In World of Warcraft, the Mining profession enables players gather ore from specific ore veins scattered all over the world. These ores can be smelted into bars, which can then be used in certain crafting professions like Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Jewelcrafting, so it’s convenient to pair Mining with any of those three professions.
Note that even when paired with Mining, you may need additional funds for the other materials required for Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Jewelcrafting, so you might want to buy WoW Gold.
Proficiency
As with all professions, Mining has six proficiency levels, which are listed in the table below. As you increase your character’s level and your Mining skill level, you can increase your Mining Proficiency by visiting a Mining Trainer. While any Mining Trainer in Azeroth can teach you Apprentice to Artisan Mining, you can only learn Master Mining in Outland or Northrend, and Grand Master Mining in Northrend.
Training costs WoW Gold, and the prices differ depending on whether you chose Mining as your Primary or Secondary profession.
|
Proficiency |
Required Character Level |
Minimum Required Skill Points |
Maximum Allowed Skill Points |
Training Cost ( Primary Profession) |
Training Cost (Secondary Profession) |
|
Apprentice |
0 |
None |
75 |
10 Copper |
1 Silver |
|
Journeyman |
0 |
50 |
150 |
10 Silver |
5 Silver |
|
Expert |
10 |
125 |
225 |
50 Silver |
1 WoW Gold |
|
Artisan |
25 |
200 |
300 |
5 WoW Gold |
2 WoW Gold 50 Silver |
|
Master |
40 |
275 |
375 |
10 WoW Gold |
10 WoW Gold |
|
Grand Master |
55 |
350 |
450 |
35 WoW Gold |
35 WoW Gold |
Toughness
At skill level 75, you will learn the Mining bonus ability: Toughness. Toughness is passive ability that increases in rank every 75 skill points in Mining. It grants you an increase in your base Stamina.
|
Toughness Rank |
Skill Level |
Stamina Increase |
Required Character Level |
|
1 |
75 |
3 |
1 |
|
2 |
150 |
5 |
1 |
|
3 |
225 |
7 |
10 |
|
4 |
300 |
10 |
25 |
|
5 |
375 |
30 |
40 |
|
6 |
450 |
60 |
55 |
Leveling Mining
The first thing you need to do is to visit a Mining Trainer in one of Azeroth’s main cities to learn Apprentice Mining. This section contains a table that shows you which items to create to level up your Proficiency in the fastest, most efficient manner.
Remember to always bring your Mining Pick (or any equivalent item) with you. You won’t be able to mine anything if you don’t!
Once you acquire 30 pieces of a certain ore, go find and Anvil and Smelt them to turn them into bars.
|
Apprentice |
||
|
Skill Level |
Ores to acquire |
Ore locations |
|
1-50 |
Copper Ore |
Durotar Dun Morogh Elwynn Forest Darkshore Azuremyst Isle Tirisfal Glades Mulgore Eversong Woods |
|
Journeyman |
||
|
Skill Level |
Ores to acquire |
Ore locations |
|
65-125 |
Tin Ore Silver Ore Copper Ore |
The Barrens Silverpine Forest Redridge Mountains Loch Modan |
|
Smelting your Copper and Tin Ores into bars and then combining them to make Bronze Bars will take you up to around skill level 90-95. If you find Silver Ores, Smelt them before reaching skill level 115 as they turn green in your list at 122. |
||
|
Expert |
||
|
Skill Level |
Ores to acquire |
Ore locations |
|
125-175 |
Iron Ore Tin Ore Gold Ore |
Arathi Highlands Thousand Needles |
|
If Gold and Silver Ore is inexpensive in your realm’s Auction House, buy some and Smelt them until you reach skill level 175. |
||
|
175-245 |
Mithril Ore Truesilver Ore |
The Hinterlands Tanaris |
|
Once you reach skill level 225-230, visit a Mining trainer and learn how to Smelt Truesilver Ores. This will help you reach skill level 245 faster. |
||
|
Before moving on to mining Thorium, try to have an Enchanter perform the “Enchant Gloves: Advanced Mining” enchantment on your gloves. This will enable you to mine Rich Thorium Veins much sooner than you would without them. |
||
|
245-300 |
Thorium Ore |
Winterspring Eastern Plaguelands |
|
Master |
||
|
Skill Level |
Ores to acquire |
Ore locations |
|
300-325 |
Fel Iron Ore |
Hellfire Peninsula |
|
325-350 |
Adamantite Ore |
Nagrand |
|
Grand Master |
||
|
Skill Level |
Ores to acquire |
Ore locations |
|
350-400 |
Cobalt Ore |
Borean Tundra |
|
400-450 |
Saronite Ore |
Sholazar Basin |
Now that you know the most efficient way to level up your Mining skill, you’ll get up to 450 in no time. Like the other gathering professions, Mining can be tiring to do as you have to keep running around to find ore and to smelt them, but higher-quality metal bars are usually in high demand at the Auction House, and you can craft good equipment out of them too.
