WoW Forever Blacksmithing Guide: Leveling, Specs and Camp Features
What Is New for Blacksmiths
Blacksmithing in WoW Forever works like it did in Classic: a hammer, metal, an anvil and skill ranks from 1 to 300. The profession still forges plenty of weapons, plus the sharpening and weight stones every physical DPS wants. The details below come from beta build 1.60.1, so some numbers may change before release.
The main differences from Classic:
More Mail and Plate on the way to level 60. New plans fill slots where you used to wait for a drop.
New level 60 materials. Heavy Thorium Bar, Azerothium Bar and Legionite Bar go into fresh recipes. Legionite comes from transmuting Heavy Thorium Bar with a Fel Crystal, and Azerothium Bar is smelted from Pitchblende and Coal.
Recipes from Merchant's Favor. Some new plans are sold by the Azeroth Commerce Authority.
Camp stations. The most visible addition to the profession.
Shifted skill-up thresholds. Many recipes stop giving skill points earlier than in Classic.
The last point matters most: old 1-300 routes from Classic Era waste materials here. Follow the route below and check recipe colors in the game.
Blacksmith Camp Stations
Blacksmithing unlocks three camp stations. You no longer need to run to a city forge, because you can craft right where you set up for the night. The camping system itself has its own guide, so this section covers only what the profession adds.
Station | Skill | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
Sharpening Wheel | 20 | A Strength buff for nearby players, about 34 at level 60 according to player reports |
Anvil | 140 | Keeps the wheel's buff and lets you craft in camp |
Master Forge | 300 | A portable forge for the most advanced plans |
Anvil and Master Forge can be placed over the Sharpening Wheel and keep its buff. The Strength bonus does not stack with the shaman's Strength of Earth Totem, so the wheel adds little in a group with a shaman. All camp features share a one-hour cooldown.
You will need the Master Forge near the end of the route, since the Goregasher recipes are crafted on it. If you level the profession for the camp, place the wheel as soon as you reach skill 20: it strengthens your group for the whole leveling path.
Leveling From 1 to 300
Start Blacksmithing together with your character instead of waiting for level 60. You craft part of your own gear, and starter-zone materials do not go to waste. To avoid losing time on the character itself, keep 1-60 leveling close at hand.
Here is a suggested route. It is based on beta data, and crafting skill-ups are random, so bring extra materials.
1-65. Rough Sharpening Stone and Rough Grinding Stone from Rough Stone. The stone cost is small; the key is noticing when a recipe stops giving points.
65-125. Copper belts and Rough Bronze Leggings. Hundreds of Copper Bar and Bronze Bar go here.
125-200. Iron Buckle, Bronze Warhammer, then items from Green Iron Bar and Steel Bar, such as Golden Scale Bracers.
200-250. The main Mithril Bar sink: Heavy Mithril Gauntlet, Mithril Plate Pants, Heavy Mithril Breastplate, Mithril Coif and Big Black Mace.
250-300. Arcanite Skeleton Key, then recipes using Thorium Bar, Azerothium Bar and Enchanted Thorium Bar.
Train each rank in time: Journeyman before 75, Expert before 150, Artisan before 225. Player reports put the requirements at 50, 125 and 200 skill and character levels 10, 20 and 35. If you hit a cap and keep crafting, the materials go to waste.
How Many Materials You Need
The route is expensive, especially after 250. By the route's estimate, the full climb takes about 1,400 Mithril Bar, around 630 Thorium Bar, 370 Bronze Bar, 390 Iron Bar, 360 Copper Bar and over 200 Mageweave Cloth, plus stones, leather, essences and gems. Treat it as a rough target with a buffer; some materials may be left over.
It makes sense to have a steady supplier of ore and bars. Mining fits best, more on that below.
The last recipes of the route come from vendors. Goregasher Grips and Goregasher Support are sold by Vargus in Cenarion Hold, Silithus. He sells plans to neutral players, but only at Friendly with the Cenarion Circle (the Grips plan costs 750 according to player reports) and with Blacksmithing 285. Both are crafted at a Master Forge. According to player reports, the other late-route recipes are sold by vendors in the Western and Eastern Plaguelands and near Mount Hyjal. Before you travel, make sure the vendor is available to your faction so the trip is not wasted.
Specializations
At high skill a blacksmith picks Armorsmith or Weaponsmith. Weaponsmith splits further into Axesmith, Hammersmith and Swordsmith. You choose once, so weigh your goals first.
Armorsmith. Plate armor. A sensible pick for a Warrior or Paladin who wears it. To see what to aim for in each slot, check best-in-slot gear if you do not want to craft everything yourself.
Weaponsmith. The weapon branch. It suits players who care about weapon recipes.
Master Axesmith, Master Hammersmith, Master Swordsmith. Narrow branches of Weaponsmith: axes, maces and hammers, swords.
Recipes available only to a specialization are not part of this route, so the choice does not affect leveling speed.
Making Gold With Blacksmithing
Mining hands you something sellable right away, while a blacksmith first spends metal. Profit comes from buying or gathering materials cheaply and turning them into items players pay more for. General earning methods are covered in the guide on how to earn gold in WoW Forever.
Practical directions:
Mail and Plate leveling gear: fresh characters usually need upgrades.
Weapons and consumables such as sharpening and weight stones.
Rare plans: the fewer blacksmiths know a recipe, the better the margin usually is.
Merchant's Favor recipes: plans sold by the Azeroth Commerce Authority.
New level 60 items from Heavy Thorium, Azerothium and Legionite while materials and plans are hard to get.
A practical tip: before buying materials, check the auction house and compare the bar price with the price of the finished item. If the gap is small, selling bars beats crafting. Demand for these goods depends on the server and the stage of the game, so there are no guarantees. The safest rule is not to craft what every blacksmith on the server can make.
Best Profession to Pair With Blacksmithing
The best partner is Mining. A blacksmith constantly burns through bars, ore and stone, and the route needs Mithril in large amounts. Your own supply cuts costs noticeably.
Engineering works too, but it shares many materials with Blacksmithing. Without your own ore or a mining alt, the two professions will drain your wallet fast.
What to Do With Finished Items
Forged items help while you are still on the way to the endgame. For raid preparation, look at pre-raid gear, and once you reach raids, compare your crafts with raid gear. Level 60 items should be useful while plans and materials are scarce, but real numbers will only be clear after release. Until then, avoid putting your last gold into rare materials for a single item: first confirm there is demand on your server and that the auction price covers your costs. A good habit is to craft one item, list it, and only then start a batch.