Since level 85 isn’t the highest level anymore, and 5-man Cataclysm instances are now pretty much soloable, this makes The Vortex Pinnacle an excellent spot for farming Volatile Air. Even though you won’t make tons of gold here, this is an excellent (maybe the best) way to gather this crafting material, in case you need it for your professions, or simply to sell at AH.
Requirements:
- Minimum level 90;
- Flying mount;
- Flight Master’s License;
- AoE spec.
Where to go:
Use the portal in your main city (Stormwind for Alliance, and Orgrimmar for Horde), to teleport to Ramkahen (55,33) in Uldum. From there, go south-east, and fly all the way up into the Vortex Pinnacle (75,85).
What to do:
Enter the Vortex Pinnacle, start grinding on the air elemental mobs, and loot everything they drop. You don’t have to clear the instance. Just clear all the mobs except the two dragon mini-bosses, all the way up to the second boss, Altairus.
Once you defeat Altairus, go to the edge of the platform and jump off. This will teleport you to the entrance of the instance. Exit, reset and repeat.
Loot:
You should get 100 Volatile Air after about 6-7 runs, which shouldn’t be more than 30-35 minutes played. The following loot was gathered within 35 minutes, and 7 runs.
Volatile Air x 103 = 12g / each = 1236g 
Green Item x 17 = 50g / each = 850g
Blue (BoE) Item x 1 = 100g
Cash (after selling the thrash and blue BoP gear): 384g
TOTAL: 2570g after 35 min.
Tips:
It’s best to sell the blue BoP items to a merchant rather than disenchant them. Some of them are more than 20g. If you disenchant them, you will get Small Heavenly Shards, which have a pretty low value.
By disenchanting the green gear you will get Hypnotic Dust and Lesser Celestial Essences. However, it’s still better to sell the greens at AH, for around 50g each. Some of the greens and even some of the grey items look nicely, and can be sold for over 100-200g.
The second boss in Vortex Pinnacle – Alrairus – has a small chance to drop a flying mount – Reins of the Drake of the North Wind, which also can drop in normal mode, not just heroic. With a little bit of luck, you will also get this mount. However, it is BoP.
If you have Engineering, you can sometimes increase the value of Volatile Air, by crafting and selling Electrified Ether.
Also, you can bring along a Potion of Treasure Finding, for extra loot.
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