks are a hot new commodity in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. As their name suggests, these bricks are used for bartering with an NPC for gear, recipes, cosmetics, and more. For players looking to gear up alts, collect unique appearances, or earn rare recipes, amassing a sizable stockpile of bricks is a must.
In this comprehensive 2000+ word guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about obtaining barter bricks in Dragonflight as a WoW expert. I‘ll provide detailed brick farming strategies, optimal routes, acquisition rates, and tips to maximize your brick income. Let‘s get started!
What are Barter Bricks and Why Do They Matter?
Barter bricks are a new currency added in the Dragonflight expansion that are used for bartering and gear upgrades. They essentially replace previous systems like valor points that served similar purposes.
Barter bricks hold especially high value early in Dragonflight when player power is lower but demand for gear upgrades is high. By accumulating a stockpile of bricks, you can:
- Purchase catch-up gear far faster than through world quests or dungeons alone
- Access high item level gems, enchants, recipes, and crafting materials
- Acquire unique cosmetic weapon and armor appearances
- Buy limited-time specialty items that rotate through the vendor
Having a steady income of barter bricks enables you to optimize your character‘s progression through Dragonflight at your own pace. You‘re not solely reliant on rare boss drops for upgrades.
According to interviews with WoW developers, barter bricks are intended as a "deterministic gear acquisition and progress mechanism." This means they provide clear goals to work towards, rather than an abstract endless point grind.
A Tour of the Bartering System in Dragonflight
Before we dive into brick farming methods, let‘s briefly explore how the bartering system works in Dragonflight:
- Barter with Loamm: Barter bricks are exchanged with an NPC named "Loamm" located in Valdrakken Accord. He sells gear, recipes, reagents, and items in exchange for bricks.
- Costs scale with item level: Higher item level gear and rewards cost exponentially more bricks. For example, a 265 item may cost 600 bricks, while a 275 may be 3600 bricks.
- Limits prevent runaway costs: Maximum costs are capped at 10,000 bricks to prevent inflation. Loamm‘s inventory also rotates weekly.
- Current brick cap is 10,000: Players can hold a maximum of 10,000 barter bricks currently. This may be raised in later patches.
- Brick generation is frontloaded: Acquisition rates will likely slow down over time as the expansion progresses. Blizzard aims to prevent runaway brick farming.
Now that we understand the bartering system, let‘s jump into all the methods for acquiring these precious bricks!
Barter Brick Farming Strategies and Locations
There are several effective ways to farm barter bricks in Dragonflight:
1. Complete Ritual Offerings
Ritual offerings provide a consistent renewable source of barter bricks. These are repeatable mini-events found at set locations around the Dragon Isles. Interacting with a ritual offering object will summon waves of enemies to defeat, rewarding ~5 bricks.
The three ritual offering locations are:
- Ritual Offering #1: /way 35.36, 41.81 (Ohn‘ahran Plains)
- Ritual Offering #2: /way 28.23, 46.33 (Azure Span)
- Ritual Offering #3: /way 32.45, 50.31 (Thaldraszus)
Optimizing your Route: An optimal route would be to start in Ohn‘ahran Plains, fly counter-clockwise hitting offerings 2 and 3, then loop back to 1. This forms a tight circuit for rapid farming.
Yield per Hour: Expect around 180-220 bricks per hour from aggressively farming ritual offerings. This provides the most reliable renewable source.
By Role: Tanks can solo offerings quickly using AoE threat generation. Healers will want a DPS partner for speed. Offerings are most efficient in a group of 2-3 players.
2. Open Waterlogged Bundles
Underwater off the coast of Valdrakken Accord lies a single waterlogged bundle containing a significant brick payout. Interacting with the bundle spawns an elite mob guarding a cache of ~20 bricks.
The bundle location is:
- /way 62.1, 55.3
This provides a nice one-time injection of bricks for new level 70 characters. The bundle takes around 5 minutes to respawn after being looted.
Yield per Hour: Around 60-100 bricks per hour depending on how often the bundle is available. Not as renewable as ritual offerings.
By Role: Tanks are best for survivability but good DPS works fine. Group up for efficiency.
3. Complete Barter Brick Quest Chains
Dragonflight introduces lengthy quest chains specifically rewarding bricks:
- "Road to Seasons City" – ~80 bricks
- "Scrybbil Engineering" – ~150 bricks
- "Bartering 101" – ~100 bricks
- "Get Rich Quick" – ~300 bricks
These provide lucrative one-time brick payouts. Prioritize completing these on multiple characters for a huge influx of bricks.
4. Farm Treasure Chests and Rare Spawns
Looting treasures and killing rare spawns across the Dragon Isles has a modest chance to drop 1-15 barter bricks. Though not reliable, this adds up from routine world farming.
- Use addons like HandyNotes to visualize spawn points
- Pair with herbalism/mining for efficiency
- Expect ~30-50 bricks per hour as supplemental income
5. Missions and Daily Quests
Daily quests from professions, world events, and the new Sovereign‘s Compass system can reward 1-5 barter bricks. Missions also often provide brick rewards. Doing these routinely nets a slow but steady trickle.
Expect to earn ~25 bricks per day, or 175 per week from this "passive" source.
How to Maximize Your Barter Brick Farming
Here are some tips and strategies to optimize your brick farming efficiency:
- Unlock flight paths between the ritual offerings to reduce travel time.
- Group up to quickly plow through ritual events and waterlogged bundles.
- Study spawn points of rares and treasures using HandyNotes to recognize brick opportunities.
- Prioritize high value quests on multiple characters to multiply one-time rewards.
- Customize routes based on your class abilities, role, professions, and gear.
| Source | Estimated Yield Per Hour |
|---|---|
| Ritual Offerings | 180-220 bricks |
| Waterlogged Bundles | 60-100 bricks |
| Treasure/Rare Farming | 30-50 bricks |
| Quest Chains | Varies |
| Missions/Dailies | 25 bricks per day |
As shown in the table above comparing acquisition rates, ritual offerings will be your primary farming method, with supplemental income from other sources.
How Long Will It Take to Farm 5000 Barter Bricks?
Based on the numbers above, we can estimate time required to farm 5000 barter bricks:
- Ritual offerings only = ~27 hours
- Mix of sources = ~20 hours
If you can dedicate around 2-3 hours per day to farming offerings, treasures, and missions, you‘ll have 5000 bricks in 7-10 days played at level 70.
Don‘t get overwhelmed! With a focused farming strategy, you can gather bricks faster than you might think.
What Should You Purchase With Your Hard-Earned Bricks?
Here are the most efficient ways to invest your barter brick stockpile:
- Catch-up gear to raise your item level faster than world quests alone
- Gems and enchants that are powerful upgrades from drops
- Transmog appearances that are exclusive to the bartering vendor
- Rare recipes for profitable crafts and consumables
- Limited-time offers for specialty items before they rotate out
I recommend prioritizing any badly lagging gear slots first since the value per brick of catch-up gear is very high. From there, shift focus to collecting appearances, recipes, and special items based on your goals. Balance immediate upgrades vs long-term collectors items.
Should You Save Bricks for the Future?
The question of whether to spend or save barter bricks depends on a few factors:
- How progressed is the patch cycle? Brick value decreases later in patches when higher item levels are available elsewhere.
- Are there limited-time items you want? Specialty items may disappear from the vendor.
- Do you prioritize upgrades or collecting? Spend now on gear if you need immediate boosts.
My advice is to invest at least some bricks into limited-time items or rare recipes when they appear. Sitting on 10,000 bricks for later patches is likely unnecessary – better to use them while they hold peak value.
Of course, follow your own goals and playstyle. There are no wrong ways to leverage your bricks!
Why Barter Bricks Feel Better than Valor Points
Speaking as an experienced WoW player dating back to the Wrath expansion, the barter brick system just feels better than past point-based upgrade currencies. There are a few psychological reasons why:
Clear finish lines: Brick costs for items are fixed rather than an endless grind. This provides satisfaction from working towards definable goals.
Renewable resources: Having agency over how you generate bricks makes the system feel more engaging than passive point generation.
Visual representation: Seeing your brick count rise after farming ritual offerings provides a sense of tangible progress. Valor caps were more nebulous.
In summary, the more interactive nature and clear objectives with barter bricks just feels more rewarding than abstract point systems of the past. It‘s a welcome evolution to horizontal gear progression.
The Future of Barter Bricks in Dragonflight
While the barter brick system is fantastic now, what does the future hold for bricks in Dragonflight? Here is some speculation:
- Brick cap will increase: Blizzard seems to want to prevent runaway inflation, but may raise cap from 10k bricks.
- Acquisition rates reduced: To prevent stockpiling, passive generation like missions may be nerfed. Active farming may stay lucrative.
- New brick sinks added: Additional items, recipes, or currency uses could be added to stabilize bricks.
- Prices of some items increase: Inflation will still slowly occur, so costs for some items may rise.
My prediction is the brick system will remain largely the same, but with tweaks to caps, sources, and costs. The devs seem happy with the balance so far based on community reception.
In the end, barter bricks should retain at least some value for the entirety of Dragonflight due to their importance for alts, collectors, and mains needing periodic upgrades.
Comparing Barter Brick Farming to Raw Gold Farming
An alternative way to generate income in Dragonflight is farming and selling materials for gold. How does this contrast with barter brick farming?
Bartering Pros:
- Targeted acquisition of exactly the items you need
- Gated by time invested rather than luck
- Renewable source from ritual events
Bartering Cons:
- Cannot sell leftover bricks for gold
- Limited selection of items from single vendor
Gold Farming Pros:
- Raw gold and materials have wider range of uses
- Excess income can be sold for profit
- Tap into player-driven economies and auctions
Gold Farming Cons:
- Relies more heavily on rare drops and randomness
- Have to locate/negotiate with other players to convert gold into key items
- No guarantee when specific items will appear on AH
In summary, barter bricks provide more control over your progression through gated farms, while gold farming introduces more randomness but with potential to profit through the player economy. Ultimately they both have a place and can complement each other.
Closing Thoughts on Mastering Barter Brick Farming
And that covers everything you need for barter brick supremacy in Dragonflight! The new bartering system is a huge improvement over previous iterations of gear upgrades and catch-up mechanisms in WoW.
By combining reliable ritual events with supplemental one-time quest and treasure income, you‘ll be drowning in bricks to purchase the exact items you need.
Now that you understand the most efficient farming methods, ideal routes, acquisition rates, and spending strategies, you‘ll be fully prepared to dominate the barter economy. Keep an eye out for any future changes as Dragonflight evolves.
Happy farming! May your brick hauls be plentiful.
