World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Herbalism is one of the primary trade professions available for training in World of Warcraft. With Herbalism players will be able to gather the various herbs and flowers that can be found scattered throughout the world. While Herbalists cannot directly use the herbs they gather, they can be used by certain crafting professions, such as Alchemy and Inscription. Due to their usefulness in other professions, Herbalists will often find that their herbs are in high demand and can provide them with a steady source of income.

Training Herbalism

Before you can head out into the world and gather your first herbs, you first need to train Herbalism as one of your two primary professions. Doing this is fairly simple, just seek out the nearest Herbalism Trainer. These trainers can be found in all major cities of both factions and can even sometimes be found in other more remote locations. If you find that you are having difficulty locating a trainer, simply speak to the nearest city guard who will point you in the right direction.

Once you have located a Herbalism Trainer, you will be able to learn Apprentice Herbalism for a small fee. This first level of Herbalism will give you a potential skill level of 75 and allow you to gather many herbs found in the lowest level zones. As you skill up this profession you will want to return to your trainer periodically to learn the next rank in the profession. As you skill up you will be able to pick higher level (and more profitable) herbs.

Check out the handy chart below for more information on Herbalism skill levels:

Rank	Skill Levels
Apprentice	1-75
Journeyman	50-150
Expert	125-225
Artisan	200-300
Master (The Burning Crusade)	300-375
Grand Master (WotLK)	375-450
Illustrious (Cataclysm)	425-525
Zen Master	525-600

Using Herbalism

With Herbalism trained as one of your primary professions you can now head out into the world and put it to use. Unlike other professions, you need no special tools to pick herbs. Simply turn on the “Find Herbs” skill found in the mini-map drop down menu and go. Any herbs nearby will now appear as tiny gold dots on your mini-map. Move towards these dots and you will ultimately discover the herb in question.

To farm the herb, simply stand close to it and right click. After a short channeling (which can be interrupted by damage or movement), you will “pick” the herb. The herb you have picked will either appear in a loot box, or in the case of auto loot go directly into your bags. After being picked the herb will vanish and will not respawn for some time.

Skilling Up Herbalism

To skill up your Herbalism all you need to to is gather herbs. Every time you collect an herb it has a chance to award you a skill point towards the profession. All herbs are not created equal though. Each herb you collect will be color coded with one of five colors. These colors will tell you what chance you have of earning a skill point towards the profession after picking the herb. The chart below lists the various colors and the skill-up chance associated with them:

Color	Skill-Up Chance
Red	Unable to gather at this time.
Orange	A skill point will always be gained.
Yellow	A skill point will most likely be gained.
Green	A skill point will likely not be gained.
Gray	A skill point will never be gained.

As you level, herbs will chance color depending on your skill. For example, at skill level one Peacebloom may be yellow, but, at skill level 60 that same node of Peacebloom will now likely be green or even gray. As you gain more and more skill in the profession it is important that you seek out zones populated with herbs that have the best chance of earning you points.

Herbalism Bags

Let's face it, with any gathering profession the player is going to collect a lot of raw materials and naturally they are going to wish for a place to put them. Herb bags are special pouches designed specifically for the Herbalism profession and can make moving, organizing, and viewing your herbs a breeze. Herb bags can only hold herbs and any herbs you gather will automatically be placed there as long as an empty space is available. Herb bags come in multiple sizes and are a must have for any serious Herbalist.

Herbalism Profession Perk

Every World of Warcraft profession provides the player with a perk. In the case of Herbalism the perk granted is called Lifeblood. Lifeblood uses the Herbalist's skill to absorb the energy and nutrients from the earth around you to heal the player of minor wounds and boosts haste for a few seconds. This handy perk can also be used while the player is stealthed or invisible.

Secondary Professions

As mentioned previously, there are two professions that tie in nicely with Herbalism; Inscription and Alchemy. Both of these crafting based professions take the raw herbs you are able to gather using Herbalism and create a finished product.