GUIDE: Job Hunting 101

The Massive Job Guide of Doom V 1.2

-Thanks to Tatsu for the extra info on leatherworking!

I know all of us have been there, lost and confused, desperately seeking a sign to help us figure out what our calling in WoW should be. I can't give you a sign, really, but I might be able to point you in the right direction for your career. Welcome to Job Selection 101, the intro course to making money direct from Professor Isra at MTU*!

Here is a list of questions I had when hearing about those "job" thingies, followed by a breakdown of each profession and what classes I think benefit the most from them. The class part is of course very general. I'm not going to say engineering is best for gnome mages because of "X" opinion, I'm just going to point out that becoming a blacksmith if you're a cloth-wearer may not be the best idea. Common sense. =) If you'd prefer the words straight from Blizzard's mouth, read their ->job basics<- section.

1) What level can I get a job?
When I first started out I thought it was level 10, but once I made my alts I realized you can get a job basically as soon as you can run over to a trainer. Getting a job early is a good idea because then you can level your job as you level your character. This is advisable because jobs are normally chosen to benefit the character, and a level 60 mage with tailoring at 20 is not going to be of any use.

2) How many jobs can I have?
You can get two main professions, which are usually chosen to complement each other, and up to three secondary professions.

3)Where can I find job trainers?
Trainers will ALWAYS be in the three large cities of Darnassus, Ironforge, and Stormwind (or the equivalent Horde cities). If you get lost, you can always ask a guard or sentinel to flag your map and send you off in the right direction. (I still use that feature, even at level 55...)

Trainers most relevant to the classes available in each starting point will be in the smaller cities. I'm working on a complete list for this.

4) How are the jobs leveled?
You buy training from a trainer and craft the items you learn to level your skill. Make sure to go back to your trainer and get more difficult skills to level your jobs faster...just don't spend all your money. =) . There is a level cap: For example, a level 20 character cannot get any of his jobs over 150.

Not all trainers can get you to your max skill of 300. In fact, for several jobs you have to quest, find a specific person, or buy a book to get you to your next level. If you get lost and confused trying to find the next person who can train you, try using ->thottbot.com<- Also keep in mind that the trainer that leveled you last time will tell you exactly who to seek out next. A lot of people forget to find things out the easy way.

5)When should I start trying to make a profit?
Immediately. Set reasonable prices and learn the joys of the (Ironforge) Auction House. Keep in mind that though your fellow low levels may be broke, there are a lot of rich alts out there that their players want to keep well-equipped.

Anymore questions, feel free to ask me and I'll add them in. Or, my fellow posters can give me their input and make this more helpful. =)

Here is a breakdown of all the available jobs, their benefits, and their major money-makers.

Main Professions: You Pick Two

Alchemy-make potions!
This allows you to be a walking buff shop. Alchemists can use herbs to make a wide range of potions outside of the basic health and mana ones. They can make ones that increase stats, resitances, spell damage, and health regeneration rates, to name a few. High-level alchemists will eventually learn to do transmutes. On my server, the most popular transmute, arcane crystal to arcanite, sells for 5-7G a pop. This is in high demand because many of the end-game weapons used by paladins/warriors and rifles for hunters can only be crafted by a blacksmith or engineer and require many arcanite bars to complete. Transmutes have cooldowns, however, so it's not like you can stand in a city all day and rake in the cash just by doing them. Diversify!

A good profession that works with this job is Herbalism, because then you can gather all your ingredients yourself without having to fork over any money. Also keep in mind that many tailors require potions and oils that you can make to craft some of their items. Enchanters also will need items such as fire oils to do some enchants. For secondary jobs, alchemists benefit from having a high fishing skill, since some fish are also used to make potions that allow underwater breathing, etc.

Alchemy is really something that can benefit all classes because they make diverse enough potions to help any stats. Also, Warriors can benefit from the healing potions, while casters can use the mana potions. So it's basically whether or not you think there's anything MORE useful to you out there.

Blacksmithing-gain a FANTASTIC upper body!
Let me say right now that there are very few blacksmiths out there. I'm not sure why, but it does mean that I can assure you an almost total lack of competition. Blacksmiths use metal to craft weapons and mail. They are the ones who can make many useful mid-level mail sets and several end-game weapons. They can also create stones which make weapons deal more damage, and counterweights that improve accuracy. Blacksmiths can also create keys that will open chests, which allows non-rogues to access locked-up loot. Finally, they can make spurs that increase the speed at which a character's mount runs. Many people want these spurs; after all, we can agree that running sucks, and the less time it takes, the better.

Just like engineering, a good profession to go with this one is Mining. I think this explains itself. Enchanters also occasionally need items only blacksmiths can make.

Blacksmithing, since it focuses on making heavy armor and melee weapons, is most useful to paladins or warriors. Casters probably should avoid this job since it is of no benefit to them, which makes it more impractical to level.

Enchanting-make items more useful!
Enchanters can add a wide range of stat bonuses to almost any item worn by a character, including weapons. They can also make wands, which are very useful to low level casters but become worthless by level 30. Enchanters get reagents for their enchants by disenchanting unwanted green, blue, or *gasp* purple items. For those who don't want to level their enchanting, disenchanting is in itself a good job for making money, since the materials require no deposit to auction and can sell for quite a bit. However, at high levels, enchanters also can sell their enchants for incredibly high prices. This is good, since some of the reagents can be very hard to come by. Keep in mind, however, that since enchanters cannot pre-make enchantments and sell them, they have to advertise. Competition at peak hours can be kind of tough, but it is always doable. Make sure you know the going rate for what you can sell.

There isn't really a set complement for this job. Many people combine enchanting with Tailoring, since tailors get their materials from world drops and not another main profession. If you choose to go this route, I'd recommend you be a caster for obvious reasons. Another option is to combine enchanting with a gathering profession like Herbalism, Skinning, or Mining and selling what you reap for pure profit. If you do it that way, this is basically a job for anyone.

Engineering-blow things up!
This allows you to make a wide range of mechanical items--bombs are just the beginning. Engineers can create just about anything, from cloth hats to guns to exploding sheep or scopes to increase ranged accuracy. The big money-making items for this job are things like Thorium Bullets and one of the best hunter guns in the game. This is a profession that requires specialization: past a certain point, you will have to decide whether or not to go Gnomish or Goblin Engineering. Gnomish engineers can craft indredibly powerful trinkets like death rays and shrink rays which do massive amounts of damage and decrease attack power, but goblin engineers can create jumper cables that allow the user to try to resurrect a dead person. This is a wonderful item to use in instances, especially if it is the healer that is dead, or the healer is a druid who has a cooldown on her resurrect spell.

A good profession that works with this job is Mining, since most of the things you'll be making require gems and metals. Engineers will also want cloth, which can be found on humanoid mobs, and leather, which can be obtained by people who have taken Skinning up as a profession. Engineers can also make lures that increase fishing skill, so why not go ahead and learn to fish too, eh?

Engineering seems to be more useful to casters or hunters, since Engineers can make good cloth headgear and excellent guns. Target Dummies make it easier for casters to escape from too much aggro, so this job also makes soloing easier. However, just like alchemy, this is a profession that has something for everyone. Bombs give non-casters an AE-like ability and can also stun, which is good for stopping or escaping during PVP.

Herbalism-go flower-picking!
Herbalism is a gathering skill that allows you to pick many of the plants growing all over Azeroth. Alchemists require herbs to concoct potions, and tailors and cooks occasionally need items only you can gather. High-level herbalists can learn to pick rare plants that sell for a lot on the auction house.

This isn't really a main profession- it's designed to complement one of the crafting professions, though those that do jobs solely for money will often pair herbalism with skinning and sell everything they gather.

Keep in mind that herbs take up bag space, so it's not a good idea to quest with full bags, or you'll be left out in the wilderness destroying items.

Leatherworking-because you look good in it!
Leatherworkers use leather obtained through Skinning to make armor. There are three different high-level paths available in leatherworking: Elemental, Tribal, and Dragonscale. Elemental leather goods are generally good for rogues with a few sets for Druids, Tribal is generally good for Druids with a few sets for Rogues, and Dragonscale is generally good for Shaman, though the Black Dragonscale set is useful for Alliance people. Interestingly enough, Dragonscale items are actually -mail- and not leather.

Each branch of leatherworking has its own end-game cloak that can be made. For Elemental leatherworkers its the Shifting cloak, which is fantastic for melee classes, especially rogues. Tribal leatherworkers can make the Hide of the Wild, which is geared towards (Druid) healers. Finally, there is the Chromatic Cloak, which is useful for offensive spellcasters. All of them sell very well, and leatherworkers who can make them are generally in high demand.

A good job to pair with leatherworking is skinning so that you don't have to buy all your leather off the Auction House. Classwise, leatherworking is good for rogues, druids, and low-level hunters or shaman who want to be able to make their own gear.

Mining-use a pick!
Mining, much like Herbalism, is a gathering profession that allows you to extract ore and gems from veins found all over Azeroth. Higher-level metals require a certain skill level to obtain. Level 300 miners are able to gather arcane crystals, the ingredient that must be transmuted to make arcanite bars. These crystals sell for a lot.

Mining is a good complement to a crafting profession like Engineering or Blacksmithing. If you're in it for profit, combine it with another gathering skill. Just remember that ores, stones, and gems can eat bag space away rather quickly.

Skinning-scalp your fallen enemies!
Skinners use a knife to obtain leather from beasts. Certain mobs require a certain level of skill to skin successfully. High-level leather can sell for a lot, and devilsaur leather from the giant scary elite T-rexes roaming Un-goro crater can sell for five gold apiece. It is possible to get skinning above 300 with Finkle's Skinner, which allows you to skin mobs that are higher than level 60.

Skinning works well with crafting jobs like Leatherworking or Tailoring, and also pairs well with another gathering job if you're looking for complete profit. Just make sure what you choose makes sense with your other profession. =)

Tailoring-Become a name brand!
Tailors use found cloth to craft armor and make bags. High-level tailors can craft 14 or 16 slot bags, excellent robes and belts, and mooncloth, which is a material needed to make many of the endgame cloth items. Mooncloth creation has a four-day cooldown and requires felcloth and a moonwell in which to purify it, so you may need to travel a bit. Moonwells are only found in Elvish areas.

Tailoring is a good profession to pair with Enchanting or Skinning, since many boots and bags require leather to create. Tailors who also enchant can make their items more powerful so they will sell for more money.

Tailoring is most useful to casters because the armor they make is cloth, but every class can benefit from making their own bags, and it's not hard to sell most of the stuff you can make.

Secondary Professions:Learn All, Some, Or None

Cooking-Iron Chef! Iron Chef!
Cooking allows you to combine meat, eggs, and other items you get off beasts you slay to create food that restores health and gives spirit and stamina bonuses. High-level cooks can make fun foods like Savory Deviate Delight, which turns the ingester into a ninja, a pirate, or an ooze, and Dragonbreath Chili, which allows you to belch fire at your enemies. Cooks can also pick up holiday recipes for things like egg nog.

There are a lot of cooking quests out there, so leveling this job also allows for some good XP gain. Leveling fishing alongside cooking is also a good idea, since cooking the fish you catch gives it bettter bonuses.

This is a good job for all food eaters (read: no mana) and those who want to one day kill someone in PVP with breath of death.

First Aid-Play nurse!
First aid allows you to use found cloth to create bandages that can heal. Bandaging is a channeled effect, and thus can be interrupted, but it is useful for healing quickly after combat is over. Non-healers and non-tailors benefit the most from this job, though healers can use it as back-up healing when they run low on mana in party.

Leveling this job can be a bit tricky, since you have to buy a book and eventually complete a difficult quest in Theramore to gain a potential skill of 300.

Fishing-Bring beer!
Fishing is incredibly boring, but if you can stand to level it, can also be very useful. Alchemists need fish to make many of their potion components, and cooks can cook it. Plus, you can eat it yourself or just fish up stacks of the ones the other jobs need and sell them on the AH.

I recommend turning on some music and bringing some Thunderbrew Lager.


And that's that. If you have any additions, feel free to e-mail moosetree@gmail.com and I'll fill in anything I may have missed.