Mystic Binding Agent

News of people purchasing the Mystic Binding Agents has started to come in on the forums (eg, here and here). The word is that they work as I predicted: one Mystic Binding Agent replaces one Elonian Wine in the Rare Materials promotion formula. But, wait! It is more complicated then that! You can used the Mystic Binding Agents to batch together promotions of lower tier materials. Today I would like to discuss the consequences for using these item and discuss whether the are worth buying.

*Edit* This article was revised on February 6th, 2013 based on new information that was learned.

Mystic Binding Agents

Firstly, a package of ten Mystic Binding Agents can be obtained from the laurels vendor for ten laurels. On February 6th, 2013 I purchased the Mystic Binding Agents to determine exactly how they work. I have since gone through and edited this article to reflect what I learned.

Is it worth using your laurels to get Mystic Binding Agents? Laurels can be converted into a number of different items which can then be converted into gold. Depending on the route you take you can end up with ten Unidentified Dyes (worth about 1.8 gold) for five Laurels, two pieces of rare gear (worth 80 - 100 silver) with a chance at an exotic also for five Laurels, 3 fine crafting materials (worth 15 - 45 silver) for one Laurel. Obtaining the Mystic Binding agents which each replace an Elonian Wine worth about 25 silver is comparable, but you have other options with the Mystic Binding Agents as well. The following formula are possible.

8 Slivers + 1 Mystic Binding Agent + 1 Crystal + 1 Pile of Radiant Dust = 4 Fragments

6 Fragments + 1 Mystic Binding Agents + 1 Crystal + 1 Pile of Luminous Dust = 3 Shards

4 Shards + 1 Mystic Binding Agent + 1 Crystal + 1 Pile of Incandescent Dust = 2 Cores

2 Cores + 1 Mystic Binding Agent + 1 Crystal + 1 Pile of Crystalline Dust = 1 Lodestone

This allows players to batch together promotions, thus spending less dust, and crystals to achieve the same results. Also not having the pay for the multiple Elonian Wine opens up a host of possibilities. I have done some calculations and currently, by promoting 6 Charged Fragments into 3 Charged Shards you could profit by 80 silver per Mystic Binding Agent or 130 silver per Skill Point. That is a largest profit I have seen, thus far. Thus, as a way to generate additional gold Mystic Binding Agents are viable.

Of course there are other things you can spend your Laurels on that you can not get any where else. It will be up to you to decide what you want to obtain with your Laurels, more gold or unique items like mini-pets, ascended amulets, infusions, etc. My article on laurels takes a look at all the things you can obtain currently and might help you decide.

I am interested to see if how these will effect the overall markets for all Rare Materials. Mystic Binding agents have made promoting the lower materials profitable which you can see in my promotions spreadsheet. You can also promote through multiple tiers to make a profit. For example, just doing some quick math you could promote 6 Charged Fragments, into 3 Charged Shards, into 1.5 Charged Cores, into 0.75 Charged Lodestone. Yes, I only made a fraction of a lodestone, so obviously you would need to run these promotions multiple times in order to get a full stone. We can use this to calculate how much it would cost to make a full stone though. Since 75% of a lodestone costs 3 Binding Agents and 120 silver in materials, 100% of one would cost 4 Binding Agents and 160 silver. If I had done this without Mystic Binding Agents it would have cost about 325 silver to make the same Charged Lodestone. A Charged Lodestone sells for about 300-350 silver.

As you can see the Mystic Binding Agents make the market much more dynamic and interconnected. At the moment, in my opinion, there are better things to spend your laurels on. If, however, you just want to convert your laurels into gold there are some extremely profitable channels available to you (see my spreadsheet below). In the future, though, this system will really come into its own. Eventually, laurels will be a less valuable commodity and more people will be looking to turn them into gold and then we will see large numbers of people playing the market converting one type of material into another.

Updated Spreadsheet

I made a quick update to my spreadsheet showing the profits to be made from promoting crafting materials to reflect your option to use the Mystic Binding Agents. On the detailed view I have added a column showing profits to be earned per attempt and per skill point if you were to use the Mystic Binding Agent. The formula needs some tweaks to properly reflect all potential profits, but right now it is the minimum you will earn.

I have also added another option to the risk assessment on the simplified view which will trigger if there is only profit to be made if you use the Mystic Binding Agent. You will see this as "See Binding Agent [6]". This means that there is only profit to be made using this promotion formula if you use a Mystic Binding Agent. Since this only applies to the Rare Materials I have left the cells related to Fine and Common crafting materials blank. Using this players should be able to spot opportunities to promote materials and gain the most for their laurels and skill points.

I have added a test page to the spreadsheet which attempts to calculate the profits from these new  promotions. At the moment, if my calculations are correct, you can make about 70-80 silver in the best case at the moment. Check the new tab on the spreadsheet titled, "*Testing* MBA Promotion Tables". This is very much a work in progress, but I am fairly confidant about the profit calculations now that I have got my hands on the Mystic Binding Agent myself and seen how it is used.

Conclusions

In general, I do not think people will be rushing to spend their Laurels on Mystic Binding Agents. Most people will still be interested in going after the unique items that are currently not obtainable any other way. Still though, I think enough people will be interested in obtaining cheap Lodestones or just making gold that we will see prices continue to come down just nothing dramatic. Over time as people obtain the unique rewards the laurel vendor has to offer gold making schemes will become relevant again. Arena Net has also stated that at some point down the road we will be able to obtain laurels from other achievements besides dailies and monthlies. At that point I would expect the Mystic Binding Agents to be much more relevant. 

A lot of people feel let down by the Mystic Binding Agents as they assumed they would be a quick fix to the high prices of the Lodestones. It is understandable to be disappointed but often players need to check their expectations. Seeing how much gold could be earned per Laurel for the other items should have led players to the conclusion that the Mystic Binding Agent would be worth a similar amount. 

Players also need to start checking their expectations regarding any "fixes" coming to the Lodestone prices at all. It is still debatable whether there is a problem in the first place. Arena Net has not stated any plans to attempt to lower prices of rare crafting materials. I would advise players to think realistically and expect that any changes that are made to these markets will be small and measured. Also, start thinking longer term. I do not think we have seen all the implications of the laurel system on the prices of lodestones yet.

What do you think about these new items? Will you be spending your Laurels to obtain them or are you saving for something else? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks to TobranEarnwood's video below for setting me on the path to realizing that there was more to these Mystic Binding Agents then we first thought.