Switching Professions

steviec · 22-07-2005 11:04am #1

Ok I've had bad luck(well, made bad choices) with professions so far and want to actually set myself up properly.

I'm a level 30 hunter and currently have a whopping 60s in the bank :cool:

I started the game with tailoring/enchanting because I thought enchanting sounded cool and I'd heard tailoring was a good way to support it by feeding items for disenchanting. After 25 levels of disenchanting green items into essences and dusts worth about 5% of the items original value and resorting to buying cloth in ah because I couldn't farm as much as I needed for tailoring, meanwhile still not having any decent enchants yet, I got a bit sick of it.

So it was time for the practical hunter option. Skinning/Leatherworking. Skinnings going great, levelling up really quickly, gathering tons of materials everywhere I go. But still not gathering enough to support leatherworking. The stuff I can currently make is about ten levels below me and by the time it catches up I'll probably be eligible for mail armour anyway. Plus loot tends to be better than stuff I can make of the same level too. And as far as I can tell the stuff I make sells for less than the raw leather would have on AH.

So I've been thinking and Engineering seems the way to go. It's gonna be another money drain but I don't mind that if I actually get something out of it and it certainly sounds like I would. On the other hand I don't fancy quitting skinning for mining because that looks like it could actually make me decent money if I stop using up all my leather on crappy armour.

So is engineering viable without mining? And if I'm level 30 is it gonna take me absolutely ages before it levels up enough to actually be useful? Or if I were to do mining how hard is it to level up? I've never mined before, do I have to go looking for veins in Dun Morogh and Elwynn to level it up at first? I was thinking a possibility is switching to skinning/mining for pure money making till I can afford my mount, then dropping the skinning for engineering but that seems very late in my characters development to be making switches.

Jim · 22-07-2005 11:11am

Meh, I'd stick with the Skinning / Leatherworking tbh. You can make mail stuff after a certain level afaik.

I'm an engineer myself and don't find the profession all that great. Most of the stuff is of novelty value. The only really valuable stuff is the repair bot/jumper cables for higher lvl instances, for that reason I'm keeping it. Oh and imo theres no way you can do engineering without mining.

Dubhthamlacht · 22-07-2005 11:24am

you're a hunter, right Steviec? Engineering is handy for a hunter

you'll be able to make your own ammo, guns, and bombs. Thats the main reason I took eng for my hunter. never regretted it since. Some of the eng gadgets are pure novelty but some are handy.

there's two eng schools when you get to lvl 225 eng and you can only choose one, Gnomish or Goblin.
Goblin lets you get better bombs and has two must have items, the Rocket helmet which stuns opponents and XL Jumper Cables to res people. Gnomish has more gadgets which are all prone to back fire on the user, sometimes with hilarious consequences. However it has the Netomatic net gun and Gnomish Death Ray, which does exactly as it says on the tin. I once fried a paladin for 3.8k with one shot from the Death Ray..... I was lvl 47 at the time and he was a lvl 60. shortest fight ever.

The main compliant about eng is that it's a real money drain. Don't expect to make much cash from eng. and you'll need mining to compliment eng.

Jim · 22-07-2005 11:31am

Aye, the guns are useful if your into that sort of thing. Horrible noisey things imo.
If you use a bow you can make Throrium Shot which you can trade for Throrium Arrows in Ogri.

steviec · 22-07-2005 11:34am

I really like the idea of engineering. Looks like I will need to take up mining for LW first though, build up my money and then drop skinning. I've given up on Leatherworking anyway I think.

Dr_Teeth · 22-07-2005 1:07pm

You can't make money from engineering, it's fun but it will leave you broke.

It would be better to pick up some temporary professions to bring in cash so you can get your mount quickly, and change to engineering when you're higher level.

steviec · 22-07-2005 2:42pm

Dr_Teeth wrote:

You can't make money from engineering, it's fun but it will leave you broke. It would be better to pick up some temporary professions to bring in cash so you can get your mount quickly, and change to engineering when you're higher level.

Yea think thats what I'm gonna do. Seems like the best idea.

BizzyC · 22-07-2005 3:03pm

I picked skinning and leatherworking. It's great, makes loads of money, cause every creature you have to killl gives you more leatherworking supplies, which you can then turn into something and make a profit from nothing.
Plus you dont have to go out of your way, just kill creatures like you normally would on a quest etc and skin them afterwards.

Ivan · 22-07-2005 3:25pm

I'd stay skinning and get mining too. You can level up your mining that way and sell some leather on the AH for cash. Your also going to need some leather for engineering, especially bombs.

Mining gets a whole lot easier once you get your mount at 40, and engineering will be pretty much useless until then, anyway.

Caliden · 22-07-2005 6:24pm

goblin is really good for hunters and rogues as you can feign death/vanish and res the priest/paly in your group if you wipe.
mining is really handy to have with eng as you get almost all of the materials you need from it.
on bladefist i can make 1gold from 2 thorium ore and 2 dense stone and make thme into thorium shells

Coyler · 23-07-2005 2:13am

Oh and you can use some items from the other enginnering school. I'm a goblin enginner but can use gnome ones. Can't make them, only use em. So if your in a guild with a few enginners you have access to quite a few gadgets. Here is a list I got from a forum so it might not be accurate but will give you a good idea. Would keep skinning for a while and get mining to improve your bank balance.

Made By Goblin Engineers, can be used by anyone.

Recipes:
Goblin Rocket Fuel

Cloth:
Goblin Rocket Boots

Made By Gnomish Engineers, can be used by anyone.

Plans:
Inlaid Mithril Cylinder

Made By Goblin Engineers, can be used by any Engineers of high enough skill.

Cloth:
Goblin Rocket Helmet

Explosives:
Goblin Sapper Charge (Limited use, not sure how many times)
The Big One (2 bombs per craft)

Devices:
Goblin Mortar (6 charges, can only be reloaded (The Mortar: Reloaded) if used by a Goblin Eng, has to be replaced completely if used by a Gnome Eng.).
Goblin Jumper Cable XL

Made By Gnomish Engineers, can be used by any Engineers of high enough skill.

Cloth:
Gnomish Rocket Boots
Gnomish Mind Control Cap

Leather:
Gnomish Harm Prevention Belt

Devices:
Gnomish Shrink Ray
Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector
Alarm-O-Bot

Made By Goblin Engineers, can only be used by the person that made it.

Cloth:
Goblin Construction Helmet

Mail:
Goblin Mining Helmet

Devices:
Goblin Bomb Dispenser (Unlimited charges, 30 minute reuse timer)
Goblin Dragon Gun

Made By Gnomish Engineers, can only be used by the person that made it.

Cloth:
Gnomish Goggles

Devices:
Gnomish Battle Chicken
Gnomish Death Ray
World Enlarger (this appears to be tradable, but requires gnomish engineering to use)

Pimp Ninja · 23-07-2005 9:22am

Ive read quickly over this so I dont know if it has been mentioned already.. sometimes a hunter with engineering can be a great wipe recovery tool in instances.. Ala Jumper Cables.

Hunter sees the wipe coming. Feigns Death. Eerybody dies. Hunter pops and resses the priest with the cables.

Only pain is when they dont work...

Switching Professions

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