Places to farm This page is designed to help you gather hard - to - find materials that you may need for your chosen professions . Essences and Reagents . Farming for reagents can be a time consuming affair , and many find it more cost efficient to just buy them off the Auction House . But as profit margins for blacksmiths are already meager at best , some still like to farm for these hard - to - get components . Be aware that many of the mobs suggested are also quest objectives , and are at peak hours hard to get at . All of these are also in contested zones , so keep an eye out for gankers if you are on a PvP server . Remember that an alchemist buddy with transmuting skills can be of great aid when you are looking for essences of different kinds . Other Reagents . A good place to get Core of Earth and Breath of Wind is across the southern Abyssal Sands in Tanaris . From The Noxious Lair in the west , head east staying north of the Dunemaul Compound until you are south of Broken Pillar . Then head southeast to the area immediately north of The Gaping Chasm . If you criss - cross a bit in said areas you should run into several Land Ragers and Gusting Vortexes on each round . Fire Plume Ridge in Un ' Goro Crater is a good spot to farm for Heart of Fire and Essence of Fire , as the elementals there drop both kinds . It ' s about the only place to get Essence of Fire outside of Blackrock Mountain , so you should be prepared for some competition . Professions . Alchemy . Almost everything used here comes from Herbalism . See down this page for things that can be farmed . Vials of the various kinds are purchased at Alchemy vendors and Trade vendors . There is a vendor for the basic vials in almost every civilized area . Mining . Gems are also found from Mining , but it is much easier to get them from jewelcrafters who use of ore . See the Mining proficiencies page for a list by skill level of what to get and where the popular gathering areas are . Engineering . Random parts . After your Target Dummy is destroyed ALWAYS check the remains . You will find random engineering pieces and possibly the Fused Wiring . Fishing . Nightfin Snapper . This is a nocturnal fish , hence the name . Stonescale Eel . The Stonescale Eel is Nocturnal . Herbalism . The Gatherer add - on is particularly useful for recording where you ' ve encountered herbs in the wild . Bloodvine . Bloodvine is the most rare herb in the game . It drops in Zul ' Gurub when herbs are harvested by someone with a Blood Scythe in their bags , and sometimes from mobs . Black Lotus . Black Lotus used to be the most valuable herb in the game found outside of instances , though they are largely supplanted by Frost Lotus now . Find it in places such as Winterspring and Eastern Plaguelands . It was required to create flask consumables until the advent of the Burning Crusade . They have a long respawn timer and are often heavily farmed . Frost Lotus . Frost Lotus is the currently needed Lotus for Lich King endgame flasks . They have a chance to drop off * any * Lich King Herb , but do so with greater frequency with the higher level herbs , I . E . Lichbloom , Adder ' s Tongue , or Talandra ' s Rose . Auction prices are relatively stable on most realms between 20 - 40g per Lotus . Note : They are NOT millable by scribes , so are primarily useful to Alchemists . Stranglekelp . Stranglekelp can be reliably farmed in Baradin Bay , near Menethil Harbor , the coast around Ratchet in The Barrens ; and in the waters surrounding the Zoram Strand on the coast between Darkshore and Ashenvale . The waters of The Thousand Needles are now full of it . A few plants have been seen regularly along the coast of Stranglethorn Vale near the Vile Reef . Another very reliable place to farm for this herb is all along the coast of Westfall . You can also get Stranglekelp without being an herbalist , by fishing : small quantities of it turn up regularly in schools of fish and pools of floating wreckage . Swiftthistle . Swiftthistle is a rareish drop found in Briarthorn and Mageroyal and a few drops from plant - type creatures such as Deviate Shambler in Wailing Caverns and Thistleshrub Dew Collector s in the far southwest of Tanaris near the entrance to Un ' goro Crater . Wildvine . Wildvine is a rare drop next to Purple Lotus . It also is a rare - ish random drop from the Trolls in The Hinterlands and Stranglethorn Vale . Blindweed . Blindweed is a scarce high level herb that can be found in Swamp of Sorrows , Un ' Goro Crater , and Zangarmarsh . Swamp of Sorrows is an excellent location for farming Blindweed because it has a very high drop rate and it is relatively out of the way . Ghost Mushroom . Ghost Mushroom is a scarce mid - level herb ( 245 ) that is found in " many " caves throughout the upper level zones ( level 45 + ) of Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms . Further , many caves in Outlands and Northrend " do " contain a few of these herb nodes . They * are * millable by scribes , but due to the relatively scarce nature , they are not a great way of attaining pigment . Primarily used by Alchemists to make Ghost Dye which is needed for pre - BC relative endgame craftable tailoring items . Note that each node only gives 1 mushroom . Netherbloom . Netherbloom was previously used in mana potions and is rare enough to present a high AH price . It requires a Herbalism skill of 360 and can be found all over Netherstorm . Leatherworking . Light Leather can be farmed pretty easily at the Maclure Vineyards and Stonefield Farm in Elwynn Forest for beginning Leatherworkers . It can also be obtained at the Raptor Ground in the Barrens . A wide variety of low - to mid - level leather drops can be gotten at Whelgar ' s Excavation Site in the Wetlands . Go with a group for the quests there and you can easily fill your packs by the time you finish them . The raptors in Whelgar ' s Excavation Site drop Light Leather , Medium Leather , Heavy Leather , Light Hides , Medium Hides and Heavy Hides . Most drops are in the medium range but approximately 25 - 50 % will be a combination of light and heavy leather ( These raptors are now living fossils since Cataclysm and do not provide leather ) . There are numerous cats and crocs in Northern Stranglethorn that drop Light Leather / Hide , Medium Leather / Hide . Also the crocolisk island ( the southernmost island in the Loch Modan ) has a pretty fast spawn rate and every mob is skinnable for leather , which is mostly of the light variety . The abundance of wolves ( level 40 + ) in the usually scarcely populated Hinterlands provide both thick and heavy leather . They respawn quickly . It ' s rare to not find a wolf right outside of Aerie Peak . Black Dragonscale . Lvl 50 + - Any of the dragonkin in Burning Steppes & Blackrock Spire have a chance of dropping them . For a better breakdown see Thottbot . Cobra Scales . Lvl 70 + - Skinned off Coilskar Cobras in Coilskar Point in shadowmoon valley or Twilight Serpents west of Forge Camp Hate in Nagrand . These are used to craft and sell about 20g a pop in the Auction House . ( these are lower level since Cata but still drop some Heavy and Medium leather you can convert to Heavy leather . ) ( Since Cata these are replaced with level 27 - 30 Tigers and Panthers that drop Medium to Heavy leather . ) Heavy Leather . Across the road to Mistvale Valley are level 31 - 32 Gorillas that drops Medium to Heavy leather . Raptor Hide . " Note : Raptor Hide is a drop , and not skinned " Tailoring . Netherweave Cloth . Netherweave Cloth Can be found at Tuurem , there , Tuurem Scavenger , Tuurem Hunter , Wrekt Seer and Wrekt Warrior Drop Netherweave Cloth and have 55 % drop rate so pretty common drop , But be advised , it is much better to take them on one by one , and flying mount is advised lvl 63 + . For details on places to farm cloth , please visit the items ' pages :