I haven’t done a lot of sniping since Dragonflight came out, but sometimes I get bored and want to explore ‘new’ methods of making gold, so when Indopan started talking about Azeroth Auction Assassin (Also called Azeroth Auction Ace, so they don’t show too much ass when the name shortens), I was absolutely interested.
Before we get too far, one thing to note is that this stand alone API sniper is currently behind a Patreon paywall. This isn’t completely unheard of, there are services like Zygor (publishing guides) & goblins like BilisOnyxia & Studden who put their gold making guides for sale and I certainly don’t begrudge them for it, after all, they’ve put in the work. I also realize sniping is not for everyone – and that’s OK. The best part of making gold is that there are lots of different ways to go about it, and if one method isn’t to your liking, I have no doubt that you’ll find another.
There are two common methods of sniping (if you’re not familiar with the term ‘snipe’ it just means buying something from the AH for cheap, typically before someone else can snag the deal, in this version at least). One way is by using an in-game AH addon like point blank sniper that scans your current server in live-time (TSM also has a sniper built in but I’ve found it quite slow since the release of DF, so for the purpose of this article I won’t be talking about it), and the other method uses a program outside of the game, and Blizzard’s public AH API which publishes data once an hour for all servers. You might remember when I started using Mega Alerts, I had to install Docker and follow a lengthy tutorial to get all of that up and running – Azeroth Auction Assassin works the same way, using Blizzard’s public API but it also has an entire GUI built in making it MUCH more user friendly. You create a list of items you want to purchase, with price points (you can also import your list from auctionator), and then once an hour when Blizzard publishes the AH data, it pings you on discord if anything matches the item/price you’ve set. In the screenshot above you can see I went after +speed gear. I set a price of 300g for any 421 (and higher) gear that had +speed on it (that’s what the screenshot below is showing, too). While the more common use for an API sniper is to purchase items on one server for a low price, and then sell them on another server for a higher price, for me it was a nice way to find some recipes I was missing, and some gear.
There are tutorials for everything you might need, an active discord, and a friendly community. The one question I know frequently comes up is “what should I snipe” – and honestly, this is something every goblin out there who wants to snipe has to learn for themselves. What you want to purchase, and what price point you want to purchase it at, is part of the learning process.
When you’re trying to decide what to snipe, look at the big picture. Let’s say you want to snipe pets. Look for ones that are used in teams / popular (use TSM sales rate for this) / or rare. There’s tons of sites out there that list these pets. TCG (trading card game) pets have taken a hit since they’ve been amazon prime / twitch rewards, but they’re still popular. No Longer Available (NLA) items can be popular – but Blizzard also has a history of bringing those back, so do your research. Looking to flip some raid gear? Check out the BiS gear guides over on Wowhead & Icyveins, and add those items to your list. It’s going to be trial and error. It’s still going to require time to sell the items you purchase – and a lot can happen in between there. Maybe the price will suddenly tank, or the drop rate will suddenly increase. Figuring all of that out is a big part of being a goblin, and learning what risks to take when is just a part of it. As I’ve said many times before, even just lurking in the WoW Economy Discord is a great way to pick up some tips and tricks on what to buy – and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!