WoW Forever Professions Guide: All 12 Professions, Gathering Pairs and What Changed

The short answer: nine primary professions, up to two each

Nine professions are primary, and a character can learn up to two of them.

Three are secondary professions: Cooking, First Aid and Fishing.

Every character can learn all three secondary professions.

Together that makes 12 professions in WoW Forever (Blizzard's camping article).

Crafting professions also earn Legacy Points at skill 150, 225 and 300.

A profession's first camp object usually comes at skill 20; Cooking's Basic Campfire is at skill 1.

Over 600 new recipes arrive across professions and level ranges (Blizzard's Deep Dive recap).

Last checked November 5, 2026, against Blizzard's WoW Forever articles in three languages.

Where Blizzard gives no detail, we use Wowhead's WoW Forever tooltips.

Wowhead is a fan database, not Blizzard, so check its values in game.

This is a summary of official material and Wowhead data, not a hands-on test.

All 12 professions at a glance

The table follows the first-rank skill tooltips in Wowhead's WoW Forever data.

Alchemy brews potions from herbs gathered with Herbalism.

Blacksmithing makes weapons and armor from stone and metal found with Mining.

Enchanting enchants items with dusts and essences from disenchanting magic items.

Engineering makes contraptions from stone and metal found with Mining.

Leatherworking makes leather and mail armor from leather and hides gathered with Skinning.

Tailoring makes cloth armor from cloth found on humanoids.

Herbalism gathers herbs from bushes and plants for Alchemy.

Mining pulls ore and stone from veins and needs a Mining Pick.

Skinning takes pelts and furs from animals and needs a Skinning Knife.

Cooking turns meat from beasts into food and needs a fire.

First Aid makes and uses bandages made from cloth found on humanoids.

Fishing needs a fishing pole and a body of water.

Each first-rank tooltip caps the skill at 75, except Fishing, whose tooltip names no cap.

Profession limits: two primary, all three secondary

You can learn two primary professions, from three gathering and six crafting ones.

You can also learn all three secondary professions: Cooking, Fishing and First Aid.

The rule comes from Blizzard's camping article for WoW Forever.

The same limit for each character is in Blizzard's Starter Guide.

Wowhead's starter profession books fit it too: they only teach a gathering skill if you do not already know two other professions.

To drop a profession, open the Professions tab (K) and click the X next to it.

The Legacy System points the same way: one character can earn up to 6 tradeskill points.

That matches three milestones in each of two crafting professions (our calculation).

Lockpicking is a class-specific tradeskill that the Legacy perks also cover (Blizzard's Legacy System article).

In Classic, Blacksmithing, Engineering and Leatherworking have specializations learned from trainers.

Blizzard has not said whether WoW Forever keeps them.

Which pairing fits my class

Start from your class and goal, then choose two primary professions, then add secondary skills.

The pairings below are our reading of Blizzard's descriptions, not a Blizzard recommendation.

Armor first: Blizzard's WoW Classic first-steps guide lists what each class can wear.

Warriors and Paladins wear all armor; Hunters and Shamans wear cloth, leather and mail.

Rogues and Druids wear cloth and leather; Mages, Priests and Warlocks wear cloth only.

The Forever articles we checked give no separate armor table, so check tooltips in game.

Plate or mail: Mining + Blacksmithing.

Blacksmithing forges weapons and armor (Blizzard's Starter Guide).

Wowhead's recipes (unconfirmed) include both mail and plate pieces.

Leather: Skinning + Leatherworking.

Leatherworking crafts leather and mail armor (Blizzard's Starter Guide).

Hunters and Shamans: weigh it against Blacksmithing.

Cloth: Tailoring + Enchanting.

Tailoring creates cloth gear and bags, and Enchanting enhances gear (Blizzard's Starter Guide).

Neither needs a gathering profession, and this pair has no detail guide yet.

Consumables next: Herbalism + Alchemy fits anyone who wants to gather herbs and make potions.

Mining + Engineering fits anyone who wants gadgets, which Engineering builds (Blizzard's Starter Guide).

Wowhead's tooltips (unconfirmed) also list guns and ammo, so check that your class can use them.

Last, the secondary skills: Cooking, First Aid and Fishing do not count against your two primaries.

Every character can learn all three, so you do not have to choose between them.

Gathering and crafting pairs

Each crafting tooltip in Wowhead's data names where its materials come from.

That gives the classic pairs below.

Herbalism feeds Alchemy.

Mining feeds both Blacksmithing and Engineering.

Skinning feeds Leatherworking.

Tailoring needs no gathering profession, because its cloth comes from humanoids.

Enchanting needs none either, because it disenchants magic items.

First Aid also uses that cloth, and Cooking uses meat from beasts.

Legacy Points change the math for some players.

Only non-gathering primary professions count, with one point each at skill 150, 225 and 300.

So one gathering and one crafting profession give at most 3 Legacy Points (our calculation).

Two crafting professions give up to 6, the per-character maximum.

Two gathering professions give 0 tradeskill Legacy Points.

Gatherers have their own Legacy perk instead: Bountiful Harvest.

We do not rank pairs or estimate gold income, because no official numbers support either.

Trainers, skill ranks and starter books

You learn professions and their ranks from profession trainers.

Each training rank raises the skill cap.

In Wowhead's tooltips for Alchemy and First Aid, the four ranks cap at 75, 150, 225 and 300.

300 is also the top Legacy milestone for crafting professions.

The character level each rank needs is not in Blizzard's material, so check the trainer in game.

Wowhead's data also has three starter books for gathering skills.

Mining for Dummies, Pelt Collecting for Beginners and Wild Harvest each add 2 skill points.

They cannot raise the skill above 15.

If you have not trained that skill yet, the book teaches it.

That only works if you do not already know two other professions.

Tailors can make a Linen Reagent Bag, a 6-slot reagent bag, from a pattern (Wowhead data).

What changes in WoW Forever

Professions gain more depth, purpose and visibility in Forever (Blizzard's Deep Dive recap).

There are over 600 new recipes across professions and level ranges.

Crafted food can grant a small experience bonus and stat boosts.

Advanced Blueprint recipes drop from specific dungeon bosses (Blizzard's Deep Dive recap).

Items needing skill 140 or more drop in dungeons and raids (Blizzard's later camping article).

Every profession has three camp objects, learned at different skill levels.

The first ones usually come at skill 20 from starter zone quests or profession trainers.

Cooking's Basic Campfire is the exception, at skill 1 in Blizzard's table.

Secondary professions have camp objects too, in Blizzard's table and Wowhead's data.

Fishing has a Fish Bowl (Fishing Bowl in Blizzard's table) and First Aid a First Aid Kit, each at skill 20.

Our camping guide covers the objects, limits and campfires in detail.

New starting-area content adds profession hooks and recipes, Blizzard says.

Two new factions are a major source of new tradeskill activities.

The Azeroth Commerce Authority serves the Alliance, Durotar Supply and Logistics the Horde.

Two racial abilities touch professions in Wowhead's data.

Gnome Engineering Specialization cuts engineering device failures by 20%.

Tauren Cultivation grows a duplicate herb you can harvest without Herbalism.

Cultivation also has a player-level requirement for each herb (Blizzard's beta notes).

Professions & Legacy updates sit in the Summer column of Blizzard's roadmap.

The roadmap also says content and timing are subject to change.

Legacy Points and perks for professions

Tradeskills are one of six Legacy Challenge categories.

Each non-gathering primary profession gives one point at skill 150, 225 and 300.

That is 18 points across all crafting professions.

One character can earn up to 6 of them.

Reaching 150 in such a profession is also one way to unlock the Legacy System.

Legacy Points are shared across your account, except on Hardcore characters.

Each character can spend up to 16 points at launch.

The Professions tree has these perks.

Working Overtime raises your skill-up chance in all tradeskills, including Lockpicking.

Bountiful Harvest finds extra Scarce resources when mining, herbing or skinning.

Bartering lowers the gold price of vendor items.

Performance Bonus sometimes grants extra Merchant's Favor with the two new factions.

Master Chef gives a chance of extra results from cooking recipes.

Luremaster gives a chance to fish up extra fish.

Dedicated Study is a daily cooldown for faster tradeskill progress.

Once all your tradeskills reach 300, it grants free Elemental Essences instead.

In the Resourcefulness tree, Reagent Economy makes tier 1 camping features free to craft.

Effect sizes and point costs for these perks have not been published (Blizzard's Legacy System article).

Not announced yet, and a short checklist

As of November 5, 2026, Blizzard has not published the following.

The full list of new recipes and exactly where each Blueprint drops.

The character level needed for each training rank.

Whether the Classic profession specializations return.

We found no announcement of a new profession, and Wowhead's data has no Jewelcrafting skill.

What the Summer Professions & Legacy updates will contain.

① Decide whether you want Legacy Points from two crafting professions or a gathering pair.

② Learn Cooking, First Aid and Fishing on every character; they use no primary slot.

③ Reach skill 20 for a profession's first camp object; Cooking's Basic Campfire needs only skill 1.

④ Check tooltips in game, because Wowhead's data is unofficial.

Profession guides

Each guide below goes deeper on one topic, and this page stays the overview.

Tailoring and Enchanting have no guide of their own yet.