WoW Blacksmithing

Blacksmithing is a World of Warcraft profession that gives players the ability to create a wide assortment of weapons and armor out of metal bars and other miscellaneous items. As players create items they level up their skill in blacksmithing and are then able to train more valuable recipes. At higher levels players are able to choose a blacksmithing specialization (armorsmith or weaponsmith) and at even higher skill levels they are able to specialize even further. Players often train blacksmithing so that they can eventually make themselves epic items.

The majority of players who choose to train blacksmithing are melee, and a large majority are paladins and warriors. This is due to the fact that items created by blacksmithing are geared towards these classes. Blacksmiths can create weapons, plate armor, mail armor, sharpening stones, weight stones, and other random items such as rods and iron buckles which are used in tailoring and enchanting, respectively. Blacksmiths often make money selling these weapons, armor, and miscellaneous items in the auction house. Other neat items blacksmiths can create are weapon chains, shield spikes, mithril spurs, and skeleton keys.

If you are considering taking on blacksmithing as a profession then you should also plan on training mining as your second profession. Mining gives players the ability to collect minerals from veins across the "world" and to smelt them into metal bars. These metal bars are the major component of blacksmithing recipes. So unless you plan on buying or having someone else mine and smelt all of your materials (which may be close to impossible unless you have loads of money and a full auction house) you should definitely train mining. Mining also uncovers gems, which are used in blacksmithing formulas.

Since mining is normally trained along with blacksmithing, those who blacksmith are faced with the downside of mining, which is the time it takes to get the supplies. Mining is a gathering profession which means that players must run from area to area and zone to zone gathering the supplies they need. Players normally spend a lot of time collecting the supplies they need to level up their blacksmithing.

If you are a melee class like a paladin or a warrior and want to be able to create your own weapons and armor blacksmithing is the profession for you. While it can take some time to mine to obtain your supplies, it pays off when you can use the items you create to upgrade and provide bonuses to your character.

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