The War Within is slowly coming to an end, ready to pass the torch to the next expansion, Midnight. While the full release is still a while away, the Midnight beta is already live, giving players a good taste of what to expect. Among all the new content on the plate, Player Housing easily steals the spotlight, offering not only a fun feature to play with, but also serious gold-making potential.
In this guide, we’ll break down the basics of the new housing system and explore the main ways you can use it to earn gold.
Player Housing Explained
Player Housing is a brand-new feature introduced in the upcoming Midnight expansion.
After completing a short introductory questline, players will gain the ability to purchase their own home in one of the in-game private or public neighbourhoods. Each Warband can own up to two homes: one for Alliance and one for Horde.
Your home is fully customizable; you can decorate both the interior and exterior, adjust layouts, and create a space that fits your personal style. One of the main ways to give your home a distinctive look is through housing decor items, which can be crafted via professions or purchased from the Auction House. Since these items are tradeable and already selling extremely well, they can easily be turned into a reliable source of gold, even before Midnight’s official release.
What You Need to Craft Housing Decor
At the time of writing, there are 243 profession-based decor items available.
They can be created just like all other craftable items, as long as you have the correct profession, the appropriate skill level for that profession, and the right recipe learned.
Housing decor recipes are tied to expansions and can be purchased from that expansion’s profession trainers. For example, a Battle for Azeroth Alchemy trainer will sell recipes for BfA-themed alchemy decor items; other expansions follow the same logic. None of these recipes requires maxing out a profession. You only need a specific expansion skill level, no more than 80% of that expansion’s maximum.
Recipes are sold for gold, Resonance Crystals, and sometimes other currencies. If you’re short on starting capital, you can always buy cheap WoW gold at WowVendor to help fund your crafts and get properly ready for Midnight.
Here’s a full list of all decor recipe vendors:
- Cooking: Arthodas, Auditor Balwurz, Erugosa, Chef Au’krut, “Cap’n” Byron Mehlsack, T’sarah the Royal Chef, Yan Ironpaw, Arsenio Zerep, Kraank
- Alchemy: Tarig, Conflago, Elixirist Au’pyr, Clever Kumali, Elric Whalgrene, Deucus Valdera, Joshua Alvarez, Katherine Joplin, Poisoncrafter Kill’zit, Linzy Blackbolt, Apothecary Antonivich, Alchemist Gribble, Yelmak, Lilyssia Nightbreeze
- Blacksmithing: Darean, Metalshaper Kuroko, Smith Au’Berk, Forgemaster Zak’aal, Grix “Ironfists” Barlow, Alard Schmied, Nonn Threeratchet, Royce Bigbeard, Len the Hammer, Orland Schaeffer, Rohok, Humphry, Kelgruk Bloodaxe, Therum Deepforge
- Enchanting: Nagad, Soragosa, Imbuer Au’vresh, Enchantress Quinni, Emily Fairweather, Enchanter Nalthanis, Ged’kah, Bob, Lai the Spellpaw, Johan Barnes, Felannia, Godan, Lucan Cordell
- Engineering: Thermalseer Arhdas, Clinkyclick Shatterboom, Machinist Au’gur, Shuga Blastcaps, Layla Evenkeel, Timofey Oshenko, Nik Steelrings, Sean Catchpole, Sally Fizzlefury, Technician Mihila, Engineer Sinbei, Lilliam Sparkspindle, Roxxik
- Inscription: Brrigan, Talendara, Scribe Au’tehshi, Zooey Inksprocket, Chronicler Kizani, Professor Pallin, Maru’sa, Joao Calhandro, Inkmaster Wei, Recorder Lidio or Scribe Lanloer, Catarina Stanford, Nerog
- Jewelcrafting: Makir, Tuluradormi, Appraiser Au’vesk, Samuel D. Colton III, Seshuli, Artificer Harlaan, Kaevan Highwit, Timothy Jones, Mai the Jade Shaper, Kalaen, Tatiana, Theresa Denman, Lugrah
- Leatherworking: Marbb, Hideshaper Koruz, Tanner Au’qil, Xanjo, Cassandra Brennor, Namha Moonwater, Artificer Harlaan, Garm Gladestride, Clean Pelt, Diane Cannings, Darmari, Karolek, Simon Tanner
- Tailoring: Kotag, Threadfinder Pax, Stitcher Au’phes, Daniel Brineweaver, Pin’jin the Patient, Tanithria, Steven Cochrane, Petir Starocean, Silkmaster Tsai, Charles Worth, Hama, Dalinna, Georgio Bolero, Magar
Lumber
On top of expansion-specific reagents and materials, every housing decor recipe uses a brand-new Warbound material called Lumber.
Lumber gathering is unlocked during the Player Housing introduction campaign through a dedicated quest. This quest must be completed on each character you plan to farm Lumber with.
To actually start gathering and see Lumber nodes on your minimap, you’ll need to buy a Harvesting Hatchet from your housing vendor: Xiz’ro for Horde players and Lestia Goldenstrike for Alliance players. Once you have the hatchet, right-click it to activate, and then simply start chopping trees marked with a glowing axe icon to collect your Lumber.
There are 12 different Lumber types, each tied to a specific expansion. At the time of writing, you can farm 11 types; the Midnight’s Thalassian Lumber is not yet available. Each Lumber type can only be gathered in zones from its respective expansion. For example, Dornic Fir Lumber from The War Within can only be gathered in Khaz Algar zones, including K’aresh.
Two Ways to Make Gold with Decor Items
The first way to profit from Player Housing is crafting and selling the actual decor items. Demand for these pieces is already huge, and it’s expected to increase when Midnight launches. Players will want to fully explore the new system, but since decor pieces require multiple professions and a wide range of different materials to make, many will prefer to just buy finished goods rather than spend time crafting everything themselves. On top of that, housing decor will naturally attract collectors, who are aiming to get as many unique items as possible.
Tip: Try to keep at least one item of every available decor piece listed for sale. The more varied your selection, the higher your chances of making consistent sales.
Selling materials is another solid way to make money on the housing system. Crafters will constantly need raw mats for the decor, so you can make a good buck by providing them with cloth, ores, herbs, and other crafting reagents.
Here are two examples of good Mining farms that are performing well right now:
- Dark Iron Ore: Dark Iron Bars currently sell for around 300-500 gold each, while the ore itself goes for about 50 gold per piece. This material is used to craft decor items like the Blackrock Lamppost, Steel Ironforge Emblem, and Shadowforge Sconce. Dark Iron can be farmed in Blackrock Depths and Molten Core.
- Storm Silver Ore: Storm Silver sits at roughly 30 gold per ore. It can be farmed in Tiragarde Sound, Vol’dun, Stormsong Valley, and other zones. This ore is required for decor items such as the Brennadam Grinder and Boralus-Style Lobster Platter.
Selling mats for decor items can be either your main gold-making strategy if you don’t want to bother with recipe hunting and crafting, or a great side income alongside your own crafts. Just remember to keep an eye on material prices on the Auction House to know what’s actually worth farming and when it’s better to sell.
Which Decor Items Are the Most Profitable?
The most profitable housing decor will always depend on your realm and the current state of the market. That’s why we highly recommend doing a bit of research before committing to a craft. Look at the item’s selling price, how much Lumber it requires (less is better), what additional materials are needed, and how expensive or easy they are to obtain. Based on that, you can decide whether crafting that item is actually worth your time and gold. To calculate crafting costs and potential profit, you can use CraftSim. This addon shows all the reagent prices in a simulation mode and highlights the most profitable recipes for each profession. TradeSkillMaster (TSM) is another extremely useful tool: it helps you track material prices, manage crafting costs, group items for sale, and easily automate much of your Auction House workflow.
