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Profession revamp preview

eliah hecht
Updated ·5 min read

Professions have been on the drawing board for changes for a good while, but until now Blizz have been very tight-lipped about what specific modifications they might be making. No more! Nethaera has posted a nice preview of changes that are being made to many professions for "the next content patch," i.e. 2.1 (The Black Temple). Before I go into detail, note that Neth said her post "does not contain all of the upcoming changes, but instead gives a brief look at what is to come," so bank on more surprises to come. Anyway, this round is mostly buffs and new recipes, with a major nerf to alchemy.

Full post copied after the jump as usual, but here's the changes I found more interesting:

  • Alchemy: Elixirs now stack in two categories, Battle (Offensive) and Guardian (Defensive) Elixirs. You can only have one of each type of Elixir up at a time. As a result Elixirs now stack with class abilities such as "Arcane Intellect." I totally called this (as did many others, I'm sure). The intended effect is obviously to reduce the maximum possible effect of consumables in raids and other such situations, and this will go a long way towards producing that effect, without hurting alchemists too much (in my opinion).

  • Engineering: "Seaforium" now opens locked chests as well as locked doors. About time; having to skip locked chests if I didn't have a rogue in the party has been annoying. But will Powerful Seaforium Charges open the top-level locked chests, or are we going to see new seaforium?

  • Engineering: 11 new epic goggles have been introduced at 350 engineering skill and are available from the trainer. They range from cloth to plate, and have a variety of stats to appeal to most talent specs. This is probably the biggest change to any profession. I've always loved the goggles Engineering had to offer, and now engineers have something epic to work towards. Exciting!

  • Fishing: The fishing timer has been reduced from 30 to 20 seconds and it now takes less time to fish. Sweet! I always though 30 seconds was a bit too long. But on the down side, Fishing has been removed from Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley -- what, you mean I have to actually fight now?!

  • Jewelcrafting: The jewelcrafting UI now has gems split up by color so it is easier to find gems of a specific color to create. This is long-overdue; Blizz's profession UIs are so primitive it's not even funny. I would recommend ATSW as a replacement, but it tends to crash my client sometimes. Now where's my gem category in the AH?

  • Jewelcrafting: Jewelcrafters can make two new melee oriented meta gems. One is found randomly as a world drop and the other sold by the <Faction> reputation vendor. Definitely needed -- but what do they mean by <Faction>? Scryer or Aldor? HH or Thrallmar? Any faction?

  • Jewelcrafting: New recipes have been added that use the Jaggal and Shadow Pearls. Time to stop vendoring those, I guess.

  • Skinning: Skinning higher level creatures will give more leather; you will no longer get a single leather scrap. Good, it was getting silly.

Read on for the full blue post.



We have taken the time to put together a brief preview of the Profession changes for the upcoming content patch. This list does not contain all of the upcoming changes, but instead gives a brief look at what is to come.


Alchemy

  • Elixirs now stack in two categories, Battle (Offensive) and Guardian (Defensive) Elixirs. You can only have one of each type of Elixir up at a time. As a result Elixirs now stack with class abilities such as "Arcane Intellect."

  • Four new defensive elixirs have been added. Two are on trainers, one is in Halaa and one is in Cenarion Expedition.

  • "Flask of Petrification" can no longer be turned off during its duration, but it now will clear all threat from all monsters for the duration of the effect. Though monsters may reaquire you after the effect ends.

  • The cost to purchase Imbued Vials has been reduced.



Enchanting

  • Enchant Bracer-Spellpower had its primal costs reduced slightly.

  • Enchanting recipes that increase spell damage now also increase healing as well.

  • The "Major Defense Bracer" enchantment has been moved from Ethereum Researchers to Ethereum Nullifiers.



Engineering

  • A recipe for "Frost Grenades" and the "Icy Blasting Primers" needed to make them are now on engineering trainers.

  • Engineering recipes can now be placed in engineering bags, as can engineer made fireworks.

  • Many engineering recipes will now give skillups for longer than the previously did.

  • "Seaforium" now opens locked chests as well as locked doors

  • The Poultryizer and Nigh Invulnerability Belt now cause mishaps less often.

  • The Goblin Rocket Launcher cooldown has been reduced significantly.

  • 11 new epic goggles have been introduced at 350 engineering skill and are available from the trainer. They range from cloth to plate, and have a variety of stats to appeal to most talent specs.



Fishing

  • The fishing timer has been reduced from 30 to 20 seconds and it now takes less time to fish.

  • The fishing timer can no longer run through its duration without a fish biting.

  • Fishing has been removed from Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley.

  • You can now fish in Underbog.



Jewelcrafting

  • The jewelcrafting UI now has gems split up by color so it is easier to find gems of a specific color to create.

  • A number new gem cuts to existing gems have been added to the game. Included among them are a spell hit gem and more multi-stat gems that have attack power on them.

  • Jewelcrafters can make two new melee oriented meta gems. One is found randomly as a world drop and the other sold by the <Faction> reputation vendor.

  • Thorium requirements for most recipes has been reduced.

  • Prospecting now always yields at least 1 gem. Overall, the amount of gems received from prospecting has been increased.

  • New recipes have been added that use the Jaggal and Shadow Pearls.


Leatherworking

  • Skinning higher level creatures will give more leather; you will no longer get a single leather scrap.

  • "Knothide Armor" kits now require less leather to make and give skill increases for longer.

  • Leatherworking made primalstrike set now has an attack power set bonus rather than a strength set bonus.

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