The first thing to know is that, unlike the elemental essences found in Azeroth, the primaries are made from collecting motes in Outland. 10 motes of a specific type will be combined into 1 primary. Converting 10 motes to primaries does not require any special skills. Anyone can combine specks into primaries.
There are 7 different types of specks. The 7 basic types of motes are earth, water, air, fire, shadow, life, and mana. This guide will tell you EXACTLY where the best place to grow each individual type is, as well as provide alternative locations in case the main location is crowded. Let us begin.
EARTH MOTE: BY FAR, the best source of dirt is mining. Fel Iron Nodes spew speck of dirt at an INCREDIBLE rate. Several times I have obtained a full primal from a Fel Iron Node. Unfortunately, not everyone is a miner. If you are not a miner, Shattered Rumblers in Nagrand is your best option.
The drop rate is decent, the mob density is light to medium (perfect for mid-60s characters), and they spread out over a large area so you don’t run out of mobs. A great advantage for them being in Nagrand is the Oshu’gun crystal dust.
All mobs in Nagrand have a chance to drop dust. These guys are right next to the mobs that also drop a speck of shadow. (More of that in a minute)
If this place is too crowded for you, then the Elemental Plateau in North Nagrand is a decent alternative. The main issues with Elemental Plateau are that it is ALWAYS cultivated, you MUST have a flying mount to get to it, the mobs are 70-72 and if you are on a PvP server, plan on fighting more than just elementals. The biggest advantage is that you can cultivate air, water, fire and earth all in one place. For me, the Shattered Rumblers are the easiest way to do it.
MOTE OR SHADOW: Right next to our Shattered Rumblers are the Voidspawns. These guys drop a speck of shadow at an incredible rate. I think I was getting 5-6 primaries per hour with minimal effort. Since these guys are in Nagrand, we also get the crystal dust. However, the trick of these guys is the netherweave. He was getting pile after pile of these types of netherweave, as well as the specks and crystal dust.
The alternate location for the Shadow Speck is Hellfire Peninsula across from Collapsing Voidwalker. The drop rate is similar (although not as high as Thott has on the list. The drop rate was down around patch 2.1) but the secondary drops suck. Stick with Voidspawns if possible.
An additional option for engineers is to use http://thottbot.com/i23821 on felmist clouds in Shadowmoon Valley.
MOTE OF LIFE: If you’re a herbalist, nickname of life is about as painless as collecting motes can get. The Dead Mire section of Zangamarsh (northeast corner of the map) and The Spawning Glen section (west section of the map) are speck-gathering heaven. Withered Giant, Withered Swamp Lord, Fungal Giant, and others have a 25% drop rate in Speck of Life. If you are a herbalist, you can collect the corpses for an additional chance at life. Also in The Dead Mire and Spawning Glen you’ll find plenty of ragveil and dreamy glory that also drops a dash of life.
If you are not a herbalist, no problem. The 25% drop rate still makes it pretty easy. Engineers can get Speck of Life from the same Swamp Gas Clouds that you get Speck of Water from http://thottbot.com/c17378. There are not many secondary options for life. Virtually ANY of Zanger’s elementals has a chance to drop them.
MOTE OF WATER: This is one of the few times that I will suggest going for a significantly lower sink rate because it’s simply less of a hassle to grow there in the higher rate areas.
I like Muck Spawns. While it only has a 10% sink rate, the density is medium to high and the area is HUGE. Even at level 70 with others cultivating the area, I only ran out of mobs once. At 65 they die fast and you can run around the lake that surrounds Halaa forever.
Elemental Plateau and Skettis have a much higher drop rate (triple in the case of Skettis Surgers) but the mob count is low and there are always people there. We have a PvP server, it’s hell. Shadowmoon Valley’s enraged water spirits have a high drop rate, but at only about 10 spawn points in total, it’s not worth it. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to a speck of water.
Another option for alchemists is to hit Revered with Sporeggar and get the recipe for Transmuting Primal Earth to Primal Water. However, this is only to supplement your farming as you can only do one every 24 hours.
The Zapthrottle Speck Extractor can also be used on Swamp Gas in Zangermarsh. You fishermen (or women) are not left out. You can fish a large amount of water from the pools of pure water found in most lakes. Water has MANY collection options.
MOTE OF MANA: Damn, almost everything in Netherstorm drops a speck of mana. There are so many options for growing them that it almost doesn’t matter where you go. The downside is that ALL mana is burned / drained, so for casters it sucks.
Some solid options are The Mana Wraiths outside of Area 52, Phase Hunters, and Mage Slayers / Mana Seekers.
A decent alternative is the Netherwing Rays in Shadowmoon Valley. The BIG drawback here is the elite patrols that roam all over Netherwing Ledge. Unless you’re working on the Netherwing representative for your Nether Drake mount, I wouldn’t bother farming here. Too dangerous.
Herbalists and engineers also kiss with speck of mana. Nether Dust Bushes, Nether Bloom, and Arcane Vortex also drop motes.
FIRE MOTE: One of the most difficult motes to grow due to the high cultivation rate. The two main sources of speck of fire are the raging fire spirits in Shadowmoon Valley and the scorching elementals in Blades Edge.
Of the two locations, Shadowmoon is the better option. There are many spawns, they are well laid out, and the area will comfortably support up to 3 people farming it at a time. Blades Edge is a much smaller area with fewer spawns. Additionally, at the edge of the Hand of Guldan in Shadowmoon Valley, you can defeat Earth Spirits Enraged by a Speck of Earth while waiting for the Fire Elementals to respawn.
Fire can also be collected from mining fel iron, adamantite, and nethercite nodes. Nethercite nodes have a better drop rate than fel iron or adamantite, but like the speck of mana from nether dust bushes, it can be quite dangerous to collect. I’d only use this as a source of speck of fire if you’re grinding the Netherwing rep.
MOTE OF AIR: Probably the smallest collection options of all the motes. The best place for the air speck is Shadowmoon Valley in Netherwing Pass / Alter of Shadow (lower section of the map). The density is good, but they are far enough apart not to attack multiple mobs at once. The other option is the area north of Alter of Sha’tar (upper section of the map). While you will find fewer farmers here, there is a reason. There are other garbage mobs scattered around that slow you down and complicate your farming. It is best to share the area around Netherwing Pass and the Alter of Shadow.
A much less desirable option is Nagrand. Air elementals are scattered throughout the area, but they are so far apart that taking a large amount of air out of them is highly impractical. Shadowmoon Valley is the best bet.
Engineers can collect air particles from windy clouds. These can be found in Nagrand and in Shadowmoon Valley.
The four primary elemental motes (air, fire, earth, and water) can be farmed on the Elemental Plateau in Nagrand, but as I mentioned earlier, it’s ALWAYS full of farmers and I’ve seen large-scale riots in my PvP house. server. The best part is that it sticks to my previous options for healthy and happy farming. GOOD LUCK !!