The mists surrounding Pandaria will soon lift, and with it, players will begin their transition from the shattered lands of the Cataclysm to the mystical lands of the Pandaren. To help with this transition, we’ve pulled together a refresher on what you can expect from professions.
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Spirit of Harmony Vendor
In Mists of Pandaria Classic, players encounter a new material known as the Spirit of Harmony. Crafters of any stripe will find it has many uses. By now, any experienced crafter is used to filling bags with a variety of materials such as Primal Life, Primal Fire, Primal Earth, etc. but in Mists of Pandaria, it’s all about Spirit of Harmony (in combination with the usual materials, like ore, leather, and gems). Much like with other Primals, Motes of Harmony can be combined (10 to 1) to create one Spirit of Harmony.
Spirit of Harmony is a Bind on Pickup (or “BoP” to veterans) crafting material that can be found on every lootable creature in every zone in Pandaria—from dungeons to the outdoor world.
In addition to serving as a core crafting ingredient, Spirits of Harmony can also be used to purchase a variety of additional bonuses or materials that your character may need. While not every profession will get equal value out of them, most everyone will need to collect them for one reason or another.
Here are some examples of the many ways that Spirit of Harmony can be used:
Purchasing materials may not ultimately be the most efficient way to gain resources, but it can be an added convenience to purchase something with Spirit of Harmony rather than going back into the world to get it. The Spirit of Harmony vendor can be found in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Players will be able to perform profession-related tasks without carrying tools. Instead, players will benefit from carrying tools by the skill bonuses they provide. Need that next bump in skill level? Buy the appropriate tool and get to work. Time is money, friend!
Pandaria wouldn’t be Pandaria without the prized Golden Lotus (the herb, not the faction). These will be in high demand as they tend to be rare and are used in a variety of pandaren recipes, ranging from gems to flasks to treasure finding potions. In addition, a new swiftness potion can turn the user into a Jinyu Assassin for a short duration.
Alchemist Stones can be found in the world as a random upgradable quest item (it’s a rock.) Alchemists will also be able to help other professionals by transmuting Living Steel, a much-needed material for crafting epic items.
Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailoring all make use of Spirit of Harmony in their epic recipes. The recipes craftsmen rely on to level up will create items with random stats, with a chance of making a rare-quality item. You’ll need Spirits of Harmony to learn PvP and starter dungeon gear recipes, but you won’t need the Spirits to craft the items. It should then be easier for craftsmen to make this gear and get it out to the players who need it. We’re actually adding lots of new recipes to all sorts of vendors, so see the list below for the vendors you’ll want to cozy up to.
Raid recipes for all three of these professions will drop from both “trash” mobs and bosses. The special Raid crafting reagent, the Blood Spirit, is only found when disenchanting epic items acquired from non-Raid Finder versions of Raids.
Materials can be upgraded and downgraded as needed. It’s worth noting, however, that downgrading comes at a cost and will produce less dust than upgrading. The design team has also looked at glow effects from enchantments and has (figuratively) put a dimmer switch on them. They will now have a lower impact on the item they are applied to.
Engineers can create a new pet, the Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, and we’ve removed restrictions from others using great new items such as bombs, the Dragonling trinket, and yes, even a portable anvil (and forge) for the blacksmith on the go. (Limited use item — please see your local engineer for more information.)
With Mists of Pandaria Classic comes the discovery of the Golden Lotus. This herb is used in a variety of Alchemy recipes and when picked has a random chance to apply a treasure finding buff on the herbalist. There are plenty of other herbs worth noting in the expansion and we’ve listed some of them for you below.
For herbalists that need a little help plucking these delicate yet valuable herbs from the soil (Tauren, we’re looking at you), a new tool is now available that provides a +10 boost: the spade. The requirement for low-level herbs and ore is reduced to 1 for, so you’ll be able to make steady progress a little bit more regularly through the zones as you level.
Miners will quickly discover that Ghost Iron is everywhere. As the most common ore on Pandaria, smiths have mastered the ability to hammer it into strong and lightweight armor. Trillium, a much rarer metal, can be found occasionally where you might expect Ghost Iron. It comes in both black and white varieties, and only by combining an equal quantity of both you can expect to create a bar with metalsmithing properties.
Kyparite is a crystalized form of sap from the mighty Kypari trees. The Klaxxi desire it above all else and will teach blacksmiths how to use it to make weapons and epic armor.
Native Pandarens have a complex and confusing name for leather, and those new to the continent have taken to simply calling it Exotic Leather. While skinners will find they are consistently able to obtain full pieces of Exotic Leather, weaker animals are sometimes corrupted by the presence of the Sha and only parts of the hide are useable. If you’re extremely lucky, you may find a Magnificent Hide. Otherwise, leatherworkers can convert fifty pieces of Exotic Leather into more magnificent material.
Jewelcrafting dailies? Not in Pandaria. Instead, you’ll choose from among six different discovery recipes based on the color of gem you’d like to try to discover (you don’t mind sacrificing a gem for the cause, do you?) With Spirit of Harmony, you’ll be able to bypass the once-daily cooldown (though it will still apply to other discovery attempts.)
We’ve also limited the number of Jeweler’s Gems you can equip to two in order to make it a bit easier to gear up. You’ll be able to prospect Meta Gems and Meta Gem recipes will be found as world drops from any creatures with a reasonably high chance to drop Bind on Pickup items across Pandaria. Jewelcrafters will also be able to create a Scrying Gem so they can look far into the distance with something a little like far sight.
Oh, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the new Panther mounts jewelcrafters can create that will be available for anyone to purchase or ride.
It’s worth noting that the Grab Bag you can earn in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms has a chance for Meta Gems and two new Jewelcrafting pet recipes.
The scribes of Azeroth are a deceptively powerful lot. Using herbs harvested from the earth, they create powerful inks and scribe glyphs that empower a hero’s most powerful abilities. Like Archeology and Cooking, Inscription will be renovated in Mists of Pandaria Classic.
All glyphs can be learned through Northrend Inscription Research. Books of Glyph Mastery will stay in as a way to bypass the daily research cooldown. These same glyphs can also be learned through the daily Scroll of Wisdom cooldown, but only after you’ve learned all the new Mists of Pandaria Classic glyphs.
While trainers will teach some new recipes, most of the new Glyph recipes will be learned by creating Scrolls of Wisdom, which you can do once a day. In addition to functioning as a daily Inscription research for Mists, Scrolls of Wisdom will serve as a valuable reagent needed in order to make epic items (including Darkmoon Cards). This means that the supply of epic Inscription items will be limited by a scribe’s ability to only obtain one Scroll of Wisdom per day (barring a couple of exceptions including the weekly Inscription quests). It’s quite possible that the supply restrictions will result in Inscription items being more prized in the market.
On shoulder inscriptions: In the past, you only made them for yourself. In Mists of Pandaria Classic, you need to provide them for your fellow adventurers as well. Shoulder inscriptions will not be available for purchase from reputation vendors. It’s all up to you.
In addition to the Staves that scribes can make in place of the old Relics, Fans (off-hand items) have been added for Mists of Pandaria Classic level content. While most of these can be used or sold to fellow adventurers, a couple of craftable epic Staves are reserved for the scribes that made them (Battle.net account bound). They will require the less powerful staves as a reagent and will be a very significant undertaking – creating one will take around 20 days! Once you “outgrow” these items, you can turn it in for a “refund” of 10 Scrolls of Wisdom.
First Aid: You’ll now be able to start making the high-end bandages at skill level 550. When you reach the maximum skill of 600, you’ll become more efficient at making these bandages and will need fewer materials.
Fishing: You’ll find plenty to do if you’re the fishing sort at the Angler’s Outpost. There are more fish to discover; some that may actually taste good and some maybe not so edible. You’ll be able to catch them with or without the fishing pole, though a sturdy rod will make things easier. You’ll also find new Fishing dailies, courtesy of our favorite angler, Nat Pagle. He’ll ask you to fish up three rare fish for him from salt water, fresh water, and from sha-touched waters.
Introduced with the Cataclysm expansion, Archeology allows players to do a little digging (literally) into the history of the races of Azeroth; Mists of Pandaria Classic introduces two new fragment types for the mogu and pandaren. The discovery of Pandaria will also lead to the unearthing of new items and new functionality that will entice any treasure seeker to break out the survey kit and get digging.
Previously, each site only contained three dig locations, but with Mists of Pandaria Classic, this has been expanded to six. This should cut down on travel time so archaeologists can instead spend more time discovering the mysteries that Azeroth has hidden beneath its crust. We’ve also added an extra surprise to the dig sites in Pandaria; you never know when one of the sha will pop up. Killing one will provide extra fragments and a chance to procure a keystone as well.
If you’ve wondered where Brann Bronzebeard has landed, have no fear, as you’ll be able to find him in the Seat of Knowledge along with the Lorewalkers faction. Pandaren and mogu common Artifacts will turn into Restored Artifacts on use, which you can trade in to him for bags containing a small number of fragments of the race of your choice. At Exalted reputation, you’ll also be able to trade them for Lorewalker’s Lodestones (which teleport you to a random digsite in Pandaria) or Lorewalker’s Maps (30-minute cooldown and randomizes Archaeology digsites in Pandaria). Occasionally, when you finish a common Archaeology project, instead of getting a “normal” common Artifact, you will get the Pristine version. These will start a one-time quest, rather than turn into a Restored Artifact. When you complete that quest, the artifact will appear in the Seat of Knowledge, and can be examined by interacting with it.
There’s plenty more to discover as you travel through this mysterious new continent.
The pandaren take their culinary creations seriously and their influence has changed cooking as a whole for all of Azeroth. Some of these changes are subtle, like the appearance of the cooking pane. Cooking recipes are more clearly organized based on what you’re looking to create, from expansion-specific recipes to holiday treats.
Cooking becomes a slightly more individual affair. Feasts will still provide close-to-maximum food bonuses and are the most efficient way to provide for your raid, but the very best stat boosts are reserved for the cooks (and their customers) who put in that extra effort to create single-serving masterpieces. These food items crafted for individual consumption will provide primary stat benefits, and the more effort that goes into a particular recipe, the higher the value of the bonus stat it provides.
You’ll meet the Ironpaws in the Halfhill market in the Valley of the Four Winds on your epicurean quest. These are the culinary giants of Pandaria and as you complete quests for them, you’ll earn Ironpaw Tokens, which can be redeemed for Cooking rewards.
This new faction represents the best chefs that Pandaria has to offer, and you’ll be able to train with them to learn several different cooking specializations:
You’ll be able to specialize in any of these different Cooking techniques and any one will get you to max-level Cooking, but you’ll be able to master all of the ways if you so choose. While you can do all of them at once, the most efficient path to maximizing your culinary skills will be to focus on one Way at a time. Of course, no great chef is worth a salt without some support in the kitchen. You’ll be able to summon an apprentice chef named Nomi who’s looking to learn the tricks of the trade from an accomplished pro. You’ll be able to teach her every day until she becomes an expert cook.
Cooking rewards (Ironpaw Tokens) will allow you to purchase a variety of items. These are earned by doing Cooking dailies, or by supporting the Ironpaw’s cooking school with the groceries that they need to teach their students. Here are some of the great new items available for purchase in the market:
Have too much of any one ingredient? By taking advantage of the common-ingredient bags available in the market, you’ll essentially be able to turn in stacks of surplus supplies for a small amount of something you’re having trouble getting. While it does add a convenient way to buy Cooking ingredients from a vendor, this won’t be the most economical use of your resources. If you’re concerned about being able to harvest ingredients, we suggest you get to know the Tillers, who can also help you establish your own farm and grow your own vegetables.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg (lettuce), and there’s more for you to discover when you begin your journey into Pandaria.
There’s plenty left to be discovered as you make your way through Pandaria and ply your chosen trades. Good luck and happy crafting!