Blacksmithing powerleveling guide needed [Archive]

Bagger

2006-05-03, 06:29 AM

Found it......

Cheapest Way to 300 BS (Armorsmith)
Posted by Asyre at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-professions&t=281586&s=new&tmp=1#new

I came across Darksicarius' 300 Engineering for Cheap guide and loved it. It helped me max out my engineering in no time. Looking around, Im not as satisfied with some of the blacksmithing (BS) guides; I dont think they are thorough enough. So, I've created my own. With this character, I took the Armorsmithing route, so thats where this guide will lead. My pally alt will be a weaponsmith, but he's not yet high enough to specialize, so that guide will come later.

First and foremost "cheapest" is a relative term. It's cheaper to make Heavy Mithril Gauntlets (6 Mithril Bars and 4 Mageweave Cloth) than it is to make Heavy Mithril Shoulders (8 Mithril Bars and 6 Heavy Leather). It takes less Mithril, and you dont need skinning to get Mageweave. But the materials for Heavy Mithril Gauntlets still add up.

Blacksmithing is considerably more expensive profession than Tailoring or Leatherworking. More than Engineering, even (see the above mentioned Engineering guide). You need lots of ore, and lots of stone. So, unless youre willing to farm the heck out of the world (especially for Mithril and Thorium), or spend more money than you should, BS may not be the profession for you.

Mining

I am assuming that you either have a miner to supplement your character, or that your blacksmith is a miner. Mining takes time, and you have to know where to look for the materials, but gathering the materials yourself is generally cheaper than buying them in the AH. With that said, I prefer to buy Thorium instead of farming it. There are a handful of realms that have Thorium veins, and most of those are heavily camped. This is bad if you want to collect the ore yourself, but its good because it drives the price down in the AH.

It's certainly possible to go out and buy 165 Heavy Stone, or 225 Bronze Bar, but you'd spend a fortune. If you take one character and farm ore with the sole intention of getting your mining to 300, you will have 'most of the ore/stone you need to follow this guide (until you start using Mithril, at least). If you have two miners or more, you'll have more than enough of what you need - provided you keep your mining ahead of where it needs to be (such as mining Iron when you're using Bronze, or Mithril when youre using Iron).

Recipes

Most of the recipes Im using in this guide are Trainer-obtained. I don't buy a lot of low-level recipes. If you have a higher lvl main, you can farm for better items than what you can make (in many cases). There may be some recipes you'll want to obtain (such as shield spikes, or Mithril Spurs), but I haven't found many that are cheaper for BS leveling. This is a guide, though. Feel free to be creative.

The recipes I've picked for leveling my BS skill assume two things: (1) An orange recipe is better than a yellow recipe, which itself is better than a green recipe; and (2) The less ore used to craft an item, the better it is to craft. This is a guide to cheap BS, after all.

In Willhelm's guide (found elsewhere on the WoW forum), it is mentioned that Rough Bronze Leggings can be crafted until they turn gray at 175. While this is true, he doesn't mention that you will waste a lot of Bronze trying to level your BS after the recipe turns yellow. Not only that, but you use less Bronze crafting Patterned Bronze Bracers at level 120, and you can use Heavy Stone to take you from 125-140, etc.

I also use the materials that are the easiest to find. Copper is preferable to Bronze, Bronze is preferable to Silver, Iron is preferable to Gold, etc. Also, gems shouldnt be used unless you either have a plethora of them, or you need to make the item for a character/quest, or for money (such as the Silver Bronze Breastplate or the Green Iron Hauberk). You should NOT make these items to level up your profession. Nor should you make weapons, they generally use gems or harder to find (or large quantities of) ore.

Once your BS gets to 250, all bets are off, essentially. Leveling your profession past 250 is based more on the recipes you have, the items you need, and the materials you are willing to give up. For BS, I think the cheapest recipes are the Imperial Armor set. They are also fairly easy to obtain (you need 270 bars of Thorium, which costs about 30-40g on my server). Also, for Armorsmithing, most of the recipes you can obtain are from the Thorium Brotherhood and Zandalar Tribe. I havent had a lot of luck finding good, affordable recipes in the AH (compared to the number of Weaponsmithing recipes).

As mentioned earlier, this is a guide. Its not the only way, and it may not even the best way. But I've tried to be as simple and clear as I could. Dont be afraid to check the AH for lower level recipes that require fewer mats.

Shopping List of Needed Items

50 Coal (bought from Blacksmithing vendor for 5s or dropped by elementals)
30 Green Dye (bought from Tailoring Supplies; 1s each)
120 Mageweave (dropped by mobs lvl 40-50; check AH)
42 Thick Leather
30 Rugged Leather
21 Heart of Fire
9 Black Pearl
13 Aquamarine
20 Star Ruby
121 Rough Stone (55 Rough Grinding Stone)
104 Coarse Stone (40 Coarse Grinding Stone)
75 Heavy Stone (25 Heavy Grinding Stone)
20+ Solid Stone (31 Solid Grinding Stone)
60 Dense Stone
203 Copper Bar (including 113 bars for Bronze)
113 Tin Bar (smelted together with Copper to make Bronze)
5 Silver Bar
225 Bronze Bar (see above)
254 Iron Bar (including bars for Steel)
50 Steel Bar (see above)
808 Mithril Bar (+120 for Galvan the Ancient quests)
31 Truesilver Bar
650 Thorium Bar (+270 for the entire Imperial Armor set)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1-25 Rough Sharpening Stone, use or sell
[25 Rough Stone] (1x Rough Stone)
26-60 Rough Grinding Stone, save (need at least 55 for later use)
[96 Rough Stone] (2x Rough Stone)
61-65 Runed Copper Gauntlets, sells for 71c to a vendor
[40 Copper Bar and 10 Rough Grinding Stone)
8x Copper Bar and 2x Rough Grinding Stone)
66-75 Coarse Sharpening Stone, sell or use
[10-15 Coarse Stone] (1x Coarse Stone)
76-90 Coarse Grinding Stone, save (need at least 40 for later use)
[34+ Coarse Stone] (2x Coarse Stone)
91-95 Rune Copper Bracers, sells for 2s25c to a vendor
[50 Copper Bar and 15 Rough Grinding Stone]
(10x Copper Bar and 3 Rough Grinding Stone)
96-105 Rough Bronze Boots, sells for 2s95c to a vendor
[30 Bronze Bar and 30 Rough Grinding Stone]
(6x Bronze Bar and 6x Rough Grinding Stone)
106-120 Rough Bronze Leggings, sells for 9s62c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[90 Bronze Bar] (6x Bronze Bar)
121-125 Patterned Bronze Bracers, sells for 8s7c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[25 Bronze Bar and 10 Coarse Grinding Stone]
(5x Bronze Bar and 2x Coarse Grinding Stone)
126-140 Heavy Grinding Stone, save (need at least 25 for later use)
[75 Heavy Stone] (3x Heavy Stone)
141-150 Patterned Bronze Bracers, sells for 8s7c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[50 Bronze Bar and 20 Coarse Grinding Stone]
(5x Bronze Bar and 2x Coarse Grinding Stone)
151-155 Iron Buckle, sell these in the AH for profit, Leatherworkers use them
[14 Iron Bar] (1x Iron Bar)
156-160 Silvered Bronze Boots, sells for 13s17c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[30 Bronze Bar, 5 Silver Bar, and 10 Coarse Stone]
(6x Bronze Bar, 1x Silver Bar, and 2x Coarse Stone)
161-165 Green Iron Leggings, sells for 29s6c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[40 Iron Bar, 5 Heavy Grinding Stone, and 5 Green Dye]
(8x Iron Bar, 1x Heavy Grinding Stone, and 1x Green Dye)
166-190 Green Iron Bracers, sells for 11s6c to a vendor (or turn into Darkmoon Faire)[II]
[150 Iron Bar and 25 Green Dye]
(6x Iron Bar and 1x Green Dye)
191-200 Golden Scale Bracers, sells for 16s49c to a vendor [III]
[50 Steel Bar and 20 Heavy Grinding Stone]
(5x Steel Bar and 2 Heavy Grinding Stone)
201-205 Solid Grinding Stone, save (make as much as you can; 31 are needed)[IV]
[20 Solid Stone] (4x Solid Stone)
206-220 Heavy Mithril Gauntlets, sells for 24s76c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[90 Mithril Bar and 60 Mageweave Cloth]
(6x Mithril Bar and 4x Mageweave Cloth)

- - - - Here youll want to start working on your Armorsmithing quests - - - - [V]

221 Ornate Mithril Gloves, needed for The Mithril Kid quest
(10 Mithril Bar, 6 Mageweave Cloth, 1 Truesilver Bar, and 1 Solid Grinding Stone)
222 Ornate Mithril Pants, needed for The World at Your Feet quest
(12 Mithril Bar, 1 Truesilver Bar, 1 Aquamarine, and 1 Solid Grinding Stone)
223-225 Heavy Mithril Gauntlets, sells for 24s76c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[30 Mithril Bar and 20 Mageweave Cloth]
(6x Mithril Bar and 4x Mageweave Cloth)
226 Ornate Mithril Shoulders, needed for A Good Head on Your Shoulders quest
(12 Mithril Bar, 1 Truesilver Bar, and 6 Thick Leather)
227-230 Heavy Mithril Gauntlets, sells for 24s76c to a vendor (or disenchant)
[24 Mithril Bar and 16 Mageweave Cloth]
(6x Mithril Bar and 4x Mageweave Cloth)
231-232 Mithril Coif, need 2 for A Good Head on Your Shoulders quest
[30 Mithril Bar and 18 Mageweave Cloth]
(10 Mithril Bar and 6 Mageweave Cloth)
233-234 Heavy Mithril Breastplate, needed for The Mithril Kid quest
[32 Mithril Bar] (16x Mithril Bar)
235 Ornate Mithril Breastplate, needed for The Art of Armorsmithing quest
(16 Mithril Bar, 6 Truesilver Bar, 1 Heart of Fire, and 1 Solid Grinding Stone)
236-237 Heavy Mithril Boots, need 1 for The World at Your Feet quest
[28 Mithril Bar and 8 Thick Leather]
(14x Mithril Bar and 4x Thick Leather)
238-241 Ornate Mithril Helm, need 4 for The Art of Armosmithing quest
[64 Mithril Bar, 8 Truesilver Bar, 4 Black Pearl, and 4 Solid Grinding Stone]
(16x Mithril Bar, 2x Truesilver Bar, 1x Black Pearl, and 1 Solid Grinding Stone)
242-243 Ornate Mithril Boots, need 2 for The Art of Armorsmithing quest
[28 Mithril Bar, 4 Truesilver Bar, 8 Thick Leather, 2 Solid Grinding Stone, and 2 Aquamarine]
(14x Mithril Bar, 2x Truesilver Bar, 4x Thick Leather, 1x Solid Grinding Stone and 1x Aquamarine)

- - - - Now youre an Armorsmith! - - - -

244-250 Mithril Spurs, sell in AH [VI]
[28 Mithril Bars and 21 Solid Grinding Stone]
(4x Mithril Bars and 3x Solid Grinding Stone)
251-260 Dense Grinding Stone, save for later use [VII]
[60 Dense Stone] (4x Dense Stone)
261-265 Heavy Mithril Boots, sell or disenchant
[70 Mithril Bar and 20 Thick Leather]
(14x Mithril Bar and 4x Thick Leather)
266-270 Ornate Mithril Helm, sell or disenchant
[80 Mithril Bar, 10 Truesilver Bar, 5 Black Pearl, and 5 Solid Grinding Stone]
(16x Mithril Bar, 2x Truesilver Bar, 1x Black Pearl, and 1x Solid Grinding Stone)
271-275 Imperial Plate Belt, sell in AH or disenchant [VIII]
[110 Thorium Bar, 30 Rugged Leather, and 5 Aquamarine]
(22x Thorium Bar, 6x Rugged Leather, and 1x Aquamarine)
276-290 Imperial Plate Bracers, sell in AH or disenchant
[300 Thorium Bar and 15 Star Ruby]
(20x Thorium Bar and 1x Star Ruby)
291-295 Radiant Boots, sell or disenchant [IX]
[70 Thorium Bar and 20 Heart of Fire]
(14x Thorium Bar and 4 Heart of Fire)
296-300 Imperial Plate Boots, sell or disenchant
[170 Thorium Bar, 5 Star Ruby, and 5 Aquamarine]
(34x Thorium Bar, 1x Star Ruby, and 1x Aquamarine)

[i] Can continue to make Rough Bronze Leggings until 175, but you will waste a lot of Bronze. Its better to switch to an orange recipe at 120 or 125 to ensure a skill point each time you craft an item. As Willhelm points out, the mats can often be bought in the AH for cheaper than the price at which this item sells to a vendor. So it's an easy way to make a little money.
[II] Can continue making Green Iron Bracers until lvl 200, but theyll be green by then. You need coal for the Golden Scale Bracers (bought from a vendor: 25s per bracer), but its better than wasting Iron.
[III] If you decide to go the armorsmithing route (as I have with this character), then you will need six Golden Scale Bracers for your Hank the Hammer quest.
[IV] I made Solid Grinding Stones until they turned gray at 210 (it took about 100 Solid Stone; ended up with about 30).
[V] Check out http://wow.toshimo.com/viewtopic.php?t=1497 and thottobt for further details and locations of the people you need to talk to.
[VI] Mithril Spurs are a green world drop and can be made at 235. I didnt make these to level (since you need 4 Ornate Mithril Helm, you can level this way). Mithril Spurs sell in the AH, so you can earn some money this way if you need it.
[VII] Turns green at 258, so youll need more than the 40 Dense Stone (4x10) normally needed to get 10 skill points. I advise carrying an extra 8-16 Dense Stone.
[i][VIII] Anyone interested in getting their reputation up with the Thorium Brotherhood should hold off getting the Imperial Armor set until after they've turned in all their Dark Iron Residue. Doing this means you have to turn in less Dark Iron Ore - which is fairly hard to come by, and is expensive in the AH. This means a delay in how quickly you reach 300, but is overall better for you if you're getting your rep up. Thanks to Tharas for pointing this out.
[IX] Bought in the AH. You can also continue making Imperial Plate Bracers until 295; Heart of Fire are fairly expensive.