Drop skinning for engineering?

[s***@googlemail.com]

Im currently lvl58. I have skinning 370 and mining 260. The skinning
isnt really paying out. I get lots of rugged leather which goes for
about 8g per stack. Does the situation improve much with the skinning
to be done in outland? If not and the fact I really want one of those
engineering helicopters should I consider changing to engineering? Is
there more money to be made with that?

[steve.kaye]

Post by s***@googlemail.com
Im currently lvl58. I have skinning 370 and mining 260. The skinning
isnt really paying out.  I get lots of rugged leather which goes for
about 8g per stack.  Does the situation improve much with the skinning
to be done in outland?  If not and the fact I really want one of those
engineering helicopters should I consider changing to engineering?  Is
there more money to be made with that?

As far as I know, engineering is a huge money sink. I once dropped
Skinning/LW for Mining/Engineering and went back again because of the
expense. This was before TBC though but I doubt that it has changed
much.

steve.kaye

[v***@gmail.com]

As far as I know, engineering is a huge money sink.  I once dropped
Skinning/LW for Mining/Engineering and went back again because of the
expense.  This was before TBC though but I doubt that it has changed
much.

Engineering is very nice. For money making there's one nice tool:
Zapthrottle Mote Extractor:
http://thottbot.com/i23821

You use it to extract primals from clouds. It is a perfect combination
with mining, because you travel all around mining anyway.

[steve.kaye]

As far as I know, engineering is a huge money sink.  I once dropped
Skinning/LW for Mining/Engineering and went back again because of the
expense.  This was before TBC though but I doubt that it has changed
much.

Zapthrottle Mote Extractor:http://thottbot.com/i23821
You use it to extract primals from clouds. It is a perfect combination
with mining, because you travel all around mining anyway.

Yes, but will you ever make up the money you spent getting to the
skill to make that? I doubt it but I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't
know for sure. My impression of engineering is that it is good for
making cool toys for yourself but you don't want it if your aim is to
make money.

steve.kaye

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by steve.kaye
Yes, but will you ever make up the money you spent getting to the
skill to make that?  I doubt it but I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't
know for sure.  My impression of engineering is that it is good for
making cool toys for yourself but you don't want it if your aim is to
make money.

I leveled up engineering from 1 to 350 in couple of days. I think it
cost me maybe 500-600g (only the levels between 280 and 300 were
expensive). This is far lower than the amount required for many other
crafting professions. Skinning sucks anyway. Cobra scales and maybe
clefthoof leather are the only decent skinning drops.

I'm quite sure that this single item (mote extractor) is enough to
cover up expenses, although it doesn't happen quickly. Jewelcrafting
is another profession with horrible initial investments, but it
eventually pays off.

[pv+ (PV)]

Post by v***@gmail.com
I'm quite sure that this single item (mote extractor) is enough to
cover up expenses, although it doesn't happen quickly. Jewelcrafting

It can be pretty quick. Primal shadows go for a small fortune on my server
(25-28g each) because of their rarity. In a bit over an hour I gathered
6 primal shadows (subtlety enchant). That's a pretty nice rate of income,
especially since there's also mining nodes to pick up at the same time.
It's also the single best way to get motes of air - nothing has anything
like the droprate of the clouds. *

[Scott Koch]

Post by pv+ (PV)

Post by v***@gmail.com
I'm quite sure that this single item (mote extractor) is enough to
cover up expenses, although it doesn't happen quickly. Jewelcrafting

It can be pretty quick. Primal shadows go for a small fortune on my server
(25-28g each) because of their rarity. In a bit over an hour I gathered
6 primal shadows (subtlety enchant). That's a pretty nice rate of income,
especially since there's also mining nodes to pick up at the same time.
It's also the single best way to get motes of air - nothing has anything
like the droprate of the clouds. *

In order to find the motes quickly you need the engineer epic hat. It is
one of the best in the game but it is not cheap.

[pv+ (PV)]

Post by Scott Koch
In order to find the motes quickly you need the engineer epic hat. It is
one of the best in the game but it is not cheap.

Incorrect. There's a blue cloth version that is much, much cheaper to make.
It's not soulbound either, so any engineer can make them for someone
without the recipe.

Of course, any engineer *should* be making the epic helm immediately, since
you can buy the nether on the auction house and don't have to send your
alts into heroics anymore. Nethers are going for about 50g on my server. *

[Jason Tinling]

Post by v***@gmail.com
I'm quite sure that this single item (mote extractor) is enough to
cover up expenses, although it doesn't happen quickly. Jewelcrafting
is another profession with horrible initial investments, but it
eventually pays off.

The other big money engineering item is potion injectors, particularly
mana. The ability to condense 4 bag slots into one is worth a lot of
money to folks.

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by Jason Tinling
The other big money engineering item is potion injectors, particularly
mana.  The ability to condense 4 bag slots into one is worth a lot of
money to folks.

Really? How much profit are making on them? It looks like they are
rarely listed in AH on my server.

[Christopher Adams]

Post by v***@gmail.com
Really? How much profit are making on them? It looks like they are
rarely listed in AH on my server.

I have found that items like that aren't really worth auctioning. Instead,
it's better to hang out in Trade and make it known that you're able to
provide them.

[Jason Tinling]

On Apr 1, 3:26 pm, "Christopher Adams"

Post by Christopher Adams

Post by v***@gmail.com
Really? How much profit are making on them? It looks like they are
rarely listed in AH on my server.

I have found that items like that aren't really worth auctioning. Instead,
it's better to hang out in Trade and make it known that you're able to
provide them.
--
Christopher Adams
Sydney, Australia

As Chris says, trade sales are more frequent than AH sales, at least
on my server (Feathermoon-US).

Jason

[ald]

Post by v***@gmail.com
I leveled up engineering from 1 to 350 in couple of days. I think it
cost me maybe 500-600g (only the levels between 280 and 300 were
expensive). This is far lower than the amount required for many other
crafting professions. Skinning sucks anyway. Cobra scales and maybe
clefthoof leather are the only decent skinning drops.

Amount *required*? I doubt it. I've leveled Leatherworking to 350 on
my main (I need to grind some rep to get her recipes that don't
require things I can't get or don't have yet, but they *are* there),
and I seriously doubt that I've spent 10G on mats. I don't remember
(not saying it didn't happen) that I've had to buy anything from the
AH for the trade, other than maybe an Iron Buckle or two that I found
very cheaply. My 10G figure would even include the salt to cure hides.

ald
reply via email to ald_007_1999 at yahoo dot com

[Catriona R]

Post by ald

Post by v***@gmail.com
I leveled up engineering from 1 to 350 in couple of days. I think it
cost me maybe 500-600g (only the levels between 280 and 300 were
expensive). This is far lower than the amount required for many other
crafting professions. Skinning sucks anyway. Cobra scales and maybe
clefthoof leather are the only decent skinning drops.

Amount *required*? I doubt it. I've leveled Leatherworking to 350 on
my main (I need to grind some rep to get her recipes that don't
require things I can't get or don't have yet, but they *are* there),
and I seriously doubt that I've spent 10G on mats. I don't remember
(not saying it didn't happen) that I've had to buy anything from the
AH for the trade, other than maybe an Iron Buckle or two that I found
very cheaply. My 10G figure would even include the salt to cure hides.

And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled leatherworking to 375
on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me anything in mats... but it cost
many many hours of farming, particularly in the last 20 points or so.
Needing several primals per skillup was painful...

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by Catriona R
And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled leatherworking to 375
on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me anything in mats... but it cost
many many hours of farming, particularly in the last 20 points or so.
Needing several primals per skillup was painful...

It looks like mining is far more useful for high level leatherworker
than skinning. Primal earths and fires needed for everything.

[Catriona R]

Post by v***@gmail.com

Post by Catriona R
And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled leatherworking to 375
on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me anything in mats... but it cost
many many hours of farming, particularly in the last 20 points or so.
Needing several primals per skillup was painful...

It looks like mining is far more useful for high level leatherworker
than skinning. Primal earths and fires needed for everything.

Agreed, although it was primal airs I spent the most time farming :-/

[Christopher Adams]

Post by Catriona R

Post by v***@gmail.com

Post by Catriona R
And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled
leatherworking to 375 on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me
anything in mats... but it cost many many hours of farming,
particularly in the last 20 points or so. Needing several primals
per skillup was painful...

It looks like mining is far more useful for high level leatherworker
than skinning. Primal earths and fires needed for everything.

Agreed, although it was primal airs I spent the most time farming :-/

Heh. My wife isn't on the same sleeping schedule as me, so she apparently
spent all last night alternating between skinning on her hunter and flying
around Nagrand on my miner/engineer, looking for Windy Clouds. She
apparently got 2 primals and 5 motes out of it, but she needs . . . 25 more
primals.

[Catriona R]

On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:45:23 GMT, "Christopher Adams"

Post by Christopher Adams
Heh. My wife isn't on the same sleeping schedule as me, so she apparently
spent all last night alternating between skinning on her hunter and flying
around Nagrand on my miner/engineer, looking for Windy Clouds. She
apparently got 2 primals and 5 motes out of it, but she needs . . . 25 more
primals.

Haha yeah. I tried not to count the number of primals I used, but it was a
lot... on the plus side, the bit of SMV with both air elementals and
scorpions was good for keeping the leather stocks up whilst farming the
airs, but I never want to spend time in that spot again. And that was a
year ago...!

[ald]

On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:40:11 +0100, Catriona R

Post by Catriona R

Post by ald

Post by v***@gmail.com
I leveled up engineering from 1 to 350 in couple of days. I think it
cost me maybe 500-600g (only the levels between 280 and 300 were
expensive). This is far lower than the amount required for many other
crafting professions. Skinning sucks anyway. Cobra scales and maybe
clefthoof leather are the only decent skinning drops.

Amount *required*? I doubt it. I've leveled Leatherworking to 350 on
my main (I need to grind some rep to get her recipes that don't
require things I can't get or don't have yet, but they *are* there),
and I seriously doubt that I've spent 10G on mats. I don't remember
(not saying it didn't happen) that I've had to buy anything from the
AH for the trade, other than maybe an Iron Buckle or two that I found
very cheaply. My 10G figure would even include the salt to cure hides.

And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled leatherworking to 375
on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me anything in mats... but it cost
many many hours of farming, particularly in the last 20 points or so.
Needing several primals per skillup was painful...

Grinding? What's that? ;-) I *hate* grinding, and have never done it
with my Main (who again, is only at 350 so far, so I don't know about
those last 20 points yet).

So far I've gotten everything I need just doing quests, and have sold
*way* too many stacks of Rugged Leather that she didn't use (and I
lost even more of those, as in 20 or 30 stacks, when I was forced to
take a long sabbatical just before TBC came out, and everything in
both her and the mule's (and, of course, every other of my toons) mail
was wiped out).

If I can't find it in my normal course of playing, I'll do without. If
that means I never make it to 375, so be it, but I suspect I'll find a
quest or something to take me where I need to go to get the mats
required ;-)

ald
reply via email to ald_007_1999 at yahoo dot com

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by ald
On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:40:11 +0100, Catriona R

Post by Catriona R
And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled leatherworking to 375
on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me anything in mats... but it cost
many many hours of farming, particularly in the last 20 points or so.
Needing several primals per skillup was painful...

Grinding? What's that? ;-) I *hate* grinding, and have never done it
with my Main (who again, is only at 350 so far, so I don't know about
those last 20 points yet).

I believe that the situation is better than it used to be. Various
drum patterns are good for leveling up the skill above 350. They need
some reputation, but the requirement was lowered from exalted to
honored few patches ago. Before this became possible, it was very
expensive to level up LW to 375, often over 100g per skill point
(unless you farmed all mats yourself).

[Catriona R]

Post by v***@gmail.com

Post by ald
On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:40:11 +0100, Catriona R

Post by Catriona R
And how many hours grinding did that take? I levelled leatherworking to 375
on my rogue, and sure, it didn't cost me anything in mats... but it cost
many many hours of farming, particularly in the last 20 points or so.
Needing several primals per skillup was painful...

Grinding? What's that? ;-) I *hate* grinding, and have never done it
with my Main (who again, is only at 350 so far, so I don't know about
those last 20 points yet).

I believe that the situation is better than it used to be. Various
drum patterns are good for leveling up the skill above 350. They need
some reputation, but the requirement was lowered from exalted to
honored few patches ago. Before this became possible, it was very
expensive to level up LW to 375, often over 100g per skill point
(unless you farmed all mats yourself).

Yeah the drums might well have helped... when I did it it was one very long
and painful grind, and while sure, quests took me to the air elementals I
was farming, I only needed to kill 5 or something for the quest, killed one
heck of a lot more for the primal airs.

[Tixover]

Post by v***@gmail.com

Post by steve.kaye
Yes, but will you ever make up the money you spent getting to the
skill to make that? I doubt it but I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't
know for sure. My impression of engineering is that it is good for
making cool toys for yourself but you don't want it if your aim is to
make money.

I leveled up engineering from 1 to 350 in couple of days. I think it
cost me maybe 500-600g (only the levels between 280 and 300 were
expensive). This is far lower than the amount required for many other
crafting professions. Skinning sucks anyway. Cobra scales and maybe
clefthoof leather are the only decent skinning drops.
I'm quite sure that this single item (mote extractor) is enough to
cover up expenses, although it doesn't happen quickly. Jewelcrafting
is another profession with horrible initial investments, but it
eventually pays off.

I have just done the engineering switch ( from skinning) and think the
above is about right, I probably get 1-2 primals a day from clouds
without going out of my way (mainly mana and air). The levelling between
360 and 375 (if you want the epic flyer) is a different case - seems
very expensive if you want to do it using AH stuff as the thing you make
to uses several stacks of adamantite ore and some Khorium and gems as well.

Tix

[pv+ (PV)]

Post by steve.kaye
Yes, but will you ever make up the money you spent getting to the
skill to make that?

Um, HELL yes. The extractor pays for itself within about 20 minutes if you
know where to go with it, and just on motes of air you can make a fortune.
Engineering isn't all that hard or expensive to level anyway, if you
also mine.

Post by steve.kaye
I doubt it but I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't
know for sure. My impression of engineering is that it is good for
making cool toys for yourself but you don't want it if your aim is to
make money.

Mostly that's true - it's a gadget skill that exists mostly for fun and not
profit. But the mote extractor, especially if you also have an alchemist
handy, is a better money printer than most skills I can think of. *

[Carol J]

A stack of thick clefthoof leather goes for around 50 gold on my server. I
have maxed skinning on my main and it cost nothing to level it up.
Engineering I have on my warrior.....she's only at 225 (lvl 22) and already
it's cost me around 200 gold.....the recipes and mats to lvl up is
expensive. But it's the same with any of those skills. I have JC on my 67
be rogue and that was very expensive too. Only skills that are cheap are
the gathering skills or skinning. So really it's more about what YOU want to
do. Just know that if you do it it ain't gonna be cheap:-)

Carol J

Post by s***@googlemail.com
Im currently lvl58. I have skinning 370 and mining 260. The skinning
isnt really paying out. I get lots of rugged leather which goes for
about 8g per stack. Does the situation improve much with the skinning
to be done in outland? If not and the fact I really want one of those
engineering helicopters should I consider changing to engineering? Is
there more money to be made with that?

[pv+ (PV)]

Post by Carol J
be rogue and that was very expensive too. Only skills that are cheap are
the gathering skills or skinning.

Or Alchemy, if you have herbalism too. Alchemy is the only production skill
that you make profit from at every level of skill. *

[Smid]

Post by pv+ (PV)

Post by Carol J
be rogue and that was very expensive too. Only skills that are cheap are
the gathering skills or skinning.

Or Alchemy, if you have herbalism too. Alchemy is the only production skill
that you make profit from at every level of skill. *

I've not had much luck with mine with that, only when I sold the herbs
rather than the pots... Any suggestions for 285-300, even the
transmutes aren't worth it...

Smid

[Smid]

Post by Carol J
A stack of thick clefthoof leather goes for around 50 gold on my server. I
have maxed skinning on my main and it cost nothing to level it up.
Engineering I have on my warrior.....she's only at 225 (lvl 22) and already
it's cost me around 200 gold.....the recipes and mats to lvl up is
expensive. But it's the same with any of those skills. I have JC on my 67
be rogue and that was very expensive too. Only skills that are cheap are
the gathering skills or skinning. So really it's more about what YOU want to
do. Just know that if you do it it ain't gonna be cheap:-)

Two things I would say is:

1) Crafting is always a money consuming profession. Only real value is
the things which you need to be a crafter to use, or are BOP.
Tailoring provides some nice BOP. Engineering as a lot of interesting
stuff, but in reality I only use the jumper cables XL and the
teleporters (and the mote extractors) often. So its not a money making
skill.

2) Skinning is a variable gathering skill. I've heard of loads say how
its great on their server, I found it a waste of time in outland
leather for me, normal knothide sells for very little on mines... I
would choose herbalism, it makes far more money....

If you want money, don't choose a crafting skill until you don't need
money anymore...

Smid

[Jason Tinling]

Post by s***@googlemail.com
Im currently lvl58. I have skinning 370 and mining 260. The skinning
isnt really paying out. I get lots of rugged leather which goes for
about 8g per stack. Does the situation improve much with the skinning
to be done in outland? If not and the fact I really want one of those
engineering helicopters should I consider changing to engineering? Is
there more money to be made with that?

My prot pally will be dropping skinning at 62 for engineering. The
reason is because at 62 he can use Tank-a-tronic goggles, which are a
pretty insane tanking piece, even at 70. It will not be cheap, but my
farming toon (miner/herb on epic flyer) is already stockpiling the
high end mats (810 Fel Iron Ore is the big hold up), and will devote a
day or two to gathering the low end stuff when the pally is ready to
switch. The majority of the cost will be opportunity cost in mats not
sold.

If your 58 is your first/only toon, I'd suggest keeping mining and
skinning until you have stockpiled a combination of mats and money
sufficient to get your engineering to whatever level you desire.
Check the WoW forums for some great power leveling guides for all
crafting professions.

[pv+ (PV)]

Post by Jason Tinling
farming toon (miner/herb on epic flyer) is already stockpiling the
high end mats (810 Fel Iron Ore is the big hold up), and will devote a

That's nuts. The helm itself takes only 48 pieces of fel iron ore, and I
don't think I gathered anything even CLOSE to 810 pieces of fel iron ore to
get to 350. It's likely that your guide is pushing you farther than you
need to go, if all you want is the non-epic flyer and the goggles. Also
note - you will often find that felsteel or hardened adamantite bars sell
for less in the auction house than the component metal. Considering the
small mountain of adamantite ore you need for the goggles, buying the bars
if you see a good price can save you a lot of banging on the ol' rocks.

I've said this before, NEVER collect everything at once that a guide says
before starting a powerleveling binge on a crafting skill. Besides driving
you so nuts that you might never actually finish, you'll be losing out on
the skill in the mean time. The important thing is to have access to the
primary gathering skill that supplements the profession - mining for
engineers. Level as you get mats, using the orange/yellow/green (in that
order of availability) recipe with the cheapest materials. The only
useful thing you can get out of guides are the names of rare recipes that
will save you time over the trainer ones. Otherwise, it's mostly common
sense.

Also, especially for engineers, Advanced Tradeskill Window will save you a
lot of annoyance, since it will 'part out' any recipe made up of other
engineering gadgets. It's really nice for rogues making poisons, too. *

[neithskye]

Post by s***@googlemail.com
Im currently lvl58. I have skinning 370 and mining 260. The skinning
isnt really paying out.  I get lots of rugged leather which goes for
about 8g per stack.  Does the situation improve much with the skinning
to be done in outland?  If not and the fact I really want one of those
engineering helicopters should I consider changing to engineering?  Is
there more money to be made with that?

The very first thing I would do when deciding on choosing/switching to
a profession is to go to a place like Thottbot that lists all the
recipes available, how they're obtained (trainer vs. random drop), the
mats required to make each item, etc. Do you have the items needed on
an alt somewhere? (Since I'm a horrible packrat, I already had all the
elemental items needed to make the Robe of Power for my Mage, for
example). If not, can you afford AH prices or are you willing to farm
them?

Dunno much about LW, although on my server the higher armor kits and
leg armors go for nice amounts.

My Paladin's a blacksmith, and I regret it. He even went through the
entire tedious armorsmith chain, after, in his late 30s, seeing the
armor available, and not knowing anything about tanking, thought they
looked impressive. Now he's Holy, and BSing, save for one or two items
that I'm aware of, offers nothing for Holy. BSing, as far as I know,
with the exception of shield spikes, doesn't offer any permanent item
enhancement, like an armor kit; heck, you can't even repair your own
equipment.

Another thing - some people seem to be able to rattle off drops from
every single boss from every single dungeon. I can't do this. You
might try researching what drops where - you may find that instance
drops are way better than anything you can make with your chosen
profession.

I agree that those helicopters are da bomb - good luck!

--
Jill