It’s fine to play whatever race/class/profession pair combination you want. Any advantages listed on this page are minor, so don’t sweat it. But if you’re the kind of geek who would like to min-max their crafting & gathering, or create a finely tuned alt crafting army, here are some things to consider…
Alliance or Horde?
Trade chat is not cross faction, so crafters who want to make gold by taking orders from trade chat should consider being whatever faction is dominant in their connected realm group. It will let you see more LF craft requests and whisper to your clients. Seriously, you can’t whisper somebody who sent you a crafting order if they’re the opposite faction :< Since the craft system got so darn complicated, and tipping is erratic at best, this can be frustrating.
Double Gathering? (Mining + Herbalism)
Pros: Mining and herbalism make a good pairing, especially when you can do both mounted, and use a Phial of Truesight, which lets you see camoflaged herbs AND ore, and have your Weaver’s Prodigy buff up. You can gather a truly stupid amount of resources in a short amount of time, and that can mean lots of gold for you.
Cons: Getting Artisan’s Acuity from gathering is much slower than from crafting (patron orders reward a LOT if you keep up with them). It will take you about 4x as long to get enough Acuity to make your rare quality profession equipment & buy your knowledge point books vs. a toon who pairs their gathering profession with a crafting one.
Racial, Class, and Cross Profession Synergies
| Profession | Racial Advantages Horde / Alliance | Best Profession Pairings | Class, Armor Type, etc. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alchemy | Goblin +5 skill and gold discount for buying Crystalforged Cauldrons Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with herbalism for mats | Toons that spend a lot of time in raids/dungeons can get the most value out of alchemy’s flask duration bonus |
| Blacksmithing | Dark Iron Dwarf +5 skill & +10% crafting speed. Lightforged Dranei +5 skill & can summon a forge (15 min CD) Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with mining for mats | Plate wearing classes can benefit by being able to make their own armor |
| Cooking | Pandaran + 5 skill & double bonus from food buffs Kul Tiran +2 skill | Skinning & fishing provide mats, but no need for it to be on the same toon | |
| Enchanting | Blood Elf +5 skill Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with any crafting profession that creates stuff to DE, but tailoring is the best since both professions essentially gather their own mats. | Active toons that get a lot of BoP gear will have more things to disenchant into crafting reagents |
| Engineering | Gnome +5 skill Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with mining for mats | Hunters can benefit by being able to make their own scopes, rifles, and ammunition buffs |
| Fishing | Highmountain Tauren – chance to loot additional fish Kul Tiran +2 skill Dracthyr +2% perception Earthen +2% finesse | Artisan’s Acuity is a time gated resource, and most folks are going to spend it on their primary professions before fishing gear. Toons with professions that discover their recipes instead of buying them w/ Acuity (alchemy & engineering) will have Acuity to spend on fishing gear long before others do. | Water Walking (Shaman), Levitation (Priest), and Path of Frost (DK) can come in handy |
| Herbalism | Tauren +5 skill & +25% deftness Kul Tiran +2 skill Dracthyr +2% perception Earthen +2% finesse | Pairs well with alchemy or inscription | Druids can gather herbs in flight form naturally, so it give them more flexibility where to spend knowledge points in their profession tree. |
| Inscription | Nightborne +5 skill Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with herbalism for mats | Caster classes can benefit by being able to make their own staves & off-hands |
| Jewelcrafting | Dranei +5 skill Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with mining for mats | |
| Leatherworking | Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with skinning for mats | Leather & mail wearing classes can benefit by being able to make their own armor |
| Mining | Highmountain Tauren +5 skill & +25% deftness Kul Tiran +2 skill Dracthyr +2% perception Earthen +2% finesse | Pairs well with blacksmithing, jewelcrafting, and engineering. In TWW, it can provide Weavercloth for tailoring. | |
| Skinning | Worgen +skill & +25% deftness Kul Tiran +2 skill Dracthyr +2% perception Earthen +2% finesse | Pairs well with leatherworking, and provides mats for cooking | Classes w/ good survivability & burst AoE make the best skinners |
| Tailoring | Kul Tiran +2 skill | Pairs well with enchanting, which also gathers it own mats, plus you can DE the cloth armor you make. | Cloth wearing classes can benefit by being able to make their own armor |