World of Warcraft offers 11 professions and 3 secondary professions, but which ones are truly rewarding? MeinMMO explains which professions complement each other best and which are lucrative.
WoW is one of the MMORPGs with the best crafting system. However, you need resources to craft first. For that, there are gathering and crafting professions. You can learn a maximum of 2 professions at the same time.
In our comprehensive profession guide for Shadowlands, you will find explanations for the individual professions. However, we have listed for you which professions complement each other and which are particularly worthwhile.
These pairings apply not only to Shadowlands but also to WoW Classic and Burning Crusade Classic. If you have already learned a profession or want to learn one, you can click on the corresponding profession in the table of contents and read what fits:
Which professions are the most worthwhile?
The question of the most rewarding profession is not easy to answer and largely depends on what you actually want from a profession. Some players want to equip their character with gear, others want to make a lot of gold, and others want toys. All of this is possible to some extent with most professions, but some are more flexible than others. We have listed some combinations that are particularly worthwhile.
The standard choice: If you are looking for the simplest way and play a lot solo, you should go for the classic. That is, one crafting profession and one gathering profession (with the exception of cloth-wearers). Depending on which armor class your character has, you should choose the following combinations.
| Armor Type | Professions |
| Cloth | Tailoring + Enchanting |
| Leather | Leatherworking + Skinning |
| Leatherworking + Skinning | |
| Plate | Blacksmithing + Mining |
These combinations allow you to craft solid gear that you can wear yourself while also selling excess materials and crafted items. For players who want to treat themselves a little, it’s a solid choice.
Mining + Herbalism: If you want to earn a solid amount of gold on the side and do not want to bother with the auction house much, this combination of gathering professions is for you. You won’t be able to craft items, but you can mine almost everything you find in the wild. You can just put the ores and plants in the auction house during your next visit to the capital and have a solid, continuous cash flow without much effort.
Herbalism + Alchemy: Likewise, the combination of herbalism and alchemy is quite rewarding. Both professions can together create potions and flasks. Especially in the endgame, these are eagerly bought by nearly all players. However, you do need to invest a bit more time and keep an eye on the auction house. Prices for potions fluctuate significantly, especially right after a new raid is released.
Mining + Engineering: No other profession has as many toys and fun effects as engineering. Whether cool gliders, rocket boots, numerous teleportations, exploding sheep, or even a resurrection in combat – the engineer’s repertoire is vast. Mining provides most of the resources needed, but you will have to buy a few from the auction house.
Combos for Herbalism
- Alchemy if you want to brew potions
- Skinning or Mining if you want to earn gold
Combos for Mining
- Blacksmithing for weapons and armor
- Engineering for firearms and toys
- Skinning or Herbalism if you want to earn gold
Combos for Skinning
- Leatherworking for mail and leather armor
- Herbalism or Mining if you want to earn gold
Combos for Alchemy
- Herbalism if you want to supply yourself or the auction house with potions
- any other professions if you are part of a raid guild
Alchemy has a special status in retail WoW. As an alchemist, you have the advantage that strengthening flasks last twice as long. Therefore, especially professional players in raids are often alchemists to save money. They then do gathering professions with secondary characters.
Combos for Blacksmithing
- Mining to supply yourself
- Engineering if you get ores elsewhere
Combos for Enchanting
- Tailoring to disenchant crafted items
- Alchemy for an advantage in raid
- Skinning, Mining, or Herbalism
Combos for Engineering
- Mining to supply yourself
- Blacksmithing if you get ores elsewhere
Combos for Inscription (from WotLK)
- Herbalism to supply yourself
- Alchemy if you get herbs elsewhere
Combos for Jewelcrafting (from Burning Crusade)
- Mining to supply yourself
- any other professions if you get resources elsewhere
Jewelcrafting has a special status in Burning Crusade. Since you can craft unique gems that only jewelers can wear, many progression players choose this profession regardless of their secondary profession.
Combos for Leatherworking
- Skinning to supply yourself
Combos for Tailoring
- Enchanting to disenchant crafted items
- Alchemy for an advantage in raid
- Skinning, Mining, or Herbalism
As a tailor, you do not need a gathering profession to supply yourself, so you can choose any profession that seems useful for your second profession. Enchanting is a commonly chosen pairing because you can disenchant crafted items directly and thus have materials for enchantments. But gathering professions are also popular for earning gold.
Secondary Professions in WoW – Archaeology, Fishing, Cooking, First Aid
In addition to your professions, you can learn three additional secondary professions. These do not count toward the limit of 2 simultaneous professions and usually stand on their own:
- Archaeology rewards you with toys, mounts, and more for collecting relics
- Cooking processes meat and other items into strong buff food – Or stone soup for the raid
- Fishing provides you with fish and is strong in combination with cooking since you save yourself the trouble of slaughtering wildlife
Previously, there was also First Aid, which was removed after Legion. Nowadays, tailors craft bandages that can heal slightly. This ability is no longer a standalone profession in retail.
If you play Classic, you can still learn First Aid – however, not Archaeology. Leveling here is worth it, as bandages often heal faster and more efficiently than food.
If you are new to WoW and are unsure which class you want to play in addition to your profession, here is help:
