Volador
04-21-2010, 09:19 AM
****This is a work in progress. I am posting the first portion in hopes of getting feedback, while I continue working on it****
Each profession currently available offers the player something. The benefits of professions are economic or stat-based (some also offer a couple of self-only items). The question comes up quite frequently which tradeskill is best for my class/role. The answer is most often given based on min/max stat based answers without regard for any of the other benefits. In this post I will list each benefit of every profession. In the interest of those that aren't completely into min/maxing or earning gold I will also include a section in this guide to highlight the *perks* of each profession.
Stat-Based Bonuses:
Alchemy: Alchemy’s bonus is Mixology (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=53042). Mixology causes each flask to have an increased duration (doubled) and effect on flasks that you can create (if you do not have the skill level, you will not get the bonuses).
Flask of the Frost Wyrm (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46376) grants 162 SP vs 125 SP. (+47 SP)
Flask of Stoneblood (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46379) grants 1950 health vs 1300. (+650 health)
Flask of Endless Rage (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46377) grants 260 AP vs 180 AP. (+80 AP)
Flask of Pure Mojo (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46378) grants 65 Mp5 vs 45 Mp5. (+20 Mp5)
Because normal flasks are unusable in arenas, alchemists also get Flask of the North (http://www.wowhead.com/item=47499) which can be used in Arena, and provides a similar buff as above to be used there.
Blacksmithing: Blacksmithing grants additional sockets in the bracers (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55628) and gloves (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55641). The two additional sockets can be used for ANY gem and do not interfere with socket bonuses. The stat bonus here can be anything from +60 stam, +40 Str/Agi/ArPen, +80 AP, +46 SP, etc. Versatility is a key point to BS, as several classes change stat weight depending on their current gearing/spec.
Enchanting: Enchanting's bonus comes from ring enchants.
There are 3 varieties:
Enchant Ring - Stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=59636) grants +30 Stam per ring (+60 Stam)
Enchant Ring - Assault (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=44645) grants +40 AP per ring (+80 AP)
Enchant Ring - Great Spellpower (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=44636) grants +23 SP per ring (+46 SP)
Engineering: Engineering bonuses are situational but FUN. If used effectively, the bonuses will provide roughly the same bonuses as the other professions. If not properly managed, you can end up hindering yourself.
Replacement "enchants" for engineering include
Cloaks; Flexweave (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55002) and Springy (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=63765)
Gloves; rockets (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=54998), accelerators (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=54999), and armor webbing (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=63770)
Boots; nitro boosts (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55016)
Helms; mind amplification dish (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=67839).
The other added bonus is BOMBS (http://www.wowhead.com/item=41119).
These bonuses are varied and have secondary effects (no more falling deaths, getting out of the fire quicker, BLOWING STUFF UP!, etc). Overall stat bonuses are a little challenging to measure, and as such, I'd highly recommend checking your class/role threads on Tankspot, Elitist Jerks, or the official forums for their equivalency values.
Herbalism: Lifeblood (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55503) is Herbalism's only bonus. It can be cast while stealth/shadowmeld/Invis without breaking stealth or giving away your loocation. It can be cast while shapeshifted without breaking the shift (Druids in flight form included). It is also off the GCD. A small 3.6k/5 sec heal is not overly valuable in raiding. It might save you occasionally, but not reliably. It can be a great boon to a character without heals, though. Questing with this will reduce downtime.
Inscription: Inscriptions's bonuses come in the way of better shoulder enchants. In addition to being better, they also require no rep grind (this is not such a concern now with BoA shoulder enchants). The shoulder enchants provided by inscription are: Master's Inscription of the Axe (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61117), Master's Inscription of the Crag (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61118), Master's Inscription of the Pinnacle (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61119), and Master's Inscription of the Storm (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61120). Compared to their counterparts they provide: Axe +80 AP, Crag/Storm +46 SP, Pinnacle +40 dodge rating.
Jewelcrafting: The bonuses for jewelcrafting come from dragon's eyes. Three total dragon's eyes can be used in equipped gear. Some examples of dragon's eyes: strength (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42142), agility (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42143), AP (http://www.wowhead.com/item=36766), SP (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42144), stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/item=36767), and ArPen (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42153). The total bonuses for the examples listed are: +42 Str/Agi/ArPen, +84 AP, +48 SP, and +63 stamina. Just like blacksmithing, a key benefit to jewelcrafting is versatility.
Leatherworking: Leatherworking has a couple of beneficial self-enchants. There are three bracer enchants available: Attack Power (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=57683), Spell Power (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=57691), and Stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=57690). Compared to their alternatives, they provide +80 AP, +46 SP, or +62 stamina. Another nice benefit of leatherworking are thier self-only leg enchants. Each saves 2 arctic furs and 1 frozen orb for melee or tanks.
Mining: Mining's bonus is toughness (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=53040). It provides +60 stamina passively. It is always on, and not a profession based enchant like most of the other bonuses. Typically, this bonus is reserved for tanks in a raiding environment, but PvPers will find benefits as well.
Skinning: Like mining, skinning's bonus is passive. The name of the bonus is Master of Anatomy (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=53666). It provides +40 crit rating.
Tailoring: Tailoring is another profession that has bonuses that are more challenging to put a static weight too. They also come in the form of cloak enchants: Darkglow Embroidery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55769), Lightweave Embroidery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55642), and Swordguard Embroidery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55777). Each is a proc with an internal cooldown. Again, checking your class/role thread on Tankspot, Elitist Jerks, or the official forum will probably yield the best result for the weights of these enchants. Also, like leatherworking, leg enchants (this time for casters) are less expensive. You save 4 Eternal Lifes/Fires, 4 Iceweb Spider Silks, and 1 Frozen Orb.
Summary of stat bonuses: Going back through the list of the professions, you'll see that most of them have very similiar bonuses. It is my opinion that the baseline is: +80 AP, +46 SP, or +60 stamina. Using that as a baseline for melee, caster, and tanks (in that order) we end up with the following results:
Alchemy: Melee (Baseline), Caster (+1 SP), Tanks (-60 Stam/+650 Health)
Blacksmithing: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (Baseline) ***Very Important Note: The versatility of Blacksmithing should NOT be undervalued.***
Enchanting: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (Baseline)
Engineering: ***This tradeskill is challenging to measure, and an be beneficial for any role.***
Herbalism: ***The stat weight of a self heal is not valued under normal circumstances. There are no other stat bonuses to this profession.***
Inscription: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (-60 Stam/+40 Dodge)
Jewelcrafting: Melee (+4 AP), Caster (+2 SP), Tanks (+3 Stam) ***Very Important Note: The versatility of Jewelcrafting should NOT be undervalued.***
Leatherworking: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (+2)
Mining: Melee (no bonus), Caster (no bonus), Tanks (Baseline) ***PvP values of this tradeskill are not weighted.***
Skinning: Melee (-80 AP/+40 Crit), Caster (-46 SP/+40 Crit), Tanks (no bonus)
Tailoring: ***This tradeskill is variable based on cooldowns. It also seems to be less valuable for tanks.***
Economic Bonuses: The most important thing to keep in mind about economic bonuses is that every server is different. What works on one server might not work on another (or a different faction on the same server).
Alchemy: Alchemy has a couple of economic bonuses. There are a couple of masteries that you can go to increase the benefit of these bonuses: They are transmutation mastery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=28672), elixir mastery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=28677), and (to a lesser extent) potion mastery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=28675).
The key gold making abilities that Alchemy has are:
Transmuting rare gems + eternals into epic gems. Cardinal Rubies (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=66659) for example. Transmutation mastery will allow procs of up to 5 total gems from one transmute. This ability is on a 20 hour cooldown, and as such has a limited total profit.
Transmute Titanium (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=60350), on the other hand, has no cooldown, and can be used as often as possible. Again, trasmutation mastery will allow up to 5 titanium from one transmute. This transmute (especially with procs) is only limited to server economy for profit.
Elixer masters can make their greatest profit by creating flasks. A normal flask creation will be awarded with two flasks. Elixer masters can proc (in increments of two) up to a total of ten flasks with each combine. There is no limit to the number of flasks you can create, so again, the only limitation is server economy.
Potions of Speed (http://www.wowhead.com/item=40211) and possibly mana/health potions are the only craftable that potion masters can turn a profit on. A potion master can proc a total of 5 potions with each combine.
Blacksmithing:
Enchanting:
Engineering: Engineering have several ways to make gold. Harvesting with a mote extractor (http://www.wowhead.com/item=23821) is one quick way. Salvaging mechanical mobs can save gold (or in some cases earn gold).
Herbalism: Gathering professions have the inherent collection method of making gold. In addition to that herbalism has a rare drop chance on several of it's resource nodes. Frost lotus (http://www.wowhead.com/item=36908) is the current/valuable one. These rare drops tend to drop in value as each new expansion is release.
Inscription:
Jewelcrafting:
Leatherworking:
Mining: Gathering professions have the inherent collection method of making gold. In addition to that, mining has rare resource nodes. Titanium veins (http://www.wowhead.com/object=191133) are this expansion's rare. Mining can also benefit from smelt titansteel (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55208). As with herbalism, both titanium ore and titansteel will probably drop in value once Cataclysm is released.
Skinning: Gathering professions have the inherent collection method of making gold. Skinning also benefits from a chance at arctic fur (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44128) from Northrend skinning.
Tailoring:
*PERKS*: Perks are what makes professions fun, or valuable to the player without regard to gold or end-game stat bonuses.
Alchemy: Once Mixology is acquired, alchemists gain bonuses for all of the elixers they use (that they can also make), making it worthwhile to craft/use stat gaining elixers while levelling. In addition to that, alchemists can gain an item level 200 rare-level trinket. The three varieties are: Mighty (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44324), Mercurial (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44322), and Indestructible (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44323). In addition to being decent levelling trinkets, they have the added effect of making health/mana pots grant 40% more. That can significantly reduce downtime.
Blacksmithing:
Enchanting:
Engineering:
Herbalism:
Inscription:
Jewelcrafting:
Leatherworking:
Mining:
Skinning:
Tailoring:
Each profession currently available offers the player something. The benefits of professions are economic or stat-based (some also offer a couple of self-only items). The question comes up quite frequently which tradeskill is best for my class/role. The answer is most often given based on min/max stat based answers without regard for any of the other benefits. In this post I will list each benefit of every profession. In the interest of those that aren't completely into min/maxing or earning gold I will also include a section in this guide to highlight the *perks* of each profession.
Stat-Based Bonuses:
Alchemy: Alchemy’s bonus is Mixology (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=53042). Mixology causes each flask to have an increased duration (doubled) and effect on flasks that you can create (if you do not have the skill level, you will not get the bonuses).
Flask of the Frost Wyrm (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46376) grants 162 SP vs 125 SP. (+47 SP)
Flask of Stoneblood (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46379) grants 1950 health vs 1300. (+650 health)
Flask of Endless Rage (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46377) grants 260 AP vs 180 AP. (+80 AP)
Flask of Pure Mojo (http://www.wowhead.com/item=46378) grants 65 Mp5 vs 45 Mp5. (+20 Mp5)
Because normal flasks are unusable in arenas, alchemists also get Flask of the North (http://www.wowhead.com/item=47499) which can be used in Arena, and provides a similar buff as above to be used there.
Blacksmithing: Blacksmithing grants additional sockets in the bracers (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55628) and gloves (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55641). The two additional sockets can be used for ANY gem and do not interfere with socket bonuses. The stat bonus here can be anything from +60 stam, +40 Str/Agi/ArPen, +80 AP, +46 SP, etc. Versatility is a key point to BS, as several classes change stat weight depending on their current gearing/spec.
Enchanting: Enchanting's bonus comes from ring enchants.
There are 3 varieties:
Enchant Ring - Stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=59636) grants +30 Stam per ring (+60 Stam)
Enchant Ring - Assault (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=44645) grants +40 AP per ring (+80 AP)
Enchant Ring - Great Spellpower (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=44636) grants +23 SP per ring (+46 SP)
Engineering: Engineering bonuses are situational but FUN. If used effectively, the bonuses will provide roughly the same bonuses as the other professions. If not properly managed, you can end up hindering yourself.
Replacement "enchants" for engineering include
Cloaks; Flexweave (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55002) and Springy (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=63765)
Gloves; rockets (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=54998), accelerators (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=54999), and armor webbing (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=63770)
Boots; nitro boosts (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55016)
Helms; mind amplification dish (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=67839).
The other added bonus is BOMBS (http://www.wowhead.com/item=41119).
These bonuses are varied and have secondary effects (no more falling deaths, getting out of the fire quicker, BLOWING STUFF UP!, etc). Overall stat bonuses are a little challenging to measure, and as such, I'd highly recommend checking your class/role threads on Tankspot, Elitist Jerks, or the official forums for their equivalency values.
Herbalism: Lifeblood (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55503) is Herbalism's only bonus. It can be cast while stealth/shadowmeld/Invis without breaking stealth or giving away your loocation. It can be cast while shapeshifted without breaking the shift (Druids in flight form included). It is also off the GCD. A small 3.6k/5 sec heal is not overly valuable in raiding. It might save you occasionally, but not reliably. It can be a great boon to a character without heals, though. Questing with this will reduce downtime.
Inscription: Inscriptions's bonuses come in the way of better shoulder enchants. In addition to being better, they also require no rep grind (this is not such a concern now with BoA shoulder enchants). The shoulder enchants provided by inscription are: Master's Inscription of the Axe (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61117), Master's Inscription of the Crag (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61118), Master's Inscription of the Pinnacle (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61119), and Master's Inscription of the Storm (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=61120). Compared to their counterparts they provide: Axe +80 AP, Crag/Storm +46 SP, Pinnacle +40 dodge rating.
Jewelcrafting: The bonuses for jewelcrafting come from dragon's eyes. Three total dragon's eyes can be used in equipped gear. Some examples of dragon's eyes: strength (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42142), agility (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42143), AP (http://www.wowhead.com/item=36766), SP (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42144), stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/item=36767), and ArPen (http://www.wowhead.com/item=42153). The total bonuses for the examples listed are: +42 Str/Agi/ArPen, +84 AP, +48 SP, and +63 stamina. Just like blacksmithing, a key benefit to jewelcrafting is versatility.
Leatherworking: Leatherworking has a couple of beneficial self-enchants. There are three bracer enchants available: Attack Power (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=57683), Spell Power (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=57691), and Stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=57690). Compared to their alternatives, they provide +80 AP, +46 SP, or +62 stamina. Another nice benefit of leatherworking are thier self-only leg enchants. Each saves 2 arctic furs and 1 frozen orb for melee or tanks.
Mining: Mining's bonus is toughness (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=53040). It provides +60 stamina passively. It is always on, and not a profession based enchant like most of the other bonuses. Typically, this bonus is reserved for tanks in a raiding environment, but PvPers will find benefits as well.
Skinning: Like mining, skinning's bonus is passive. The name of the bonus is Master of Anatomy (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=53666). It provides +40 crit rating.
Tailoring: Tailoring is another profession that has bonuses that are more challenging to put a static weight too. They also come in the form of cloak enchants: Darkglow Embroidery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55769), Lightweave Embroidery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55642), and Swordguard Embroidery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55777). Each is a proc with an internal cooldown. Again, checking your class/role thread on Tankspot, Elitist Jerks, or the official forum will probably yield the best result for the weights of these enchants. Also, like leatherworking, leg enchants (this time for casters) are less expensive. You save 4 Eternal Lifes/Fires, 4 Iceweb Spider Silks, and 1 Frozen Orb.
Summary of stat bonuses: Going back through the list of the professions, you'll see that most of them have very similiar bonuses. It is my opinion that the baseline is: +80 AP, +46 SP, or +60 stamina. Using that as a baseline for melee, caster, and tanks (in that order) we end up with the following results:
Alchemy: Melee (Baseline), Caster (+1 SP), Tanks (-60 Stam/+650 Health)
Blacksmithing: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (Baseline) ***Very Important Note: The versatility of Blacksmithing should NOT be undervalued.***
Enchanting: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (Baseline)
Engineering: ***This tradeskill is challenging to measure, and an be beneficial for any role.***
Herbalism: ***The stat weight of a self heal is not valued under normal circumstances. There are no other stat bonuses to this profession.***
Inscription: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (-60 Stam/+40 Dodge)
Jewelcrafting: Melee (+4 AP), Caster (+2 SP), Tanks (+3 Stam) ***Very Important Note: The versatility of Jewelcrafting should NOT be undervalued.***
Leatherworking: Melee (Baseline), Caster (Baseline), Tanks (+2)
Mining: Melee (no bonus), Caster (no bonus), Tanks (Baseline) ***PvP values of this tradeskill are not weighted.***
Skinning: Melee (-80 AP/+40 Crit), Caster (-46 SP/+40 Crit), Tanks (no bonus)
Tailoring: ***This tradeskill is variable based on cooldowns. It also seems to be less valuable for tanks.***
Economic Bonuses: The most important thing to keep in mind about economic bonuses is that every server is different. What works on one server might not work on another (or a different faction on the same server).
Alchemy: Alchemy has a couple of economic bonuses. There are a couple of masteries that you can go to increase the benefit of these bonuses: They are transmutation mastery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=28672), elixir mastery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=28677), and (to a lesser extent) potion mastery (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=28675).
The key gold making abilities that Alchemy has are:
Transmuting rare gems + eternals into epic gems. Cardinal Rubies (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=66659) for example. Transmutation mastery will allow procs of up to 5 total gems from one transmute. This ability is on a 20 hour cooldown, and as such has a limited total profit.
Transmute Titanium (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=60350), on the other hand, has no cooldown, and can be used as often as possible. Again, trasmutation mastery will allow up to 5 titanium from one transmute. This transmute (especially with procs) is only limited to server economy for profit.
Elixer masters can make their greatest profit by creating flasks. A normal flask creation will be awarded with two flasks. Elixer masters can proc (in increments of two) up to a total of ten flasks with each combine. There is no limit to the number of flasks you can create, so again, the only limitation is server economy.
Potions of Speed (http://www.wowhead.com/item=40211) and possibly mana/health potions are the only craftable that potion masters can turn a profit on. A potion master can proc a total of 5 potions with each combine.
Blacksmithing:
Enchanting:
Engineering: Engineering have several ways to make gold. Harvesting with a mote extractor (http://www.wowhead.com/item=23821) is one quick way. Salvaging mechanical mobs can save gold (or in some cases earn gold).
Herbalism: Gathering professions have the inherent collection method of making gold. In addition to that herbalism has a rare drop chance on several of it's resource nodes. Frost lotus (http://www.wowhead.com/item=36908) is the current/valuable one. These rare drops tend to drop in value as each new expansion is release.
Inscription:
Jewelcrafting:
Leatherworking:
Mining: Gathering professions have the inherent collection method of making gold. In addition to that, mining has rare resource nodes. Titanium veins (http://www.wowhead.com/object=191133) are this expansion's rare. Mining can also benefit from smelt titansteel (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=55208). As with herbalism, both titanium ore and titansteel will probably drop in value once Cataclysm is released.
Skinning: Gathering professions have the inherent collection method of making gold. Skinning also benefits from a chance at arctic fur (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44128) from Northrend skinning.
Tailoring:
*PERKS*: Perks are what makes professions fun, or valuable to the player without regard to gold or end-game stat bonuses.
Alchemy: Once Mixology is acquired, alchemists gain bonuses for all of the elixers they use (that they can also make), making it worthwhile to craft/use stat gaining elixers while levelling. In addition to that, alchemists can gain an item level 200 rare-level trinket. The three varieties are: Mighty (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44324), Mercurial (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44322), and Indestructible (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44323). In addition to being decent levelling trinkets, they have the added effect of making health/mana pots grant 40% more. That can significantly reduce downtime.
Blacksmithing:
Enchanting:
Engineering:
Herbalism:
Inscription:
Jewelcrafting:
Leatherworking:
Mining:
Skinning:
Tailoring: