WoW: Forever professions and gathering: changes, pairings and routes

What changed in professions

Forever reworks a lot of the Classic profession system. The main points:

• 600+ new recipes. Going by beta datamining, Leatherworking (289), Blacksmithing (203) and Tailoring (186) got the most.
• No passive profession bonuses. Each profession pays off through the items it makes and its camp object.
• Camp objects: every profession has three. You learn the first from the trainer at skill 20; the second and third come from blueprints that drop from dungeon bosses. Their buffs don't stack with class buffs and are a bit weaker.
• Legacy profession tree (account-wide points): Working Overtime raises your skill-up chance, Dedicated Study adds one point a day to your lowest tradeskill, and Bountiful Harvest yields more materials and scarce materials when gathering. There are also Luremaster, Master Chef, Bartering and Performance Bonus.
• Healing potions changed hands: basic Healing Potions now belong to First Aid. Alchemy gets "Discolored" potions that come with a drawback.
• New economy: the Merchant's Favor currency, Waylaid Supplies crates and Craftsman's Writs. Writs and crates give reputation with the Azeroth Commerce Authority Alliance (Three Corners, Redridge 10,73) or Durotar Supply and Logistics Horde (west of the Crossroads, 42,34). Top-end recipes cost Merchant's Favor and require that reputation.
• Titles: at 300 in a crafting profession you can buy a certification that grants an account-wide title.
• Quality of life: a reagent-only bag slot (from the 6-slot Linen Reagent Bag up to the 20-slot Bottomless Reagent Bag), a new Professions window on K, recipe search and recipe tracking.
• Starter manuals: starting-zone quests offer one of three free manuals (Mining for Dummies, Wild Harvest or Pelt Collecting for Beginners). It teaches the gathering skill and adds +2 skill, up to 15. Skyborne get the same choice as a voucher from Harvesting Windstones.
• New materials: the herbs Marefoil, Demonsage and Death Lotus; herb seeds in four tiers; Heavy Thorium Ore, Azerothium Bar, Heavy Thorium Bar and Legionite Bar (transmute). Gathering can also drop scarce materials: Pyrite, Bauxite and Pitchblende from mining; Frilled Lichen, Rosecap and Stranglevine from herbs; Pristine Leather, Hide and Scale from skinning.
• Raid crafting: Tailoring 300 makes shoulders, gloves, legs and boots for caster raid sets, using Malleable Essence of Nature (disenchanted from Hyjal Summit or Barrow Deeps gear).
• Racial: Tauren Cultivation was reworked. It now spawns bonus herbs anyone can pick, with a level requirement.
• Beta tweaks: each mob can only be skinned once; starter areas have fewer Poor Copper veins; some Blacksmithing and Leatherworking recipes became dungeon drops; Wizard Oils went back to their Classic values.

Proficiency tiers

Camp objects by profession

Best pairings by goal

The leveling gathering pair is our own pick based on the announced changes, not an official ranking. Nobody has tested the Forever economy on full servers yet.

Herbalism

Herbalism route

• 1-70: pick everything in your starting zone while questing. Take the Wild Harvest manual for a +2 head start.
• Skill 50 and level 10: train Journeyman.
• 70-115: Briarthorn and Bruiseweed in Darkshore, Loch Modan or Westfall (Alliance) or Silverpine and the Barrens (Horde); Stranglekelp grows in water.
• 115-170: Wetlands, Stonetalon, Arathi, Hillsbrad, Duskwood, Desolace or Stranglethorn, for Kingsblood, Liferoot and Fadeleaf.
• Skill 125 and level 20: train Expert.
• 170-205: Goldthorn, Khadgar's Whisker and Wintersbite in Arathi, Stranglethorn, Alterac, the Hinterlands or Feralas.
• Skill 200 and level 35: train Artisan.
• 205-230: Firebloom and Purple Lotus in Tanaris, Searing Gorge, the Badlands or Feralas.
• 230-270: Felwood, Un'Goro, the Hinterlands or Azshara (Sungrass, Gromsblood, Golden Sansam and more).
• 270-300: Dreamfoil, Mountain Silversage, Plaguebloom and Icecap in the Eastern Plaguelands, Winterspring and Un'Goro.

The camp object is the Incense Candle (intellect). Gathering can turn up Frilled Lichen, Rosecap and Stranglevine, and Tauren Cultivation now spawns bonus herbs for everyone.

Where the new herbs (Marefoil, Demonsage, Death Lotus) spawn is still unknown, and so is the Riverglades herb mix. Our sources don't list Forever Herbalism trainers either.

Install GatherLite: it marks herb, ore and fishing pool spots on the map and draws a gathering loop for each zone.

Mining

Mining route

• 1-65: Copper in your starting zone and the next one (or on Zephras Isle as Skyborne). Take the Mining for Dummies manual.
• Skill 20: learn the Lodestone from your trainer. On Horde, Camping 101: Mining is given by Brom Killian in Undercity.
• Skill 50 and level 10: train Journeyman.
• 65-125: Tin and Silver in Hillsbrad, the Barrens, Redridge or Duskwood.
• Skill 125 and level 20: train Expert.
• 125-175: Iron in Arathi, Alterac, the Badlands, Hillsbrad, Stranglethorn or Thousand Needles; Gold from 155.
• 175-245: Mithril in the Badlands, Burning Steppes, Tanaris or the Hinterlands; Truesilver from 230.
• Skill 200 and level 35: train Artisan.
• 245-300: Thorium in Un'Goro, Winterspring, the Eastern Plaguelands, Silithus, Burning Steppes or Azshara.
• 275: learn Smelt Azerothium. 300: Smelt Heavy Thorium.

• Smelting only gives skill up to 185. Past that, level by mining.
• The Rockslicer item mines Copper through Iron even without the profession (30 charges).
• Neutral trainers: Grungle (Riverglades), Pikkle (Gadgetzan), Messana Crestwind and Halavuul Cragwind (Zephras Isle).
• Possible scarce drops: Pyrite, Bauxite and Pitchblende.

The confirmed Camping 101: Mining is the Horde version in Undercity. There is likely one version per profession and faction, but that isn't confirmed.

Install GatherLite: it marks herb, ore and fishing pool spots on the map and draws a gathering loop for each zone.

Skinning

Skinning route

• 1-50: skin everything in your starting zone. Take Pelt Collecting for Beginners.
• 50-75: Westfall (Alliance) or the Barrens near the Crossroads (Horde).
• Skill 50 and level 10: train Journeyman.
• 75-105: Loch Modan (Alliance) or the Barrens toward Ratchet (Horde).
• 105-150: Hillsbrad Foothills.
• Skill 125 and level 20: train Expert.
• 150-210: Alterac Mountains, yetis first and then mountain lions.
• Skill 200 and level 35: train Artisan.
• 210-250: The Hinterlands.
• 250-300: Un'Goro, starting with the pterrordaxes on the edges.

• Rule of thumb: up to skill 100 you can skin mobs up to level skill/10 + 10. From 100 on, up to skill/5.
• Each mob can only be skinned once.
• Enchant Gloves - Advanced Skinning (+10) is new.
• The Camp Chair (+2% crit) is the camp object, and Pristine Leather, Hide and Scale can drop.

Install GatherLite: it marks herb, ore and fishing pool spots on the map and draws a gathering loop for each zone.

Fishing

Fishing route

• 1-75: fish in your starting zone.
• 75-150: capital cities or the Barrens, Darkshore, Loch Modan, Silverpine, Westfall.
• Skill 125 and level 20: buy Expert Fishing - The Bass and You from Old Man Heming in Booty Bay.
• 150-225: Dustwallow, Alterac, Arathi, Desolace, Stranglethorn, Swamp of Sorrows or Thousand Needles.
• Skill 225 and level 35: do Nat Pagle's quest in Theramore (catch Feralas Ahi, Misty Reed Mahi Mahi, Sar'theris Striker and Savage Coast Blue Sailfin).
• 225-300: Felwood, Feralas, the Hinterlands, Tanaris, Un'Goro or the Western Plaguelands.

• Zone difficulty doesn't change the skill-up rate. Fish wherever is convenient.
• At camp, the Fishing Rack and Fishing Hut enable uncommon and rare fish for an hour; another source lists the Fish Bowl (+8% stats) as the fishing camp object.
• The Luremaster Legacy perk gives extra catches.

Install GatherLite: it marks herb, ore and fishing pool spots on the map and draws a gathering loop for each zone.

Cloth farming by level

Classic-based table. Nothing here has been checked in Forever: the mobs in Riverglades and Shen'dralas are still unknown and cloth drop tables haven't been verified.

The new dungeons Ruins of Lordaeron and City of Dalaran sit in the Wool range, but whether they drop cloth is still unknown.

Tailoring to 225

This path was tested on the Forever beta up to 225. Many recipe levels changed, so don't trust Classic material lists.

• 1-45: Bolt of Linen Cloth
• 45-55: Heavy Linen Gloves or Linen Belt
• 55-80: Bolt of Woolen Cloth
• 80-85: Woolen Cape
• 85-95: Gray Woolen Shirt
• 95-100: Double-stitched Woolen Shoulders
• 100-120: Bolt of Silk Cloth
• 120-135: Azure Silk Hood
• 135-140: Formal White Shirt
• 140-150: Bolt of Mageweave
• 150-170: Crimson Silk Vest
• 170-190: Crimson Silk Pantaloons
• 190-215: Black Mageweave Gloves
• 215-225: Mageweave Bag

Trainers

• Tailoring makes BoP rare leveling gear for levels 12 to 50; with Enchanting you can disenchant what you outgrow.
• At 300 it makes caster raid-set pieces with Malleable Essence of Nature, and the certification grants an account-wide title.
• Camp object: Faction Banner (spirit).

225-300 wasn't tested in the beta. We're waiting for launch data before publishing that part.

Other professions

Forever breakpoints for Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, Engineering, Enchanting and Cooking haven't been published yet. Below is what's known, plus a few Classic references labelled as such.

New recipes per profession (beta datamining)

• Alchemy: lost Minor Healing Potion and the basic Healing Potions to First Aid and gained "Discolored" potions. The Classic opening route needs re-checking. Object: Mana Well.
• First Aid: now makes healing potions too. In Classic, bandages went Linen, Heavy Linen, Wool, Silk, Mageweave and Runecloth (Classic base).
• Engineering: the Classic path ran through Rough Blasting Powder, Handful of Copper Bolts, Coarse Blasting Powder, Bronze Tube, Solid Blasting Powder, Mithril Tube, Dense Blasting Powder and Thorium Widget (Classic base, not checked in Forever). Object: Reagent Bot.
• Blacksmithing and Leatherworking: some recipes became dungeon drops. Objects: Sharpening Wheel and Camp Tent.
• Enchanting: Wizard Oils went back to Classic values. Object: Enchanted Lute.
• Cooking: food now gives an XP bonus, and its object is the Campfire itself.

Classic specializations (gnomish or goblin Engineering; dragonscale, elemental or tribal Leatherworking) are expected to carry over, but that isn't confirmed.

What we don't know yet

• The beta was capped at level 30 for most of its run. Everything above that is pre-launch information.
• Where Marefoil, Demonsage and Death Lotus spawn, and what can be gathered in Riverglades, Shen'dralas and Hyjal.
• Tailoring 225 to 300 and the 1-300 routes for the other crafting professions.
• Herbalism and Skinning trainers in Forever, and whether Camping 101 exists for every profession and faction.
• Whether Classic specializations carry over.
• Cloth drops in the new zones and dungeons.

We'll update this page after the November 4 launch.