In WoW Forever you can have two primary professions and all three secondary ones (Cooking, First Aid and Fishing). Choosing well at the start saves you gold, time and a profession swap later. This guide doesn't say which is "the best": it depends on what you want. What it does is tell you what each path gives you in Forever, which has changed professions a lot compared with Classic.
In short: if you want gold from day one, take two gathering professions (Herbalism, Mining or Skinning) and sell what you gather. If you want to craft things for yourself, pair a gathering profession with the crafting one that uses its materials. And level Cooking and First Aid no matter what: food gives experience and bandages save you stops.
What changed in Forever
| Classic | Forever | |
|---|---|---|
 Recipes |
Classic's | Over 600 new ones according to Blizzard (958 of 2,518 in Wowhead's database, counting variants) |
 Camping |
Didn't exist | Campfire with vendors and repairs, and three items per profession (at skill 20, 140 and 300) with buffs for the group |
 Gathering |
Same for everyone | Legacy perks give more scarce materials |
 Gold |
Scarce | Blizzard says you'll earn quite a bit more gold than in Classic |
Choose based on what you want
I want gold from the start: two gathering professions
| Profession | What you gather | Who buys it | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Herbalism | Herbs | Alchemists (potions and elixirs), and in Forever some herbs are also grown at the camp |
 |
Mining | Ore and stone | Blacksmiths and engineers |
 |
Skinning | Hides and leather | Leatherworkers (the profession with the most new recipes in Forever) |
With two of these you make gold from level 1 without spending anything: everything you gather sells at the auction house, and at low levels people pay well for materials to level their professions. Herbalism and Mining go well together because both show on the minimap and get picked up along the way; Skinning fits any class that kills a lot of beasts.
In each profession's shopping list you can see which materials you need to level it from 1 to 300: it's what will be searched for most at the auction house.
I want to craft my gear: one gathering profession and its partner
| You gather | You craft | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Mining |
 Blacksmithing |
Mail and plate weapons and armor: new sets for leveling in five versions by role |
| Mining |
 Engineering |
Explosives, goggles, transports (also to Mount Hyjal and Gadgetzan) and repair bots |
| Herbalism |
 Alchemy |
Potions and elixirs, with new families from skill 10 and new flasks at the top |
| Skinning |
 Leatherworking |
Leather and mail for leveling, one per playstyle, and the tent that gives rested experience |
 Cloth (from enemies) |
 Tailoring |
Cloth for leveling, reagent bags of each cloth and sets at the top |
| Disenchant |  Enchanting |
Enchants (including new neck ones) and relics for druid, shaman and paladin |
Tailoring + Enchanting is the only pair that doesn't need gathering: cloth drops from humanoid enemies and what you craft you can disenchant.
I want to level faster: what they add to the camp
In Forever every profession has camp items. The first, at skill 20, already gives a buff to the whole group while you're at the camp. For leveling, these are the most noticeable:
| Profession | Item (skill 20) | What it gives | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Leatherworking | Camp Tent | Raises rested experience up to 5% of a level |
|
Mining | Lodestone | More melee attack power |
|
Herbalism | Incense Candle | More intellect |
|
Skinning | Camp Chair | 2% more crit |
|
Alchemy | Mana Well | Mana regeneration |
|
Blacksmithing | Sharpening Wheel | More strength |
|
Tailoring | Faction Banner | More spirit |
|
Engineering | Reagent Bot | Sells reagents at the camp |
These buffs don't stack with class ones that do the same thing (the incense candle doesn't add to Arcane Intellect, for example).
Combine them in the camp planner: you place the campfire and your group's items and it tells you which buffs you have.
Secondary professions: always level them
| Profession | Why | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Cooking | Food that leaves you well fed gives 5% more experience per kill. Cooking also decides the camp's size: the basic campfire holds 3 items, and the official one (Cooking 90) holds 5 |
 |
First Aid | Bandages to heal without mana and, in Forever, also healing potions (from Minor to Major Healing Potion) |
 |
Fishing | Fish for Cooking and, with its camp items, uncommon and rare fish for an hour |
Legacy and professions
The Professions tree of Legacy helps a lot if you're after gold:
| Perk | What it does (max rank) | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Working Overtime | +20% chance to gain skill when crafting or gathering |
|
Bountiful Harvest | 100% more scarce materials from Mining, Herbalism and Skinning |
|
Bartering | −10% on all merchants' prices |
 |
Dedicated Study | +1 to your lowest profession each day |
 |
Performance Bonus | More Merchant's Favor when you turn in crates to the Azeroth Commerce Authority or to Durotar Supply and Logistics |
The names are the ones in the client. Legacy usually opens at level 25, and the Legacy points guide has a full spread designed for professions and gold.
What Blizzard said about gold
- You'll earn quite a bit more gold than in Classic, and merchants will sell Black Lotus with a 50-gold cap (Clay Stone, in the 4Gamers interview).
- GDKP is banned in the Americas and Europe.
- Buying gold with real money is banned, and Blizzard is also going after the buyers: it takes their gold, may close accounts and, if an account is under suspicion, blocks its trading, mail, guild bank and auction house while it investigates.
Frequently asked questions
Which professions should I pick when starting WoW Forever?
If you want gold from the start, two gathering professions (Herbalism, Mining or Skinning). If you'd rather craft things for yourself, one gathering profession with its partner: Mining with Blacksmithing or Engineering, Herbalism with Alchemy, Skinning with Leatherworking, or Tailoring with Enchanting without gathering.
Which profession makes the most gold in WoW Forever?
There's no public price data yet. What works from day one is gathering: everything you gather sells and costs nothing. At max level, what pays the most is usually what raids ask for (potions, flasks, enchants).
What are profession camp items?
Items you place next to your camp's campfire. Each profession has three (at skill 20, 140 and 300); the first already gives a buff to the whole group while you're at the camp, like the Leatherworking tent, which raises rested experience.
Do I need to level Cooking and First Aid?
Yes. Food that leaves you well fed gives 5% more experience per kill in Forever, and First Aid gives you bandages and, in Forever, also healing potions.
Can I change profession later?
Yes, as in Classic: you unlearn one and learn another, but you start from zero in the new one. That's why many level with two gathering professions and swap one for crafting when they reach the max.
