Oct 2, 2012

You may be wondering what Alchemy has to do with the Pandaren Monk. Well, the answer to that question is simply; everything! Every player across WoW, no matter their class, race, or play style will find that at one time or another they will want to load up on some buffs to help boost their characters DPS or healing abilities. This can easily be accomplished with the Alchemy profession which provides players with various potions, elixirs, and flasks that boost various stats. The Monk will find this especially useful as they level up, making quests easier and dungeons run smoother as they head towards level 85. As if an easier leveling experience wasn’t enough, many of the items created by the Alchemy profession are hot tickets on the Auction House and can easily earn the money savvy Pandaren Monk a pretty penny in almost no time at all.

What does an Alchemist do?
An alchemist creates cauldrons, flasks, oils, potions, elixirs, by mixing reagents and herbs together. Depending on the combination of items put together, the end result will be something different which can range from oils to coat weapons, mana potions, element resistance, invisibility, healing, etc.

What sets Alchemy apart from other professions?
Alchemy is different from most professions due in large part to the variety that comes with being an alchemist.  Just about any class can benefit from being an alchemist, it just really comes down to the items that you make

Alchemy Training
In the capital cities in the game is where you will find the alchemy trainers, as well as in some starting zones that can teach all the trainable skills of the alchemy profession.  Just like any other profession, after reaching certain levels you will need to purchase the next step in training in order to unlock even more items that you will now be able to make.  Here is a breakdown of the alchemy ranks:

Rank	Level Can Earn	Skill
Apprentice	5	1-75
Journeyman	10	50-150
Expert	20	125-225
Artisan	35	200-300
Master	50	275-375
Grand Master	65	350-450
Illustrious Grand Master	75	425-525

 

Oct 2, 2012

Blacksmithing is one of those professions debated back and forth between people as to whether it is a useful profession or not, however, what most agree on is that it is definitely a strong profession to have, if nothing more for a starting point.

What do you do as a Blacksmither?
Blacksmithing is basically taking items such as minerals and metals and forging them.  A blacksmith then takes the bars of metal that he/she has forged from the minerals and materials and then combines them with other trade and magical goods in order to produce their final products.  What a blacksmith can create really varies by their level, but they can make items such as armor, melee weapons, items used by other professions, and keys that unlock a variety of items in the World of Warcraft.  A blacksmith also has some items that it can make, that can add a buff to other items.  One oddity in the blacksmithing profession is that they actually do not have the ability to repair items.

Who Would be a Blacksmither?
In the end a blacksmither really only creates armor of plate and mail and thus the largest benefit comes from those classes that can wear that type of armor.  This isn’t to say that other classes shouldn’t become a blacksmither or that they couldn’t benefit from being a blacksmither, because really the weapons produced by the professions can be used by a large range of the classes, as well as benefiting from the double gem sockets (one socket for bracers and one socket for gloves)

Training as a Blacksmith
In the capital cities in the game is where you will find the blacksmith trainers, as well as in some starting zones that can teach all the trainable skills of the blacksmithing profession.  Just like any other profession, after reaching certain levels you will need to purchase the next step in training in order to unlock even more items that you will now be able to make.  Here is a breakdown of the blacksmithing ranks:

Rank	Level Can Earn	Skill
Apprentice	5	1-75
Journeyman	10	50-150
Expert	20	125-225
Artisan	35	200-300
Weaponsmith	40	200-300
Armorsmith	40	200-300
Master	50	275-375
Grand Master	65	350-450
Illustrious	75	425-525

Best Reason to be a Blacksmith?
Outside of the other reasons already covered, one other reason not really gone into depth yet as to why you might want to consider blacksmithing is socketing.  Blacksmiths can now add sockets to their own bracers and gloves, available at 400 Blacksmithing.  A player must maintain at least 400 Blacksmithing or the socket will become inactive.  At level 420, blacksmiths can also create Eternal Belt Buckle, which can be traded to non-blacksmiths and used to create a socket in level 60 or higher belts.

Sep 29, 2012

Because the Monk can only wear leather or cloth armor, it makes perfect sense that Leatherworking would be a suggested profession.

What Can You Make With Leatherworking?
With leatherworking the pandaren monk class can make cloaks, leather armor, armor kits, quivers, and ammo pouches.  The items produced through leatherworking largely benefit the druid, hunter, shaman, rogue, and monk classes the most.

What is Required?
For some professions like mining or skinning, you need a special item in order to perform the action of creating an item; a pick axe (mining) and a skinning knife (skinning).  Also no special location is needed to create an item, you simple just need the materials for the item in order to make it.  The only exception to this is the curing component Refined Deeprock Salt, which requires you to get a Salt Shaker from an engineer.

Training in Leatherworking
In the capital cities in the game is where you will find the leatherworker trainers, as well as in some starting zones that can teach all the trainable skills of the leatherworking profession.  Just like any other profession, after reaching certain levels you will need to purchase the next step in training in order to unlock even more items that you will now be able to make.  Here is a breakdown of the leatherworking ranks:

Rank	Skill Levels	Required Level	Required Skill	Cost	Honored Cost	Exalted Cost
Apprentice	1-75	5	none	10	9	8
Journeyman	75-150	10	50	5	4 50	4
Expert	150-225	20	125	50	45	40
Artisan	225-300	35	200	5	4 50	4
Master	300-375	50	275	10	9	8
Grand Master	375-450	65	350	35	31 50	28
Illustrious Grand Master	450-525	75	425	35	31 50	28

Leather Conversions
One other feature of leatherworking that is very useful is that leatherworkers have the ability to take lower quality leather materials gathered through skinning (or purchasing) and then convert them into higher quality items.  Here is a breakdown for the different kind of leather conversions:

Standard Leather

	Ruined	Light	Medium	Heavy	Thick	Rugged
Ruined	1	3	12	60	360	2160
Light	1/3	1	4	20	120	720
Medium	1/12	1/4	1	5	30	180
Heavy	1/60	1/20	1/5	1	6	36
Thick	1/360	1/120	1/30	1/6	1	6
Rugged	1/2160	1/720	1/180	1/36	1/6	1

Knothide Leather

	Scraps	Leather	Heavy
Scraps	1	5	25
Leather	1/5	1	5
Heavy	1/25	1/5	1

Borean Leather

	Scraps	Leather	Heavy
Scraps	1	5	30
Leather	1/5	1	6
Heavy	1/30	1/6	1

Savage Leather

	Scraps	Leather	Heavy
Scraps	1	5	25
Leather	1/5	1	5
Heavy	1/25	1/5	1

Suggested 2nd Professions
Leatherworking, although able to be done anywhere and doesn’t require special tools, it is dependent upon materials and thus makes a gathering profession a logical second profession to leatherworking.  Skinning is the most logical pair as that will provide you a great ability to get leather without having to pay for it.  Leveling leatherworking to level 450 exclusively through auction house purchases is not recommended on some servers as materials aren’t always readily accessible.    Leatherworking is also unique in a few ways that makes skinning almost invaluable that most people don’t see:

• Endgame recipes are bought in Dalaran for skins and furs. Unlike jewelcrafters, for example, that have to do dailies to earn a specific currency for their recipes, we can literally farm pattersn.
• Skins aren’t nodes. Even a maxed level miner or herbalist still picks up a node they pass by when in Elwynn and sell the materials. Few people will kill and skin low-level mobs when they could farm higher level mobs with a greater yield. Low-level leatherworkers without skinning can find themselves in a standstill when no leathers are up for sale.
  • This can also turn into a profit for you if you do farm these leathers as they are top dollar due to rarity.