WoW Forever Engineering leveling guide 1-300: route, recipes, and trainers

Engineers make stuff nobody else can: bombs, dynamite, guns, scopes, ammo, and gadgets like rocket boots or a transporter to Gadgetzan. A lot of it only works in an engineer's hands, so people mostly take the profession for themselves. Stunning a pack with a bomb or getting away from someone on the battlefield is often worth more than any amount of gold.

In Forever the profession has a market it barely had before. A regular bomb can only be thrown by an engineer with enough skill, but anyone can throw the new SAF-T and EZ-Thro versions. The SAF-T Copper Bomb stuns for 1 second, the SAF-T Bomb for 3, and the EZ-Thro Mana Bomb burns mana and stops casting for 5 seconds. Add the Gnomish Army Knife, parts for trading company crates, and a new reagent for blacksmiths, Sandpaper, and Engineering isn't just a profession for yourself anymore.

Mining is the natural partner. Engineers don't smelt their own bars, and the route needs almost two hundred each of copper and mithril bars, over a hundred each of bronze and steel, 166 thorium bars, and 378 Solid Stone. Your own ore and stone make leveling a lot cheaper, and the rare Bauxite from ore veins goes into sandpaper. If you wear plate or mail, Wowhead also suggests Blacksmithing, since the two share a lot of materials.

• Explosives for everyone. In Classic only an engineer could throw a bomb or dynamite. In Forever they come in SAF-T and EZ-Thro versions that don't need the profession. The first, SAF-T Dynamite, unlocks at skill 25, and the last ones, EZ-Thro Dark Bomb and EZ-Thro Mana Bomb, at 300. They need new parts like SAF-T Tabs and EZ-Thro Wrap, and those parts use alchemical dyes and Sulfuric Acid.
• More than 70 new recipes. 28 of them are sold for Merchant's Favor at the trading company camps, and the Merchant's Favor guide has the details. The new stuff includes belts and goggles for yourself, the Gnomish Army Knife, transporters, a scope, and level 60 ammo.
• Camp items. The Reagent Bot, from skill 20, summons a reagent vendor at the campfire for you and everyone nearby. The Repair Bot at 140 repairs gear too, and the Anarchist's Workbench at 300 is needed for some of the new recipes. The tools section has the details.
• Bomb satchels. New throwing weapons for engineers, from the Satchel of Copper Bombs up to the Satchel of Dark Iron Bombs. The satchel blows up on every throw and deals fire damage to all enemies near the target. The schematics are sold for Merchant's Favor.
• Legacy. You earn a Legacy point the first time you reach 150, 225, and 300, and the Working Overtime perk in the professions branch adds up to 20% to your skill-up chance. You can set its rank in the profession calculator.

The route is built from the beta client data. Each stretch uses the recipe that raises your skill the cheapest, and it skips green recipes once your chance of a point drops below half. Once the trainer runs out of those, the route turns to schematics. It prefers ones vendors sell for gold, and only takes a monster-drop schematic when it's clearly better value. That comes to about 380 crafts, and training with ranks costs about 8.3 gold. Craft counts are averages, so buy a few spare materials. Most steps need a Blacksmith Hammer, and nearly half need an Arclight Spanner as well. The steps don't show them, so just keep both in your bags. Buy the hammer from a trade goods vendor and make the spanner yourself at skill 50 from 6 copper bars. Most recipes that need the hammer also have to be made at an anvil, and the steps do show the anvil.

Copper carries you to 75, first with Crafted Light Shot (each one takes a copper bar and Rough Blasting Powder), then Handful of Copper Bolts and Copper Tube. Next come Coarse Blasting Powder and the Copper Modulator, then from 108 the Practice Lock, your first bronze recipe, at 121-125 the Large Copper Bomb, and from 125 Heavy Blasting Powder, the Whirring Bronze Gizmo, and the Bronze Framework. You make the framework in two passes, at 145-150 and 160-171, and in between, at 150-160, you build the Aquadynamic Fish Attractor. It needs Nightcrawlers from fishing supply vendors and Coarse Blasting Powder. The powder you made at 75-91 isn't enough for the large copper bombs and the attractor, so the route buys another 23. From 175 to 196 you make the Gyromatic Micro-Adjustor from steel bars. Keep one, because you'll need it for goggles and scopes. After 200 come Unstable Trigger and Hi-Impact Mithril Slugs, then Mithril Casing, Hi-Explosive Bomb, and Mithril Gyro-Shot. Almost all of these need Solid Blasting Powder, which you make yourself from Solid Stone at two stones each. The route uses 189 Solid Blasting Powder in all, 110 for these steps and another 79 for the triggers that go into the Salt Shakers.

The route on this page is built without a specialization. Up to 281 it only uses regular trainer recipes, so it works for Goblin and Gnomish engineers alike, and for anyone who hasn't picked a school yet. If you already have one, select it in the calculator's Specialization field. It'll add your school's recipes and mark the steps that use them "Goblin Engineer only" or "Gnomish Engineer only".

From 266 to 281 your skill comes from the Salt Shaker. It's a trainer recipe, but it eats a ton of materials. 20 Salt Shakers take Thorium Bar (120), Mithril Casing (20), Gold Power Core (20), and Unstable Trigger (80). You make the triggers and power cores yourself, and the triggers for the shakers alone take another 79 mithril bars, 79 Mageweave Cloth, and 158 Solid Stone. The shakers won't go to waste, though. Refined Deeprock Salt for curing rugged hides can only be made with a Salt Shaker, so you can sell them to leatherworkers, and according to the client data a vendor pays 75 silver for each one you've got left over.

From 281 to the end, your skill comes from Thorium Widget and Thorium Shells, and the trainer doesn't teach those. Wowhead says Schematic: Thorium Widget is sold in Orgrimmar and Ironforge, and it doesn't bind, so you can buy it on the Auction House too. The client data puts the vendor price at 1 gold 20 silver. You'll need Schematic: Thorium Shells at 286. No vendor sells it, and it drops from mobs, but it doesn't bind either, so you don't have to farm it yourself. Check the Auction House. Counting the Salt Shakers, the stretch from 266 to the end takes Thorium Bar (166), Runecloth (6), and Dense Blasting Powder (14). You'll make 9 Dense Blasting Powder at 250-256, and the route buys the other 5. Of the schematics sold for gold, Schematic: Thorium Tube would work for 286-300, but it binds on pickup and is only sold in Winterspring and the new Riverglades zone. If you're missing a schematic, click "I don't have it" on that step in the calculator and it'll find a replacement. You can also start from your current skill there, pick a cheaper or faster path, and price the route for your realm. And if you've already got Schematic: Thorium Widget by 266, start the calculation at 266 and set "Recipes learned from items" to "Whenever they are cheaper". With the default prices, the calculator then uses widgets for 266-285 instead of Salt Shakers, and the route takes 90 thorium bars instead of 166, though it needs 20 Runecloth.

The route above raises your skill, but not much of what it makes is worth selling. Nobody needs slugs and parts in those amounts, and bombs without SAF-T in the name can only be thrown by an engineer. If you want the profession to pay for itself, make something else. Here's what will definitely sell in Forever, and why.

You won't find prices here. The beta was capped at level 30, so nobody has seen real level 60 prices yet, and after launch your realm's Auction House will show them. Before you build a batch, compare the price of the finished item with the cost of the bars and parts that go into it.

Every Engineering trainer in the capitals and starting zones teaches Apprentice (up to 75), and Skyborne players can learn it from Strange Hermit on Zephras Isle. Journeyman unlocks at skill 50 and character level 10, Expert at skill 125 and level 20, and Artisan at skill 200 and level 35. If your character falls behind, your skill stalls at the rank cap, so it's easiest to level Engineering alongside your character.

In Forever a higher-rank trainer also teaches all the ranks below, so you can pick one near the Auction House and stick with them. Only two trainers teach Artisan, and both are neutral: Buzzek Bracketswing in Gadgetzan and Kaylaena Springwhisper on Mount Hyjal.

From level 30 and skill 200 you can pick one of two schools, and each one unlocks its own recipes. The quest chain starts with the Engineering trainers (for the Goblin school, Wowhead sends you to the vendor Tinkerwiz in Ratchet) and ends with the master of your school. Think it over, because the only way to switch later is to unlearn the profession and level it again, and you lose every schematic you've found or bought.

Goblin engineering is about explosions and getting around. The Big One stuns everything within 10 yards for 5 seconds, you also get the Goblin Rocket Helmet, the Goblin Dragon Gun, and the Dimensional Ripper - Everlook, and only a Goblin engineer can make the rocket fuel recipe for alchemists. Gnomish engineers get clever gadgets: Gnomish Mind Control Cap, Gnomish Battle Chicken, Gnomish Rocket Boots, Gnomish Death Ray, Ultrasafe Transporter: Gadgetzan, and World Enlarger. Almost all of these either bind on pickup or only work for engineers, so for gold the difference is small. Pick by what you need in a fight. It doesn't change leveling, because the route above gets by on regular trainer recipes.

Everything for the Goblin quest comes from trainer recipes. A future Gnomish engineer also needs an Accurate Scope on top of the mithril tubes and target dummies, and vendors sell Schematic: Accurate Scope. Once you choose, you get a membership card that's good for 14 days. Without it your school's trainer won't teach you recipes, and renewing it costs 2 gold.

Step	Goblin Engineering	Gnomish Engineering
Where to go	Nixx Sprocketspring in Gadgetzan (Tanaris)	Tinkmaster Overspark in Ironforge (Alliance) or Oglethorpe Obnoticus in Booty Bay (Horde)
Quest where you choose	The Pledge of Secrecy	The Pledge of Secrecy (Alliance) or The Pledge of Secrecy (Horde)
What to bring	Show Your Work: Big Iron Bomb (20), Solid Dynamite (20) and Explosive Sheep (5)	Show Your Work or Show Your Work: Mithril Tube (6), Accurate Scope (1) and Advanced Target Dummy (2)
Membership card	Goblin Engineer Membership Card; renewal: Membership Card Renewal or Membership Card Renewal	Gnome Engineer Membership Card; renewal: Membership Card Renewal or Membership Card Renewal

Of the 239 recipes in our database, 123 need the Blacksmith Hammer, 130 need the Arclight Spanner, and 33 need the Gyromatic Micro-Adjustor, mostly goggles and scopes. Always carry the hammer and the spanner, since the route steps don't show them, while the micro-adjustor is shown wherever it's needed. And 128 recipes have to be made next to an anvil. You'll find one at the blacksmith in any town, so gather your materials first to save yourself the back and forth. The Dark Iron Rifle can only be made at the Black Anvil in Blackrock Depths.

From skill 250 the Gnomish Army Knife replaces every tool. In the client it counts as the hammer, the spanner, and the micro-adjustor, plus a mining pick, a skinning knife, and flint and tinder. For an engineer with Mining, that frees up to three bag slots.

Camp items go by a campfire, and they all share a 1-hour cooldown. You learn the Reagent Bot from the trainer at skill 20 for 1 silver, and on Zephras Isle the quest Camping 101: Engineering teaches it to you. Wowhead says Blueprint: Repair Bot for skill 140 is sold by vendors in Durotar and Dun Morogh, and it sometimes drops from mobs too. You build the Anarchist's Workbench at 300 from Essence of Anarchy and Thorium Widget (2), but we don't know yet where to get Blueprint: Anarchist's Workbench. The workbench is needed for 15 recipes, including new belts at skill 175 and goggles at 200. Only an engineer with 300 can place it, so the calculator leaves these recipes out of the route. The only way to make them earlier is at someone else's workbench, and we'll only find out after launch if that works.

The new Forever schematics are sold by Fritz Fizzle at the Alliance camp in Redridge Mountains and Fizzlefuse at the Horde camp in the Barrens. You pay in Merchant's Favor. Simple schematics up to skill 145 cost 45 and need no rep, those from 165 cost 180 and need Friendly, from 225 they cost 270, and at 300 they cost 360, with the last two tiers needing Honored with the trading company. How to build up Favor and rep is in our Merchant's Favor guide.

The rest of the new recipes have no known source yet. Wowhead lists them from the client data, but none of them has a vendor or a drop. That covers new firework colors, the strong SAF-T bombs like the SAF-T Bomb, the transporters, and everything built at the workbench at 300. Of the new bomb schematics, only Schematic: SAF-T Bronze Bomb drops from mobs, and only from a Scarlet Scout at 0.01%, so practically never.

You barely need these recipes to level, since a lot of them only give 5 to 10 points before going gray. Get them for the items themselves, and level your skill with the route above. By default the calculator only adds schematics when there's no other way, and it prefers the ones sold for gold. A schematic for Favor or from the Auction House gets a double penalty, one that needs rep gets triple, and a bind-on-pickup drop you have to farm yourself gets four times.

Engineers don't make bars. A miner smelts copper, iron, mithril, and thorium, bronze comes from copper and tin, and steel from iron and coal. The bars the route uses most are Mithril Bar (197), Copper Bar (187), Thorium Bar (166), Steel Bar (120), and Bronze Bar (119), and the main stone is Solid Stone (378) for Solid Blasting Powder. Ore veins give stone of several grades along with the ore, and you make the Solid Blasting Powder yourself. The route's shopping list has a little Rough, Coarse, and Dense Blasting Powder and Mithril Casing (32), but you can make all of that yourself from trainer recipes. The exact amounts for your stretch are in the list under the route.

For cloth you'll need Linen Cloth (42), Wool Cloth (38), Mageweave Cloth (91), and Runecloth (6), and for leather Medium Leather (25). Almost all the Mageweave goes into the triggers for the Salt Shakers. The route also takes Weak Flux (37), which vendors sell, and Nightcrawlers (14) for the attractor, which fishing supply vendors carry.

We don't list material prices. There are none before launch, and after that they'll change every day. Every miner in the starting zones digs up copper, tin, and Rough Stone, so they usually cost next to nothing, except in the first few days after launch. Blacksmiths want mithril, thorium, and Solid Stone too, so materials get pricier after 200, and rare bauxite for sandpaper is always expensive.

• Sticking with a recipe until it goes gray. Mithril Gyro-Shot turns green at 265, and if you keep making it, by around 285 one point takes several crafts, each eating 2 mithril bars and 2 Solid Blasting Powder. As soon as a recipe turns green, check the calculator for the next one.
• Forgetting about ranks. Your skill caps at 75, 150, and 225 until you learn the next rank, and each rank needs a character level: 10 for Journeyman, 20 for Expert, and 35 for Artisan.
• Not buying schematics ahead of time. At 281 the route switches to Thorium Widget, and at 286 to Thorium Shells, and the trainer doesn't teach either one. The widget schematic is sold in Orgrimmar and Ironforge, and Schematic: Thorium Shells drops from mobs, so the Auction House is your best bet. Get both early so you're not stuck without a recipe at 281 and 286.
• Making regular bombs to sell. Without SAF-T or EZ-Thro in the name, only an engineer can throw a bomb. Sell everyone else the safe versions.
• Selling stone and blasting powder from leveling. The route burns 378 Solid Stone on blasting powder. The Coarse Blasting Powder from 75-91 comes back at 121-125 for the large copper bombs and at 150-160 for the attractor, the Heavy powder from 125-136 at 196-200 for the big iron bombs, and the Dense powder from 250-256 for the Thorium Shells at the end. Sell it and you'll have to make it all over again.