Mining in Forever has new ores and bars (Heavy Thorium Ore, Smelt Azerothium at 275, Smelt Heavy Thorium at 300), fewer Poor Copper Veins in starter areas after the Oct 1 beta notes, and some quality-of-life items like the Rockslicer and Smelting Pants.
TL;DR: take the Mining for Dummies manual at level 3–4, mine Copper to 65, and smelt for skill points up to 185. Follow the ore tiers below, and sell your scarce ores.
The basics in Forever
- Ranks: Mining uses the same four ranks as Classic Era: Apprentice (75), Journeyman (150), Expert (225) and Artisan (300). The cap is still 300.
- Character level to train: Zockify lists Journeyman at level 10, Expert at 20 and Artisan at 35. SenseOS notes that the client files don't contain level requirements, so these numbers are unconfirmed until launch.
- Slots: you get two primary professions. Cooking, First Aid and Fishing are secondary, so you can learn all three on top.
- Unlearning: open the profession window (K) and click the red X. Your skill and every recipe you know are gone.
Head start: at level 3–4, a starter quest offers Mining for Dummies. It teaches Mining and adds +2 skill, up to 15.
Leveling path by skill range
| Skill | Ore |
|---|---|
| 1–65 | Copper |
| 65–125 | Tin and Silver |
| 125–175 | Iron, plus Gold from 155 |
| 175–245 | Mithril, plus Truesilver from 230 ⚠️ |
| 245–300 | Small Thorium, plus Rich Thorium ⚠️ |
Smelting gives skill up to 185, so smelt your ore as you go.
New smelts: Smelt Azerothium at 275 (2 Pitchblende plus 1 Coal) and Smelt Heavy Thorium at 300. Legionite Bar is an Alchemy transmute. ⚠️ None of these could be tested on the level-30 beta.
Skill boosts: Goblin Mining Helmet +5, Enchant Gloves – Mining +2 / Advanced Mining +5, Miner's Cape +2.
Helpers: Smelting Pants cut early smelting time by 25%. The Rockslicer lets you mine without the skill (30 charges).
Scarce ores
SenseOS flags Pyrite, Bauxite and Pitchblende as scarce. Pitchblende goes into Azerothium, so expect demand.
Best class & profession pairings
- Mining + Blacksmithing or Engineering is the obvious pairing.
- Mining + Herbalism or Skinning for gold from gathering alone.
- Plate wearers at launch will want the bars.
Your camp objects
Forever adds Camping. A cook places a Basic Campfire, and each player can add one profession object to it. A camp holds 3 objects, and the objects share a 1-hour cooldown. Sit at the camp for 1 minute and you become rested and pick up the buffs. Camp buffs don't stack with the class buffs they copy. You get the first object at skill 20. The more advanced objects come from Blueprints that drop from dungeon bosses.
Mining objects: Lodestone (skill 20, melee attack power, Might-like), Rock Garden (skill 140, spawns a node), Molten Foundry (skill 300).
Legacy points
SenseOS's client data shows Legacy points coming only from crafting professions (at 150, 225 and 300). Gathering and secondary professions give none. Wowhead's wording is "each tradeskill", which disagrees, so treat this as unconfirmed until launch. The Professions Legacy tree still has perks that matter here: Bountiful Harvest, Bartering, Master Chef, Luremaster and others.
Gold tips
- Waylaid Crate: Apprentice Ore takes 20 Copper or Tin Ore, and Ingots takes 20 Copper Bars, 20 Tin Bars or 10 Bronze Bars, for Merchant's Favor.
- At launch, sell Copper and Tin to crafters who are leveling. With fewer Poor Copper Veins, it could be tighter than in Classic.
- Hold Pitchblende until you know how much Azerothium is worth.
Common mistakes
- Not smelting. Smelting is free skill up to 185.
- Fighting over the reduced starter Copper. Move on to the next zone early.
FAQ
What is Azerothium? It's a new bar smelted at 275 from 2 Pitchblende and 1 Coal. What it's used for at endgame will become clearer at launch.
Can non-miners mine? With the Rockslicer, yes, for 30 charges.
Sources
Images: the header and milestone card were made by Systematic with the Systematic wallpaper and brand colours. The third image is a camping screenshot © Blizzard Entertainment, from Blizzard News.
This is a fan guide written by Systematic for the community. World of Warcraft © Blizzard Entertainment. We're not affiliated with Blizzard. Everything here comes from the beta and the launch client, and things can change before the Nov 4 launch. If you spot something that's off once the game is live, or you have a better route, post it below!
