Introduction

Each character can learn two major Professions and as many secondary Professions as are available in the game. These modes of character progression are optional; you can avoid them entirely if you want. However, there are advantages to having these skills. Many Professions let you craft items for yourself and others. Many of these items are directly useful to your character, like armor, weapons, potions, and flasks. Other items, like mounts, pets, and toys, aren’t necessarily there to improve your character’s performance, but they are all kinds of fun!

Level 90 Boost Professions

If you are using the level 90 boost that came with your purchase of Warlords of Draenor, Professions are going to work a little differently. Your boost can be used to create a brand-new character, or to boost an existing character. What you choose will influence how you train and level your Professions.

If you boost an existing character of level 60 or higher, your Primary Professions and your First Aid will be automatically leveled to rank 600. Secondary Professions will not be affected. If you don’t already have Primary Professions trained, two class-appropriate Professions will be chosen for you.

Changing Professions

The game limits you to two Primary Professions, but you aren’t locked into the first two you select. You can drop a Profession and learn a new one. The bad news is that you lose everything from your old Profession, so this is useful only if you find that you don’t like the way a Profession progresses. When that happens, don’t lament. Drop the Profession you dislike and try something new; it’s better than having a slot taken up by something that you never plan on using again!

To drop a Profession, open the Spellbook (with “p”) and click on the Professions tab. Look for small red symbols that look like Do Not Enter signs. These are the unlearn buttons for each Profession. Don’t click on them unless you are absolutely sure that you know what you’re doing. You lose everything as soon as you say “Unlearn” to the final query.

If you choose to boost a brand-new character from 1 to 90, none of your Professions will be leveled for you. However, there are new catch-up mechanics in place to increase your Profession skill as you level. You won’t need to go back to Azeroth to train your Professions from 1-600; you can simply do so while you’re questing and playing through Draenor’s content.

You can choose either of the two methods to level your Professions. If you’re taking your time and leveling a brand-new character from level 1, you should probably choose your Professions early, and level them as you level. Your Professions will usually provide useful items you can use as you are leveling. If you simply want to head to Draenor as quickly as possible, you can forgo Professions altogether, until you reach Draenor. Make sure you have at least trained in two Primary Professions before you head through the Dark Portal—you don’t need to worry about raising your skill level in those Professions above level 1, however.

Increasing Your Skill As You Level

If you are leveling your Professions as a brand-new, non-boosted character, the process can be a little involved. The Apprentice level of a Profession covers your skill from 1 to 75. Using your Profession advances it until it hits each cap (every 75 points). When you are crafting materials to level your Profession skill, the color of the activity is your guide to its difficulty.

Green recipes are easy, yellow are moderate, and orange are harder. The harder the recipe, the more likely it is to boost your level. Some recipes will have a number next to them, in addition to a color. The number indicates how many skill points you will gain upon each successful crafting of the item.

If you need to raise your level, it’s important to decide what you make. Look for pieces that require the least amount of material components but are almost certain to give you a point, or items that will give you multiple skill points per item crafted. That way, you get the most out of your materials.

Space Saving

Once you reach 75, you cannot increase your points until you train again as a Journeyman. Each proficiency level also has a character level requirement. As your points increase, you can train in more recipes. Returning to your Profession trainer tells you when you can get more recipes or when you can train a higher proficiency. There are also many recipes hidden throughout the world, as a reward from certain quests, or as random drops. Check the Auction House for any new finds!

You might notice that the skill points for professional tiers don’t add up evenly. Apprentices go from 1-75, but Journeyman can start as low as 50. This is because you can train a new tier in a Profession a bit early. That’s a good idea because you don’t want to hit the cap and waste any skill points. Train your skills early as long as you have the money; there are no downsides in completing your training ahead of schedule.

Complementary Professions

Some Professions work extremely well when paired with another, complementary profession:

Leveling Your Professions in Draenor

If you are leveling your Professions from skill level 1 on Draenor, you’ll be going through a slightly different process. All Professions have special items that will unlock every level of skill all the way from 1-700, eliminating skill caps, and the need to visit a trainer while you are working on your Professions. You can simply gather, craft, and create, without worrying about having to stop what you’re doing and finding a trainer to continue gaining skill points.

These special drop items are Rare quality, blue items, but they aren’t difficult to obtain. Gathering Professions will simply drop off of random mobs, usually within the first starting zone of Draenor. Primary crafting Professions are learned via a dropped quest item. You’ll be sent back to your Garrison, where you will begin a short series of quests. After completing the quests, you’ll receive an item that will unlock the entirety of that Profession for you.

In addition, you’ll receive a Level 1 blueprint for a small building tied to your existing Profession. Alchemists will receive the Alchemy Lab, Blacksmithing will receive the Forge, and so on. While you aren’t required to build these buildings in your Garrison, doing so will help speed up your leveling process, and also eventually unlock the highest tier of Profession recipes available.

Gathering Professions have also been changed to make leveling a smoother process. You may now pick any herb, skin any creature, or mine any type of ore regardless of your skill level. However, your skill level now determines how much yield you get from what you are picking, mining, or skinning. If your Profession level is low, you may only get small pieces of ore, herbs, or skins. If you have enough pieces, you can combine them into one ore, herb, or skin. Once you have sufficiently increased your Profession skill, you’ll begin to successfully obtain whole ores, herbs, or skins.