Thwak
2007-02-28, 09:44 AM
Credit to Willhelm:
Guide to Raising Blacksmith Skill 1-375
You will want to equip yourself and your friends as your skill rises. Study the lists of weapons and armors you will be able to make, and the materials they require, in the summaries I have posted on page one of this thread at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-professions&t=1&p=1
If you keep your skill at 25 plus five times your level then you will always be able to make items you can equip at their minimum level. Outside of the items you make because you want to, or to fulfill the Blacksmith quests, there are a series of minimum-material or minimum-cost items you can make to advance your skill, mostly consisting of stone, misc. items, and some low-material armor items.
Apprentice Blacksmithing Path:
This is done mostly with stone, saving your copper and bronze bars until later except when you need to equip yourself or your friends or clients. Make Rough Sharpening Stones (turns green at 15 and grey at 55) until you reach 25 and learn Rough Grinding Stones. (Save and use those Sharpening Stones as a combat buff.) Make Rough Grinding Stones (turns green at 45 and grey at 85) until you reach skill 65, keeping them for use later in making other items. Make Coarse Sharpening Stones (green when learned at 65, gray at 80) until you reach 75 and are a Journeyman. Copper items useful as skillups include Copper Bracers (2 copper bars, green at 20), Copper Chain Pants (4 copper bars, green at 50) and Copper Chain Belt (6 copper bars, green at 75).
Journeyman Blacksmithing Path:
At 75 you learn Coarse Grinding Stone, which are yellow when learned. Make those until they turn grey at 100 and save them for making further items. Turn any tin and copper into bronze bars but save them. Make Silver Rods until they turn green at 105 (and sell them to Enchanters) then make Rough Bronze Leggings (with your saved bronze bars) until they turn green at 145 or even to grey at grey at 175. These take 6 Bronze Bars and sell to the vendors for 9.62 s each, so if you can buy stacks of 20 Bronze Bars for 30 s or less, you can actually make a profit while you skill up. Also at 125 you learn Heavy Grinding Stone. Make these until they turn grey at 150 and keep them for making other items. If you are able to learn the Deadly Bronze Poniard dropped plan at 125 then you can make and sell it at a profit until it turns green at 155 and grey at 185. The Patterned Bronze Bracer (green at 150) is required for a Badlands quest. At 145 you learn to make your first rare (blue) item, the Shining Silver Breastplate (green at 175) which sells well.
Expert Blacksmithing Path:
Beginning at 150, make Rough Bronze Leggings until they turn grey at 175. Iron Buckles are easy but turn grey at 155, while Golden Rods turn green at 155 and grey at 160. Golden skeleton keys are greenwhen learned and grey at 170. You will want to equip yourself and friends with the Green Iron Set and that will provide some skillups. If you are lucky enought to learn the Iron Shield Spike plan at 150 then you can make and sell these at a good profit until they turn green at 180 and grey at 210. Another profitable drop is the Iron Counterweight, green at 190 and grey at 210. At 200 you learn Solid Grinding Stone so make those until they turn grey at 210. To get from 210 to 225, make Golden Scale Bracers to 215, then make Steel Plate Helms to 225. You will also be equipping yourself with the Golden Scale armor set and the Moonsteel Broadsword is required for a quest in Duskwallow Marsh. A number of expert weapons and armors are saleable, including the rare Green Iron Hauberk at 180 (green at 205, grey at 230).
Artisan Blacksmithing Path:
At 225 make Steel Plate Helms until it turns green at 235. Then make Mithril Spurs to 250 (turns green at 255). At 250 make Dense Sharpening Stones until they turn grey at 260. The Heavy Mithril and Ornate Mithril armor items are good for their level, so you can also skill up some on making the mithril items for the Mithril Order quests. The Ornate Mithril Boots are popular with warriors for their remove root effect and they (and the Ornate Mithril Helm) turn green at 265. Go back to Mithril Spurs (which are readily saleable) until they turn grey at 275 and also make the Imperial Plate Belt and Shoulders at 265, Bracers at 270, and then Helm and Boots at 295. (The Imperial Plate Armors are salable, unlike the Thorium resist-all armors.)
Specialty Path:
As an Armorsmith or Weaponsmith you can skill up making the items for your specialty Quest. Be sure to make them as soon as you learn them, and save the items to turn in for the quest, so you get your skillups. An Armorsmith can then skill up with Truesilver Gauntlets until they turn green at 245 (or grey at 265) and Truesilver Breastplate until it turns green at 265 (or grey at 285). Those are both saleable items. A Weaponsmith can gain skillups with the Shatterer, Phantom Blade, Blight and Truesilver Champion, as these are also saleable.
Master Blacksmithing Path:
You become a Master Blacksmith (and Master Miner) in either Honor Hold or Thrallmar in Hellfire Peninsula, once the expansion releases, allowing you to rise to skill 375. You should plan for the expansion by stockpiling materials to get you to 325. The best items to stockpile for and use to level up initially, as they are saleable, will be the Imperial Plate Armors, Elemental Sharpening Stones, Darkrune Armors, Ironvine Armors, and Enchanted Thorium Blades. These can take you to 325. (The materials required for the Imperial Plate Armor items are halved in the expansion, makling them an even better skillup path.)
Once you get to Outlands, if you can get the Fel Iron, other good saleable skillups from 300 are Fel Whetstones and Fel Iron Rods to 310. (For all of the items with only a 10-point range until grey, that tenth point has a very low chance of a skillup, so you will do better to get that last point with something else.) The uncommon Fel Iron Chain and Plate sets and Fel iron weapons can then also help get you to 325, although their saleability is iffy.
At 325 make Lesser Rune of Warding until they go grey at 335 (you can sell them or use them yourself). If you can get the primals, make the rare Adamantite Plate Bracers and Gloves, as they should be saleable, and your specialty rare breasplate or 1H & 2H weapons. Otherwise make Fel Iron Breastplates to 340. At 340 get the plan for Lesser Rune of Shielding and make it to 350, when it goes grey. At 350 (and Honored with Cenarian Expedition) you can make Adamantite Whetstones, Sharpening Stones, and Rods to 360, also your skill 350 specialty BoP epic weapons or armor to get the last point or two to 360. At 360 (and Honored with Aldors or Scryers) you can make the rare Aldors' Shadow Guard set or the Scryers' Enchanted Adamantite Armor Set to get to 365 for the world-dropped epic plans. To get to 375 you have a mix of whatever epics you can make, continuing with the Shadow Guard or Enchanted Adamantite sets, and the BoP World Drop rare plate sets: Ragesteel, Khorium ward, and Faith in Felsteel. For full details on expansion plans see my lists of expansion plans on pages 2 and 3.
Comments:
There is no one best path up because it depends on which dropped plans you get ahold of, which specialty you take, and which items you can make for guildmates or sell that give skillups, which will vary by guild and server. It also depends on whether you learn every plan going up or only the bare minimum because you are trying for a truly lowest cost or fastest power-leveling runup to 375. The path I outlined is a fairly optimal approach but it does include obtaining some dropped plans at the right times.
The faster you try to skill up the more it will cost you because you are likely going to have to vendor much of it. The market can only absorb so much of any one item. Whenever possible, spread out the items you make over time or make a variety so that you do not overload the market. If you want to minimize cost by selling your items, look at the Auction House to see which desirable green or blue items that give skillups are lacking or in short supply and go for them, bypassing those that are in large supply already. Remember that an item that costs 2 g to make is better than one that costs 1 g to make if you can sell the first for a profit but the second sells for a loss.
An example of this is the Imperial Plate Armor set, all of which (except bracer) can be sold for a profit while the cheaper Thorium or Radiant armor items use less materials but do not sell.
Another way to help yourself is to have one of your characters be an Enchanter and disenchant any green item that won't sell, since you can usually then sell the resulting reagents for more than the vendor would pay for the original item. This can often make it better to make more costly green items rather than the less costly white items, since you cannot disenchant the white items.
Guide to Raising Blacksmith Skill 1-375
You will want to equip yourself and your friends as your skill rises. Study the lists of weapons and armors you will be able to make, and the materials they require, in the summaries I have posted on page one of this thread at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-professions&t=1&p=1
If you keep your skill at 25 plus five times your level then you will always be able to make items you can equip at their minimum level. Outside of the items you make because you want to, or to fulfill the Blacksmith quests, there are a series of minimum-material or minimum-cost items you can make to advance your skill, mostly consisting of stone, misc. items, and some low-material armor items.
Apprentice Blacksmithing Path:
This is done mostly with stone, saving your copper and bronze bars until later except when you need to equip yourself or your friends or clients. Make Rough Sharpening Stones (turns green at 15 and grey at 55) until you reach 25 and learn Rough Grinding Stones. (Save and use those Sharpening Stones as a combat buff.) Make Rough Grinding Stones (turns green at 45 and grey at 85) until you reach skill 65, keeping them for use later in making other items. Make Coarse Sharpening Stones (green when learned at 65, gray at 80) until you reach 75 and are a Journeyman. Copper items useful as skillups include Copper Bracers (2 copper bars, green at 20), Copper Chain Pants (4 copper bars, green at 50) and Copper Chain Belt (6 copper bars, green at 75).
Journeyman Blacksmithing Path:
At 75 you learn Coarse Grinding Stone, which are yellow when learned. Make those until they turn grey at 100 and save them for making further items. Turn any tin and copper into bronze bars but save them. Make Silver Rods until they turn green at 105 (and sell them to Enchanters) then make Rough Bronze Leggings (with your saved bronze bars) until they turn green at 145 or even to grey at grey at 175. These take 6 Bronze Bars and sell to the vendors for 9.62 s each, so if you can buy stacks of 20 Bronze Bars for 30 s or less, you can actually make a profit while you skill up. Also at 125 you learn Heavy Grinding Stone. Make these until they turn grey at 150 and keep them for making other items. If you are able to learn the Deadly Bronze Poniard dropped plan at 125 then you can make and sell it at a profit until it turns green at 155 and grey at 185. The Patterned Bronze Bracer (green at 150) is required for a Badlands quest. At 145 you learn to make your first rare (blue) item, the Shining Silver Breastplate (green at 175) which sells well.
Expert Blacksmithing Path:
Beginning at 150, make Rough Bronze Leggings until they turn grey at 175. Iron Buckles are easy but turn grey at 155, while Golden Rods turn green at 155 and grey at 160. Golden skeleton keys are greenwhen learned and grey at 170. You will want to equip yourself and friends with the Green Iron Set and that will provide some skillups. If you are lucky enought to learn the Iron Shield Spike plan at 150 then you can make and sell these at a good profit until they turn green at 180 and grey at 210. Another profitable drop is the Iron Counterweight, green at 190 and grey at 210. At 200 you learn Solid Grinding Stone so make those until they turn grey at 210. To get from 210 to 225, make Golden Scale Bracers to 215, then make Steel Plate Helms to 225. You will also be equipping yourself with the Golden Scale armor set and the Moonsteel Broadsword is required for a quest in Duskwallow Marsh. A number of expert weapons and armors are saleable, including the rare Green Iron Hauberk at 180 (green at 205, grey at 230).
Artisan Blacksmithing Path:
At 225 make Steel Plate Helms until it turns green at 235. Then make Mithril Spurs to 250 (turns green at 255). At 250 make Dense Sharpening Stones until they turn grey at 260. The Heavy Mithril and Ornate Mithril armor items are good for their level, so you can also skill up some on making the mithril items for the Mithril Order quests. The Ornate Mithril Boots are popular with warriors for their remove root effect and they (and the Ornate Mithril Helm) turn green at 265. Go back to Mithril Spurs (which are readily saleable) until they turn grey at 275 and also make the Imperial Plate Belt and Shoulders at 265, Bracers at 270, and then Helm and Boots at 295. (The Imperial Plate Armors are salable, unlike the Thorium resist-all armors.)
Specialty Path:
As an Armorsmith or Weaponsmith you can skill up making the items for your specialty Quest. Be sure to make them as soon as you learn them, and save the items to turn in for the quest, so you get your skillups. An Armorsmith can then skill up with Truesilver Gauntlets until they turn green at 245 (or grey at 265) and Truesilver Breastplate until it turns green at 265 (or grey at 285). Those are both saleable items. A Weaponsmith can gain skillups with the Shatterer, Phantom Blade, Blight and Truesilver Champion, as these are also saleable.
Master Blacksmithing Path:
You become a Master Blacksmith (and Master Miner) in either Honor Hold or Thrallmar in Hellfire Peninsula, once the expansion releases, allowing you to rise to skill 375. You should plan for the expansion by stockpiling materials to get you to 325. The best items to stockpile for and use to level up initially, as they are saleable, will be the Imperial Plate Armors, Elemental Sharpening Stones, Darkrune Armors, Ironvine Armors, and Enchanted Thorium Blades. These can take you to 325. (The materials required for the Imperial Plate Armor items are halved in the expansion, makling them an even better skillup path.)
Once you get to Outlands, if you can get the Fel Iron, other good saleable skillups from 300 are Fel Whetstones and Fel Iron Rods to 310. (For all of the items with only a 10-point range until grey, that tenth point has a very low chance of a skillup, so you will do better to get that last point with something else.) The uncommon Fel Iron Chain and Plate sets and Fel iron weapons can then also help get you to 325, although their saleability is iffy.
At 325 make Lesser Rune of Warding until they go grey at 335 (you can sell them or use them yourself). If you can get the primals, make the rare Adamantite Plate Bracers and Gloves, as they should be saleable, and your specialty rare breasplate or 1H & 2H weapons. Otherwise make Fel Iron Breastplates to 340. At 340 get the plan for Lesser Rune of Shielding and make it to 350, when it goes grey. At 350 (and Honored with Cenarian Expedition) you can make Adamantite Whetstones, Sharpening Stones, and Rods to 360, also your skill 350 specialty BoP epic weapons or armor to get the last point or two to 360. At 360 (and Honored with Aldors or Scryers) you can make the rare Aldors' Shadow Guard set or the Scryers' Enchanted Adamantite Armor Set to get to 365 for the world-dropped epic plans. To get to 375 you have a mix of whatever epics you can make, continuing with the Shadow Guard or Enchanted Adamantite sets, and the BoP World Drop rare plate sets: Ragesteel, Khorium ward, and Faith in Felsteel. For full details on expansion plans see my lists of expansion plans on pages 2 and 3.
Comments:
There is no one best path up because it depends on which dropped plans you get ahold of, which specialty you take, and which items you can make for guildmates or sell that give skillups, which will vary by guild and server. It also depends on whether you learn every plan going up or only the bare minimum because you are trying for a truly lowest cost or fastest power-leveling runup to 375. The path I outlined is a fairly optimal approach but it does include obtaining some dropped plans at the right times.
The faster you try to skill up the more it will cost you because you are likely going to have to vendor much of it. The market can only absorb so much of any one item. Whenever possible, spread out the items you make over time or make a variety so that you do not overload the market. If you want to minimize cost by selling your items, look at the Auction House to see which desirable green or blue items that give skillups are lacking or in short supply and go for them, bypassing those that are in large supply already. Remember that an item that costs 2 g to make is better than one that costs 1 g to make if you can sell the first for a profit but the second sells for a loss.
An example of this is the Imperial Plate Armor set, all of which (except bracer) can be sold for a profit while the cheaper Thorium or Radiant armor items use less materials but do not sell.
Another way to help yourself is to have one of your characters be an Enchanter and disenchant any green item that won't sell, since you can usually then sell the resulting reagents for more than the vendor would pay for the original item. This can often make it better to make more costly green items rather than the less costly white items, since you cannot disenchant the white items.