Tradeskills: World of Warcraft Tradeskill Overview

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Every character in World of Warcraft can pick two tradeskills in addition to the three secondary professions: first aid, fishing and cooking. You can choose a tradeskill based on how it will benefit your character, because you think it’ll be fun or perhaps because you expect to make some money with it. Whatever the case, they’re separated into two categories: gathering and crafting, with one acting as a cross between the two styles. Many professions work well when paired, while others are just fine on their own. One thing that you need to get clear on, however, is that mastering a crafting profession is one of the most expensive activities in the game.

The crafting professions were originally balanced for a market of players in which the leveling speed was considerably slower and there were far fewer quest and instance rewards for gear. This made it so there was a relatively healthy market for low level items at all sections of the game. That market is starting to bounce back, as many low level items have unusually high costs on the auction house on most mature servers, but it’s still not where it is to make most crafting professions profitable. If you sink money into a crafting profession before you’ve finished leveling, you will put a serious damper on your ability to spend gold until much later in your adventuring career. Gathering profession, on the other hand, will help you make gold rather than dragging down your profits. For new players, it’s highly advisable to start with gathering professions and then drop one of them once you make it to the maximum level if you would like to start crafting. It will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Gathering Professions

Herbalism: Pick herbs for use in alchemy and inscription.

Mining: Extract ore from the earth for use in blacksmithing, leatherworking and jewelcrafting.

Skinning: Strip the skins from the beasts of Azeroth and beyond for use in light armor.

Crafting Professions

Alchemy: Brew potions and transmute the elements.

Blacksmithing: Hammer together weapons and heavy armor.

Enchanting: Break down magical items and use the essences to enhance your gear.

Engineering: Tinker together incredible technological creations.

Inscription: Create mystical scrolls and enhancements for spells and combat abilities.

Jewelcrafting: Prospect gems from ore, cut them and produce magical jewelery.

Leatherworking: Craft leather and mail armor along with handy magical drums.

Tailoring: Sew together magical cloth armor and handy bags for adventuring.

Secondary Professions:

Cooking: Learn to become an amazing chef.

First Aid: Create bandages from strips of cloth to keep yourself in one piece.

Fishing: Bring in a tasty haul from the lakes, streams and seas to keep yourself well fed.