Crafting is an often overlooked element of Blizzard‘s World of Warcraft. Some people feel that crafting is too much like work and that items crafted are not any better than items found or earned via battlegrounds and/or Arena PVP (Player vs Player). Though there are many items that are superior to crafted gear, not everyone wishes to play in battlegrounds for days on end for each piece of gear. Additionally, gear found throughout the world is rare andoften BoP (Bind on Pick up) and or expensive when looking at BoE (Bind on Equip) items via the auction house. Crafting your own items as you level your ‘toon’ provides an edge over those that wait for items to drop from beasts. This is helpful both in PVP and PVE (Player vs Environment). When studying the different sets of gear you will see that PVP gear, though it will help you defeat enemy players, is not so well suited for end game instances where you face a myriad of challenges.

Before we discuss the Primary Professions, there are three secondary professions that may also be learned in World of Warcraft: Cooking, First Aid, and Fishing. I can’t stress how helpful these are as you level.

1. Cooking provides food for players and hunter’s pets. (Note - Pets that won’t eat a food source due to it being too low a level may eat it once it’s cooked.) The most common Food buff provides a small bonus to stamina. Some food buffs improve healing, some increase mana regeneration rates, and some improve hunters pets. There is a level 70 daily cooking quest available from Rokk, a male Goblin in the Lower City of Shattrath.
2. First Aid can provide healing during a battle, for all classes. (Note – Healers with first aid save on mana usage during long fights as they may bandage wounded players.) If a player is attacked when bandaging then the bandage process is interrupted, so time this well for maximum benefit.
3. Fishing provides much of the food you will need for cooking and also for some Alchemy recipes. These secondary skills do take some time and effort but the results are well worth it. Hunters should be aware that not all pets eat fish, but for those that do, you will find that fishing gives you an immediate ‘free’ supply anywhere there is a lake, river, or fishable pond. There is a level 70 daily fishing quest available from the Old Man Barlo just outside Shattrath City to the north east. He is fishing by the lake.

Okay, we are going to talk about leveling and crafting. An important decision to make when selecting a character is what it will craft. A racial bonus may be a deciding factor. Blood Elves receive a +10 bonus to Enchanting. Draenei receive a +5 bonus to Jewelcrafting. Gnomes receive a +15 bonus to Engineering. Tauren receive a +15 bonus to Herbalism. Once a profession reaches 375 skill points these bonus points have no additional value. For example; a gnomish engineer with 390 engineering has access to no more patterns than any character with a 375 skill. However, with the release of the Lich King expansion those with crafting above 375 will potentially have instant access to new patterns and recipes. The Turbo Charged Flying machine is very fast but a player must be an engineer with 375 skill and have the artisan riding skill as mentioned in yellow. The Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer is an example of an item that may be sold or given to others, as long as they can use guns.

Though there are a number of primary professions a player may only choose two and when viewing them, it’s pretty clear that many go hand in hand with gathering skills. A Leatherworker should take Skinning, Blacksmiths need ore so Mining is pretty much required. Anyone that chooses to craft Engineering and Jewelcrafting together would need to purchase raw materials from the Auction house. This would not be a good balance to your character and would prove extremely costly. Thus a gathering skill and a Profession are very practical. Two professions that do not have gathering skills needed are Tailoring and Enchanting. Priests, Mages, and Warlocks that choose both of these can augment their characters throughout the leveling process very well.

Let’s take a quick look at each class and though racial bonus are a consideration, they should not sway you from making other choices.

• Druids: Wearing leathers, these characters can be formidable tanks or healers. Skinning and Leather working would go well here with a focus on Tribal Leatherworking. As these characters are so flexible in their roles, another good choice is Herbalism and Alchemy as these will provide a steady supply of potions.
• Rogues: Also leather wearers, these stealthy damage dealers will also find Skinning and Leatherworking go well to augment their character.
• Hunters and Shaman: With the ability to wear chain mail at level 40, you are almost pointed to Skinning Leatherworking with a focus on Dragonscale Leatherworking. Just as the Druid class they also gain great benefit from Herbalism and Alchemy. My personal choice is Dragonscale Leatherworking with Skinning with these charter classes.
• Priests, Mages and Warlocks: Tailoring and Enchanting are a powerful mix here. Another favorite is a Mage with Engineering. The Gnomish Death Ray is an amazing, fun and dangerous piece of equipment. Using it may kill you, but if it does not your foes are in trouble. At level 40 it is quite possible to deliver critical hits of around 4000 damage. Pretty nice surprise to any attacker on a PVP realm.
• Paladin and Warriors: Having the best armor and weapons whilst leveling is a massive advantage, thus Mining and Blacksmithing are very valuable here. The Fireguard is an example of a great tanking sword crafted by a Master Swordsmith. The weapon can be further improved as well, though at considerable cost in materials.
 



There is one profession that has been missed here and that is Jewelcrafting. It is difficult to label any one class with this profession as all classes gain great benefit from adding powerful trinkets and jewelry. Don’t forget to learn mining to go with Jewelcrafting though.

Players may not commence crafting until level five when they may select up to two primary professions to apprentice in. From this point on, collect as many resources as possible. Herbalists and Miners will need to go out of their way to pick herbs and mine ore. Often, these are seemingly protected by beasties that graze, sleep or wander the landscape. Well consider the skinner who has to defeat every beast for every skin. Each time you head to a city, go to your crafting trainers, use the collected materials, and watch your crafting slowly improve. Every time you head to a new town visit all of the vendors as some sell recipes. At level 10, players may advance to Journeyman level if they have reached a skill level of at least 50. Expert will see players requiring level 20 and a 125 skill in their chosen Profession. Artisan requires a skill level of 225 with a character level of 35. Whilst Master requires level 50 characters. A special note to consider with cooking is that a player must have a 225 skill level and be level 35 before the quest to advance further will even appear from the Goblin Cook in Gadgetzan.



When Questing throughout the world, make sure that you take every opportunity to improve your gathering skills. Failure to do so can see your character enter areas where Herbs, Ore, and Animal skins are beyond your ability to collect. Spend a little extra time in quest areas making sure that all of the gathering skill your character has advances as your character levels. This is much more efficient than having to go back to a lower area just to gather materials. An added benefit of spending a little more time in quest areas is the added experience from defeating beasties at your level or a little lower. This will minimize the actual ‘farming’ needed. Farming is simply a term applied to a player’s character when it heads to an area to gather resources.

Before going to Outland at level 58+, make sure that all of your professions are at 300 skill points. Miners without 300+ will not be able to mine in Outland. Herbalists have some herbs they can collect, but again if you wish to make the newer potions, newer herbs will be needed. Fishing can be below 300 but the chances of catching fish are greatly reduced thus causing players to spend unnecessary time as they read the message ‘Your fish got away’. That’s assuming you are not staring at the ‘Skill not high enough’ blurb. Adding various lures to improve the fishing skill will help, but the easiest path to levelling fishing is to keep it on par with your gathering and crafting professions.

This in only a brief summary of crafting and leveling within World of Warcraft. The website has much more information and goes into each Profession type in more detail.