Professions in WoW Classic Hardcore are far more important than they’ve ever been in any iteration of WoW. If you’re serious about surviving all the way to level 60, you need to get your professions trained—and you have to do it sooner rather than later.
Don’t be afraid to take some time out of your leveling grind to head back to a major city and level up your professions for a little bit. Whether you’re spending time cooking, running between anvils in Ironforge to level your Blacksmithing, or sprinting back and forth between the Auction House and the mailbox for some extra Linen Cloth, trust us when we say this: the time invested early will be worth it in the end.
Having a high-level profession early on in the game can be the difference maker in your Hardcore run. If you have access to strong potions, armor, or cooking recipes, you could be ahead of the curve by a little bit, making you marginally stronger and less susceptible to die while questing.
Here, you’ll find the best professions that are available to you in WoW Classic Hardcore. Keep in mind that this list wasn’t constructed with any particular class in mind, but is more so aimed towards being versatile for the entire Classic Hardcore playerbase.
Herbalism
Herbalism is a particularly valuable profession in WoW Classic Hardcore, especially when combined with Alchemy. Herbs are everywhere in Azeroth, and if you have Herbalism trained, it’s not hard to go 10 feet out of your way and pick up an herb. Herbalism, which is a gathering profession, can be used in combination with other crafting professions such as Cooking and Tailoring, although you’re almost always going to want to combine it with Alchemy, as there are few one-two punches in the game that are stronger than the classic “Herb/Alch” combo.
Alchemy
Perhaps the most versatile profession in Hardcore WoW, Alchemy allows you to concoct potions and elixirs that can literally save your life. When you’ve only got one life to work with in your Hardcore runs, being able to create a Lesser Healing Potion could make or break your journey entirely. If you play a class like Warrior, Hunter, or Mage, where self-heals are hard to come by, Alchemy should definitely be on your radar.
Related: How to train and level weapon skills in WoW Classic Hardcore
Cooking
Staying with the theme of keeping yourself alive, Cooking has value in-between combat sessions, as you’ll be able to stock up on food to keep your health bar topped off. Plus, you’ll be getting tons of cooking recipes as quest rewards while leveling, many of which will allow you to create stat-boosting food—a must for any Hardcore leveling run.
Blacksmithing
Blacksmithing is a worthwhile profession for plate-wearers, as many of the mid-game upgrades that the profession yields can be slotted into your Hardcore character’s loadout. There are some downsides to Blacksmithing, though: most notably, the fact that it doesn’t get extremely useful until the middle-to-back-end of the leveling process (and by then your character could be permanently dead). Plus, Blacksmithing is one of the hardest professions to level. It might be worth it to take another profession while leveling—something that focuses on survival like Alchemy—and then grinding all of Blacksmithing when you hit a high-enough level to make the most out of it.
Tailoring
There’s no doubt that Tailoring has myriad uses in Hardcore WoW, especially if your class wears cloth armor. Cloth is extremely easy to come by in the open world, as almost every humanoid enemy has a chance to drop level-appropriate cloth that you can then use in your recipes. If you’re a cloth-wearing caster, consider picking up Tailoring as a primary option. Turning excess (basically free) cloth into powerful robes and other pieces of armor in the late-game is a luxury that other professions don’t really have access to.
