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HereFor quite a while, my only concern with the Queen's Conservatory was getting the Mogs and Mounts (mostly done). After completing my final mount I decided to dig into the lazy gold making potential of the trade materials you get from the satchels. I then built up a personal database, and recently filled in the gaps to be relatively comprehensive.
Understanding how satchels give loot:Quality Catalysts modify the satchels by adding higher quality materials to a satchel. For example a Novice Satchel that rolled Enchanting Materials would contain Sacred Shards and Soul Dust, but a Journeyman or Rare Satchel would also add in an Eternal Crystal. From my research, there is no difference in satchel yields between Journeyman (1 Catalyst) and Artisan (2 Catalyst), however this doesn't take into account the RNG of getting one of the battle pets from 2 quality catalyst upgrades. There is no quality change at 3 Catalysts, and 4 Catalysts always produced the Spirit-Tender Satchel, with is one Palatable Feast and a Flask (~600-700g).
Quantity Catalysts modify the satchels by adding both additional 'rolls' and eventually higher yields on top of additional rolls. There are 7 categories of materials that you can get from a satchel - Meat, Fish, Cloth, Enchanting, Herbs, Ore, and Leather. Without any quantity catalysts it will select 1 category of materials, and for each quantity catalyst it will give you an additional category in the satchel to a cap at 3 quantity catalysts. Note that there can be duplicates; one of my satchels today rolled Meat, Meat, Herbs, Leather. At 2 and 3 quantity catalysts, not only do you get an extra category roll, but there is an increase in materials for each category on top that applies to all rolls from that satchel.
Time Catalysts reduce the wait time on a spirit to complete from the 3 day default. 1 reduces to 2 days, 2 reduces to 1 day, and 3 reduces to the minimum of 1 hour.
Math it out, how to plant:Using US region market pricing, I found the optimal planting to be a 3 day cycle. Technically - if you were to babysit the 3 and 4 plots hourly, you could churn out more gold, particularly if you have an excess of spirits on hand. That method only gains about 300-350 gold per hour, but is fairly passive if you are logged in and can check on it regularly with minimal effort.