Posted by Bastosa on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 - 32 Comments
Tags: dropping professions, enchanting, engineering, jewelcrafting
Ever feel like your career choice is going nowhere? You’ve put in your time, and invested a lot in your job, but in the end you are just not getting enough out of it to make it worthwhile? You feel like you should stay out of loyalty, but in the end you just know you would be far happier doing something else?
Well I am at that point in life. While I have certainly served my tenure, I just see no reason to stay an engineer. Yes I’m talking about my WoW profession, what did you think I was talking about?
I have been an enchanter/engineer for as long as I can remember. I have been a perfectly happy enchanter, I get a nice boost from the ring enchants, and I feel like I am providing a valuable service to my guild (although I wish I could get a few more shards). Engineering on the other hand, has always been about one thing for me. The goggles. In TBC they were the first epic I acquired at 70 and I wore it all the way until I was leveling again. I loved the goggles, and they were worth the entire profession. Now things have been a bit different. I excitedly leveled my engineering again in Wrath, and crafted the goggles as soon as I could.
Then I ran Naxx 10, and found that that T7 helm would replace them for me. That’s right - the item that lasted me all the way into the Black Temple in TBC was replaced by an item from the first 10 man dungeon in Wrath.
So after spending thousands of gold and tons of time leveling engineering in Wrath I am seriously considering just dropping it all together. I’ve never been one to change my professions, and I’ve taken pride in the fact that I’ve had the ones I do for so long, but I just don’t really see the point anymore.
My thought is it may be time to pick up jewelcrafting. The stat bonuses seem much greater, as does the money making potential. I understand this will be an expensive prospect, but I think in the long run it will be worth it. I could really use a more profitable profession, and those special gems and trinkets look just awesome to me.
So what do you think loyal readers? I am asking for some advice here. Should I stick with engineering until 3.1 with hopes of some new patterns? Or should I drop it right away and stat my new career as a JC? Perhaps there is even another career choice I should consider? What do you think? I am in need of career counseling.
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By Colette on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Well from what i have seen jewelcrafting is a bit better for money but you would have to untrain and start from scratch that can be expsensive and annoying so its if the time spent on the leveling up your engineering was worth the time you would spend leveling jewelcrafting
By Drstealth on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I’m probably going to drop Blacksmithing on my Pally and pick up another gathering profession. Hopefully this will help supply my other toons better in both mats and money.
By Alizee on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I have Engineering on my Shammy just for the goggles. I am in hopes that they will have a TBC equivalent one patched in later on.
By Snaggly on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Well I don’t see how you leveled engineering without mining in the first place. I would recommend a gathering profession (My personal favorite is mining but what ever floats your boat) and dare I say drop enchanting? Yes I know I use to think I loved it. It does give you stat boosts all the time but it all the hassle and cost really worth it to you?
I am currently playing a shaman and decided to mine/JC and can I say as of right now it is amazing. The BOP are worth it, not a lot of cost with leveling it (make all my own mats) and from what I have seen at high levels it appears to be a cash cow.
By Mctucker on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I’m in the same boat. Eng/Mining. I get the 500 stam bonus from mining, and those JC only gems are mighty sexy. I just spent so much money and ore leveling eng, its a tough decision. I’d say wait for 3.1. If they don’t show any eng love, I’m done with it too.
By rin on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
if you feel the engineering isnt giving you any sort of advantages anymore, then why have it?
JC you can get similar advantages stat wise and you can actually sell the stuff too!
No matter what you pick your still my favourite protadin
good luck
By Deidare on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Well the JC buffs are great and they really add some stats. Although i myself had switched proffesions once not… a … good idea! Please dont do it just wait for you will waste so much time and money it wont be funny.
By Eventime on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
My up and coming DK tank is enchanting/mining. He’s still at lvl 60 though because I want enchanting high enough to be able to DE all those quest rewards I don’t need. I like mining too because of the 500 health bonus you get, and even though it’s not a lot every extra bit is nice for a tank. But for your question I think JC has some great stuff; I never felt much love for engineering on my main or my alts.
By sonicsymphonia on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
You mean, you’re going to switch to Jewelcrafting AFTER you make tons of Motorcycles for you and your guild, right?
By penndragonii on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I have maxed engineering and tailoring on my mage and i love it however i do see your point about moving to JC… i have a near maxed mining/JC pally as well and he makes alot more money and gets some really nice BoP items both rings and trinkets. So if you feel like spending the money to lvl it I say go for it but it gets expensive. .
changing proffesions can be fun. but i would not drop enchanting…i had to drop it after i had it near maxed pre-BC but I needed to get mining to match with my JC.
By Fladon on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I think you should switch to inscription. But if you do herbalism would be nice or it would cost a hell of a lot of money to level it.
On the other hand if you switched to Herbalism and kept Enchanting, you could sell the herbs you farm for tons of money on the AH.
But you should seriously make the choppers first.
By Magealitious on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Just been tailoring for me since day 1, got enchanting just before wrath but got bored running to the ah and disenchanting low level greens i bought there…but as for engineering, i’ve always thought it was rather good, but as you say, and as i know, t7 does kinda outclass those goggles…guess you should just drop it imo (although i’m dam sure that blizz will shove in some improved version of those goggles in icecrown citadel just like they did with sunwell…)
Up to you really, i’d say getting JC is probably the best way to go, unless you want those amazing bracer enchants from letherworking to go along with your nice ring enchants…or the cloak enchants from tailoring…i’m not being helpful am i? oh well ^^
By Will on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I am fundamentally unimpressed with Blacksmithing (which I will never give up as it’s too much a part of the experience for me now) because while it has a few really good things on the way through, I feel like it falters with the upper level crafting. The pally stuff mysteriously falls away and there’s no weapon support for DKs at the Purple end. Furthermore, there’s no real use being made of the specs and what use is made is similarly lacking in the Pally department. There are no non-trainer plans yet, either, which is really bizarre, if you ask me. No drops, no rep rewards, no vendors hiding in odd places, and no discovery stuff. Every other profession has something like that. Smithing has been shafted for a long, long time in WoW..
By Spikolie on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
i am skinning/tailoring i was once skinning/mining when i first started so i could make money, i have to say that with tailoring you get that extra drop of Frostweave is really nice. during the first month of WotLK Frostweave was about 40-50g a stack, good money making there, since then its dropped off to about15-20g a stack, so i’m thinking of picking up mining again to make some extra $$.
By MarkusMaru on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I have been using Mining and blacksmithing but I am seriously thinking of dropping blacksmithing… cause it is just so… bleh. I rolled a paladin and gave it mining jewel crafting and it is moving along better than my blacksmiths.
I’ve never tried enchanting, maybe I will remove and learn up that.
By macbethy on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I’ve found jewelcrafting to be a one way flow of capital, while leveling my trade skills i always thought when i maxed it out the money would pour in. Then when i finally managed to, I found another level of jewelcrafting above that, which i need to raid for the mats and recipes. All in all I probely spend about 3,000g for so far very little return.
By Murruhlin on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I do enchanting/tailoring on my Druid Murruhlin, but I also have been a loyal Miner/Blacksmither for what seems like forever. Originally I was an Engineer/Miner before going Blacksmith/Miner on my Warrior, and that to me was a great change of pace. While hurling dynamite at unexpecting victims is fun, the leveling process cut into First Aid. I say try something new and if you don’t like it, then get out of it and go back to what you know. The only thing your losing here is some time and gold, and that’s all replaceable with some time grinding.
By Reeper on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I have raised pretty much EVERY prof to max in my 4 yrs of WOW. Even BS for some nice weps. Lets face it, BS for a rogue ither then weps is pretty useless. The one prof I will most certainly never change is mining. It has always been mining / ???. I love mining. Ore, gems, bars (miners can smelt) stone, etc… Lets face it. Its a great all around prof that goes with most everything.
But recently I dropped GM JC. I had become bored with it.
Sure making my own gems to re-gem was great but lets face it, gold is to easy to make so why not buy them. I picked up Engineering to replace it and I have to tell you, I LOVE IT. I’am wondering why you would drop it. Lets analyze its benefits shall we.
1. Vehicles = more mounts toward achievment mounts.
2. Goggles
3. A rogue who can res. Gnomish army knife
i havent had it fail yet. 
4. Engineers can now “mine” or “gather” from most things robotic. Kill a mob, gather mats.
5. Rocket boots, teleporting devices, glove rocket launchers, etc….. some VERY VERY cool gadgets and useful, very useful when used in the right situation.
6. Trinkets. I have made some amazing trinkets. Blizz is actually lowering the CD and cast time on one of my favorites, the one that shoots a bolt of lightning for like 2500-3300 damage. Its at a 1:30 min CD now and cast time is like 3 secs or so. Lowering it will make it OP for a nice damage boost or finisher.
I spent roughly 3500g to get it maxed and I had alot of mats form mining saved up. I would just re-consider before I dumped a prof that IMO has gotten soooo much cooler since Wrath came out.
Thanks.
By Sunstraid on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 2:42 am
Well I`d preffer JC but its your choice
By BERNIE on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 6:42 am
If you haven’t leveled a DK yet, I would suggest doing so and using it for JC
By Shiggy on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 8:23 am
I would go for Blacksmithing. I’d rather have 2 more gem slots than have slightly better stats on my gems. I started a DK after getting my paladin tanking Naxx and I have to say that getting Blacksmiting up was a rough journey but I feel that it was worth it in the end. Plus, you can make Eternal Belt Buckles and sell them for double the cost of the materials (30g for mats and 65g for belt buckle on my server Thunderlord). There are tons of money making professions though so just go for whichever gives you the best bonus/gold for your efforts.
By ranshire on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 8:28 am
as with any career, rl or otherwise, one must be happy or they fail to wanna work it. although i cant speak for wraith yet as i havent fixed my computer yet…. i switched ut of skin/leather for the same reasons. i ws dumping time, money, and mats into a profession that i felt wasnt getting me anywhere. i went mining/jc and although i saw a demand for jewels… the returns for me were diminshing due to not jumping the bandwagon fast enough. jcing is fun. but without a miner it could be a very spendy propisition. you hae asked the question, sir… so your happiness with youre profession is no longer there. find on that pleases you friend. don’t subject yourself to hating going to work.
as a side. i have read almost every word on this site. thanks for youre excellent contributions. keep up the great work fellas
ranshire
70 troll hunter
By dave on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 10:08 am
i have a JC and it sucks to lvl it up at the end its ok cos u can make ur own gems and stuff but ive got better rings,trinkets and necks from instancing for a long lime
By Oggrillain on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Go to http://www.crafterstome.com and look at the JC recipes. all of the lvl 80 epics are BOE. Try and tell me you won’t be able to seel those bad boys on the AH and make a ton of gold. I’ve been a miner/JC and don’t plan to change. Most of my money comes from selling unprocessed ore, uncut gems, and blue/purple cut gems. Yes JC is a pain in the ass to lvl because you need a ton of raw ore for prospecting but at lvl 80, mining copper thru adamandite isn’t going to be hard.
By Ranger Joel on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 10:53 am
I’ve heard that they are going to be many new engineering goodies in future patches, including upgrades to goggles. Hold tight - things will get better and then you might need to level it all over again.
Engineering will never make you money - unless you include gas clouds - but they are hardly worth it without combining it with another gather profession.
By Owenharper on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 11:42 am
There are certain things that, for me, make engineering worthwhile. (I am a hunter, however).
No 1: The guns. TWO Level 80 BoE epic guns. Nice!
No 2: The scopes. As I have said, I am a hunter. Being able to make my own gun and scope it is nice.
No 3: The ammunition. Not really a great seller, but definitely nice for me to be able to make my own bullets that are better than vendor stuff.
Also, some of the random assorted stuff is nice: Goblin Jumper Cables variants: Very nice wipe-recovery for hunters, since they can feign death/goblin jumper cable a person who can rez the rest of the party.
MOLL-E: portable mailbox. How cool/useful is that?
And of course, the infamous motorcycles, which are just cool.
I would say wait for 3.1, and don’t consider re-speccing until then. At that point if we don’t get new schematics… well… Do what you like.
Owenharper/Eitrigg
By Dilkesy on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I would go with the enchanting for the enchants on ring and take up BS. there r some great socket bonus which will boost ur hp by loads i saw some1 with +41 stam sockets. It is also great because on Haomarush server lots of ppl r looking for a BS to make them some gd gear and u can charge a fee. not the best for profits but u get some gd things for urself
By Ironhoof on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
JC is a great profession. You get tons of gold (everyone needs sockets). For me “engi” was all about that head and the Jumper Cables and after that patch, the Helicopter, but that’s all for me.
Now about JC, advice from someone that made this profession at max lvl. It’s a pain in the ass. The hardest part is the preBC, the mats are hard to find, and you need a mountain of mats to get to 300 skill. From there is not very hard. If you stick to it you might get to 375 in 1 day. But since you have Enchanting it will be hard. I grew up mining with JC at the same time. If you have only JC you will spend tons after tons of cash for mats.
In the end, it’s your call you do what you believe it’s best for you.
By joe on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
i would go take JC and keep enchanting so u can sell the rings u make or DE them and then sell the enchanting mats either way u will be making money
By Laeltis on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I just want to say, great job with PL guys. I can’t wait to be able to do things that you guys do. I have even had a few wishes to work for PL ^_^ I have been mining on my main since I first made him, but my secondary proff I have changed so much. I was first engineering, then JC, then now I”m back to engineering. I think I will switch back to JC after 3.1 if I don’t see anything better for engineering.
Reason for me not keeping JC was that I was not having enough income to supply leveling my JC level, and my mining wasn’t high enough to go and gather the sources myself.
Illidan
80 NE BM Hunter
By EJ on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I am having the same problem…I started out a LW and Skinner on my rogue but after a few levels it just wasn’t satisfying…so i switched to Enchanting and Tailoring…i knew Tailoring was not gonna help me at all as a rogue but i figured it would be good for easy DEs it helped for quite a while until i got to the point where just haveing some cloth and thread in my bags wasn’t enough. so i dropped it like a bad habit and decided to pick up herbalism because i had heard about Lifeblood and figured that would be worth something as a PvE rogue…but again i am starting to question my decision…sure the ablity is nice and the herbs are good to sell thanks to inscriptions but i just can’t make as much money as i had hoped…as every enchanter knows enchanting can be painfully expensive…sure you can DE those loot greens and useless qest rewards…but you are not guranteed the mat you need and therefore can get alot of one but not alot of the other so you may have to hit the AH…and there goes your savings…i am keeping Enchanting Regardless because of how useful it can be for meand the guild…shards from raids and enchants for a cheaper price…plus ring enchants but since i am probably just gonna unlearn Herbalism i am thinking of what i should do…i am probably gonna go with JC as well seeing as the statues will do the same thing Lifeblood will do and it should make me some cash…Mats shouldn’t be a problem because my hunter and Death Knight are both miners and many of my guildees are a well…hopefully it will serve me better and bring in some cash…goodness knows i need it seeing as i have a Hunter who needs his flight training and my DK will need it soon as well…and soon i will need to get them cold weather and eventually epic (i can only stand 60% for so long…)
By Sharlin Daybright of Sporeggar (eu) on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Well from one Tankadin to another if I got to recomend a prof to drop Engi for. I’d say Leatherworking. And yes its only becouse of those Furlinings. And while atm you do gain more stamina with the JC only gems. But if the epic gems stays as they are on Wowhead. You’d gain 33 stamina more with 3 solid jc only gems compaird to the solid epic. While the furlining gives 40 more stamina then the best bracer stamina enchant.
Ofcourse thats if I counted it all right… Not to sure about it so feel free to make your own calculation.