Blacksmithing Help

[Moknim]

Okay, I have a Warrior Blacksmith on a different server who just hit 275. He has no money and just got his Thorium Brotherhood recipes to get from 275-300 (seriously Blizz, my mining is at 360 or so and I can't get my BS up to 300).

I need tips on where to mine. The Warr is 61 and I did WPL/Un'Goro (which is where a online guide suggested). With the amount of thorium/hour I found in those 2 places, it will take me 14 hours to get enough thorium for those 25 points. There HAS to be a better place to go. He is poor, so I can't buy any mats - where should I be grinding thorium?

Thanks,
/Mok

[Keraph]

Run a circle in EPL, there are some decent spots there, but you might want to level up a bit first. Also, Sithilus is a great place for thorium, and relatively untapped these days.

Either way, accept the fact that it's going to be a pain in the ASS. Leveling Blacksmithing at that stage is one of the worst crafting grinds in the game, so no matter what, it's gonna suck.

[Yatokth]

Protip: Don't take Blacksmithing. It fucking sucks.

But my big ass sword was worth it. :D

For useful part of this post, see Keraph's post above.

[Cedes]

what level is he?

it can be hard to find good thorium veins but if you can get help (or at lvl 70) to to the scarab caves in silithus...the're crawling with thorium veins. I got 40+ bars in 2 trips through there by going into every cave.



it will take about 500-800 thorium bars to hit 300 BS. But it is ok, once you can smith fel iron it gets easier in outland. You will hit 330 BS in no time. Then its mostly blues till 350-360 that take a hand full of bars. Then 360-370 is the hard part with all the primals needed to make one point. Lets not even talk about what 370-375 is like...


the best part about 340-360ish for me was being able to make the sharpening stones. Those take x2 motes of earth and a adamantite bar and with mining i had boo-koo's of primal earths so I stocked up real good on those :D.

[Agnarr]

Winterspring, where the elite demons roam.
Silithus, where the previously-elite bugs roam.

Oh, and this:

Protip: Don't take Blacksmithing. It fucking sucks.
It made the most logical sense for what Agnarr was so I took it. I kind of wish I hadn't.

[Moknim]

Yeah, I am already wishing I hadn't taken it, but at this point I don't want to go back and grab engineering of JC'ing (I have mining).

On the other hand...I can't imagine grinding all this thorium for what little use BS will be at 375. I am just hoping Wrath makes BS much more useful.

I will head to silithus I guess...seems like the best option for my level.

[Kaliera]

On the other hand...I can't imagine grinding all this thorium for what little use BS will be at 375. I am just hoping Wrath makes BS much more useful.


Not only will blacksmiths be able to craft a full set of resilience plate gear for use at 78+, they'll also be able to socket a few pieces of their own armor. With the way level 80 gems look, that perk alone is going to be huge.

[Yatokth]

Not only will blacksmiths be able to craft a full set of resilience plate gear for use at 78+, they'll also be able to socket a few pieces of their own armor. With the way level 80 gems look, that perk alone is going to be huge.

WE CAN MAKE BELT BUCKLES TOO.

AWWWW YEEEEEAH.

[Agnarr]

until Blacksmiths can make their own motorcycles, I don't think it will be worth it.

[Alphaeus]

I feel your pain.
My alt's BS hit 274, and I'm still struggling to get it to hit 275 >.<

[Swerto]

Okay... I gave up on blacksmithing because it was too expensive to buy it all.


The best places to get Thorium are Winterspring and Silithus, WPL and EPL are good as well but there are far more NPCs in those zones.

The ones in outland are pretty much set up on location (Fel Iron Hellfire, Adamantite Terrokar, etc.)

[Moknim]

Ran silithus for about 30 minutes - 277 BS...slowly but surely. Currently stocking up on Fel Iron for when I hit 300. Already have a couple of stacks of Bars.

[Kaliera]

Oh, on another side note, stop leveling blacksmithing once you hit 350-360 or so. When Wrath hits, you can use the new "Fel Iron tier" ore (Cobalt) to grind up past 400 at a dirt cheap price. As it stands, 360-375 BS is one of the most expensive stretches in any profession. Don't waste any gold that you don't have to. :)

[Moknim]

I don't spend gold on grinding professions typically. Especially since nothing I make as a BS sells (unlike alchemy)

[Agnarr]

I don't spend gold on grinding professions typically. Especially since nothing I make as a BS sells (unlike alchemy)
Yeah, Blacksmithing is a thankless profession. I've spent around 1500 on epic level 70 patterns and so far have made like..15gp on tips making one of them twice.

[Kaliera]

I don't spend gold on grinding professions typically. Especially since nothing I make as a BS sells (unlike alchemy)


Farming materials to grind up a profession is essentially the same thing as spending gold on a profession. Opportunity costs, or, "time is money, friend!" In essence, you're farming materials that could be liquidated into gold, but are instead turning them into blacksmithing items. ;)

A general rule of thumb when it comes to low level materials and opportunity costs is this. If you could be making -more- gold per hour farming something else and selling it on the AH than what materials you're trying to farm sells for, you're far better off farming up the gold and purchasing the lower level materials off the AH at a cheaper price and a net "profit". :D

[Moknim]

But I can' Kal. This is on a different server, the 61 warr. is my highest toon and I don't even have my epic land. Which doesn't help my thorium grinding ability either.

[Kaliera]

That was more along the lines of advice in general. It can be attributed to many different crafting situations, and it's something that many people overlook. I can't begin to recount how many times I've heard of 60s/70s going back to farm copper because "...that way, the crafting is free!"

At your level, farming thorium is probably your most lucrative route anyways. I'm personally of the opinion that you should be getting yourself closer to 70 before worrying about a non-gathering profession though. Not only might you have enough gold later to afford an epic ground mount, but you'll also be able to clear the mobs surrounding precious ore nodes faster, and you'll have access to more available and lucrative ores. :)

[Moknim]

The only reason I am farming Thorium is because I am leveling this guy exclusively with some friends (I only play when we can all play). So I have to go behind and level up his professions. Its the only time I play him outside of our group.

And I spent about 30 minutes in Silithus and came out with 45 Thorium...not too bad.

[Kaliera]

Fair point. :)

Back on the topic of mining, I always had the best luck doing circuits in Winterspring. Like someone said above, the elite demon spot is absolutely amazing for rich and small thorium veins, and the rest of the zone has a fairly healthy supply as well. I never did much of Silithus, but from what it sounds like, you're making out quite well!

[Redemptio]

what level is he?

it can be hard to find good thorium veins but if you can get help (or at lvl 70) to to the scarab caves in silithus...the're crawling with thorium veins. I got 40+ bars in 2 trips through there by going into every cave.



I remember Moonrage getting a really good Thorium turn out doing the Silithus caves as well.

What do the belt buckles do :3

[Agnarr]

What do the belt buckles do :3
iirc, they let you add a socket to your belt.
OMG OVERPOWERED NERF IT