WotLK Classic Profession Guides (2024)

Professions allow players to gather items from the world and use them tocreate items and gear that they can use or can be traded or sold to otherplayers.

In Wrath of the Lich King there are 11 primary professions and 3 secondaryprofessions. Inscription was added with the release of the Wrath ofthe Lich King expansion, allowing players to craft plenty of items that couldonly be obtained as drops before, and to craft new glyph consumables.

In addition to their main roles, each profession offers a unique bonus thatenhances your character's power, be it through additional abilities orprofession-exclusive effects. You can learn more about each of these bonusesin our guide below.

To level your professions you will be required to partake in whatever activityis associated with your profession; If you want to level yourHerbalism you must pick herbs, if you want to levelJewelcrafting you must craft gems or pieces of gear, and so on.

As your skill level increases, the rate at which you can level up changesdepending on the activity chosen. For any professions that use recipes of anykind, the recipes will be displayed in the profession window with a color thatcorresponds with your skill level. As you increase your skill level, lower levelrecipes will change color fromOrange toYellow toGreen and, eventually, toGrey.

• Orange recipes will always grant askill up when crafted unless you are at the maximum skill allowed for your levelbracket or profession training level.
• Yellow recipes will typically give you askill level when crafted, but there is a chance that it will not.
• Green recipes will usually not give youa skill level when crafted so unless the recipe you are crafting isexceptionally cheap it is typically not worth crafting these if your intentionis to level your profession skill.
• Grey recipes are too low of level andcannot grant skill ups.

The color of recipes will change as your profession skill rises so be carefulof crafting too many of the same recipe if your intention is to level yourprofession as they will likely change color after several crafts.

For gathering professions you will see the color displayed on the tooltip ofthe node/mob that you wish to gather from. If it is Red then your skill level istoo low and you will not be able to harvest from it.

There are multiple ways to categorize professions for Wrath of the LichKing.

• Gathering professions — These professions are mainly used to gatherin the open world and are often used as reagents for other professions.
• Crafting professions — Using the materials used by gathering professionsor drops throughout the world you can create powerful equippable gear, consumables,or items for yourself or other players.
• Secondary professions — there is no restriction on which secondary professionsyou can learn. You can learn all three.

Listed below we have sorted professions into their assigned categories, basedon their status as primary or secondary professions and their utilization in game.

Gathering professions work differently than crafting professions. A gatheringprofession focuses entirely on collecting materials rather than making items.These professions are typically paired with a crafting profession or used forthe express purpose of making gold from selling raw materials.

Herbalism allows players to harvest herbs throughout the world andin dungeons. These herbs are needed by both Alchemy andInscription as they both use herbs as their main source ofmaterials. Herbs are in constant demand for end-game consumables such as flasksand potions, making Herbalism a great money-making profession.

Mining allows players to mine ore and gems from veins foundthroughout the world and in dungeons. Mining also grants you theSmelting ability, turning ore into much more desirable metal bars.

Jewelcrafting, Blacksmithing, andEngineering are all strong complements to Mining as theywill fully utilize the materials you harvest while mining from nodes. Otherwise,Mining can be used as a great source of goldmaking from simplyselling to ore or metal bars directly to other players.

WotLK also gives players with Mining a unique buff,Toughness. The stamina granted by this buff will scale dependingon your Mining level, giving you more the higher you are. Thisturns Mining purely from a farming profession into something thatoffers stats in combat.

Skinning allows players to skin corpses of certain monsters typesin the world to obtain leather, hides, scales and plenty of other items. Thesematerials are needed in many end-game item crafts, mostly used by theLeatherworking profession. This makes Skinning a greatcombo with Leatherworking as the two professions go hand-in-handtogether.

WotLK also gives players with Skinning a unique buff,Master of Anatomy. The Critical Strike rating granted by this buff willscale depending on your Skinning level, giving you more the higheryou are. This turns Skinning purely from a farming profession intosomething that offers stats in combat.

Crafting professions focus on turning raw materials into items, consumables,and gear. Many of these professions are desired in end-game content for theperks they offer, as well as the crafted items they can make. These professionsare best paired with a gathering professionto fuel their material needs.

Alchemy allows players to use herbs and various other reagents inspecific vials to create a variety of potions, flasks, and other consumables thatcan be used to bolster your power in combat. In WotLK, Alchemyalso grants players Mixology, increasing the stats you gain from flasks andelixirs.

Herbalism is a strong complement to Alchemy if youchoose it as one of your primary professions, as herbs are the main component tomost Alchemy recipes.

With Blacksmithing, players can craft powerful weapons and armorfor Plate wearers (Warriors, Death Knights, and Paladins).In WotLK, Blacksmithing also grants you Socket Bracer andSocket Gloves, allowing you to add up to 2 additional sockets to yourpowerful end-game gear.

Mining is a strong complement to Blacksmithing if youchoose it as one of your primary professions, as metal bars are the maincomponent to most Blacksmithing recipes.

Enchanting allows players to bolster the equipment they alreadyhave with powerful enchantments that add stats to specific pieces of gear.Enchanting is unique in that the materials used for it cannot begathered by traditional means; instead, you get the dust, shards, and crystals that youneed by Disenchanting items of Uncommon quality or higher.WotLK also gives Enchanters access to ring enchants that cannot be obtained byany other means.

Enchanting is a strong compliment to any other craftingprofession because you are able to Disenchant anything you craft that you maynot end up using or needing, effectively recycling the materials into enchantingmaterials.

While Engineering is a crafting profession, you do not craft inthe same way that most other professions do. The vast majority of the items youwill be crafting with Engineering are situationally useful gadgets,bombs and explosives for combat, and some fun and cool toys.

Mining is a strong complement to Engineering if youchoose it as one of your primary professions, as metal bars and stones are themain components to most Engineering recipes.

Inscription is the newest profession being introduced in WotLK.Inscription uses Milling to grind herbs into inks, using these inksfor a wide array of crafts. The main feature of Inscription are theglyphs; a means to enhance some of your most powerful spells to newstrengths.

WotLK also gives players with Inscription access to powerful shoulderenchants that can not be obtained in any other manner. These shoulder enchantsfar exceed the regular enchants that are available to all players, making them agreat perk.

Herbalism is a strong complement to Inscription ifyou choose it as one of your primary professions, as herbs are the main componentto most Inscription recipes.

Jewelcrafting allows the ability to create Gems that grant statbonuses in gear that have open sockets. Jewelcrafting can also craftpowerful pieces of equipment to fill the Neck, Ring, and Trinket slots.

WotLK gives players with Jewelcrafting access to powerful gems,allowing up to 3 of these unique gems to be socketed into gear. There is a hugeselection of gems available, allowing you to pick and choose which stat you wantto improve. These gems far exceed the regular gems that are available to allplayers.

Mining is a strong complement to Jewelcrafting if youchoose it as one of your primary professions, as you will be prospecting Ore toget the gems you will need.

Leatherworking allows players to create powerful Leather and Mailarmor as well as item enhancements for specific gear slots that no otherprofession can offer.

WotLK also gives players with Leatherworking access to powerful bracerenchants. These bracer enchants far exceed the regular enchants that areavailable to all players, making them a great perk.

Skinning is a strong complement to Leatherworking ifyou choose it as one of your primary professions, as Leather is the maincomponent to most Leatherworking recipes.

Tailoring allows players to create powerful Cloth armor as wellas item enhancements for specific gear slots that can other profession canoffer. Specializations remain a part of Tailoring in WotLK, but muchless important than before. Being a tailor also gives you theNorthern Cloth Scavenging perk, allowing you to get additional cloth fromhumanoids you kill.

WotLK additionally gives players with Tailoring access to powerful cloakenchants. These cloak enchants far exceed the regular enchants that areavailable to all players, making them a great perk.

Tailoring is almost entirely independent of any other profession as theprimary component for most tailoring recipes is cloth which drops from humanoidthroughout the world.

Secondary professions are professions that do not take up one of the twomain profession slots, allowing anyone to have them in addition to their twomain professions.

Cooking allows you to craft food that can grant many unique andpowerful buffs. The reagents required for cooking are typically foundfrom killing mobs so there is no other profession required to effectively levelyour own cooking, however Fishing is a strong complement as thereare some recipes that require reagents that can only be gathered by Fishing.

Fishing allows players to catch fish in waters all over theworld, as well as various treasures from wreckage. Some of the fish foundthrough Fishing is needed to make high-end food that is desired forend-game PvE content, giving Fishing a decent potential to makegold. Cooking is a strong complement to Fishing as manyof the fish you catch while leveling your Fishing skill will go towaste if not used to level your Cooking at the same time.

First Aid allows for players to craft bandages from cloth,healing a moderate amount of damage over a short, channeled cast. These bandagesare great in many different situations, being useful from leveling all the wayinto end-game PvE and PvP content. Classes without the ability to self-heal willespecially find First Aid useful as this profession will allow you toheal yourself very quickly rather than needing to eat food.