The professions in Battle for Azeroth are poorly done. Cortyn reveals what really annoys about crafting in World of Warcraft.
The longer you play a game, the more the negative aspects become noticeable that aren’t very exciting. This is no different with World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. Even though I am having a lot of fun with the expansion, one thing bothers me immensely: the professions.
The basic “surroundings” of the professions are great: It’s fantastic and sensible that professions and their abilities are now sorted by different addons. This provides clarity and a clear structure. At the same time, it’s helpful to be able to easily dismantle crafted items in the Scrap-O-Matic to receive some resources.
But the professions themselves and their recipes are a failure. They feel “empty”, lacking the typical Warcraft charm that made them great in the past, even when the gameplay utility was minor due to better gear. Yes, there are the usual things like gems, buff food, and enchants that are useful. But that’s about it.
Useless recipes, even for fresh characters at level 120
My character is a tailor, so I was actually hoping to craft new gear right at level 120 to have a solid start in the endgame.
However, that was not the case.
The necessary materials for items with item level 300 (solid starter gear at level 120) are primarily obtained by disassembling rare items that come from world quests. More specifically: from rare cloth items. In other words, from exactly the items I actually want to craft.
The end result was that the world quests I completed to collect the materials already granted me better gear than tailoring could provide. So, while I did get better items, tailoring was not necessary for that.
The professions lack soul in Battle for Azeroth
What bothers me almost more than the absence of truly useful items is the lack of “fun items” that previously filled professions with fun. For instance, tailors could create funny “disguise boxes” in Legion, engineers could set up a Blingtron 6000, and alchemists could create potions with amusing transformations.
All of that now exists only in a significantly stripped-down form or is completely missing or feels thoughtless.
For example, engineers can create a rather expensive cupboard that allows them to temporarily access transmogrification. But what use does that serve in a world where many players already have a mount that fulfills the same purpose (and more)?
Honestly, I don’t think the developers have run out of ideas, but – just like in class design – simply ran out of time.
My hope is, therefore, that with Patch 8.1 or 8.2 there will be a major overhaul of the crafting professions with more gimmicks. Because even if the crafted armor is second- or third-rate, the fun items have always been an important part of “my” World of Warcraft.
What is your opinion on the professions in Battle for Azeroth? Are you satisfied with the crafting or rather disappointed?
