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Ask a Beta Tester: All about Inscription (and a few other things)

Elizabeth Harper
Updated ·5 min read


Twan kicks us off this morning with....

Is it worth stockpiling herbs or bars/ore if I had to pick one?

There's not much you'll be doing with Outland or Azerothian ore... unless you want your new Death Knight to be a Blacksmith or Jewelcrafter... but herbs of all levels will be used in the new Inscription profession. Use them to train Inscription, sell them on the auction house post Wrath... either way, you win!

For more of your beta questions -- and our beta answers -- read on! We've got all there is to know about inscription after the break. But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.




There have been so many inscription questions continuing to fly around, I've just got to do a recap of all the things we have... and haven't... covered on that front.

  • A player with the Inscription profession makes Glyphs.

  • Glyphs can be traded, sold, mailed, put on the auction house, or whatever else. I have not yet encountered any Glyphs that are bind on pick-up.

  • Your currently equipped Glyphs live in a tab on your spellbook.

  • You have three minor Glyph slots and three major Glyph slots. A player with Inscription has an extra major Glyph slot. (There are no minor Glyphs currently in the game.)

  • Any player can apply Glyphs.

  • You apply a Glyph by right-clicking on the Glyph in your inventory and then clicking on the place you'd like to slot the Glyph.

  • Glyphs cannot break or be removed. They're with you until you replace them with something else (destroying the old Glyph in the process). It's just like the current mechanics with Jewelcrafting or Enchanting -- a new gem or enchant overwrites the old.

  • Glyphs seem to be fairly cheap to produce, but they are not something you'll be swapping out all the time. Currently, there is a one hour cooldown on Glyph application which will prevent a lot of back-and-forth with them.

  • You cannot have more than one of the same type of Glyph equipped.

  • Glyphs do not, at present, have any level restrictions on them.

Eric had an Inscription question that didn't seem quite covered in our Glyph overview, above....

How does Herbalism work with Inscriptions?

Herbalism provides the raw materials you need for Inscription. Some herbs are directly used in the creation of Glyphs or scrolls; some herbs are used to create inks to make Glyphs or scrolls; and any other herbs you run across can be milled into pomace. (You'll train the "Milling" at skill level 30. It will turn five of any type of herb into pomace, which is used in the creation of more advanced types of ink. You can get anywhere from one to three pomace from five herbs. All inks in the game currently require between one and three pomaces.)

Elrof had another inscription question for us....

Are we going to be able to buy blank inscription parchment and, if we are enchanters, put spells on it to sell in AH? Or do we need to be insciptionists and enchanters in order to sell enchantments?

Scribes (or inscriptions, if you prefer!) can craft the Vellum scrolls that can be enchanted. However, these scrolls can be traded, mailed, tossed on the auction house, or anything else. So you don't need to be an enchanter and a scribe -- you should be able to buy your scrolls off an scribe, enchant them, conveniently sell the enchants on the auction house, and profit without all of the nuisance of sitting around a major city hawking your wares for hours on end.

Going for the Inscription trifecta, Jack Spicer asked....

Approximately how many inks it takes to craft a non-crafting tool item such as a scroll or a glyph.

The highest level Glyphs currently in the game (400 skill) require one type of ink, one type of herb, and four types of parchment (the parchment being purchasable). However, I highly expect that the materials required for most Glyphs to change before launch. Right now they all require the exact same materials: Moonglow Ink, Mageroyal, Light Parchment, Common Parchment, Heavy Parchment, and Resilient Parchment.

BladedDingo asked....

I have a question about the barber shops... I know we heard a lot about them already but I wasn't clear on something. Does it only change the hair/piercings or can you change the facial features too?

The barber shop doesn't let you change facial features or skin tone -- a real shame. (Some hair colors only work with the right skin tones if you ask me. Which you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway!)

Gohdan had a different barber shop question for us....

I was wondering how the barber shop would work work for races like Taurens and Trolls. These races' "hair style" and "facial hair" options are actually horns or tusks. It doesn't seem fair for them to lose customization options but it seems strange to change something as permanent as horns or tusks.

Trolls and Tauren can change their horns and tusks, so every race has the same amount of customization available to them. If it seems strange, the Goblins staffing the local barber shop assured me that they can do miraculous things with files, paints, and glues.


The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em! And if you can't get enough Wrath, don't forget to check WoW Insider's Wrath Roundup page for anything we haven't answered here!