[WotLK] Blacksmithing 1-450

Like any profession there are always difficulties entailed. This guide was created using the current patch notes, level ranges provided by wowhead, and several testers of my previous guide Blacksmithing 1 to 300. I'm always looking for help and suggestions to find good ways to smooth out things based on availability and material costs.

As of Patch 3.0.3 There were a few changes to Blacksmithing to try and help level things out and make the last few steps to 300 a bit easier. The Thorium Armor set is a set of patterns that are uncommon world drops that has become a trainable pattern. They can currently be found on any Artisan Blacksmithing Trainer for both factions.

I've removed all world drop and quest patterns from the current list and left only one pattern that must obtained through a vendor. The Mithril Scale Bracers pattern can only be bought from two vendors, one for each faction and is carried in limited supply. Alliance will find Haggran in Aerie Peak and Horde will find Gharash in Stonard. Beyond this one pattern the rest of the guide is pretty much a running game for materials from your choice of sources and the trainers. Below is a full list of the materials you will need if you want to do this all in one sitting.

-- List of Materials --

- Mining -
* 145 Rough Stone
* 530 Copper Bars
* 290 Bronze Bars (145 Copper Bars & 145 Tin Bars)
* 230 Iron Bars
* 100 Steel Bars (100 Iron Bars & 100 Coal)
* 150 Heavy Stone
* 370 Mithril Bars
* 5 Dense Stone
* 440 Thorium Bars
* 20 Star Ruby

- Skinning -
* 30 Medium Leather
* 160 Rugged Leather (Optional)

- Vendor -
* 35 Green Dye

- Drop -
* 90 Mageweave

With the release of Wrath we saw a bit of a change for Blacksmithing in the 350 to 375 range. Instead of having you start crafting at the top of the previous end game as they did with the release of Burning Crusade, Wrath has you starting at 350. This range was the end game items for the blacksmithing profession in which a lot of crafted items became difficult to gather materials. This time around that gap was eliminated by the Grand Master range of items. So in an effort to make this step of the guide smooth I have worked those items into this section.

Again I've minimized the patterns for this section to mostly trainer taught items. For the Master blacksmithing range you'll only need to purchase two patterns; Plans: Adamantite Plate Bracers and Plans: Adamantite Breastplate. These patterns are sold by their respective faction vendors; Krek Cragcrush is located in Shadowmoon Village, Shadowmoon Valley (29, 30) and Loolruna is located in Telredor, Zangarmarsh (68, 50).

In the Grand Master range you'll be farming for a pair of patterns that are bind on pickup. These patterns as far as I can tell are likely only attainable by blacksmiths as all previous BOP patterns have been. I chose two patterns based on the levels of the mobs should anyone choose to do this while leveling their character instead of waiting till level 80 as I tend to do. First, Plans: Reinforced Cobalt Shoulders can be found on Onslaught Masons level 72 to 73 in Lights Trust, Dragonblight (Northwest Quadrant). Next, Plans: Reinforced Cobalt Chestpiece can be found on Venture Co. Excavator level range 75 to 76 north of the Suntouched Pillar, Sholazar Basin.

Most of the 350 to 450 section should be pretty easy until you get to Daunting Legplates. There is NOTHING from 435 to 440 that isn't green in skill level. So I've listed the bare minimum amount of materials to meet the goal of 440. Its not going to be fun getting that last 5 points to get the last 10 points. There is nothing from 440 to 450 that does not require Titansteel bars. Smelting Titansteel bars has a 20 hour cooldown, so if you plan to buy these bars prepare to spend a lot of gold.

-- List of Materials --

- Mining -
* 215 Fel Iron Bars
* 120 Adamantite Bars
* 250 Cobalt Bars
* 380 Saronite Bars
* 30 Titansteel Bars
* 40 Primal Earth
* 30 Primal Fire
* 5 Crystalized Water
* 5 Eternal Air
* 15 Eternal Earth

- Drop -
* 10 Frozen Orbs

Thats all folks! Please feel free to comment and help me out so if you see any ways to smooth out any part of this guide, and thanks again!

Blacksmithing 101: Dark Iron Crafting/Smelthing/Mining

Well I'm back! Strange times these are, but never the less I'll once against bestow you with the enlightenment of the blacksmith!

As requested by Arunsun amoung others, I'll try to elaborate the whole "Dark Iron" secret.

Part 1: What is Dark Iron, and where can it be found?
Part 2: How do I get the Smelting: Dark Iron skill?
Part 3: How to: Mine Dark Iron Ore, Smelt Dark Iron?
Part 4: How to forge Dark Iron items?
Part 5: And last but not least, The Map!

Part 1:
What is Dark Iron, and where can it be found?
Originally Dark Iron was the material of the third Dwarf Nation, which is now known as the Dark Iron Dwarves. It is the essence of the Blackrock Mountain and therefore can be found in Blackrock Depths and Molten Core, After patch 1.8 Blizzard added Dark Iron nodes in Searing Gorge. These ore's are extreamly rare and must be harvested in masses to make an actual product. This is a painstaggering and longdrawn quest, but in the end you will end up some of the most-wanted items, such as one of the two known Legendary weapons discovered. However it cannot be found in the Blackrock Spire (L & U)
But enough with all the babble.

How do I get the Smelting: Dark Iron skill?
Grab a pen and paper cause this one is tricky.

You'll need the following components;
20 Gold Bars
10 Truesilver Bars
2 Star Rubies

Next Step;
Go deep into the Blackrock Depths, fight your way to the chamber of the Seven (If you do not know what this is, it is the chamber where you will have to fight the Seven Dark Iron Dwarf ghosts, also the place where the Chest of the Seven is located).
Now BEFORE you trigger the event that'll cause the 7 ghosts to attack you, speak to Gloom'rel, he's the second ghost on the right as you enter the room. He'll demand a sacrifice of the above mentioned items before he'll teach you the skill. Once you have donated the items and learned the skill, you can proceed as you desire.

How to: Mine Dark Iron Ore, Smelt Dark Iron
To mine the Dark Iron veins you'll need a Mining skill of minimum 230. As you advance in BRD (BlackRock Depths), MC (Molten Core) and Searing Gorge, the Dark Iron Ore veins will apear on your minimap like any other vein.

This guide; http://www.koden.org/wow/dark_iron_ore_mining_guide.php - Will show you how to farm Dark Iron most effeciently if you have the aid of a level 60 Rogue/Druid. (Note: The guide provided by this link is *NOT* written by me and belongs to owner of www.Koden.org)

And now to the smelting part:
Once you have aquired the skill to smelt Dark Iron Ore's, there's a few things you need to keep in mind.
A) You can ONLY smelt Dark Iron at the Dark Iron Forge INSIDE the Blackrock Depths instance
B) it takes SIX Dark Iron Ore's to make one Dark Iron Bar (So just forget about making the Dark Iron Hammer)

How to get to the Dark Iron Forge:
You'll need to fight your way through most of the Blackrock Depths instance, right untill the Bridge which leads to the Molten Core portal. There, after the Chamber of the Seven, there'll be a crossing. To your right, the MC portal, and infront of you the door that'll lead you to the end of the instance. Inbetween those who there's a bath running behind the back pillar of the bridge. There, sticking out of the lava waterfall, is the Dark Iron Forge, guarded by a single Fire Elemental. Once you stand infront of it you can smelt all you want to.

How to forge Dark Iron items
Once you have the materials for the item you want to create (also including the recipe) You'll need to go back to the very start of the instance. Instead of heading for the Chamber of the Seven, head to Lord Incendeous. This elemental boss guards the Dark Iron Forge, and you simply can't miss it, It's gigantic. Once you have cleared Lord Incendeous and are free of all mobs, you can begin the crafting.

And last but not least, The Map!
http://wow.52pk.net/map_52pk/fuben/Blackrock_Depths.jpg

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Gee's that was alot of things!
Yup, it's complicated I know, so I'll sumerise the key things.

1) Blacksmithing 230
2) 10 Truesilver Bars, 2 Star Rubies, 20 Gold Bars.
3) Map over Blackrock Depths
4) Re-Read or/and Print this guide.
5) 6 Dark Iron Ore's = 1 Dark Iron Bar
7) If mining in Searing Gorge, do it when there's not alot of people around. Mining Dark Iron while there's too many people about searching for the same is just a waste of time in my oppinion.
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The End! Enjoy.

~ Yours, Groktal. (Gee it's good to be back )

Notes: I deliberately left out the Dark Iron Faction = Thorium Brotherhood, in this thread. It is a different part and much, much, much more complicated. I will however try to write a somewhat comprehensible guide on it in due time.

Blacksmithing 101: Imperial Plate Set

(First post, introduction will follow)

So, the new armor set aye? The Imperial Plate Armor. Every tankers dream. Problem is just, it does take quite a large amount of Thorium, and Star Ruby's aswell.

I'll add the list over total components, bonus's, skill reg's and level reg's.

And having a full set myself, i can say that just because its STR/STA based only, dosn't mean it can't look good. cause damn, you look like a Real Knight in shining Armor ((Metallic-grey/Blue shades)) Even on orcs *snickers*

Total List of Thorium needed to get all the recipes:

Bracers - 20 Thorium Bar's (BS:270) Level Reg: 49
Belt - 20 Thorium Bar's (BS:265) Level Reg: 47
Shoulders - 20 Thorium Bar's (BS:265) Level Reg: 47
Boots - 40 Thorium Bar's (BS:295) Level Reg: 54
Helm - 50 Thorium Bar's (BS:295) Level Reg: 54
Chest - 60 Thorium Bar's (BS:300) Level Reg: 55
Leggings - 60 Thorium Bar's (BS:300) Level Reg: 56

Total component list for All recipe's: 270 Thorium Bar's
----------------------------------------
Total component list for manifacture:

Thorium Bar's - 218
Star Ruby's - 8
Citrine's - 2
Rugged Leather - 12
Aquamarine's - 2
----------------------------------------

Total Set Bonus:

2 pieces: +100 Armor.
4 pieces: +28 Attack Power.
6 pieces: +18 Stamina.

Total Stats Bonus:

Armor: 2809
Stamina: 94
Strength: 100
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So in conclution, if you want the full armor set (which not only looks great but will add a load of DPS/HP to your group tank) you'll need:
488 Bar's in total.

Hope you have enjoyed the first of the "Blacksmithing 101" and I hope to write a couple more of 'em, and ofcause add my 2 cent's of knowledge.

- yours, Groktal

Blacksmithing 101: Legendary weapon - Sulfuras

So, i'm going to torture you with a little... a litte look into the Legendary weapon; Sulfuras, the hand of Ragnaros.
So far, it's the only Legendary (RED!) wepaon i've seen and heard of, and it needs 1 important thing; US! Blacksmiths!

In order to make this weapon you need:

A) MC farming group
B) 300 Blacksmtihing
C) Plans: Sulfuron Hammer

Okay, going to break it down into two parts, you need the Hammer blacksmithings make, and the Eye of Sulfuras, going to take the hammer first.

To make this hammer you will need:
Sulfuron Ingot 8
Dark Iron Bar 20
Arcanite Bar 50
Essence of Fire 25
Blood of the Mountain 10
Lava Core 10
Fiery Core 10

Get that and make:
Sulfuron Hammer
Binds when equipped
Two-Hand Mace
143 - 239 Damage Speed 3.00
(63.7 damage per second)
Durability 120 / 120
Requires Level 60
Chance on hit: Hurls a fiery ball that causes 83 to 101 Fire damage and an additional 16 damage over 8 sec.

Now, to get this plan is rather complicated, and i'm not entirely sure about where to get it. But the Sulfuron Ingot drops off the MC boss "Golemagg the Incinerator" with a 7.5% drop chance.
Its rumoured that you turn in 1 signot to learn the recipe.

Thats as far as i know, now to the second part.
-------------------------------------------------------
Once you get the hammer, you can concentrate on Ragnaros and his eye.
The eye itself is BoP and ONLY drops off the Firelord himself with a drop chance of 5.7%. once you have both, you right click on the Eye and you will get "Quote";

Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Mace
180 - 302 Damage Speed 3.00
(80.3 damage per second)
+12 Strength
+12 Stamina
+30 Fire Resistance
Durability 145 / 145
Requires Level 60
Chance on hit: Hurls a fiery ball that causes 273 to 333 Fire damage and an additional 75 damage over 10 sec.
Equip: Deals 5 Fire damage to anyone who strikes you with a melee attack.

"un-quote"

I hope this little tale from the seven sea's has inspried you, or atleast left you "wow...." cause it sure did that to me, and as far as i know its the ONLY! legendary weapon discovered so far.

- Yours, Groktal

Blacksmithing 101: Miners Compendium - Veins & Gems

Breaking down the Veins, Gems and Drop Chances
Mining Locations (Author Snowflake) follow link
http://www.wow-pro.com/node/664

Copper Veins Zone Level 1-20
Copper Ore - Rough Stone

Drops
Malachite
Shadowgem
Tigerseye

Tin Veins Zone Level10-30
Tin Ore - Coarse Stone

Drops
Jade
Lesser Moonstone
Malachite
Shadowgem
Moss Agate

Iron Deposit Zone Level 30-50
Iron Ore - Heavy Stone

Drops
Aquamarine
Jade
Citrine
Lesser Moonstone

Mithril Deposit Zone Level 40-60
Mithril Ore - Solid Stone

Drops
Aquamarine
Citrine
Star Ruby
Black Vitol

Small Thorium Veins Zone Level 50-60
Thorium Ore - Dense Stone

Drops
Blue Saphire
Large Opal
Star Ruby
Black Vitol

Rich Thorium Veins Zone Level 55-60
Thorium Ore - Dense Stone

Drops
Arcane Crystal
Azerothian Diamond
Blue Saphire
Large Opal
Huge Emerald
Star Ruby

Silver Veins Zone Level 10-30
Silver Ore

Drops
Lesser Moonstone
Moss Agate
Shadowgem

Gold Veins Zone Level 30-60
Gold Ore

Drops
Citrine
Jade
Lesser Moonstone
Jade

Truesilver Deposit Zone Level 40-60
Truesilver Ore

Drops
Aquamarine
Citrine
Star Ruby

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Drop Chances & Prices
Malachite ~1% | +1s
Shadowgem ~1% | +1s
Tigerseye ~1% | +1s
Jade ~3% | +40s
Lesser Moonstone ~3% | +15s
Moss Agate ~1.5% | +20s
Aquamarine ~3% | +20s
Citrine ~4% | +35s
Star Ruby ~2% | +50s
Large Opal ~0.4% | +20g
Huge Emerald ~0.4% | +20g
Blue Saphire ~0.4% | +20g
Arcane Crystal ~0.7% | +20g
Azerothian Diamond ~0.3% | +40g
Black Vitol ~0.7% | +5g

Blacksmithing 101: Weaponsmith + Dark Iron spoiler

(Servers are down, so i finally have time to write another gold mine *chuckles*)

Weaponsmithing, What? How? and Why?

Weaponsmithing is the second evolvement of Blacksmtihing. It can be learned along with Armorsmtihing at Level 40 with a minimum of Blackmsithing 225.

Personally i chose Weaponsmtihing mainly cause everyone takes Armorsmithing and its really too mcuh of a bother when some of the best loot items in the game are Armor's, and not weapons.

Where to start:
From the weaponsmith trainer you will learn 4 different plans, all 4 different types of weapon.

• 1st: The Shatterer - 1H mace "Chance on hit: Disarm"
• 2nd: Phantom Blade - 1H sword "Chance on hit: Decrease Armor"
• 3rd: Blight - Polearm "Chance on hit: Poison Target"
• 4th: Truesilver Champion - 2H sword "Chance on hit: Holy Shield on Caster"

Now these four items all takes speciel components, besides an extraordinary amount of gems, truesilver and mithril.

Core of Earth
The Shatterer needs "Core of Earth" some say the drop chance for these is around 1/125. They can be gotten from high leveled elementals in Badlands (+45) and you will find them in two seperate camps South-West on the map. Or you can do multiple Maraudon runs and kill the roaming elementals inside the Instance. you should get about 2-4 pr. run. Each Shatterer needs 4.

Breath of Wind
These rare components are needed for 2 of the 4 items: Phantom Blade and Truesilver Champion. They are dropped of the Gusting Vortex's in the Taranis desert middle (+43) and are frustraitingly rare. Though killing the roaming earth elementals will automtically sawn 1 Gusting Vortex, it could take an hour just to get 1! Breath, that is if your hunting alone.
The middle of Taranis is a pretty big area so Have Patience! or go home again.

Ichor of Undeath
This, somewhat disgusting, component is dropped from +level 50 Undeads in the Plague Lands. They, on the other hand, are pretty frequent dropped and only needed for the weapon Blight. Which is why you will see many of them on the Auction House at ridicuilessly low prices (Don't ruin the market, give to friends or sell to vendor instead) we're talking 3-10g.
Reason for this is because its by far the easiest item to make of the 4, though also the less wanted.

Geez! This sounds imposible!
But wait, there's light at the end of the tunnel. See blizzard made these components hard to get to prevent Solo farm / Auction House spam. so whats the trick? Don't go alone! i cannot stress this point enough, if you go alone you might aswell turn around. Bring a friend and the drop chances will increase by 40% (estimated increase after take timer on solo/group hunt)

Now for something a little different:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After these four there's only one way to go, and thats usually level 60 if you want to be really prepared for the plan hunt as most are in +55 instances.

The next step in "weaponsmths only" is Blackrock Depths and the infamous Dark Iron. It should be said up front that if you aren't dedicated you should just leave this alone! Dark Iron can ONLY be; Mined, Smelted and Forged inside Blackrock Depths.
So unless you have the time and patience for this, drop it and move on.
Though for those who does go through with it, I have two words for you:

Epic Plans!

This does involve mining and donating houndreds apon houndreds of Dark Iron Ore's to a Dwarf inside the Instance , but you will get thé sweetest fire resistant armor + weapnos. Who knows, you might even make it to Main Tank in the Molten Core raids with these items.

So, for you I've dug up a little guide to help you solo mine 60 Ore's/Hour:
http://www.koden.org/wow/dark_iron_ore_mining_guide.php

Notes:

• 1) You have to make it far in to the Black Forge where the Dwarf is, hand him 20 Dark Iron Ore's, 10 Truesilver Bar's and 2 Star Ruby's before he will teach you to smelt Dark Iron.
• 2) The Black Forge is the ONLY place in the game so far, where you can smelt Dark Iron (Near MC entrence)
• 3) The Dark Anvil is the ONLY place where you can forge Dark Iron items, and its protected by Lord Incendirus (spellcheck?) who's a level +55 Boss.
• 4) You will need to donate Dark Iron's to the Dwarf at the forge, and gain standing with the Thorium Brotherhood, before he will start making Recipes available for you.

Back to the initial topic:
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Once you've hit Blacksmithing 300 and a fully educated Weaponsmith you can start your travel to Wintersprings.
In the neutral Goblin town you'll find the 3 weaponsmtih specializers:
Axe, Hammer, Sword.
Before you can become a Axe/Hammer/Sword-smith, you need to do a quest for them, each involves a +level 60 dungeon run, but you'll recive a plan apon completion, and all of these items are by far suppirior to what else you might get your hands on at the item's level.

Thats almost but not entirely the last step for us weaponsmiths.

Now begins the INSANELY expensive hunt for Arcanite!
Arcanite Bar's can only be transmuted by Alchemists and require: 1 x Arcane Crystal (Rare drop from Rich Thorium Veins ONLY) and 1 x Thorium Bar. Transmution has a 2 day cooldown pr. Bar.

For arcanite is cruicial in the next many Plans as Arcanite weapons are thé final step. I'm sure you have all heard about the Arcanite Reaper? supposedly the best "non-epic drop" axe available, and will happily sell itself on the Auction House for +700Gold.

Most of these end-level drops comes from Blackrock spire, though i have yet to encounter the Reaper myself, but have seen the sword version; Arcanite Champoin.

In conclusion: Look Blacksmthing up on www.thottbot.com and PLAN AHEAD! you really don't want to find out later that you have made the wrong choices cause once they're done, there's no going back.

For all you blacksmtihs out there - Happy Hunting!

Known Rich Thorium Veins

I have been mining thorium for some time and would like to post a guide that will give a location of all Rich Thorium i have seen. Maybe others can post ones that i might have missed.

************************************************************
*NOTE*
THESE MINES ARE TIMED USING A MINE TIMER APP FROM MY GUILD
dont ask for the app its not going to be published till completed
************************************************************

Winterspring--
The lvl 57-60 tiger area on the north end spawns 3 rich thorium ever 14.5 min starting from left, then north, then right side.

Yetti cave east of everlook spawns 2 Rich thorium veins that spawn ever 28.2 min one at the very end of the cave, one on the ramp up left side.

Thisulfur Village on the north east side of winterspring has 3 mines that spawn ever 34 min. Left of the gate going in one on the north up the hill and one on the south east at the dead end.

Owlbeast hill southeast side of winterspring near the valley of giants, 29.2 min 2 rich thorium spawns. one in the cave on the left of the owls, one up the hill in the cave on the right

Ungoro --

West side near the lvl 55-56 elite dino at the west pylon not sure of spawn time.

Fire hill in the center of ungoro there are 5 potential spawn points best thing to do there is run up the hill check mini. no spawn run down. no need it walking around it as the mini can cover the whole hill in 2 sec

Silthius --

Misc thorium all over the zone. one of the best mining spots for thorium ore in general there is (imo). Rich thorium on all 4 points of the zone north,south,east,west look at the map once in the zone and hit the 4 center points of each direction 59 min spawn for each mine.

Also if you are a rogue or have a couple buds with you there is ALWAYS 2-3 rich thorium down in the individual insect areas monster lvls ranging from 55-62 elite. (i take a preist and a rogue with me and hit all 4 areas)

East Plague --

East plague has 3 that i know of. respawn is random in this area. 1 is in the cavern just south of light hope chapel. One spawns up the hill north of Light hope in the cauldren area (not sure the name dont care just there for the ore). One spawns North west of light hope near Zul Mashaar just check the general area as this mine jumps a bit.

Suggestions --

If you are in need of ore farm winterspring or silthius as they are the highest mine per area for thorium. If you get your mining spawns right you can endless run from rich thorium to rich thorium for about 30-90 ore per hour and about 6-10 gems per hour

Mining 1-450

Mining 1-450

This is the new and improved version of my mining guides, all brought together in one place for easy reference, I have gone through each and improved them. Enjoy!

The minimum level for starting this guide is level 5 as this is the level at which you can first learn mining. However as you progress you will need to go into zones with higher level monsters which will require the appropriate level.

You will require a Mining Pick to mine nodes that appear throughout the world. This will take up a space in your inventory, but without it you will not be able to mine anything. You could use a Gnomish Army Knife if you can get your hands on one. This reduces the number of slots that your professions will take up.

Contents

1. Tips and Hints

2. Recommended Addons

3. Training

4. Smelting

5. Mining

   • 1-65

   • 65-125

   • 125-175

   • 175-250

   • 250-300

   • 300-325

   • 325-350

   • 350-400

   • 400-450

Tips and Hints

• The bonus that you get with mining is Toughness (the linked rank is gained when you hit 450 mining). The first rank is automatically gained at level 75 mining, giving you 3 stamina, and increases a rank every 75 mining up to the linked rank.

• Buy the biggest bags that you can afford - the more things that you can carry, the less chance that you will have to delete objects to make room.

• Put Find Minerals on the action bar so you can activate it quickly.

• Keep your eyes open at all times and keep an eye on your mini-map.

• Download the recommended addons.

• If levelling and mining together make sure you are at the required level of mining for the zone you are questing in, if not backtrack and get your mining up. This will save time in the long run.

Recommended Addons

If you are smelting then you can get away without using these addons, however if you are planning to mine all the way up then these are great as it means you do not have to remember where you found nodes.

GatherMate I have chosen to recommend this one as opposed to Gatherer as you can download a very good database for it which is easy to install and use.

The Database This database has most nodes that are found in the game and I use this to plot my circuits. Be warned, it is not 100% of the nodes, and sometimes you may stumble upon one that is not marked, however it will note this down and you can add it for your next loops.

Routes This handy little addon plots a route around all the points that you have in your database in such a way as to make travelling minimal. It is fully compatible with GatherMate.

Training

You will need to visit a trainer periodically, both to get the next Mining skill level, and to learn how to smelt the next ores into bars. When you visit the trainer to get your next skill level it is a good idea to deposit your ore in the Auction House or your Bank, this maximises the amount of time you are spending out in the field, so to speak.

1-75 = Apprentice Mining

75-150 = Journeyman Mining (requires 50 mining)

150-225 = Expert Mining (requires 125 mining)

225-300 = Artisan Mining (requires 200 mining)

300-375 = Master Mining (requires 275 mining)

375-450 = Grand Master Mining (requires 350 mining)

Alliance

1-300

Gelman Stonehand in Dwarven District in Stormwind.
Matt Johnson in Darkshire in Duskwood.
Yarr Hammerstone in Steel Grills Depot in Dun Morogh.
Dank Drizzlecut in Gol'Bolar Quary in Dun Morogh.
Geofram Bouldertoe in the Great Forge in Ironforge.
Brock Stoneseeker in Thelsamar in Loch Modan.
Kurdram Stonehammer in Auberdine in Darkshore.
Dulvi in Azure Watch in Azuremyst Isle.
Muaat in the Traders Tier in The Exodar.
Prospector Nachlan in Blood Watch in Bloodmyst Isle.

300-375 (minimum level 275)

Hurnak Grimmord in Honor Hold in Hellfire Peninsula.

375-450 (minimum level 350)

Fendrig Redbeard in Valiance Keep in Borean Tundra.
Grumbol Stoutpick in Valgarde in Howling Fjord.

Horde

1-300

Brom Killian in The War Quarter in Undercity.
Johan Focht in The Sepulcher in Silverpine Forest.
Brek Stonehoof in Lower Rise in Thunderbluff.
Krunn in Razor Hill in Durotar.
Makaru in Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar.
Belil in Farstrider's Square in Silvermoon.

300-375 (minimum level 275)

Krugosh in Thrallmar in Hellfire Peninsula.

375-450 (minimum level 350)

Brunna Ironaxe in Warsong Hold in Borean Tundra.
Jonathan Lewis in Vengeance Landing in Howling Fjord.

Neutral

Jedidiah Handers in Dalaran; this trainer is in Dalaran so is for both factions.

Smelting

This part of the guide is dedicated to levelling by smelting, this will level your Mining faster than if you go out and get all of the ore yourself, but it will cost you. This will require a supply of ore to smelt, generally from the auction house. As a general rule ore is more expensive than the equivalent amount of bars, so you will lose money if you resell the bars after you have smelted them. Alternatively you can then use the bars to level a crafting profession.

1-65 Smelt Copper.

65-70 Smelt Tin.

70-90 Smelt Bronze.

90-125 Smelt Silver.

125-155 Smelt Iron.

155-175 Smelt Gold.

175-230 Smelt Mithril.

230-250 Smelt Truesilver.

250-290 Smelt Thorium.

290-300 Mine some Thorium to level up.

300-315 Smelt Fel Iron.

315-325 Mine some Fel Iron to level up here.

325-340 Smelt Adamantite.

340-350 Mine Adamantite here to level.

350-375 Smelt Cobalt.

375-400 Mine Cobalt (you can mine it for longer, but on most servers Saronite sells for more)

400-450 Mine Saronite.

Mining

This method will take longer, but you will make gold while levelling it if you are selling the ore/bars. Remember you can mine say 2/3 of what you need, then smelt the ore that you have mined to get your skill up to the point you need to get to. This will give you the best of both worlds - faster levelling and low costs.

Note: Just because I recommend, for example, the horde to mine in Thousand Needles does not mean that the Alliance cannot or should not mine here, it just means that it is more out of the way and will take a while to travel there.

1-65

If you are Alliance I would suggest mining from 1-65 in Dun Morogh, if you are horde then I would recommend mining in Durotar. You will be mining Copper.

Dun Morogh

Durotar

It is advisable to get the next training from your trainer before moving on, it will save time. Check the Training section to find your nearest trainer.

65-125

Here you should aim for Tin mostly, but if you pick up Copper it is not a bad thing as you can sell it, or you can smelt it with the Tin to make Bronze. For the Alliance I would recommend Loch Modan, and for the Horde I would recommend mining tin in Thousand Needles.

Loch Modan

Thousand Needles

Note: If you cannot mine iron (which will be for the majority of this section of the guide, then it is not necessarily advisable to do the loop around the Shimmering Flats, this is because it is quite a long way round and the nodes consist mainly of Iron.

Again it is a good idea to get the next training from your trainer (when you reach 125) before moving on, it will save time. Check the Training section to find your nearest trainer.

125-175

This is the point at which Horde and Alliance should be mining in the same place, and I would suggest that place being Arathi Highlands. You will be mining Iron here.

Arathi Highlands

175-250

When you reach 225 mining you will need to go back to your trainer and get the next skill level. Check the Training section to find your nearest trainer.

Next you should head on up to The Hinterlands in search of Mithril, this will take you from 175-250.

The Hinterlands

Note: On this map the route through the ruins is very roughly sketched as the actual path is incredibly winding.

Note 2: You can skip ahead to the next part of the guide at 230, it's up to you and may be better depending on the amount of farming on your server and the relative prices of Thorium/Mithril.

250-300

Here you have 2 options. You can either go to the close-by Eastern Plaguelands where you will be mining Thorium. Or you can go all the way to Winterspring. Personally I prefer Winterspring as it is less busy generally and I find the plaguelands quite depressing but both zones have plenty of Thorium there just waiting for you to mine it.

Eastern Plaguelands

Winterspring

Congratulations, you have now reached 300 mining! You are now ready to head off to the wilds of the Outlands and mine the exotic ore found there.

You will need to visit your Outland trainer to mine further ore, to find this trainer please refer to the Training section of the guide.

300-325

To follow the next stage of the guide you need to be able to go to Outlands so unless you are planning on being summoned here and running the risk with the higher level mobs you will need to be at least level 58.

Hellfire

Here you will be mining Fel Iron

Note: It can be profitable to drop into the Path of Glory on your route as there are usually one or 2 nodes here, but I would only recommend it if you have a flying mount as there are a lot of mobs in this area.

You can mine in Terrokar Forest if you are not having much luck in Hellfire, but the mobs will be a higher level which may be a consideration if you are not maximum level. The nodes here are more evenly spread between Fel Iron and Adamantite, so this can be frustrating if you can only mine Fel Iron when you go there.

Terrokar Forest

You can do this with a ground mount, although it will be faster if you have a Flying Mount. You will need to do this until you reach 325 mining, you can do this to get to higher mining levels, but Adamantite Ore goes for more gold on most servers so you will be maximising the gold/hour you are getting.

325-350

You can now mine Adamantite Ore this will take you all the way to 375 (although you can stop at 350 as this is the minimum skill for mining Cobalt Ore which is very lucrative at the moment. I would suggest that you mine Adamantite Ore in Nagrand as it is not farmed as much as it was and still spawns a decent number of nodes.

Nagrand

350-400

At this point you will need to visit one of the trainers in Northrend, to find out where they are please check the trainer list in the Training section of the guide.

Howling Fjord

Howling Fjord can be good for levelling initially, although Borean Tundra can be just as good. If you are a high enough level I would recommend that you skip this one and go on to Zul'Drak as it has a very high ore count.

You will be mining Cobalt at this point.

Zul'Drak

You either love it, or you hate it. This is the Marmite zone of Wrath. However it has one of the best ore counts that you will find. In addition to the route I have marked you can go further to the north east if you have time.

400-450

Wintergrasp

I would recommend finishing in this zone although there are is one glaring disadvantage;
It's the only PvP zone for those on PvE realms

However the respawn of nodes is great because of this and generally few people farm it. Here you are aiming to be mining Saronite.

Congratulations you have now reached 450 mining, you will now be able to mine Titanium, this is the expansions equivalent of Khorium, and as such is needed in many high level crafting recipes and is incredibly rare and lucrative. Especially so with the patch that means Jewelcrafters are able to Prospect it for the chance to get epic gems.

Thanks for reading, I hope this has helped.

Mining Locations

Copper Veins

• Alliance Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Loch Modan, Westfall
• Horde The Barrens, Durotar

Tin Veins

• Alliance Duskwood, Redridge Mountains, Loch Modan
• Horde The Barrens
• Neutral Hillsbrad Foothills, Thousand Needles

Silver Veins

• Alliance Duskwood
• Horde The Barrens
• Neutral Arathi Highlands, Hillsbrad Foothills, Thousand Needles

Iron Deposits

• Neutral Arathi Highlands, Badlands, Stranglethorn Vale, Alterac Mountains, Thousand Needles

Mithril Deposits

• Neutral Badlands, Tanaris (Alien Caves), Desolace, Searing Gorge

Gold Veins

• Neutral Badlands, Arathi Highlands, Burning Steppes, Stranglethorn Vale

Truesilver Veins

• Neutral Burning Steppes, Un'Goro Crater (Ape Caves), Badlands, Tanaris (Alien Caves)

Small Thorium Veins

• Neutral Un'Goro Crater (Alien Caves), Burning Steppes, Blasted Lands, Felwood

Rich Thorium Veins

• Neutral Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands, Un'Goro Crater (Western Part), Winterspring

Dark Iron Deposit

• Neutral Burning Steppes, Blackrock Depths, Molten Core

Mining Tips

1.
Alright, this is a loop is for people who are lower 50's or, maybe, high 40's (and i dont mean lvl 46 ). Start out at the Northern entrance of the Badlands. Follow the high wall south, past Uldaman, until there is the first major left, East, down another trail. Follow this while hugging the northern side. There should have been a node or two of iron (do not be afraid to mine iron or gold on this run, it's free and it's on the way). Continue until there is a path climbing up while continuing East and climb the path. Continue East and drop down the whinding trail that leads to the dragon whelps. Hug the ledge that seperates you from one of the pillars in the Badlands and go around the ledge and go towards the pillar. Turn South and hug the eastern wall.

At the entrance to the Lethlor Ravine (towards the bigger dragons), go towards the Western wall and follow that south. When the Ravine starts to close again, make a wide turn into a little side path in the southern wall. Climb through this and jump over a few gaps back onto the main road. Follow the wall around the loop and head West throught the path while hugging the eastern and southern walls.

Head South at the first chance and keep hugging the wall. Turn West and follow that wall. I will not go into detail here but go into each of the paths and indents that you occur in this wall. If you do not, there will be approximately 5 or 6 nodes you MAY miss. Continue onward and climb through a little gap at the second ridge by the ogre mound. Afterwards, turn south and go into the mound. Come back out and head into a gap the is directly West of you but you will have to go North then West to get onto the ledge. Continue North and enter the Searing Gorge. You should have gotten an alright supply of iron and mithril, including their alternates: gold and truesilver.

When you enter the Searing Gorge, turn South and go around the Dark Iron camp, unless there is any nodes. Go up the ledge and continue up until you reach the ledge where Margol the Rager is. Continue down the more eastern path just a little bit (you don't have to go into the cave) and go back and follow the other path. Go onto the south ledge by the skinner and follow that a little bit. If you followed it correctly, you should have ended up in a giant clearing with a giant cliff infront of you. Go around and climb the ledge. Continue West again while keeping an eye out for more ledges and indents in the map. Go towards the Blackrock Mountain entrance and hug the ledge just North of the entrance for a little bit (it's just after the second magma river). Continue towards the Southeast corner and climb up in the area up there. Be sure to check the entire area there and start hugging the wall North. When you hit a ledge in the middle of the path, the one that blocks the Twilight Cult caverns (basically not attached to the mountains), climb it and head towards another ledge North-East of it (about South-West of Thorium Point).

Now comes the trickiest part of all. If you have ever been into the Cauldron, there is a hole South of the Thorium Point marked by a crane. Use it but jump onto the block, then the next ridge down and so on. You have to do this because you could possible die from the fall or you could be weakened and will have to fight. Head through the prison gate and turn left, might want to avoid fights to keep speed going but you can fight if you want. Turn left and check until you hit a dead end, at which point you should turn around and head for the exit opposite of the prison gate (don't have too far to tell on your mini-map if there is anything at all). Turn around and go back through the prison gate and go into the big room with Obsedian. Walk around a bit to make sure that there isn't any nodes you missed and continue up the ramp. Go past the Dark Iron guys and head outside via the outside ramp. You may see some nodes but DO NOT JUMP YET! Follow the ramp and go towards the incendosaur caves. If you have experience or have use of your mini-map, jut try to walk through here by making a loop (North and East then South and West or the other way around). Just be sure to get anything you see though.

Remember those nodes outside? Head back out there and jump, trying to jump onto anything higher off the ground or in an area without creeps. Head East, checking the walls for nodes, and exit the Cauldron. Head North (yes North) where you can to enter a clearing. Walk around the walls of the clearing to check for a node or two but be careful of the poachers that kill the spiders, 5 to 1 aren't good odds for success. Head back out of where you entered and follow the path East and South again towards the entrance to the Badlands. If you did this right, you should have an alright supply of Mithril and Dark Iron, even a Thorium node is possible on the Western side too.

Head back to the Northern entrance of the Badlands while hugging the walls (Alliance stay away from the Horde Base ) Now, if this was done with proper timing, there may be respawns and you can rinse and repeat the process again. This is a fairly easy way to get minerals for your blacksmithing or engineering skills, or you can make some fairly good money with one run. A worse run would have 1-2 mithril stacks, less than one stack of iron, and a couple Dark Iron (not including stray iron or mithril). A better run is 3-4 mithril stacks, 1-2 stacks of iron, and some dark iron (not including stray iron or mithril). I won't try to guess on a good truesilver or gold number because it is a random spawn and shouldn't really be accounted for an estimate.

2.
The next loop idea that I have is not too great. I really haven't seen much success with this loop but it is a basic loop. The outer walls of Un'Goro Crater hold both mithril and thorium. Now, in order for this to really work, you will have to go up every ledge and in the gorrilla caves. The real problems that I have with this is: there isn't much terrain to go about getting your minerals;you constantly have to avoid creeps and, worse, lvl 55+ elites, especially on the western side; and the pay out doesn't seem as good as it could be.

3. For this tip, I am trying to reach those who mine adamantite. This, unlike the previous tips, is not a loop. For frequent adamantite, head to Nagrand and explore all of the large gaps. Though they might not drop frequently enough to be called a loop, they are mostly there, opposed to anywhere else in Nagrand. This tip won't get you hardened adamantite on a great scale, but it lets you keep from guessing.

Info
If you have any other ideas about how to make a mining loop, comment me or get me at . I also have copied WoW maps that have a...err...very rough trail line going over them. No, not a mod, just a piece o' crap paint project that gives a basic idea about where you should end up.

The miners guide to lots of Gold.

This is a simple one, but just by a little looking and some decent skill you can make lots very quickly.
The secret is that on most any realm, some kind of mining mineral is in REAL high demand.
Look in the AH to see what kind of things go for high price. In my realm the most in demand is Iron. So what do I do? Find a good place to farm it, a favorite is the bottom of Arathi Highlands where the trolls are.
(Thanks for helping me discover that Jame.) Anyway lots of Iron Deposit spawn so the idea would be to get enough to make at least one stack of 20. Next thing we want to do is go to the Auction House and check the prices on it.
Hmmmm...7g Starting Bid and 10g buyout? What is this guy smoking?! (Thats the highest I have seen it go, and seriously that guy was on too much Bloodthistle or even Crack.) Now lets take the current highest price and throw it in at 50s-1g lower...repeat this if it sells until you see if its on demand. If Iron isn't it try things like Mithril, Steel, Etc. I guarantee at some point you will find something on demand, try searching different Bars of Mineral, also note that sometimes they go for higher un-smelted.

Trainer List

Alliance

Journeyman

• Gorum Stonebeard - Ironforge, Great Forge
• Dane Lindgren - Stormwind, Dwarven District

Expert

• Rotgarth Stonebeard - Ironforge, Great Forge
• Therum Deepforge - Stormwind, Dwarven District

Artisan

• Bengus Deepforgel - Ironforge, Great Forge

Master

• Ironius Coldsteel (Special Weapon Crafter) - Ironforge, Great Forge
• Grumnus Steelshaper (Armor Crafter) - Ironforge, Great Forge
• Borgus Steelhand (Weapon Crafter) - Stormwind, Dwarven District

Horde

Journeyman

• Ug'thok - Orgrimmar, Valley of Honor
• Guillaume Sarowy- Silverpine Forest, The Sepulcher
• Thrag Stonehoof - Thunder Bluff, Elevation 1
• Brasil Frye - Undercity, War Quarter

Expert

• Thraug - The Barrens, Crossroads
• Snarl - Orgrimmar, Valley of Honor
• Karn Stonehoof - Thunder Bluff, Elevation 1
• James Van Brunt - Undercity, War Quarter

Artisan

• Saru Steelfury- Orgrimmar, Valley of Honor

Master

• Bargosh Corebender (Weaponsmith) - Orgrimmar, Valley of Honor
• Okothos Ironrager (Armorsmith) - Orgrimmar, Valley of Honor
• Shayis Steelfury (Armor Crafter) - Orgrimmar, Valley of Honor

Neutral

Master

• Brikk Keencraft (Master Blacksmith) - Stranglethorn Vale, Booty Bay