Breakfast Topic: Take this job and shove it
by Kevin Podsiadlik 
Jul 11th 2010 at 8:00AM
Let's face it, not everyone likes their job. (I can get away with saying that because I don't work for this blog.) And what's true in real life is sometimes true in World of Warcraft, as well.
There are plenty of reasons why someone might want to drop one of his or her two primary WoW professions for another. (There might be a reason for dropping a secondary profession, but I can't think of one.) Maybe you were just new to the game and didn't grasp right away that skinning and leatherworking might not be the ideal profession choices for a warrior. Maybe you've just given up hope that a certain profession ever will live up to its potential (*coughengineeringcough*). Or perhaps you got caught up in the min-max-mania that Blizzard is currently trying to eradicate from professions. (At one point in The Burning Crusade, for example, mages with raiding aspirations were very seriously handicapped if they were not Spellfire tailors).
Or perhaps you're like me, and the thought of throwing away 450 points of effort in leveling a profession and starting from zero in something new is just too much to bear, unless the circumstances are truly dire.
What's your take on this? Are professions in WoW something to be loyal to, or something to change as often as your car's oil? What causes you to reconsider your career options?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Darky Jul 11th 2010 8:10AM
engineering will never part myside :)
Krishaa-ah-an Jul 11th 2010 8:15AM
Indeed! Nomatter how gimped engineering will turn out, compared to other proffession perks, blowing stuff up > +60 stamina.
Fletcher Jul 11th 2010 8:25AM
I levelled Engineering on my pally *solely* for the Mekengineer's Chopper. Yes, I know it's BoE. I was too cheap to save up and shell out for it on the AH ... so I probably spent *more* levelling Engineering to make it!
I now have a second Chopper in the bank, for my worgen.
Imnick Jul 11th 2010 8:40AM
With rocket boots and haste gloves and the cloak enchant, engineering combined with jewelcrafting is actually the best profession combination for mages.
Of course I kept mining because I don't like having to buy all my mats, but it's still pretty good.
ben Jul 11th 2010 8:53AM
The sound of " mechanohog lol!" will never get old to me when I link in trade :)
Fizzl Jul 11th 2010 8:57AM
I chose engineering before I chose my class! (and hence the name)
So I had engineering back in the 60's and something else like enchanting.
Just before TBC I droped enchanting to level mining then droped mining for tailoring, droped tailoring for herbing, dropped herbing for mining again ready for Wrath.
One realm first engineering later, drop mining for JC, soon I will be dropping JC for Mining again ready for Cataclysm!
Then I think replace mining for alchemy this time around but I could never drop engineering, I love it!
Squirr3llywrath9 Jul 11th 2010 9:46AM
I have been an Engineer since I started playing a little over 5 years ago. What really made me keep Engineering was the Gnomish Death Ray. I remember 1 shotting a rogue that was trying to gank me and I haven't even considered swapping since. All the little gadgets are awesome.
Gothia Jul 11th 2010 9:59AM
Actually I think that Bliz did a lot to improve engineering for PvE raiding and some classes have the profession in their top 3 professions. For example the LK downing because of poor raid design that didn't account for saronite bombs - which has been used in an engineer's normal rotation since bomb schematics were made available. I think the main detractor from engineering has been it's gold making potential.
I would never throw away a profession because the time and cost are greater than rolling and leveling another toon to 65 to fill in the gaps, but I can see how this could be a problem for min / maxing on your main, but this could be very costly when a new "best" profession comes out.
Aldarion Jul 11th 2010 11:16AM
I'm one of those late convertees to Engineering's side. For a very long time my main was a miner/JCer. As Wrath raiding progressed I came to the conclusion that engineering's perks were of much more use to me (like the glove enchant for my haste-starved warlock) than a meagre 60 stamina. And the parachute cloak? Oh my sweetness, I can't even count the times it saved my pretty elf-ass... It was more then worth dumping it.
Aaaand it's fun ottherwise, too. I mean, what other profession trainers dole out membership cards?!
Harvoc2 Jul 11th 2010 2:28PM
Yea the first profession I had on my first real character (not the one I had made during my trial time) was engineering and mining. I really loved the Gnomish Shrink Ray and the Gnomish Death Ray when I first made them. I remember going into Arathi Basin and using the Death Ray on a DK and seeing his health drop by half before my teammates finished him. And the Shrink Ray I always used on like raid and instance bosses to ease the damage off our tank. So much fun! Now I still have engineering on my hunter and one of the best things about it is flying off the cliff above gm in AB and finishing off the lone defender before I even hit the ground ( I'm a hunter). So yea I'll always keep engineering on my hunter no matter what others say.
Kormex Jul 11th 2010 3:55PM
I just switched to engineering because if you use rocket boots off the lumber mill in Arathi Basin then pop your parachute, you get a flying warrior of doom that bladestorms and roflpwns everyone on impact.
Throw a bomb somewhere in there too... Delicious.
B.J. Jul 12th 2010 1:40AM
Yep, I love engineering! There's no way I'll ever drop it either. There's nothing better than having a bunch of gadgets at your disposal.
Aaron Jul 12th 2010 9:05AM
I love engineering so much that I made some items I don't need just because they look cool. HAHA. My hunter uses engineering almost daily (ammo, enchants, scopes) so I'll NEVER give it up.
Woodstock Jul 11th 2010 8:13AM
I actually dropped Skinning/Leatherworking on my shaman in favour of Mining/Engineering. I know it's not entirely raid viable or the best way of providing for a family, but I felt like doing something fun.
Darky Jul 11th 2010 8:26AM
actually engineering is a very good dps option for melee :)
Rudzy Jul 11th 2010 8:14AM
I switched my Shaman from Jewelcrafting to Tailoring just for the Flying Carpet.
MusedMoose Jul 11th 2010 9:23AM
Same here with my mage. It seemed like the best possible mount for a spell-slinger... then when I actually got it, I was kind of disappointed. The carpet waves up and down so much, it's a wonder there's not a "Vomit" debuff as soon as you dismount. @_@
Ozzard Jul 11th 2010 8:15AM
I tend to pick professions per character and retain them - as a social player, I'm really not worried whether I could get a few more points out of another profession. I'm not on the bleeding edge of raiding.
alurius Jul 11th 2010 8:20AM
I just like the convenience of enchanting/inscription on my shaman. My alt is an herbalist, and I get all of my enchanting mats through random heroics. 0 grinding for mats. It saves me from having to do the Sons of Hodir rep grind, and I'm fully stocked so that I can enchant any new drops I get from ICC as I go, don't have to wait til I can hit the AH after the raid to enchant my new gear :)
FoxOfWar Jul 11th 2010 8:22AM
My first character, warrior, was originally a herbalist/alchemist. When Wrath launched, I changed the herbalism to Armorsmithing in hopes of good armorsmith-only tanking stuff. Yea, I was pretty foolish. Since then I have leveled a hunter with skinning/enchanting(skinner/miner before hitting outland), shaman with leatherworking/tailoring(was LW/skinner 'fore lvl 75 or so), druid with herbalism/alchemy(I love alchemy as a profession)... I'm probably going to drop my warrior's alchemy to better fuel her blacksmithing in Cata and also to...
I'm making my (tauren) Priest engineer and jewelcrafter because those are the only two professions I don't have in the high 400's already. And hence, having a miner around could be beneficial :)
So yea, I juggle about with professions a fair bit, since I find leveling them quite fun.