It’s to be expected that once a patch is released there will be slightly unbalanced elements - and taking advantage of them is often the path to riches for many a savvy player.
Among the plethora of new daily quests given to us by Patch 2.4 there is one in particular that will allow you to farm, at this point, literally a hundred Motes of Mana (WowEcon | Wowhead) an hour. Which of course nets you a solid number of Primals of Mana.
This quest is part of Sunwell Reclamation line - when you first obtain it the name is Intercepting the Mana Cells and thereafter it is Maintaining the Sunwell Portal. You get it from Exarch Nasuun (49,42) located in Shattrath City (Wowhead | WowWiki) at the Terrace of Light.
The quest requires you to gather 10 (clickable) Smuggled Mana Cells and turn them in to Exarch Nasuun. In order to gather these you will need to get and use a Bash’ir Phasing Device which drops from Unbound Ethereals. These are all located in a flying-mount-only area Bash’ir Landing in northwestern Blade’s Edge Mountains (Wowhead | WowWiki) and are all levels 70+.
So that is a basic rundown of the quest, now what do I mean by the “slightly unbalanced” part I mentioned at the beginning of this post? The (also invisible without Bash’ir Phasing Device) guardians of these Mana Cells are Phase Wyrms and these babies drop crazy Motes of Mana!
There are no solid numbers yet, but everyone you talk to that has killed more than a few of these will tell you that the drop rate is solid - almost too good. One hundred an hour is not uncommon. Even on a bad grind, you should still be able to pull out 50-60 of these in an hour.
Obviously a good strategy, therefore, is to get started on the Sunwell quests and then get your netherdrake up to Bash’ir Landing ASAP. Of course, many other players wil be thinking the same thing - so keep your eyes glued to the Mote of Mana and Primal of Mana market rates in the coming weeks. I’m predicting they go down, down, down. And when they do you should be prepared to start buying because the drop rate from the Phase Wyrms does feel a little too good. And that means the nerf hammer will come sniffing eventually.
I have heard that for now farming and hoarding these for the eventual market rebound makes a good long-term strategy and perhaps it might. I can see farming these for a while to accumulate a solid stock would certainly help if you decide to go balls-out and attempt to corner either or both of the Mote and Primal Mana markets in your faction’s auction house during what is certainly bound to be a turbulent time for this item.
If you are still new to the game and need some help learning the ins and outs of the Auction House and how to synergize it with your professions, or even if you are a veteran auctioneer and want to learn some really cunning tricks to maximize your profit margin, I recommend Derek’s Guide to Warcraft Riches. He has packed an incredible amount of strategic information into his gold guide and offers lifetime updates for free.