Stop! Don’t Drop That Profession!

One of the most common questions that I’ve been asked by guildmates and other players is what profession that I think they should choose. I’ve been given lists of races, classes, current professions, levels, and pretty much anything else to help narrow down the possibilities. While this can have a lot of different answers (and not really a “correct” answer, either), another popular question that I get is when to give up a profession.

The easiest answer that I have is simply this : No matter what level your toon is, don’t drop a profession that none of your other toons have learned.

Many players may argue that some professions are easy to relevel. I hear frequently of players dropping and picking back up farming professions (I’d say these professions take around five hours of effort to level). This isn’t always bad. If you already have the farming profession on another toon, I would definitely recommend dropping it in favor of a crafting profession. You will get a higher margin of profit for your time.

The simple fact is that more professions means a greater span of options for your World of Warcraft experience. Just like any good stock portfolio, diversification leaves your characters with a healthy wallet (think of your profession diversification as a nice little 401k for your future business adventures).

Dropping a crafting profession is almost always a frustrating experience. Because of the cooldowns it takes to level the profession, it is worth the effort to have several toons with crafting professions on a single account. Leatherworking, Enchanting, and Engineering are the exceptions to this rule and could, if you really needed to, be dropped and picked up later.

Any successful auctioneer knows that diversification is one of the most powerful tools that a player can posses. Without diversity, an auctioneer can easily be left without a choice when the economy takes a sudden dive and opportunity strikes.

Instead of dropping and picking back up professions, an auctioneer would better serve themselves by getting those rusty storage alts up to a respectable level.

Basically, if you have to ask whether you should drop a profession or not–don’t do it. 

Professions take a lot of time to level, and you’re probably going to be regretting it soon afterwards.

Take a little thinking time, make a plan, and remember that leveling a new toon can open up a whole new realm of possibilities without taking away your financial security!