How To Powerlevel Mining with Smelting

I leveled my Death Knight Alt's mining skills the tradiotional way to 240 until I realized one can also get a lot of mining skill from smelting ores. In fact, you can level all the way to 315 entirely by Smelting (if enough Ore is available). After 315 some actual mining is mandatory, but not a lot. After 375, only way to level mining is, well, mining.

Here's the most efficient way to level mining from 1 to 375.

WARNING: the most *efficient* does not equal the cheapest.

This requires gold, but if you really want to powerlevel, that's what it takes. If you don't have extra gold to spent, use the traditional mining guides.

Depending on the price difference of Ore and Bars in your server, the cost of leveling this way varies (in theory, you might even make money). The buy amounts are heavily overestimated, it is possible to get by with less.

When Smelt turns green for the Ore in question, skill-ups will slow a lot, so you might hit the gray or you might not with the noted amount. To 90% guarantee no mining runs, buy the noted amount (and buy more if needed).

At least buy the minimum to minimize the mining runs.

* SHOPPING LIST

Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Copper Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Tin Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Silver Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 1) stacks of Iron Ore.
Buy 5 (minimum 2) stacks of Gold Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 2) stacks of Mithril Ore.
Buy 6 (minimum 1) stacks of Truesilver Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 2) stacks of Thorium Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Fel Iron Ore.
Buy 10 (minimum 2) stacks of Adamantite Ore.
Buy 8 (minimum 2) stacks of Eternium Ore.

OPTIONAL SHOPPING:

Cobalt Ore (buy if you don't hit 375 with the above)

* 1-75 MINING

Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Copper Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Tin Ore.

Smelt all the Copper Ore (green until 47, skill-ups slow after that)

If your mining is under 65, buy more Copper Ore and Smelt more. (or go mining until 65)

Smelt Tin (green until 70, gray at 75)
Smelt Bronze (green until 90, gray at 115)

If your mining is under 75, buy more Copper and Tin Ore and Smelt more Bronze. (or go mining until 75)

* 75-150 MINING

If Smelting Bronze took you way past 75, you don't need as much Silver.

Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Silver Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 1) stacks of Iron Ore.

Smelt Silver (green until 122, gray at 130)

If your mining is under 125, buy more Silver Ore and Smelt more. (or go mining until you hit 125)

Smelt Iron (green until 145, gray at 160)

If your mining is under 155, buy more Iron Ore and Smelt more. (or go mining until 155)

* 150-225 MINING

Buy 5 (minimum 2) stacks of Gold Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 2) stacks of Mithril Ore.

Smelt Gold (green until 177, gray at 185)
Smelt Mithril (green until 202, gray at 230)

If your mining is under 230, buy more Mithril Ore and Smelt more. (or go mining until you hit 230)

* 225-300 MINING

This is where it gets hard, if Truesilver Ore is not available.

Also Truesilver is the one Ore is most likely to cost a lot more than the bars.

Buy 6 (minimum 1) stacks of Truesilver Ore.
Buy 12 (minimum 2) stacks of Thorium Ore.

Smelt Truesilver (green until 242, gray at 250).

If your mining is under 250, buy more Truesilver Ore and Smelt more. (or go mining until you hit 250)

Smelth Thorium (green until 270, gray until 290)

Go mining until 300. In theory, this is the first spot you absolutely have to mine :)

* 300-375 MINING

Buy 12 (minimum 3) stacks of Fel Iron Ore.
Buy 10 (minimum 2) stacks of Adamantite Ore.

Smelt Fel Iron (green until 307, gray at 315)
Go mining until you hit 325.
Smelt Adamantite (green until 332, gray at 340)
Go mining until you hit 350.

Buy 8 (minimum 2) stacks of Eternium Ore.
Smelt Eternium (green until 357, gray at 365)
Smelt Felsteel (green until 357, gray at 375)

Note: You need 350 to mine Cobalt in Northrend (so 375 is not needed).

If your mining is under 375, and you want to Smelt as far as you can:

Buy some stacks of Cobalt Ore
Smelt Cobalt (green until 362, gray at 375)

* 375-450 MINING

Smelting days are over :(

Go mining Cobalt until 400.
Go mining Saronite and Titanium Ore until you hit 450.

* LINKS

Traditional mining guides (with mining route information)

Gatherer - The addon for any gathering profession

WoW Mining Guide with Maps 1-450 - WOTLK Mining Guide

WoW Forums Mining 1 to 300 Guide by Highlander on EU-Terenas
Mining @wowwiki
Smelt @wowwiki

Understanding High Level Enchanting

In case you've been wondering why I haven't posted anything for a few days, keep reading, you'll soon find out.

Leveling Enchanting

I dropped my leveling profession (Skinning) a while back, and started leveling Enchanting. Rather quickly I was up to 300 and soon I was up to 350 already. How did I level it? I used "power-leveling" guide: Enchanting 1-300 & Enchanting 300-375 from WoW Forums. These guides provide the formulas/enchants that are the most economical to level your skill.

I've had 300 Enchanting Alt for a while, but I've never had this a skill higher than that in Enchanting. Up to 300 you can just keep enchanting with the mats you get from disenchanting (and "waste money" if you have plenty). To some degree you can continue a bit after 300, but soon you will have to start finding people with their own materials as the enchants get so expensive, you'd have to be Scrooge McDuck to pay for all that. (This is why you see all the "free with your mats" in the trade channel, as players are trying to level their skills).

High Level Enchanting

For leveling, you can use the guides. But when you hit 300 and especially 350, you notice that the good'ol Enchanting Trainer doesn't have any more enchants for you. Bummer. You have to buy the formulas: from AH, normal vendor or reputation vendors. And for the most rare (and thus, most potential profit), you have to get the formula yourself, as the formulas are Bind on Pickup and only drops for enchanters. Here's the list for Enchanting BoP Recipes.

And now we get to the part why I've been a bit quiet blogwise. I've been grinding for the static enchanting formula drops in Blade's Edge and Netherstorm. And let me tell you, I don't want to see another Bloodmaul Geomancer ever again! Geomancers can be found from Blade's Edge Mountains, and has rare drop: Formula: Enchant Bracer - Spellpower. The problem with these fellows is that they share spawn points with Bloodmaul Skirmishers. So to get Geomancers, one has to grind endlessly on Skirmishers and wish that Geomancer would spawn in their place.

And while running around killing Skirmishers and hoping to see Geomancer, someone else might run in and down "your" Geomancer in front of your eyes. And the drop being rather rare, it can take a while or you might get lucky.

I didn't get lucky.

It took three days, maybe 10 hours of playing and hundreds of slayed Ogre's (I stopped counting after day 1). This morning I logged in to continue the grind, and BOOM, second Geomancer popped up the lovely "Looting this item will bind it to you" dialog. I've never been happier to click YES on that :)

Luckily, with Formula: Enchant Weapon - Major Spellpower and Formula: Enchant Bracer - Major Defense I was very lucky, as I got those from second and maybe 10th mob.

Making Money with Enchanting

So, to make money with enchanting you have two choices/options: disenchanting and high-level enchants. The Disenchanting option I covered to in earlier post "How We Make Our Gold (with Auctioneer)".

With High Level Enchants I'm not experienced enough to tell how much profit there is, but I do know that you have to do your share of instances, heroics, raiding and grinding - and get lucky while at it - to get that recipes to drop and then win a roll on it if other enchanters are around.

But one thing is certain: remember to tip your enchanter when getting the high level enchants or don't be suprised if the enchanter actually asks for gold to do the enchant.

Chances are she has grinded her eyes out to get that enchant.

Forum Watch: Crafting or raiding for gear?

I'm checking up on forums from time to time, here's some I picked up today.

Welcome to the first edition of Zemalf's Forum Watch :)

crafting or raiding for gear? for healing (WoW EU Priest Forums)

My answer (posted at thread as well):

I have 6 tailored epics (PMC Set, Whitemend Set, Boots of the Long Road) + 1 blue (White Remedy Cape) not yet replaced.

This is what I pretty much had before Kara, or shortly after starting it. With these I'm pretty much overgeared for most of Kara, but there's still upgrades and items for different slots there.

I've complemented my gear with drops from heroics and badges of justice items. And I continue to do so.

So, at least if you have gold, the fastest way to gear-up is tailoring. You can almost gear yourself all the way with tailoring, which makes you ready for heroics, which you can do to gear up more, all without raiding.

I don't see raiding as a method to gear up, gear comes as a added bonus, which enables you to raid more efficiently or in more difficult raids. And as I can speed/ease this process by crafting, I did.

Continued, Other professions

Of course, there are other crafting professions than Tailoring, but there's not much in them for Priests. Engineering has Goggles with +Healing, but those are more +dmg oriented and they're not actually very good either (unlike Mail/Plate goggles).

Enchanting is great compelement to Tailoring, even just for the +Healing Ring Enchant that you can only do them yourself on your own rings.

Tailoring - Is There Profit?

Insider Trader at WoW Insider covered Tailoring today.

This got me thinking, again, is there profit in Tailoring? Or is it just for gearing your cloth caster (in which, it *is* that great)?

I only picked Tailoring for gearing, and I'm still wearing my Primal Mooncloth and Whitemend Sets, in addition to the Boots of the Long Road which recipe I ripped cheaply from AH. With just Tailoring I outgeared Kara in the respective slots before I even went it. So that's a no brainer.

Profit I make with Tailoring, comes of making occasional Whitemend Hood or other recipe requiring Primal Nether. I guess making Bags would give some gold, but I never got into it.

Have you made pouch-breaking profits of Tailoring? Please share your knowledge :)