Cataclysm professions for resto druids
Alrighty, part two of my Cataclysm professions series (the first being where I fawned over Engineering). So, how do Cataclysm professions measure up for us?
To keep things tidy, I’ve split the professions up into four categories:
Fun - fun items such as pets, mounts, and novelties.
Utililty - things to make your life easier.
Money - things to make you rich, or at least pay the bills.
Raiding - the items that will buff you for raiding.
| Alchemy | Transform into a dragon mount |
| Blacksmithing | No fun for you. |
| Enchanting | Enchanted Lantern , Magic Lamp |
| Engineering | Mechanical Dragonling , Mithril Mechanical Dragonling , Arcanite Dragonling , Elementium Dragonling Goblin Mini Hotrod (NYI) Personal World Destroyer , De-Weaponized Mechanical Companion Authentic Jr. Engineer Goggles |
| Herbalism | Disguise yourself as an herb |
| Inscription | Origami Slime , Origami Rock , Origami Beetle |
| Jewelcrafting | Stardust – Twilight fans rejoice? Monocles, Rhinestone Sunglasses |
| Leatherworking | *wink* |
| Mining | Hitting rocks with hammers! |
| Skinning | Um, the fun of killing stuff? |
| Tailoring | High Society Top Hat Flying carpet mounts |
| Alchemy | Double duration flasks Potion to teleport to Deepholm Flask cauldrons Endless flask Mysterious Potion Draught of War – for non-rated BGs |
| Blacksmithing | |
| Enchanting | DEing for your group/raid |
| Engineering | Make your own BOE epic helm, with Cogwheel sockets; on par with T11 helm but gives you more flexibility over your stats (eg haste, mastery, spirit) Heat-Treated Spinning Lure Loot-a-Rang Goblin Barbecue Nitro Boosts or Grounded Plasma Shield Flexweave Underlay MOLL-E – portable mailbox Volatile Seaforium Blastpack Jeeves – portable repairs/bank Ultrasafe Transporter – Gadgetzan – port to Gadget |
| Herbalism | Farm for your own flasks/potions |
| Inscription | Scroll of Recall III – additional hearth Master inscriptions – cheap/better shoulder enchants |
| Jewelcrafting | Cut your own gems |
| Leatherworking | Drums of Forgotten Kings/of the Wild |
| Mining | |
| Skinning | |
| Tailoring | Master’s Spellthread , Sanctified Spellthread – cheap spellthreads |
| Alchemy | Transmutes Double duration flasks and endless flask means less money spent on consumables Selling flasks, potions and elixirs Master of potions, elixirs or transmutes Potion to find extra treasure – sometimes rewards you with a Tiny Treasure Chest |
| Blacksmithing | Lots of BOEs Eternal Belt Buckles |
| Enchanting | Selling enchants DEing old soulbound gear |
| Engineering | Sell pets and mounts Sell Elementium Toolbox Sell Lure Master Tackle Box Electrostatic Condenser |
| Herbalism | Sell herbs |
| Inscription | Cataclysm Reclamation: "write" enchanting patterns Darkmoon Cards/trinkets BOE offhand items Make and sell glyphs and scrolls Certificate of Ownership Forged Documents BOP relics such as Tattooed Eyeball |
| Jewelcrafting | BOEs Sell services, buy uncut and sell cut gems, buy ore and prospect Fire Prism – Create rare gems from uncommon gems The chance to randomly create rare & epic gems Monocles |
| Leatherworking | Lots of BOEs Sell leg armors and armor kits |
| Mining | Sell ore, bars, gems and elements |
| Skinning | Sell leather |
| Tailoring | BOEs Dreamcloth "transmutes" High Society Top Hat Illusionary Bag , Hyjal Expedition Bag, Otherworldly Bag Embersilk Bag Powerful Enchanted Spellthread , Powerful Ghostly Spellthread Unravel Embersilk Cloth |
| Leatherworking | Bracer Embossment – +130int (compared to 65 mastery, 50 spirit or 50 haste from enchanting) |
| Engineering | Synapse Springs – equivalent to 96int, and/or an emergency boost to your spellpower, and a buff to your innervate (see my article on this) |
| Jewelcrafting | +81int (assuming you use three JC-only int gems) |
| Alchemy | Bonus to flasks via Mixology – +80int +40% to potions via Alchemist Stone |
| Blacksmithing | Two extra sockets (gloves, bracers) – +80int |
| Enchanting | Enchant rings x 2 – +80int |
| Inscription | Felfire Inscription – 130int + 25 haste, compared to Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone – 50int +25 haste = 80int |
| Tailoring | Darkglow Embroidery = 67mp5 (at the cost of 50int) |
| Herbalism | Lifeblood – 240 haste for 20secs, 2min cooldown |
| Skinning | Master of Anatomy + 80 crit rating |
| Mining | Toughness – +120stam |
Leatherworking has the highest Intellect bonus, with 130int to bracers, at the expense of 50 haste, 50 spirit or 65 mastery enchants.
Engineering provides the equivalent of 96 Intellect if used on cooldown, and/or gives the utility of an emergency button to boost your spellpower and/or to buff your innervate (see above), plus the survivability provided by belt and cloak tinkers.
Jewelcrafting provides the next highest Intellect bonus at 81.
Alchemy provides 80 Intellect extra from Mixology. If you use the Alchemist Stone, you will also get an extra 3700-4300 mana from a Mythical Mana Potion. However, this trinket only provides Mastery, so it may only be practical to use at early levels of gear.
Blacksmithing, Enchanting and Inscription all give 80 Intellect and are therefore equal in terms of raiding.
Tailoring provides 67mp5 and would be valuable at low tiers of gear when mana is still an issue.
Herbalism gives a haste buff, but this is weaker than the above buffs.
Skinning gives 80 crit rating. Now that our HoTs can crit, skinning is not as useless for raiding as it was, but it is still not desirable if you are min/maxing your professions.
Mining is virtually worthless with a 120 stamina bonus, and would be a side bonus only. Again, not desirable if you are min/maxing.
Keeva is Engineering/Alchemy, as discussed before.
Leatherworking, Engineering and Jewelcrafting are the strongest professions, in my opinion. Tailoring may also be valuable for the mp5. Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting and Inscription are also strong, and equal.
If a profession gives roughly equal raiding benefit, I would then be inclined to look to the other categories – do I want utility? Do I want to make money? Or have some fun? This helps me to choose between them.
Note: Please let me know if I’ve missed any items or benefits – it’s quite a long list so I may have overlooked something!
Possibly Related Posts:
- The eleventh hour
- Cataclysm guides: Gimme gimme!
- Tauren, Troll, Night Elf and Worgen feral forms colour charts
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This entry was posted by Keeva on November 29, 2010 at 9:19 PM, and is filed under Cataclysm, Professions. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. Comment Policy - Comments are welcome! I don't mind at all if you disagree with what I have to say here, provided that a) you are civil about it, and b) you do not try to dictate what I should or shouldn't be writing on my blog. This is my corner of the web, and I reserve the right to edit or delete comments that I deem to be offensive. |
My name is Emma and I live in Australia. I’ve been gaming on and off since I was about 11. I won’t tell you exactly how long ago that was, let’s just say long enough.
about 1 year ago
Very nice list!
Currently rocking Alch and Ench, with the amount of gold I have dropped into recipes I don’t see that changing!
Oombulance´s last blog ..Season 9 Resto Druid PvP Spec Updates 
about 1 year ago
I am looking at it from the standpoint of someone who rarely raids, but is all about running five mans. Currently the Hunter I spend most of my time on is Engineering (gnome) and Alchemy, with no plans to change.
I wish I knew how much money I have saved through Alchemy in Wrath. If nothing else my Flask of the North lets me flask up for every single five man for one fixed price (that I paid nearly two years ago). That is a giant benefit, and one that has me thinking of making my Druid an alchemist also.
Sometimes how much money you make can be measured in money you did not have to spend.
Dechion´s last blog ..Did I blink
about 1 year ago
Definitely! I’ve added that into the Money section.
about 1 year ago
Except the reason Flask of the North exists is because all other professions provide a passive benefit that doesn’t require consumables. FotN is the way they provide that benefit to alchemists.
For example, Jewelcrafting above gives you +81 extra intellect all the time. Without FotN (and the cata equivalent), you would only get your +80 extra intellect when using a regular flask.
So while it is definitely nice to have, it isn’t better than any other prof perk. Arguably it is actually worse, since you actually have to cast it. I guess the other perks like Leatherworking require a small reagent cost whenever you replace that item. (Replacing your bracers costs an extra Arctic Fur to re-enchant it, which is a 40-50g cost.)
about 1 year ago
This is just something that popped into my head while reading this but I remember that there were drums in TBC that increases movement speed and they did not have a level restriction (unlike the other ones)
I’m wondering if they would still work in cata (or now)… Have been stuck with this idea for a while but never got to the point to actually test it myself…
Moonra´s last blog ..The Cataclysm- First Impression!
about 1 year ago
They did still work in 3.3.5 (I know of guilds on HLK who used them for defiles) but I’m unsure if they broke in the Shattering.
Alaron´s last blog ..Cataclysm Faction Analysis
about 1 year ago
I’ve been debating dropping my engineering for alchemy actually (my other profession is Jewelcrafting, which I won’t drop). Assuming the current raft of Nitro Boost backfires is a bug (backfiring in progression raids = automatic drop for me), the nitro boosts are a nice utility for some sticky spots, as can be the parachute at some points. Though as a druid we do still have Travel Form and Cat Form+Dash, so we’re not necessarily bereft of options there.
The glove tinker definitely seems best to time with innervates (and the power torrents as you mention too if you can time it) for max return. It ends up contrasting though with the straight +80 (or more, in LW’s case) int bonus from the other profs… can get dicey figuring out which is better, it seems that if you time the innervate/gloves right it will at least balance out, but you’re also missing out on the straight Int and SP boost. The boost to pots (and also the Mysterious Potion) is nice too.
Then I suppose there’s utility options! I’ll miss using my mailbox and jeeves, my teleports and mote extractor won’t be such a loss in Cata though. Endless flask for 5mans though, plus gold potential (though then I need herbs >..< Another enchanter would be useful since mine is on a different realm now but not keen on levelling that up too…
Decisions!!
FeralTree´s last blog ..Im going to punch that dragon in the face! New quests after the Shattering
about 1 year ago
Haha, I hadn’t heard about the Lifegiving seed for herbalists. The fun factor makes me feel less dirty for keeping herbing/mining. At least some of the professions’ benefits don’t require you to have the profession, like the potion to teleport to deepholm.
about 1 year ago
Given the distinct lack of Agi enchants and the funny coincidence of 130 Int being 80 above the normal 50 stat to bracers, I’m hoping we haven’t seen the full list of bracer Enchants. Otherwise Bears got left out in the cold and Leatherworking will be overly strong for casters.
about 1 year ago
Well, I’m not a min/maxer, so I’m going to stick with my Herb/Alch. Having the ability to be self-sufficient in my consumables is something I really value. It’s nicer now that Herb will have a haste bonus instead of a little heal I never used. (Have to macro it to something . . .)
about 1 year ago
“BOP relics such as Tattooed Eyeball”
The link shows that this is actually now a BoE, so it isn’t a profession perk, but a money maker.
“unravel embersilk cloth”, I read somewhere that this is actually being removed. Something to think about, at least.
Otherwise, great to have. Applies to most casters, which means it is quite useful for comparison.
about 1 year ago
That’s so weird, I originally had it in the BOE money side, but I could have sworn I checked again and it said BOP. I’ll move it back.
about 1 year ago
A very nice side-by-side comparison. However, it will be a while until I can get to a more desirable crafting/crafting combination that is raid optimal, as starting from scratch with eliminates powerleveling a profession as an option. Will probably be Herb/Inscription for the druid (no better weed pickers around, ESPECIALLY after 7 Dec), then swapping herbalism out once enough gold is stockpiled to buy herbs rather than farming them.
about 1 year ago
Don’t forget about the Rhinestone Sunglasses for Jewlcrafting!
Awesome list, definitely going Engineering as well. Thanks Keeva!
about 1 year ago
Forgot those too!
It was hard reading through huge lists of profession recipes and picking things out, especially for the ones that make so many items – like JC, Inscription etc.
I’ll add them in
about 1 year ago
I would think the seaforium blastbacks would be more utility than fun (since they let you open locked chests and doors for more loots if you didn’t bring a rogue), but I’m being pedantic.
Firsthand, I found engineering to be invaluable in Wrath (well, up to the crusader stuff, I haven’t played since just before ICC). The glove tinker was (averaged out) better than the glove enchant, and even better if you factor in cooldown stacking or their bursty nature… if you ever had to move during a fight, you would use your gloves during a movement phase, and thus, didn’t lose as much potential from them as you would by missing cast time with an always-on enchant.
Furthermore, being able to throw bombs every cooldown was flat out bonus damage at no cost, since it wasn’t affected by, nor did it trigger a global cooldown. The Cataclysm counterpart to this seems to be the bolt gun, which has an interrupt effect as well, so double goodness (arguably, the disorient was better for PVP, but didn’t work on most things in raids).
And how can I forget nitro boosts? Not only did it let me be the first one in place after running back from a wipe, but they were a huge gain on almost any fight that required movement. Two Jormungar, Hodir, racing to kill tentacles on Yogg, saving time while running around mimiron’s barrage all immediately come to mind as times where you could save a lot of DPS time on account of reducing movement time significantly.
Plus, dragonlings. You can’t have enough dragons. Ever.
about 1 year ago
Oops, the seaforium isn’t meant to be in fun, it’s meant to be in utility. I’ll fix.
Although, blowing stuff up is fun..
And I forgot to add the bolt guns.
about 1 year ago
Actually, did we establish that the glove tinker is in addition to the glove enchant (ie, it stacks)?
Because if it does I need to remove the “at the cost of 50spi/50haste/65mastery” bit and explain that it stacks.
I keep hearing conflicting answers to this, some say they stack, some say that’s a bug, some say they don’t.. I really wish I knew for sure.
about 1 year ago
Wow This is an amazing list you have up, Thanks a ton for it. Will definably help me as I have been reevaluating my profs. Though the more I think about it the more I think my LW/Alch is the best combo for myself.
Timber Forrester´s last blog ..Post Shattering My Thoughts
about 1 year ago
I loved this article!! I saw your site on WoW Insider and I love it too!! I have a Tauren Resto Druid. I have had her since vanilla WoW and adore her!! I used to have engineering way back then, and it was horrible. I dropped it, but kept mining and picked up herbalism .I did make a ton of money from that change. I also have max fishing and cooking and I made lots of money selling the raw fish and the cooked fish on the AH. I dropped it before BC came out..I was so sad I did. All the cool changes and neat stuff i can make. I think that I will make my new goblin mage an engineer/skinner. My druid can fly at 310 so farming for ore will be cake. My tauren priest is an alchemist/herbalist and I love FothN. Yups..the more i think about it the more I amdefinately going to make my goblin mage an engineer!!!
about 1 year ago
Thanks
about 1 year ago
Keeva, what’s up with Engineering specialties, do you know? It seems most other professions no longer have one. Do we? I can’t seem to find an answer on the web, I must be in need of more coffee!
about 1 year ago
Goblin and Gnome specializations, though for the life of me, I cannot remember the trainer locations (other than the one in Tinker Town in Ironforge).
In a nutshell: Gnome is for gadgets, goblin is to blow things up.
Hybridity´s last blog ..Inscription After The Shattering
about 1 year ago
Oh, you’ve missed a Tailoring enchant for the Raiding bonuses, there’s the Darkweave Embroidery which restores mana (which you have up), there’s also Lightweave Embroidery which is a chance to increase spellpower by 580 for 15 sec when casting a spell; also to cloak.
FeralTree´s last blog ..Im going to punch that dragon in the face! New quests after the Shattering
about 1 year ago
I left it out, actually, because I think it will be a long time before we would swap to a random spellpower proc over a mana return proc. Possibly never (but that depends on whether this expansion is different and whether or not we get back to a place where mana seems endless)
about 1 year ago
I think both will be viable options, with actual selection choice coming down to the individual and which helps them more. For various reasons some may find mana isn’t an issue – on beta for example I was doing 10m cho’gall with two different groups, 2 healing one and 3 healing with the other. In the 2 healing group I didn’t have any mana issues at all simply because the group were very sharp about avoiding unnecessary damage et al. In the 3 healing group the members were less sharp with their spatial awareness and reactions and it cost a lot of mana for all the healers compensating for that. If I were running with a group like the first, I’d definitely go for throughput with the SP enchant. For the latter I might switch to the mana return enchant to help the longevity. Things like that and other situations too will effect the enchant choice, but I definitely think both are viable options for resto.
FeralTree´s last blog ..Im going to punch that dragon in the face! New quests after the Shattering
about 1 year ago
Herbalism – disguise yourself as a herb you say, and my rogue who is a herbalist resides on a pvp server you say … Excellent !!!
about 1 year ago
I wonder if we get to pick the herb we turn into? This will be awesome for lvling on a pvp server. If it works how I think it will work =) haha
about 1 year ago
Enchanting would technically give 160. You have 2 rings you can enchant unless I’m mistaken. This would put the enchants ahead the leather working bonus.
about 1 year ago
The ring enchant is:
http://www.wowhead.com/spell=74217
Which is 40 intellect to each ring, which puts it at 80 total intellect.
So no, Enchanting is the same +80 intellect that all the other professions give. Leatherworking gives +130 intellect to bracers. Normal enchants would be +50 Stat, so LW would be giving the same +80 Intellect. Except there *is no* +50 Intellect to bracers. Only +65 crit or +65 haste. And 50 Intellect >> 65 crit/haste, so the total bonus is much better for Leatherworking.
about 1 year ago
That changed now, 4.0.6 will be dropping a +50 INT enchant for bracers, rare world drop as it may be.
about 7 months ago
LOL you copied this whole chart from restodruid.info…..
next time cite your sources.. at least when you literally “COPY AND PASTE” something tells me your whole site may be copyrighted…..
about 7 months ago
about 7 months ago
i am so smrt
about 7 months ago
Um, she’s the one who *wrote* restodruid.info. I’m pretty sure that one is a copy of this one.