The days of choosing a profession and maximizing it solely based on a few purples at the very end are no more. Not only will many more crafted epics be bind on equip, they will be available earlier than the maximum rank.

Instead, the incentive to choose between the available professions will be based more on fun and personal preference. Each profession is getting its own 'goody bag' of items that are fun and promote individual customization.

Intrigued? Here's an overview of what you can expect to see:

Alchemy
Alchemists have been able to train their Wrath ability, Mixology, since the last patch, but many of you might not have noticed yet.

If you regularly depend upon consumables, and genuinely enjoy being able to adjust your stats using potions, elixirs and flasks, then Mixology provides a renewed reason to become an Alchemist.

Previously, most people chose the profession because of the transmutes and potion/elixir/flask specialty options, as well as to more easily acquire their consumables.

Mixology actually extends the duration of elixir and flask effects, as well as amplifying them, giving Alchemists a bit of an edge in combat situations.

Blacksmithing
Blacksmiths will be able to add extra stats to their gear, similar to an enchant or an armor kit. These can only be placed on your own gear, so if you enjoy being able to customize your items using various gems, you'll have more fun with this profession.

Currently, you will be able to place sockets on your bracers and gloves, as well as craft an [Eternal Belt Buckle] which you can sell to the player base so that they can add a socket to their belt. There is also data on Wowhead suggesting that you can socket a one-handed weapon, but it is unclear whether this is a Blacksmith-only ability.

Enchanting
Enchanters will be able to craft more bind on pick-up wands, as well as exclusive ring enchants.

Perhaps the biggest change to the profession has been the addition of Inscription. Using vellum (special paper) made by scribes, Enchanters can embed various enchants, turning them into scrolls that can be sold on the auction house.

This allows players to shop for enchants without having to find an Enchanter personally or gather materials, and to save it for later, or send it to another toon. This also allows the Enchanter to actually enchant his/her other characters, something that previously could not be done.

Engineering
By now, you have probably heard of the Mechano-Hog and Mekgineer Chopper. In addition to these mounts, Engineers will have a bag full of new toys to keep all for themselves:

• Spring-Loaded Cloak Expander, for those times when Red Bull just isn't enough.
• Belt-Clipped Spynoculars, perfect for hunting gas clouds and spying on your neighbors.
• Flexweave Underlay is an even better way to avoid falling to your death.
• Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket gives the engineer a bonus weapon. Guess what it is!
• Hyperspeed Accelerators speed up your combat. This is a drug-free solution for every haste junkie!
• Nitro Boots give you that extra boost when you need to run a little faster.
• Personal Electromagnetic Pulse Generator places confusion into the cog-hearts of machinery.

As you can see, these are item enhancements that will replace Engineer-only items. In this manner, you will not have to switch from your raiding or PvP boots into your Rocket Boots when you want to run more quickly. Instead, you can apply Nitro Boots to any of your boots and earn this as a permanent enchant. Other enchants, armor kits, and similar items do not stack.

Inscription
Many of you have already been leveling this new profession, and most others have already learned a fair amount about it while shopping for glyphs and vellum.

Scribes are unique in that they can create their own off-hand weapons, vellum to facilitate enchanting, and draw up cards that combine to form Darkmoon Faire decks that give quests for varying rewards.

The vellum, as stated under Enchanting, allows an Enchanter to create a scroll that is designed to apply an enchant to an item. This scroll can be sold or given away.

They can also make their own teleportation scrolls on a 20 minute cooldown. In this manner, you can use your hearthstone once per hour, plus up to three scrolls during that time-frame. They are automatically bound to wherever you set your hearth.

As an added bonus, Northrend scribes will be able to enchant their own shoulder armor!

• Master's Inscription of the Axe
• Master's Inscription of the Crag
• Master's Inscription of the Pinnacle
• Master's Inscription of the Storm
  

Rather than training all of their glyphs, scribes do research in order to discover how to make them. In Northrend, this will intensify, with a daily quest and very expensive materials.

Jewelcrafting
Jewelcrafters will also have a daily quest that allows them to slowly build up their knowledge of their own profession. This is part of a plan that Blizzard has to gradually move away from epic world drops and towards giving the craftsperson more control, as well as more to do.

Another fun item you will be able to craft is a lens that will allow you to send a beam at your target. It does no damage, but will be useful for signalling. This could really benefit tanks, as well as the rest of the group trying not to pull aggro. It comes in a variety of nifty colors, as well.

Leatherworking
In addition to standard gear, Leatherworkers will begin to create items that have a use effect that can be activated during combat.

They will also be able to craft fur lining that will be applied directly to their own bracers to boost different stats. These, too, stand in place of a traditional enchant.

• Fur Lining - Attack Power.
  
• Fur Lining - Spell Power.
• Fur Lining - Stamina.
• Fur Lining - ____ Resist (Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature, Shadow).

Tailoring
The updates to Tailoring are the most exciting for me. Although I have several of the other professions listed, my healer cannot wait to start embroidering her own cloaks!

• Darkglow Embroidery.
• Swordguard Embroidery.
• Lightweave Embroidery.

Cloak enchants for healers and spellcasters in general leave much to be desired, so this is a great alternative. In addition, Tailors will be able to craft their very own flying carpet mounts!

You will also be able to learn Northern Cloth Scavenging, which gives Tailors the opportunity to find extra cloth from humanoids in Northrend. This will really help the crafter become more self-reliant, and less dependant upon auction house materials.

Cooking
You don't have to be a mage in order to cook for your friends! Experienced chefs will be able to create "platters" of food that work like soulwells and mage tables, that will provide good eats with some bonus stats.

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Filed under: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Cooking, Engineering, Leatherworking, Tailoring, Enchanting, First Aid, Items, Economy, Quests, Expansions, Jewelcrafting, Features, Making money, Enchants, Mounts, Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription