Profession A profession is a large trade - oriented set of skill s that player characters may incrementally learn in order to gather , make , or enhance items that can be used in " World of Warcraft " gameplay . Professions are both learned and improved from a trainer ( or sometimes with recipe s ) , for a cost . Professions can be learned regardless of their character faction , race , or class ( although there are a few class skills that are similar to professions . ) Specific trade skills within a profession allow you to do specific things — craft a specific item or add a specific enhancement . These are learned from the profession trainers , from recipes , or occasionally directly from a quest trainer . Each profession starts out with a few specific trade skills . Through practice , a character gains skill levels within the profession and becomes more capable within that profession . Note the distinction , professional skills are capabilities within a profession , whereas professional skill level is a progression metric which is used as a prerequisite for professional skills and as a prerequisite for the ability to gather specific items within a gathering profession . There are nine broad proficiency levels ( four without any expansion , 5 with , 6 with , 7 with , 8 with , 9 with ) that constrain how much skill you can currently acquire within your professions . History . New professions have been added through expansion s and patches . The Jewelcrafting profession may only be learned on accounts that have the Burning Crusade expansion enabled on them . While Inscription was introduced in Patch 3 . 0 . 2 ( Wrath of the Lich King ) , you DO NOT need to have the expansion enabled on your account to be able to train in it . Archaeology is restricted to accounts that have the Cataclysm expansion enabled , much as Jewelcrafting is limited to those who have Burning Crusade . Garrison equivalents in Warlords of Draenor . With the new Garrison feature of the Warlords of Draenor , players can have a limited access to to the equivalent of professions their character does not have . Much of primary crafting professions can be accessed through NPCs in profession related buildings for both making ingredients via work orders and crafting items . Ingredients from gathering professions can be accessed from other specialized buildings or the Garrison mine . Primary professions and secondary professions . Two classes of professions exist : primary professions and secondary professions . You can have only up to two primary professions at any time ( but are not required to take any ) . You can have any number of the secondary professions , and they do not count against your two primary professions limit . You can drop primary professions , freeing up the profession slot , but you lose the knowledge and experience within the profession ; if you take it again later , you will start over from scratch . Secondary professions cannot be dropped , and there would be little point in doing so . Categories of professions . Professions fall into one of three categories : " Gathering " professions gather or harvest item s from resource s throughout the game world to supply ingredient materials ( ' mats ' ) for crafting professions . Occasionally , these harvested items will be directly useful . The gathered materials can be sold in the auction house , unless binding on pickup prevents it . Those who have two Gathering professions are said to be the ' Supply and Demand ' . You demand gold , and they supply it . Sometimes farming for low - quality leathers can be just as profitable as high quality , especially if multiple people are trying to level up their Leatherworking from scratch . The same can go for Herbs . However , this benefit depends largely on players who choose no Gathering profession , so are dependent on buying or getting their ingredients via other means . " Crafting " or " Production " professions make item s from other ingredient items ( herbs , bars , meats , etc . ) Blizzard calls these " production professions " . Most folks in game call them crafting or building . Most of the items produced will be directly useful , but some will be ingredients for further crafting . The products can be sold in the auction house , unless binding on pickup prevents it . " Service " professions provide a service , such as buff ing items . These will generally change the properties of an existing item without changing the in - game identity of the item . Characters that want to make money with a service profession will usually have to actively solicit customers . There is some overlap , where a profession of one type will have some functions that are of another type . Professions . Pseudo professions . These skills are not true professions in that they are not available to all classes and do not gather or create something directly to make money via something like the Auction House ( which all true professions can now that Enchanting can be applied to scrolls which can be sold ) . Proficiency levels . Professions can be trained to nine levels of proficiency ( eight without " " , seven without " " , six without " " , five without " " , four without " " installed ) . Your professional proficiency level represents a range of professional skill points , and your maximum professional skill points is capped by your professional proficiency level . In Mists of Pandaria . The new profession cap will be 600 , but no new professions will be introduced . The top level proficiency level name as of this expansion is now " Zen Master " . In Warlords of Draenor . The new profession cap will be 700 , but again no new professions will be introduced . The top level proficiency level name as of this expansion is now " Draenor Master " . Unlike previous expansions , access to the new level of proficiency will come via Draenor profession book . Partial drops . A concept introduced in this expansion is the idea of partial drops for gathering professions ( , , and , but including ) . This gives characters a chance to get a partial drop when attempting to gather something beyond their proficiency level . In general this partial item will take 10 ( or 20 for Fishing ) of the item to combine into the full version . The partial items will not be usable individually . Minimap locator . The gathering professions mining and herbalism ( and fishing if you find and use the ) can make use of the minimap to locate resources . Originally only one kind of thing could be tracked at a time on the minimap . Hunter s and other classes with trackers who were either Miners or Herbalists had to be wary that activating either of these tracking abilities would deactivate their current tracking ability . Thankfully , this is no longer the case . Companion professions . The idea of companion skills is to use one profession or skill to complement another . Typically , this is a crafting profession and the corresponding gathering profession that gathers the bulk of the materials for the crafting profession . It is by no means necessary to actually have both skills ; however , having them both greatly lowers your character ' s reliance upon the auction house for materials , thus , it is highly recommended . The following is a list of recommended companion skills that generally work well together . Only crafting and service skills and their corresponding gathering skill are listed here . Two gathering skills can be used to make money if you are not interested in crafting at all : Increasing professional skill level . Skill level is increased by practicing the skill . This works differently for different professions . For most professions , you have a chance to gain skill level as you craft items , perform your service , or gather from a resource . As you increase in a skill , more recipes and resources reach a 0 % chance to increase the skill ( at this point the recipe will appear grey in the profession window ) . When a recipe turns green , a skill raise seldom occurs . A yellow recipe will raise the skill by 1 point roughly 60 % of the time . An orange recipe always raises the skill 1 point . The chance of skilling up changes within a colour band as well . For example , if a particular item goes from orange to yellow at 240 and from yellow to green at 255 , the chance of skilling up will be almost as good as orange from 240 - 245 , middling from 245 - 250 , and barely better than green from 250 - 255 . It is often beneficial to make high yellow items to skill up more cost effectively than orange items , but low yellow items should only be used if inexpensive ( or if profitable ! ) . The formula describing the chance to gain a skill level , given your current skill level , the level at which the pattern you are using turns " yellow " , and the level that it turns " grey " , appears to be : < br > This means that a recipe that has just turned yellow will still be guaranteed to grant a skill point for its next craft ( in the above formula , if yourSkill and yellowSkill are the same , the result is 1 ) . It can be observed that the level at which recipes turn green is the point where the chance of a skill - up is 0 . 5 . Thus , yellow recipes have a skill up chance tending from 1 to 0 . 5 as the recipe approaches green . The number of crafts of a recipe required to get 1 skill - up is geometrically distributed , thus the expected number of crafts is given by 1 / chance . This may help in which recipe is the ' cheapest ' to use to level up regarding material cost . One exception to this rule is Skinning , wherein skinning a corpse which appears orange does not guarantee a skill increase , and often many corpses must be skinned in order to raise the skill . Fishing also works differently . Each item fished has a contribution to raising your fishing skill , regardless of the item level fished or the location fished . Raising your fishing skill requires progressively more catches , but it doesn ' t matter where you fish nor what you catch ( other than you will miss more fish in more difficult areas where you have a chance to miss some fish , so it will take longer - so raising fishing skill can be inversely related to the difficulty of the fishing . ) Creating a Basic Campfire has a chance of increasing cooking skill . This has 5 min cooldown so it is not so useful . Bonus to profession skill . You can also increase your profession skill level with certain racial abilities , items , and enchants . The chance to skill up is based on the characters base skill level - i . e . the skill level before the racial or item bonus . This makes it much easier to level up the skill . The Draenei Jewelcrafting skill bonus of 5 , for example , means that a recipe that turned from orange to yellow at 30 for other races would not turn yellow until 35 for a Draenei jewelcrafter . You must have training in the profession ( at least one skill point ) to use a skill bonus in that profession . With no training , the skill bonus does not apply - so you can not use the skill bonus instead of training in a profession . Racial profession . Certain races receive a profession skill bonus as a racial trait . Enchantments . Certain enchantments create a permanent profession skill bonus on an apparel item , which is then worn to apply the profession skill bonus . Currently , all of these work on gloves . Casting these enchantments on a very low level non - binding white or gray quality cloth glove enables the glove to be worn by any character . This will also prevent anyone from accidentally disenchanting the glove . ( The materials for the enchantment cannot ever be recovered in any case . ) ( Some folks may prefer the enchantment on a Bind on Equip glove they can ' t accidentally give away . ) The herbalism enchantment can be cast on for a total bonus of + 7 or + 10 herbalism skill . This is the only way to get both bonuses at once , since individual herbalism skill bonus items would occupy the same equipment slot . Equipment . Certain items give profession skill bonuses when wielded or worn . Bonuses you only get with a certain Profession . Each Primary profession gives certain advantages unique to practitioners of that profession . The crafting profession bonuses , by design , are all roughly comparable : about 40 points of item budget ( i . e . , 40 points to a statistic other than stamina , 60 points of stamina , or 80 points of attack power ) . There are only a few gaps - for example , there is no tailoring bonus useful to tank . Since the release of Wrath of the Lich King , no profession has had bind on pickup items of great value . Several professions have blue quality items that will be useful to fresh level 80s , but quickly replaced with better gear . Gathering . The gathering professions ( Mining , Herbalism , Skinning ) provide some variety of simple bonus ability . Notes : Mining is as good as any other profession for tank s , but useless for other roles . Skinning is decent for any DPS role , though never optimal , since no class values critical strike rating as highly as certain other stats . Herbalism is not competitive in endgame content . However , both Mining and Herbalism are useful while leveling as gathers from associated nodes grant experience . Skinning does not grant experience even though it is a gathering profession . The crafting professions each have recipes for items that require skill in that profession . Alchemy . The primary Alchemist tool for transmutation is the . In addition to being a tool , it is a trinket available at comparatively low level . Alchemists progressing through the Master ( 350 ) and Grand Master ( 400 ) skill levels will be able to create Philosopher ' s Stone s . There are several varieties of these trinkets ( one or more of which is bound to be useful to any given class ) , but their common ability is to increase the effect of healing and mana potions on the wearer by 40 % . In addition , midway through Apprentice level ( 50 skill ) , Alchemists get a passive ability , , that doubles the duration of any elixir ( or flask ) that they use . This ability also increases the effect of the elixir , but the amount of increase varies from item to item . Alchemists can also make a . This is a non - consumable item providing bonuses comparable to those from Mixology , though it does not stack with other flasks or elixirs . It is usable in Arenas . Alchemists are also able to make a small collection of potions that only they are able to benefit from . Notable among them are the and , potions that are not consumed . Blacksmithing . The most notable exclusive benefit Blacksmiths get is the ability to add a socket to bracers and gloves , that requires 400 Blacksmithing skill to remain active . ( This makes Blacksmithing an attractive complement to Jewelcrafting , for characters who are not worried about gaining required materials . ) Blacksmiths can also create skeleton keys to open locked doors and chests , providing a limited alternative to a rogue ' s lockpicking services . In addition , Blacksmiths are able to craft gear that only they can wear . These items become available at several points : Note : As of Cataclysm , Blacksmiths no longer have specialisations . Enchantment . Enchanters are able to enchant their rings with effects that are roughly comparable to an additional cut gem . Engineers . Almost every item an engineer makes is usable only by other engineers , making it difficult to compare to other professions . They have custom made items that do everything from snare or mind control opponents to gaining access to a mailbox or bank space in the middle of the wilderness . Much like Blacksmiths , they are able to make a small selection of items ( headgear ) exclusive to engineers . And in common with most other crafting professions , they are able to augment select items of their own gear . While most of these changes are gadgets ( increased movement speed , rockets , parachutes ) , many also give bonuses to combat statistic abilities ( armor value , critical strike rating , haste rating , etc ) . In common only with Tailoring , there are two mounts that only Engineers can create and use . ( There are a further two mounts - the motorcycles - that require engineering to create , but anyone can use . ) Scribes . Scribes at Grandmaster level ( 400 ) are able to put powerful enchantments ( Inscriptions ) on their shoulder items . This also saves characters the bother of grinding Sons of Hodir reputation . Beyond that , they are able to use Scrolls of Recall , which act much like the Shaman ability , with close to the same cooldown period . Jewelcrafting . Starting as low as level 35 , and continuing at least to level 75 , Jewelcrafters are able to make trinkets that only they are able to use ( BoP ) . More significant than those trinkets , though , is the ability of Jewelcrafters to create and socket more powerful epic quality gems . These gems ( up to three allowed at a time ) are up to 40 % more powerful than the best gems that non - jewelcrafters can obtain . Much like Blacksmithing and Enchanting , this provides benefits approximating having an additional two gems installed in your gear . Leatherworking . Leatherworking allows the practitioner to augment their bracers ( a substitution for normal enchantments ) , and their leg items . ( Leg enchantments are typically done through leatherworking anyway ; the Leatherworker - only versions are far cheaper but equal in power . ) As with Blacksmiths , Leatherworkers are able to create a fair selection of armor items that only they may use , at pretty much the same levels as blacksmiths , but lacking the recipes at 415 skill / level 78 . Tailoring . Tailoring , like Leatherworking , provides cheap top - end leg enchantments , albeit for spellpower rather than melee abilities . It also allows the tailor superior enchantments for cloaks ( providing one of several varieties of ' proc ' buff ) . Tailoring , like Engineering , has a pair of unique flying mounts that only Tailors can ride . Lastly , tailors gain a passive ability , , that allows them to loot extra cloth off of Northrend humanoids . Easy money making . Every profession offers opportunities to make money . The gathering professions offer an obvious avenue : Sell what was gathered . Some of the crafting professions also have " value added services " . The value of those services depends on the market prices for the source and completed items , or upon the price players are willing to offer for the " cooldowns " . Reputation . All of the skills have reduced cost to train depending on your reputation with the Faction to which the trainer belongs . Since you can generally have at least one reputation at Honored by 20th level , selecting where to train will save you ( 5 % as compared to the cost when Friendly ) . This is also true for all recipes for the building professions . Factions . Many good high - level recipes are sold by faction s . Faction grinding keeps many crafters busy for several weeks and can often be very expensive if you are not backed by a guild . It is not uncommon for a crafter to start out with two collecting professions ( usually Skinning / Mining or Skinning / Herbalism ) , later learn the first production craft , and in the end learn a second production craft to maximize benefit from the faction . Unlearning a profession . You may unlearn a profession and start a new one but this removes the chosen profession . If you were to learn it again , you would have to start leveling it from a skill level of 1 again . You will also forget any recipes you may have acquired in your old profession , so they must be reacquired if you take it up again . Note , however , that you do " not " unlearn your speciality , if you have one . If you later re - acquire an unlearnt profession for which you had a speciality , you will still have the speciality . The new profession you choose to replace it with also starts with a skill level of 1 . You can unlearn a profession from your skills tab ( the hotkey is k ) . To do so , click on the appropriate profession , and in the bottom part of the panel is a tiny icon that when moused over will tell you it lets you unlearn your profession . Be sure you really want to unlearn a profession ; Blizzard will not undo it if you change your mind ! One way to make use of this is to look at primary professions from a different perspective . You can only have two . But they are not ' cast in concrete ' , you can discard a primary profession and replace it . And they are dirt cheap - Apprentice level training in a primary profession costs 9 copper in your starting area . When you are first starting , you might benefit by switching professions to meet a goal . You can use this to get a fair upgrade to your starting gear cheaply , and stock up on some low level consumables . The downside is that you lose all of your built up skill and recipe knowledge . Professions and Identity . Often , professions may coincide with your interests in real life . It may be to your advantage to pick a profession which interests you in real life so that your interest in your profession in WoW stays strong . Likewise , allowing your online identity to carry over into real life through professions can be just as rewarding . However , choosing a profession that is new to you can be equally enriching as a way to explore new identities .