An Herbalism Guide for WoW, Get Your Skill Up Fast
Wrath of The Lich King (the new World of Warcraft expansion) has arrived with it comes a new skill, Inscription. Much like Alchemy, Inscription will be a great profession for Herbalists, since the herbs gathered will be used in the creation of the various inks needed by Inscription.
This guide isn’t a complete Herbalism guide, it’s an Herbalism Leveling guide, intended to get you from 1 to 375 quickly. So with that in mind it's time for your character to see the nearest Herbalism trainer, dump a skill (if you already have your two professions,) and pick up the basic flower-picking skill. If you're interested in Inscription then this Inscription guide will get you started.
Competition for Herbs
Yes, there will be some. Your competition will vary with the time of day, the zone you’re in, and the server you’re on. With the Inscription skill going live, and the resulting increase in herb prices, count on seeing more competition for those herbs at all times and in all areas. As time passes and people more and more move into Northrend the competition, in lower level areas, should decline.
You Will Need to Be Leveled
You’ll need to be at least level 58 to get your skill leveled to 375 since you’ll need to be able to go to Outlands to get your training and access to higher level herbs (level 60 is recommended.) Make sure you hit your Herbalism trainer as you hit the skill caps at 75, 150, 225, and 300, just like any other profession. There are no special quests needed, so just see the trainer whenever it’s time.
You will need to have at least 325 skill to pick anything in Northrend (Goldclover) and Tiger Lily (requiring a 400 skill) is common in the Northrend starter zones.
What to Do?
You should stay in one area and get your skill as high as possible before moving to the next area. If you move on too soon you will find many herbs that you just won’t have the skill to pick. When you’re in any particular zone set your mini-map to show herbs and do loops around the area. The herbs will show as yellow dots on the map. Then just run and collect.
What you need:
If you’re level 60+ the epic ground mount will save you some time and the epic flying mount (if you are 70 and have the cash) is sweet. You won't be able to use your flying mount in Northrend until you hit 77 and can get the Cold Weather Flying skill.
A very cool addon to use is Gatherer (GathererAddon.com.) Download it for free and read the documentation. This little widget will show you where the various herbs (and ores and boxes) have been found by other players previously (you will need to download and import the WoWhead database you’ll find on the site.)
If you’re using the Cartographer Addon the Gatherer data can be displayed on the Cartographer maps once you import the WoWhead database. This will give you a clear idea of which paths to follow to maximize your flower picking. Any locations that you find that aren’t on the map will also be marked, so you will have your own custom herb map soon enough. Google “Gatherer Addon” and “Cartographer Addon” to find where to download these mods and also to get instructions for installing them.
Getting started
Once you have your apprentice Herbalism skill go to your favorite starting area and start gathering Peacebloom and Silverleaf. Get your skill to at least 50 before moving on. Earthroot will become available at skill 15, so that will help.
Once the herbs in your area become green and aren’t given you any skill improvements, you’ll want to go to the next higher area. I went to the Ghostlands, but the Barrens. Westfall, and Loch Modan are good areas, too. As I mentioned above, if you move on too soon you won’t have the skill to pick anything.
After the Ghostlands, I went to Silverpine woods, Hillsbrad, Arathi Highlands, the Hinterlands, and lastly to Eastern Plaguelands. That got me to 300 skill. Then it was off to the Outlands and Thrallmar (Honor Hold if you’re Ally) to get the Master Herbalist skill.
Once you have that skill the rest is easy enough. Depending on the competition in the area by the time you’ve circled Hellfire Peninsula a couple of times you’ll be ready to hit Zangamarsh. Chances are you won’t have to do more than one loop around Zangamarsh to max out your skill. Feel free to stay in the Outlands and work your skill as high as you can before moving to Northrend.
If you’re leveling this skill in order to make specific potions you may want to modify your path a bit to target your preferred herbs. Go to WoWwiki.com or Thottbot.com, search on the particular herb you’re looking for, and you’ll find all the details.
Again, all of the herbs mentioned below are used by the Inscription skill. Also as mentioned above, your starting area will yield Peacebloom, Silverleaf, and Earthroot. You’ll need 150 of these herbs, in any combination, to level your basic inscription skills.
The 10-20 area herbs: I was in the Ghostlands, but you can find these in Durotar, Silverpine, Westfall, and Redridge. You’ll find:
• Peacebloom, Silverleaf, and Earthroot,
• Mageroyal, requires skill 50
• Briarthorn, skill 70
• Stranglekelp, skill 85 (take a water breathing potion.)
• Bruiseweed, skill 100
In the 18-30 areas (Duskwood, Hillsbrad, and the Wetlands) you’ll find:
• Mageroyal 50
• Briarthorn 70
• Stranglekelp 85
• Bruiseweed 100
• Wild Steelbloom 115
• Gravemoss 120 (The Grave Moss can be found in and around, you guessed it, graveyards.)
• Kingsblood 125
• Liferoot 150
Next up are the 30-40 areas. I went to the Arathi Highlands, but you can also go to Alterac mountains or other areas. Here’s what you’ll find there:
• Stranglekelp 85
• Bruiseweed 100
• Wild Steelbloom 115
• Gravemoss 120
• Kingsblood 125
• Liferoot 150
• Goldthorn 170
• Khadgar’s whisker 185
• Wintersbite 195 (Saw very little of this one.)
There’s a lot of overlap between the Arathi/Alterac zones and Stranglethorn Vale, The Badlands, and Swamp of Sorrows. In STV and the Badlands you’ll find Purple Lotus, Badlands has Firebloom, and the Swamp has Blindweed. Grab whichever area works best for your needs and avoiding crowds and gankers.
• Firebloom 205
• Purple lotus 210
• Blindweed 235
The 40 -50 zone: I went to The Hinterlands next, and then to the Eastern Plaguelands. In the Hinterlands you’ll find
• Purple lotus 210
• Ghost mushroom 245
• Golden sansam 260
• Sungrass 270
Killing the local trolls will result in some Wildvine drops, but this herb isn't used in Inscription.
In the Eastern Plaguelands (50+) I found:
• Arthas’ tears 220
• Sungrass 230
• Golden sansam 260
• Dreamfoil 270
• Mountain silversage 280
• Plaguebloom 285
• Black lotus 300 (I didn’t see any of this.)
Ok, now you have your 300 skill and you’re ready to hit the Outlands. Get Master Hebalist when you hit your side’s main town in Hellfire (Thrallmar or Honor Hold) and then do a few loops around Hellfire Peninsula and then Zangamarsh. Unless you’re hunting specific herbs you won’t need to go beyond Zangamarsh to hit 375.
In Hellfire Peninsula:
• Golden sansam 260
• Dreamfoil 270
• Mountain silversage 280
• Felweed 300
• Dreaming Glory 315 (Picking this sometimes gives a nice regeneration buff)
In Zangamarsh:
• Blindweed 235
• Ghost mushroom 245 (in caves)
• Golden sansam 260
• Dreamfoil 270
• Felweed 300
• Dreaming Glory 315
• Ragveil 325
You’ll sometimes see various motes (life, shadow, etc.) that will come with your Outland Herb picking, particularly from the Felweed.
Fel Lotus (which isn't used in Inscription, but sells for a nice price) also has a chance to drop from any of the Outland herbs, though the only one I saw one that came off a Felweed. It’s most commonly seen off of the Feweed, Dreaming Glory, Ragveil, and Flame Caps, all found in the Outlands. Last I heard it was about a 3% chance to appear.
Note: wash any flowers before using (you know about those Alliance types) and bring gloves just in case you’re allergic. (That's a joke. ;) )
Now go pick some flowers!
By the way, if you want to make massive gold with Herbalism (which can easily happen with the introduction of the Inscription skill) take a look at the Massive WoW Gold Blueprint, which has videos on cashing in with those two skills, plus videos that will teach you total Auction House Mastery (whcih is where the real gold is.)