To start with you’re going to need the Herbalism skill. Our complete Herbalism guide goes over everything you need to know about Herbalism, how to pick up the ability, and how it levels. In this guide we’ll be going over where to go and what to do to level it up.

Movement

The act of harvesting is dependent on movement. If you’re level one, you can stop reading this now. You’ll gain enough herbs as you level up to really never have to go out of your way to get them. Just keep the Find Herbs ability up. If you’re between level 20 and level 40 then I would highly suggest you hold off. At level 40 you can purchase your epic mount which will increase productivity by a large margin. You’ll have to cover a lot of ground to level up your skill and the faster you move the better.

Oh and never worry about leveling herb up past your level. You never should go anywhere past your current level to level up Herbalism. If you’re max level then it really doesn’t matter.

Using a zig zag pattern (walking north and then south) is often better than straight lines. That way you can see a little to the north and a little to the south. You’re not in a race to get to a certain spot so making detours to look in more places is very viable.

Finding the Herbs

Herbs grow in “grassy areas.”  Grassy areas are hard to define unlike metal which generally spawns on zone borders or wherever there is hard rocky ground. So hunting for herbs will require a lot of off the path herb hunting. Just stay mounted and be ready to fight should you see a yellow dot on your radar. Often enough enemies will wander between you and your precious bounty of botanical treasure.

I personally avoid Firebloom and other herbs that aren’t in zones with a lot of similar level herbs to save on walking time. I also don’t wear herb enchantments. You can if you want, but I personally never found the need. They’re good if you want to get out of a zone because of it being camped or something similar.

1 – 75

Go to a newbie zone. Personally I find Mulgore to work for the Horde or Dun Morogh to work for the Alliance, but all of them work. Eversong Forest and Azuremyst Isle are also really good for this. You can stay until level 75 if you want. That’s what I personally do. You can leave earlier, around 50, if you find your luck to be really bad.

75 – 150

There are a lot of different places you can go for this level, but I must say that The Barrens is the best place to go for the Horde or Alliance (although Westfall works fine if The Barrens is gank central). Start at the northern section for the first 25 levels. The northern area is everything north of Camp Taurajo. Then for the last 50 focus on the southern area around the zone walls south of Camp Taurajo.

150-175

The Wetlands is a nice grassy area for you to farm. There is a lot of wet fertile ground and a good path to follow. Horde can use it too since the chances of a high level hanging around are really low (I’ve never seen it in my years of playing WoW to be honest). Start on the fork between Arathi and Menethil Harbor. Now go north until you hit the zone wall going west. Follow that westward zig zagging to make sure you cover a decent amount of ground. Once you hit the coast follow it south until you hit the road and then zig zag up and down until you get to the fork again. A good deal of herbs are east of the road going north, so stop over there and look as well.

You can do it in Hillsbrad as well, if you’re worried about getting ganked too much. Just follow the zone border around and you should do well.

170-225

Arathi Highlands is where I’ve always gone to for this level due to its high concentration of excellent herbs. Many will disagree which is will I will present you with the alternative option. Anyway the path you’ll want to follow is around the road in a circle basically. Look at the map above to get an idea of what I mean, but be sure not to start heading south or north too early and remember to zig zag.

You can do Stranglethorn Vale. It’s a very viable place to go to, but I find that you can easily get ganked. There is no “best path” in STV in my honest opinion because STV is full of herbs everywhere. The northern section seems to have more lower level herbs.

225-275

There are two excellent zones for this; both Feralas and The Hinterlands provide a bounty of herbs for you to harvest. In The Hinterlands you’ll want to walk through the large grassy areas like shown in the map. Feralas, my personal favorite, will have you walking up and down the western side of the map. I will warn you that there are elite dragons in the northeast corner but there herbs are also present. Level 80 players shouldn’t have to worry while level 60 players will want to be very careful.

275-300

Western Plaguelands or Eastern Plaguelands is where you should be. In the Western Plaguelands you’ll want to stay in the grassy areas off the road on the northern zone border. While going south you’ll want to stay close the river, except for the Ruins of Andorhal which you’ll want to avoid. EPL is similar to all of the other zones that have you walk in around the zone zig zaging about.

300-350/375

This can be done in Terrokar or Hellfire Peninsula. You’ll get this easily leveling up. Just fly around between the two zones looking everywhere and you’ll get it in no time. There is such an abundance of herbs everywhere that you shouldn’t have a problem.

350/375-400

This is very easy. Goldclover can be picked at 350 and is easily found in both the Howling Fjord or the Borean Tundra. Just do the same thing you’ve been doing with large zones full of grassy areas. In the Borean Tundra I would suggest saying clear of The Geyser Fields and focus more on the entrance and the area around the Amber Ledge and Kaskala.

400-435

Sholazar Basin is where you’ll want to be. Herbs are everywhere except the scourge ruined land on the east or obviously at The Avalanche. You can almost stay on the roads and fill your bag with herbs here.

435-450

Herbs are everywhere in The Storm Peaks and in Icecrown. You’re technically done at 435, but you will need 450 to mine the stand alone Frost Lotus nodes in Wintergrasp. That’ll come easy enough as you begin your lucrative career as a full blown herb farmer.

Well, that’s about all you need to get from 1 to 450 in a jiffy. Remember that it’s more about patience than anything else. Just be patient and don’t get too discouraged if you go a minute or two without seeing an herb node and take a break if you feel that you’re getting tired of picking herbs.

Enjoy! As always, come by our forums if you have any questions or comments.