Leveling up professions in World of Warcraft can be a great way to spend your time. Not only can you help out your guild with crafted items or potions, but you can also make a pretty good income selling your collected materials or crafting services to other players for gold. Some professions can also craft highly sought after BIS trinkets, while others can craft their very own pets and mounts.
Since the gold making potential is normally the biggest focus when selecting your main professions, let’s take a look at all of the different options you have in The War Within and see how they compare to each other. At the end, we’ll also take a closer look at the top 10 best professions for most gold-making potential as well as combined usefulness.
S Tier
The S tier is the absolute best of the best for gold making and usefulness. These professions are always in high demand and are absolutely worth leveling up on your main character.
- Enchanting
- Alchemy
- Jewelcrafting
- Inscription
A Tier
This tier has your 4 basic raw material gatherers. They can make a high amount of gold easily, but they don’t actually craft anything so their overall usefulness is lower than the S tier.
- Mining
- Herbalism
- Skinning
- Fishing
B Tier
These professions are useful in some situations, but are a bit more niche overall. Professions in the B tier can be costly and time consuming to max out and make the most of.
- Blacksmithing
- Tailoring
- Engineering
C Tier
The C tier professions may only be useful in specific situations or can be used for role playing purposes. You won’t make a lot of gold or be extremely useful when compared to other options.
- Leatherworking
- Cooking
Now, let’s take a closer look at the top 10 professions to consider from this list. All 10 of these professions have some very good perks, and the first few would be a perfect skill to learn on your main character as you level up through The War Within.
1. Enchanting (S Tier)
Enchanting is without a doubt the best profession to consider for your main character. Not only are you able to disenchant old or unwanted gear to get a variety of rank 2 crafting reagents, but you can use those rank 2 mats to get the more valuable rank 3 procs when enchanting gear or vellums for yourself or other players. If you spend a lot of time in the game and want to make a good amount of gold sell on the AH or in Trade Chat, enchanting is the way to go!
Why Enchanting is S-Tier
- Relatively easy and straightforward to level up to max
- Can find 24 extra knowledge points scattered around Khaz Algar
- Enchanting vellum allows you to sell enchants on the auction house
- Both enchants and disenchanted raw materials sell extremely well
2. Alchemy (S Tier)
Alchemists are responsible for crafting all of the potions, flasks, and phials used by players when raiding, running M+ keys, and doing world content. With the investment of 15 knowledge points into the Fantastic Flasks specialization, you’ll be able to get double-duration on your own personal flasks making it a useful profession to have on your main raiding character. You can also craft versatility trinkets which can be useful for early-80s gearing on alts or for selling in the auction house.
Why Alchemy is S-Tier
- Able to craft very useful potions, flasks, and phials for raids and M+
- Potions, flasks, and phials sell extremely well throughout the expansion
- Can be paired with the herbalist profession to keep crafting expenses low
- Relatively quick to level up, though some recipes can be difficult to obtain
3. Inscription (S Tier)
Inscription is the number one profession to consider if you want to make a small fortune with darkmoon card crafting and deck selling. As a scribe, you can turn these decks into both usable trinkets and valuable gear embellishments used by other players. If that wasn't enough to make you consider picking up this profession, you can also craft vantus runes for raiding, reputation contracts, gear stat missives, off-hands, and staves making Inscription a pretty decent way to make some decent gold.
Why Inscription is S-Tier
- Always in demand for missives, contracts, and vantus runes
- Can craft off-hands and staves for leveling or transmog
- Darkmoon cards and decks can bring in a large amount of gold
- Leveling to max takes a bit more effort, but can be worth it
4. Jewelcrafting (S Tier)
Jewelcrafters have always been high on the list of useful professions to consider in several past expansions, and The War Within is no different. If you pick up this profession, you can make use of the Gemcutting tree to earn a good bit of gold by prospecting ores to find uncut gems, and perfectly cutting those gems for sale or use. In addition, you’ll also be able to learn and craft the jeweled panther mounts from the older Mists of Pandaria expansion which still sell very well on the auction house today.
Why Jewelcrafting is S-Tier
- A bit difficult to get all recipes, but can make a good amount of gold
- Responsible for cutting gems necessary for other players’ gear
- Perfect companion profession to pair with mining to keep costs low
- Can craft mounts from older expansions to sell on the auction house
5. Mining (A Tier)
While not a crafting profession like those in the S tier, mining is arguably one of the best gathering professions to have. Your job will be to travel all around the zones to mine ore nodes, and then you can then turn around and sell that raw ore to other players with the Engineering, Jewelcrafting, or Blacksmithing professions. You’ll also be able to gather rare reagents including Null Stones, Writhing Samples, and Crystalline Powder which sell very well on the auction house for some quick gold.
Why Mining is A-Tier
- Extremely easy to do while questing or traveling around the zones
- Arguably the most profitable gathering profession in the game
- Raw ore you collect sells well and is used by three other professions
- A great profession to pair with Jewelcrafting, Engineering, or Blacksmithing
6. Herbalism (A Tier)
While maybe not as profitable as mining, herbalists are a very close second to being the best gathering profession in the game. Your entire focus with this profession is to travel around Khaz Algar and other zones picking any flowers you see along the way. These flowers will then be sold to Alchemists and Scribes for their professions. Both Tauren and Earthen are great races to consider if you want to focus on herbalism as your main profession since their racials can help you gather more rank 3 materials in the process.
Why Herbalism is A-Tier
- Flowers you pick will sell very quickly to both Alchemists and Scribes
- Extremely easy to do while questing or exploring as a near-passive income
- Pairs well with both Alchemy or Inscription to save on crafting costs
- Can pair well with Mining on a double-gathering gold-making character
7. Skinning (A Tier)
Falling a bit behind both mining and herbalism, skinning can still be a good way to make a bit of extra gold while questing or doing your dailies throughout Khaz Algar. As a skinner, you will gather the pelt and other resources from any animals and some dragonkin you kill throughout your adventures. You’ll also be able to craft a variety of different baits and lures to use while fishing which can get you some extra materials and resources to resell as well.
Why Skinning is A-Tier
- Extremely easy to level up to max with very little effort required
- Easy to do while questing and leveling up, or grinding reputation
- Skinned resources sell on the AH to Leatherworkers
- Crafted baits and lures can get you additional fishing resources
8. Fishing (A Tier)
Not to be overlooked when it comes to gathering, Fishing is a secondary profession that you can have in addition to two main professions. So, if you want to go full gathering mode and spend your time collecting items for other players to make use of, don’t forget to hit up a fishing trainer. As a fisherperson, you’ll be able to sell your fresh caught fish to players with the Cooking skill, while also potentially fishing up battle pets, mounts, cosmetic items, and darkmoon cards in current and legacy zones.
Why Fishing is A-Tier
- Extremely cheap and easy to get started at any level from 1 to 80
- Can fish up battle pets, mounts, cosmetics, and darkmoon cards
- Fish you catch can be used for cooking or made into oils
- You can fish in open water for random loot, or focus on schools and pools
9. Blacksmithing (B Tier)
Blacksmithing has been all over the tier list the past several expansions, but in The War Within it falls a bit short and lands in the B tier. While smithies can craft a variety of plate gear, weapons, and some profession gear or tools, it can be very time consuming and expensive to level up. You’ll also have to deal with quite a bit of timegating when it comes to concentration use. Having said that, you can make very good tips if you focus on the public crafting order system and make use of cheap ore in the AH.
Why Blacksmithing is B-Tier
- Able to make a decent gold income through public crafting order tips
- Can be a good profession to pair with Mining to save some costs
- Crafted plate and weapons are not very cost efficient
- Has timegating when it comes to concentration use
10. Tailoring (B Tier)
Like Blacksmithing, Tailoring has been up and down the tier lists over the years. Don’t get me wrong, as a tailor you are a very useful professional since you are the crafter of bags, leg enchants, and a few embellishments. You can also loot tailor-specific mats, and obtain rare cloth through transmutes. But, while bags sell well throughout the expansion, crafted gear is somewhat niche and drops in value quickly, and your transmutes are heavily timegated and somewhat limited which can be frustrating.
Why Tailoring is B-Tier
- You’re the GOAT when it comes to crafting bigger inventory bags
- Able to craft useful leg enchants and gear embellishments
- Can loot tailor-specific materials that sell very well on the auction house
- Has to deal with timegating and restrictions on transmutations
