Battle for Azeroth: Engineering Preview

Today I will take a look at how Engineering will work in Battle for Azeroth. Compared to previous expansions Blizzard has added quite a few new crafts that changes up how attractive Engineering is from a gold making point of view.

Recipes and ranks

Once again we are still in the dark on how and where the recipes are obtained. The vast majority of the recipes have 3 ranks, with only the level 111 weapons and the Mecha-Mogul Mount currently having only one rank.

What can Engineers craft?

In Battle for Azeroth Engineers get access to a wider variety of items that actually help players in normal gameplay than usual. There is a wide variety of item types you can craft as you can see from the list below:

  • Ranged Weapons
  • Melee Weapons
  • Ranged Weapon Enchants
  • Bombs
  • Utility items
  • Mounts

This list only contains the items that can actually be traded as we are focused on the gold making aspects of the profession.

Ranged Weapons

Engineers get access to three different guns. Two of them are required level 120 and one is required level 111. Based on the names it sounds like one of the max level versions is geared more towards PvP with the classic PvP name: “Honorable Combatant’s Stormsteel Destroyer”.

Either way I expect the weapons to be decent sellers, particularily the best stat combinations. The same logic as for Alchemy Trinkets apply with the item level representing a good bump from level 119 gear and thus being interesting for people who want to gear as quickly as possible. The major drawback is ofcourse that these are only really useful for hunters.

Melee Weapons

The Melee weapons are exactly the same as the ranged ones. Engineers can craft three variants of One-Handed Mace. Based on the stats on Wowhead the two 120 maces are focused on casters and agility heroes.

This gives both weapons a decent number of specs they cater too. This might not be 100% correct though, so it will be interesting to see exactly how weapon stats function. They might keep the system from Legion where the primary stat follows the spec and thus make the weapons available for all 1-hand wielders. Either way I expect both the 111 and 120 versions to be decent sellers.

Ranged Weapon Enchants

This is a great new (old) addition. Engineers are getting access to scopes again. Hopefully Blizzard manages to tune these so they are competitive with enchanting enchants. If they do these will be great sellers and I expect them to be a potentially very nice source of profit. Sadly they only really cater to hunters, but that’s still a decent number of players.

Bombs

Engineers can craft 3 different bombs. One is a direct damage consumable, one casts polymorph on anyone who enters the area and one creates a plague are that deals damage over time. I doubt any of them will be relevant in end-game content, but you never know. They could be useful for mythics or mythic+ if they are allowed. I don’t have particularly high hopes for these.

Utility items

This category of items is much more intriguing than bombs. All of the items here are consumable, and they give various useful benefits. The items include a stable master for hunters, a portable transmogrification character you can plop down and a boat that will move for 25 seconds. I can see a lot of these items being at least semi useful and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them end up selling fairly well.

Mounts

Engineering mounts are a tried and true staple and BfA brings two new crafted mounts at launch. One of these the Xiwyllag ATV is made by combining two parts, one made by engineers and one by Blacksmiths. This means you will pretty much have to have both professions to be competitive. That being said I expect it to be a decent seller as all crafted mounts are. Getting both recipes early will definitely be a money maker.

Engineers also get their own mount, the Mecha-Mogul Mk2 which is a Mimiron’s head look-a-like. This craft requires a lot of Bind on Pickup materials that do not have any information on where you obtain them. The recipes drops from a dungeon boss, but information on how the BoP materials is obtained is not known yet. Hopefully it is not too arduous of a process and this mount will likely turn out to be a nice profit maker as well.

Overall Impression

Overall I think Engineering looks quite good. I expect the mounts to do well. Enchants will depend on balancing, and can either be fairly useless or a great money maker. The weapons will also be decent sellers. Especially considering that weapons are usually the most effective slot to invest in to increase your power. The utility items also look very nice and can turn out to be very good sellers. Bombs are up in the air, but I doubt they will make an impact.

Engineering is looking better than ever from a gold making point of view and competition will most likely be low as I assume most players will focus on more typical gold making professions.

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9 thoughts on “Battle for Azeroth: Engineering Preview

  1. Hey Lazy, first of all I’m very sorry… its been some time that I’ve read your posts… please don’t hate me 🙁
    but I used to always be here (not sure if with this account tho)

    Now I’m playing WoW again (can’t stay away from it, you know?) and I’m starting on a old realm with a friend that said will help me get start raiding. Anyway, I’ve read some of your posts today and have been your twitter but I got a question for you if doun’t mind 🙂

    On this new realm I’ll be playing on Alliance, I already have a Dwarf Shaman (Inscription/Engineer) there at level 110, but since I haven’t played on Legion with him, both his skill at 0 on Legion. I was making some glyphs and they are selling quite well (specially Glyph of Stars that I probably sell 2-3 per day, they cost me at MAX 35g each and they sell for about 450-500g at my realm).

    I don’t have plans to play with this Shaman on BfA but I want to keep him active with good professions so I know I’ll have to farm a little at least.

    At first I was planning to forget about him and just get Inscription on my main but I think I’ll just get another profession on him (I’ll start with Herb/Mining for the first 2 weeks I believe, I think it might be a good idea) and then change later to another one.

    So my question is…
    (and sorry for the long post but English is not my mother language and I usually need more words to express myself haha. )

    Do you think that Alchemy can work well with Inscription? Because, since he is a Dwarf I believe it would be a nice small boost to my Arqueology, making it easier to farm the Vial. And then on my main, I could get (after the 2-3 weeks of gathering professions), Enchating and JC (since he is a human it would help farm the JC help) and I also believe Enchating and JC are both good professions.

    1. Welcome back Andre!

      I think those professions could work well together. Personally I would go alchemy + one of JC or enchanting on your main, then do inscription and the other on your second character. I think bith JC and enchanting are better than inscription in terms of gold making potential.

      1. Thank you 🙂 Your content and blog are still top of mind when talking about gold making.

        I never had a JC before but my experience with Enchating was great. I really enjoying Inscription but its like you said, JC and Enchating have much better potential, even when Inscription are selling well (talking about only Glyphs). I believe I’m selling around 4-4,5k worth of glyph per day. But sometimes its kinda trick tbh.

        Would there be any difference, when looking at how you will get those professions on BfA (I know theres not much information yet) on that… “combination”?

        Lets say:

        Main = Alchemy/JC ….. Shaman = Inscription/Enchating
        or
        Main = Alchemy/Enchanting …. Shaman = Inscription/JC?

        Also, why Alchemy on your main?

        1. You don’t have to have alchemy on your main. You can go JC/Ench and alchemy/inscription on your second character. It’s mostly up to personal preference at that point.

  2. Hey TLG! Loving the content! So, as someone who is basically starting fresh in BFA im having trouble choosing professions. I was decided on going mine/herb just while I level to 120 but after a few reads of your articles im back to not being able to decide. Originally I was going to do mine/herb while I felt out what combo of Enchanting, Engineering, Blacksmithing, LW, I wanted to go.

    A lot of my decision making is based on 1, this will be on the main that I spend the most time on, so any gated recipes will be focused on primarily with this character. The choice of engineering is based on the new belt enchants for PvP. I will be focused on a good mix of Pvp and pve. Enchanting and Jewelcrafting because I thought they would be a more simple market to start with to control and craft. They are simple and ive always like that.

    But again, hearing how you have talked about armor crafting and not liking gathering. Im struggling again. If you have any suggestions on how I can make my decision that would be great. This would be mostly to make gold early in the xpac and settle myself down after markets settle. I eventually will have all professions spread across alts and do so slowly. But, another reason im working so hard on a decision is because I do want the two professions I pick at 120 to ”stick”.. So that I can put focus into gated recipes including JC mounts for example.

    I could always gather while i level and then feel things out but this would help me decide then even if thats a decent thing to do. Hoping to just fund a few tokens or so the first month. Another thing to consider for me is what professions are good for alts. I heard alchemy doesnt require expulsom for the new flasks but have a few gated recipes. So, I will be having a main and a main alt.

    Anyhow id appreciate a reply and love to hear your thoughts. The longer the better! Im really struggling with my decision and have talked to BIlisOnyxia and many others about it.

    1. Hey, I’m by no means an expert but I’ll try to help you

      Last expansion I went Enchating/Tailoring on an alt in a realm that I wasn’t even playing. Unlock the 3rd rank recipes was a pain in the ass but worth it even on this case.

      The enchants were selling really fast and for a good price. I was making 8-10k/g per day when I started doing this (I’ve started when Antorus was launched). It was quite normal to make a Enchant, put it on the AH and instant sell it. I never had a JC but always wanted to

      and like I said on my post up there, I’ll have at least: Alchemy, JC, Enchating and Inscription.

      I’m not sure of the “combination” yet since I unlocked all glyphs on my Shaman (that I have no plans to play on BfA) , and I’ll just unlock some things with him but my main income of gold with Inscription still is Glyphs.

      I was considering have 2 gather at the start as well, but I believe lots of ppl will do the same and eventually mats price will go down and since you will need to unlock recipes on crafting professions anyway… I think it will be better to start with it asap.

    2. Mining/herbing will always work to get gold. The only problem for me is that they are only really worth it if you have a significant amount of time available to dedicate to farming. Incidental gathering while out and about in the world just does not move the needle enough for me personally to ever bother with it.

      You can’t really go wrong with enchanting as demand is so high. If you are focusing on past expansion crafts so your professions “stick” then either armor professions, or the ones that have mounts are preferable. Crafted old world armor sells kinda slowly though, so it may not be what you’re interested in.

      Overall I think you are overthinking it. Unless you already have a lot of hard to get old world recipes there is very little cost to switching professions. As in any expansion the new BfA crafts will be the primary gold makers anyway. Out of the ones you listed I would personally go Enchanting and Blacksmithing. Enchanting, because it’s always good and blacksmithing for the weapons.

      1. Thank you for the response. I think the recommendation is fitting. Its a good balance of a simpler profession/market like Enchanting.with comboing something with slower sales and more focus on recipes like Blacksmithing. I think its a good balance.

        Basically when I was talking about gathering, I simply meant to doing it until I hit 120. Basically just grabbing things while leveling. Im sure it wont be much gold but I thought it would be something while I focus on leveling.Thought it would also give me a boost in materials when I make the switch at 120.

        Enchanting seems a sure fit. I like how simple the market is. I like the idea of being able to DE things throughout my journey. Do you happen to know if the Engineering belt enchants are BoE? I will be doing a lot of pvp and thought that would be very fitting. I know it has more gold potential this time around rather than Legion but its still a bit underwhelming compared to the other choices.

        Now I think ill narrow it down. Enchanting being an almost certainty. With the next choices being Engineering, Blacksmithing, or JC. Considering the info ive given now would you still make the same recommendations? I’m also keeping in mind which of these would work fine on an alt. It seems JC doesnt require anything but the gems for cuts. So that may be a good alt professions. Simply, whatever combo I choose, the others will go on my ”main alt”. I will have 2-3 characters that I focus on. My main, main alt, then a secondary alt. So, if the engineering enchants arent BoE or something I can put Ench/Engi on my main, and squeeze another combo onto my main alt such as Blacksmithing and something else.

        I really appreciate the help.

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