Professions in Cataclysm

[noobladin]

Hey guys, first mmo-champion post w00t! Here is my problem, I have 6 characters that I play quite frequently. (Paladin, DK, Shaman, Druid, Rogue, Priest) Most of them have incomplete professions because I cant decide what professions to make them for the upcoming expansion. My question is with all the stat changes in cataclysm will all professions be equal for all specs? Take leather working for example, right now you can 130ap/102stam/76sp but since they are getting removed in cataclysm will all the crafting (Tailoring, leather working, blacksmithing)professions offer all the core stats? Such as str/agi/int/haste? Have they mentioned anything about other professions that would effect PvE? At this point in time I really like the idea of JC/BS for all toons because I can stack whatever stat I want for whatever spec I want, and with most of them being hybrids that's really handy! But I don't like the idea of all my toons being the same professions. Gold is not an issues and I do not plan to make gold off my professions, I'm talking strictly maximizing my characters for multiple specs. Any input would be appreciated!

[Kereba]

Well, I'd imagine they'd be transferred to their primal stats.
Agility, Stamina and Intellect.
For Leatherworking, at least.
Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting is still the BiS for all classes, and it probably will be for a very, very long time.
Hope I was of assistance!

[Suture]

We can't really say what will happen with the professions in cataclysm so I wouldn't worry too much about it. My suggestion is, on the characters you intend to play the most, go for the current "BiS" professions. Then, on the characters you are not so concerned about min-maxing on, go for some of the other professions you are either interested in or that compliment your min-maxing characters.

For example, My Priest (my main) is JC and Inscription which are quite good, but on my Lock (which I rarely play) I have Alchemy and Herbalism. Nice professions but certainly not min-maxing. Other than the JC + BS combo, the profession offer very similar bonuses to your character and unless you plan to be on the bleeding-edge of progression, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[deadman80]

The actual combat contributions from each main prof is intended to be as close to equal to each other as possible. I don't expect that to change much in Cata. I might lean towards BS+JC on a tank specifically for access to more stam than other prof combos can provide, but other than that, I would say go with whatever profs you think will be able to provide the most overall benefit to all of your toons on the account.
Blizz has already said that at the very least, armor class profs (cloth, LW, BS) will periodically get updated recipes for PVP gear sets, so we will always have access to a starter set that is not irrelevant to whatever content is current.
Alchemy will be absolutely vital to the crafting economy with the new "primal life"-like item likely to be needed in the majority of higher level creations.
If even First Aid is going to be useful (with 35k bandage HoTs available), I suspect that all the main profs will be equally useful in general, and certain combos will shine for certain class/spec combos.
With the number of classes you have leveled already, why not aim to have every prof fully leveled before the world ends? XD

[Lothrandir]

With the number of classes you have leveled already, why not aim to have every prof fully leveled before the world ends? XD

This. And economy-wise you can be a pretty independent money making machine.

[Epiclurker]

Best neutral professions are Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, and Alchemy. All classes get benefit greatly from them. As for the others, it really depends on what is being added. In BC you had a true choice because there were things that certian professions made that you couldn't really match till raids and were bind on pickup. Armors and weapons for blacksmiths, trinkets for jewelcrafters, those sort of things.

[Spargon]

Personally I'm making sure the two characters im going to lvl first/fastest have at least 1 gathering prof each simply because of all the cash u can make from mining/herbing/skinning all the new mats ppl will pay a premium to spam up their crafting profs.

Then wait and see how all the profs min/max for raiding with any changes that may come that we haven't heard about yet.

[Brittany]

I know people like to min/max but I don't really agree with professions being min/max criteria. Like mages with blacksmithing etc.

I've been tailor/enchanter on my priest since vanilla, always been at the top of the game, always killed bosses before the tactics are realeased etc, and haven't felt any the worse for it. I hope it stays that way.

Professions should be about fun/material benefit rather than stats.