Should I level mining?

[JustRob]

Just got engineering on my new lvl 100, and have been able to level it up almost all the way with only WoD ores from the garrison mine. However, the few money makers that engineering has, the mounts (that don't require engineering to use), all require old world mats. Which are pretty damn expensive on the AH these days.

Also, I don't know the changes to mining in Legion, but I'm assuming without a mine, we're going back to the old fashioned way of only miners being able to collect ore.

It would be nice to have two crafting professions such as engineering and blacksmithing, but it's pointless if I have to buy all the mats in Legion.

So is mining worth it to level up in anticipation of Legion?

[Xentronium]

Gathering is back to what it was in older expansions, yes. I'd probably wait a bit and see what these things are and do.

http://legion.wowhead.com/item=13948...e-broken-isles

They look like you can actually switch professions around in Legion. Or you could level a purely gathering alt, usually a druid for herbs, to around level 68+ for mining up to Wrath ores.

[MoanaLisa]

I'm not so sure that the Broken Isles items will work for everything from 1-700. It's a good question to ask though and something like this is certainly welcome. If it were me I would likely level it so I didn't have to catch it up in Legion. Different strokes for different folks though.

@JustRob : Didn't you level mining at least to some extent from getting stuff out of your garrison for Engineering?

[Kazgrel]

I'm not so sure that the Broken Isles items will work for everything from 1-700. It's a good question to ask though and something like this is certainly welcome. If it were me I would likely level it so I didn't have to catch it up in Legion. Different strokes for different folks though.

@JustRob : Didn't you level mining at least to some extent from getting stuff out of your garrison for Engineering?

Doesn't sound like he has mining on his engineering toon yet, so would have to drop BS or whatever for it.

I would go for mining so that you can level engineering without breaking the bank. Worst case you can drop it later on for something else.

[Deleted]

You definitely should

[Saravat]

I wouldn't use the Legion Broken Isles books as the basis for a decision about switching professions. In Legion, you will do quests that allow you to rank up your mining ability. Regardless of your skill level, your mining rank will start out at rank one. Ranks can be raised - mostly via quests given by your trainer - from 1 to 2 to 3. And the ranking-up process is done separately for each ore type. So you can be rank 3 for one type of ore, rank 1 for another, and rank 2 for a third.

A skill level (for example) 650 miner at rank 1 will mine fewer pieces of ore from a node than a skill level 650 miner at rank 3. I don't know yet if a skill level 650 miner at rank 3 will get more pieces of ore than a skill level 50 miner at rank 3.

Because rank increases are quest-driven and you wouldn't be able to pick up the same quests twice, Blizzard needed to provide a means of ranking up if you switch professions. But so far I am not seeing any indication at all that leveling mining from 1 - 700 or whatever will be made any easier or faster - though you can definitely start mining Legion ore at skill level 1.

If you are an Engineer/Blacksmith and don't mind leveling an alt just for gathering, I'd recommend doing that so that you can retain two professions on your main. The second gathering skill will provide extra gold for you...and if you're like a lot of us, this is a good time to go ahead and level a gathering alt to 100 since there's not much going on in WoD.

Another argument for leveling a separate gathering character is that so far, all of the professions seem to require mats from other professions. Even your blacksmith or engineer will require herbs or skins or fish or gems or cloth, etc. So a dual-gatherer will help with that too.

I hope all of this made sense =P

[Raynre Valence]

Definitely. WoD was an aberration. In Legion you'll either need to pay out the nose at the AH or gather it yourself.

[Damajin]

I wouldn't use the Legion Broken Isles books as the basis for a decision about switching professions. In Legion, you will do quests that allow you to rank up your mining ability. Regardless of your skill level, your mining rank will start out at rank one. Ranks can be raised - mostly via quests given by your trainer - from 1 to 2 to 3. And the ranking-up process is done separately for each ore type. So you can be rank 3 for one type of ore, rank 1 for another, and rank 2 for a third.

A skill level (for example) 650 miner at rank 1 will mine fewer pieces of ore from a node than a skill level 650 miner at rank 3. I don't know yet if a skill level 650 miner at rank 3 will get more pieces of ore than a skill level 50 miner at rank 3.

Because rank increases are quest-driven and you wouldn't be able to pick up the same quests twice, Blizzard needed to provide a means of ranking up if you switch professions. But so far I am not seeing any indication at all that leveling mining from 1 - 700 or whatever will be made any easier or faster - though you can definitely start mining Legion ore at skill level 1.

If you are an Engineer/Blacksmith and don't mind leveling an alt just for gathering, I'd recommend doing that so that you can retain two professions on your main. The second gathering skill will provide extra gold for you...and if you're like a lot of us, this is a good time to go ahead and level a gathering alt to 100 since there's not much going on in WoD.

Another argument for leveling a separate gathering character is that so far, all of the professions seem to require mats from other professions. Even your blacksmith or engineer will require herbs or skins or fish or gems or cloth, etc. So a dual-gatherer will help with that too.

I hope all of this made sense =P

He should definitely do a dual gatherer, have your one stop shop for 2 different types of materials all on one character and leave the crafting professions on your guys. Login the gather bot when you need mats, don't bother otherwise. Pretty easy.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I would. I tend to do gathering on any alt I make and then just auction what they collect if I don't need it. It's even easier leveling with flying.

[JustRob]

So what's best then, mining and herbing or mining and skinning?

[Delaios]

I'd do herbalism and mining on a new alt. Skinning is best to do on another alt. For mining and herbalism you tend to move around zones a lot. Since you're moving anyway, you might as well pick up both herbs and ores along the way. A skinner doesn't move around as much and you won't get as much bang for your buck out of your mining.

[Xentronium]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_lhoUUClC4

This video shows blacksmiths needing herbs to complete a few quests. So other professions may be the same. There are quite a lot of quests for professions by the look of it.

http://legion.wowhead.com/items=9.3

These are some (most?) of the engineering schematics for Legion, nothing is finalized but you can get an idea of what materials might be needed.

One item uses vanilla gold bars.

[The Stormbringer]

Leveling up professions now in WoD is probably a good idae, as it'll save you time for later. I'd go mining, myself.

[Bosen]

I'd do herbalism and mining on a new alt. Skinning is best to do on another alt. For mining and herbalism you tend to move around zones a lot. Since you're moving anyway, you might as well pick up both herbs and ores along the way. A skinner doesn't move around as much and you won't get as much bang for your buck out of your mining.

What do you mean by saying a Skinner doesn't move around a lot? You certainly do. Skinning/Herb Skinning/Mining is just fine. Go to an area,hit the nodes,kill every beast in site,loot,skin. You also sometimes go to a place where a field of mobs could already be dead and you skin them all. Minimal effort.

[ablib]

So what's best then, mining and herbing or mining and skinning?

Any serious leveler will always choose mining and herbalism for every new alt, then change your profession(s) at max level if you want to.

[Dristereau]

Mining and Herbalism are great for levelling, I've also taken Skinning on an Alt recently, and found it pretty easy to keep to around my level. I'm currently 92, with about 630 Skinning and 280 Mining, catching up much faster with WoD Zones/Mine. I plan to drop Skinning when I have the Mats to Power Level Engineering to 630ish, as it looks like I'll need the Gathering Professions come Legion.

Mining and Herbalism are great for levelling as they offer a little bit of extra Exp, particularly in Dungeons. However, profitability is low, as you'll mainly get Fragments and it's hard to level with your Character. I'm 62 on another Alt, but my Mining is only 72 and Herbalism 133. Another Char that will drop them both at 90 and go Enchanting/Tailoring.

Might as well level your Mining whilst you can nice an easily ready for Legion.

[Ravingmad]

Gathering professions are now a solid option since theres no more profession perks/bonus on anything (except like engineer google but you can craft the helmet with the other professions anyway, you just won't have the look (transmog), anything else can be bought as pet/mount/toy or consumable). I usually make a druid with mining/skinning or herbalism (herbs are very easy to pick, but others have the Flying Golem to compensate). They are the best profession to lvl up as you just randomly pick what appears to you, so you dont need to really farm for it, and both profession lvl up on all kind of plants/node from any lvling region, you just won't get a full ore (nuggets) or plant (petals), but it doesnt matter much at that moment.

When you can fly fast (lvl70+), farm the rest if needed be. A lot of low level crafting mats are quite valuable and you can make easy money with this, and XP as well, so its double "profit".

Then when the next expansion gets out, you get to farm these new ore/herbs/leather faster and get better crafted equipment faster then most and at a way cheaper price, if your 2nd profession is a crafting one. Or else just sell everything.

Farming profession is all about profit for the long term. People will get better gear as they progress and BoE items from raid are usually better (ilvl wise) and wont buy your Armor/Weapon, but people will always buy the mats to craft them, even 1 years after the expansion comes out, like about now.

[Delaios]

What do you mean by saying a Skinner doesn't move around a lot? You certainly do. Skinning/Herb Skinning/Mining is just fine. Go to an area,hit the nodes,kill every beast in site,loot,skin. You also sometimes go to a place where a field of mobs could already be dead and you skin them all. Minimal effort.

And those are the reasons why skinners move around a lot less. Talking from an actual farming perspective here. A skinner goes to a spot with a lot of beasts (or with a fast respawn) and tends to stay there. You'll get very little value out of your gathering professions that way. Any time you spend killing, looting and skinning is time where you're not moving around to look for more ore/herbs.

[Fabinas]

And those are the reasons why skinners move around a lot less. Talking from an actual farming perspective here. A skinner goes to a spot with a lot of beasts (or with a fast respawn) and tends to stay there. You'll get very little value out of your gathering professions that way. Any time you spend killing, looting and skinning is time where you're not moving around to look for more ore/herbs.

Delaios is right. When you quest, you'll find many more ore/herbs in the world than targets to kill/skin or just skin (if already killed). Reason for this is that not all quest objectives are skinnable, but almost all quest objectives will have a herb/ore node around or on the way to them.

[Deleted]

Does previous skillevels matter in Legion at all?

I mean, is there a difference between skillvl 1 and skillvl 600 ? All I've seen is that specific skill on a specific item which you level up whilst you make it...