WoW Classic Mining Guide
WoW Classic Mining Guide
Welcome Hero of Azeroth! Here you can find an extensive guide on leveling Mining in World of Warcraft Classic. In this guide, we are going to walk you through the whole leveling process from 1-300 skill level, as well as point you towards the locations of appropriate trainers, whom you will have to visit in order to train in Mining.
This profession, as you might have guessed is focused on gathering various ores and gems that can be obtained from nodes that appear in Azeroth; moreover, they have an ability of smelting those ores into bars used in other professions. Afterwards, these can be either sold or used as reagents required by various recipes, mainly Blacksmithing and Engineering, however, Alchemists and Enchanters will also find use for them in certain recipes. The gemstones on the other hand are needed by Jewelcrafters for making various ornaments, accessories, and gems that can be put into sockets in gear.
Hence, this profession is usually chosen along with Blacksmithing and Engineering, since these professions, unlike any other, rely heavily on ores and metal bars produced by miners, and are otherwise considered inefficient. However, if your aim is solely money, and you have no interest in refining the reagents, you might even consider having both, Mining and Herbalism, to simply sell the materials you gather without having to analyze the market and costs of production to always optimize the crafting plans in order to make biggest profit you can in shortest time.
Furthermore, similarly as with all other professions just about anyone can learn mining, however there are of course some who will benefit more from having this as one of their professions. The best classes would be warriors and paladins, since they would usually also take blacksmithing as their crafting profession since these are the classes that use plate armor and heavy weapons produced by these professions. Nonetheless, as mentioned before, you can and should, if that is your wish, choose any profession you like, regardless of class.
In the same way as with crafting professions, when you look at different nodes, you can see different color, from orange through yellow and green to gray, which differ in respect to how likely you are to get a new skill point when performing a given action. The first one means you are guaranteed to get a skill point, while with the following colors the chance becomes lesser and lesser, finally, grey does not give you a skill point. As such for the purposes of this WOW classic Mining guide you should avoid doing anything which displays in green anymore, in fact, you should only pursue orange and yellow activities, since these are going to make your experience with Mining a smooth and quick one.
WoW Classic Mining leveling guide
In this part, we are going to guide you through the locations, nodes and methods of acquiring them. However, do note a few things before you begin.
First of all, you should know how and where to look for ore nodes. All miners receive an ability called Find Minerals at level 1; it is a toggled skill that makes mineral nodes appear on your minimap. Remember that this must be activated, moreover, it has to be reactivated if you die, since it disables on death. Moreover, minerals, in general, can be found mostly near hills, cliffs, mountains, zone borders, and caves or mines, where you would, generally speaking, expect them to be in the natural environment. Hence, it is generally advisable, as you will see below in the WoW classic Mining guide to circle around most zones if you want to optimize your path, rather than scan the whole area.
Do also note one important difference between general World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft Classic. In the latter, which is the main concern of this guide, mineral nodes are not shared tap, which means that if you or someone else gather a certain node, then no one else can until they respawn. Due to that you might have problems sometimes finding herbs in popular areas during peak hours, simply since there are many other players farming the limited resources. Due to that, you should be polite and perhaps not blatantly steal resources from under other player’s noses.
Other than that, before we move on to actual mining, it is important to learn a few other things. First of all, when you are smelting ores, you also gain skill points, however, that only happens up to a certain degree and is not a reliable leveling method on its own. Secondly, do not forget that in order to mine any node you are going to need a Mining Pick, that can be obtained from any Trade Goods or Supplies vendor in Azeroth. Remember that the pick has to be in your inventory at all times, if you are planning any mining activities.
Now, let us move on to the different ores, stones, and gems that can be obtained by miners from different mineral veins (nodes):
Copper Vein, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Ashenvale, Darkshore, Desolace, Dun Morogh, Durotar, Duskwood, Elwynn Forest, Hillsbrad Foothills, Loch Modan, Mulgore, Redridge Mountains, Silverpine Forest, Stonetalon Mountains, The Barrens, Thousand Needles, Tirisfal Glades, Westfall, Wetlands. Which might yield:
Tin Vein, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Ashenvale, Darkshore, Desolace, Duskwood, Hillsbrad Foothills, Loch Modan, Redridge Mountains, Silverpine Forest, Stonetalon Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale, The Barrens, Thousand Needles, Westfall, Wetlands. Which might yield:
Silver Vein, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Ashenvale, Badlands, Darkshore, Desolace, Duskwood, Dustwallow Marsh, Feralas, Hillsbrad Foothills, Loch Modan, Redridge Mountains, Searing Gorge, Silverpine Forest, Stonetalon Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, The Barrens, The Hinterlands, Thousand Needles, Westfall, Wetlands. Which might yield:
Iron Deposit, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Ashenvale, Badlands, Blasted Lands, Desolace, Duskwood, Dustwallow Marsh, Feralas, Hillsbrad Foothills, Searing Gorge, Stonetalon Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, The Hinterlands, Thousand Needles, Wetlands. Which might yield:
Gold Vein, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Ashenvale, Azshara, Badlands, Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes, Desolace, Duskwood, Dustwallow Marsh, Eastern Plaguelands, Felwood, Feralas, Hillsbrad Foothills, Searing Gorge, Silithus, Stonetalon Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, The Hinterlands, Thousand Needles, Western Plaguelands, Wetlands, Winterspring. Which might yield:
Mithril Deposit, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Azshara, Badlands, Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes, Desolace, Dustwallow Marsh, Eastern Plaguelands, Felwood, Feralas, Hillsbrad Foothills, Searing Gorge, Silithus, Stonetalon Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, The Hinterlands, Thousand Needles, Western Plaguelands, Winterspring. Which might yield:
Truesilver Deposit, which can be found in Alterac Mountains, Arathi Highlands, Azshara, Badlands, Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes, Desolace, Dustwallow Marsh, Eastern Plaguelands, Felwood, Feralas, Searing Gorge, Silithus, Stonetalon Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, The Hinterlands, Un’Goro Crater, Western Plaguelands, Winterspring. Which might yield:
Dark Iron Deposit, which is only found in Searing Gorge, Burning Steppes, Molten Core, Blackrock. Which might yield:
Small Thorium Vein, that can be found in Winterspring, Silithus, Un'Goro Crater, Swamp of Sorrows, Blasted Lands, Tanaris, Felwood, Western Plaguelands, The Hinterlands, Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands, Searing Gorge. Which might yield:
Rich Thorium Vein, located in Azshara, Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands, Silithus, Un’Goro Crater, Western Plaguelands, Winterspring, Zul'Gurub. Which might yield:
- Thorium Ore
- Dense Stone
- Star Ruby
- Blue Sapphire
- Large Opal
- Azerothian Diamond
- Huge Emerald
- Arcane Crystal
Moreover, as we have mentioned before, miners can smelt bars from the ores they obtain. Below we have included the available recipes for smelting and the ores required:
- Copper Bar – requires 1 Copper Ore
- Tin Bar – requires 1 Tin Ore
- Bronze Bar – needs 1 Copper Bar and 1 Tin Bar
- Silver Bar – requires 1 Silver Ore
- Iron Bar – takes 1 Iron Ore
- Gold Bar – requires 1 Gold Ore
- Steel Bar – needs 1 Iron Bar and 1 Coal
- Mithril Bar – requires 1 Mithril Ore
- Truesilver Bar – requires 1 Truesilver Ore
- Dark Iron Bar – need 8 Dark Iron Ore and the presence of The Black Forge which is located in Blackrock Depths
- Thorium Bar – requires 1 Thorium Ore
- Elementium Bar – costs 1 Elementium Ore, 10 Arcanite Bar, 1 Fiery Core, and 3 Elemental Flux
Having covered the basic knowledge necessary to successful navigate and coordinate both aspects of the profession, we are going to move to the step-by-step analysis of the optimized leveling process. First of all you want to go to any of the starter zones, except for Teldrassil, since they all have Copper Ore in abundance. As such get a Mining Pick and go to one of these zones:
- Durotar, you can just explore all of it apart from Echo Isles, due to many hills and cliffs where veins naturally form.
- Mulgore, where you ought to follow the zone border for best results, along with some caves found there.
- Tirisfal Glades, where the border of the central area containing Brill and Mill, up to Undercity and Scarlet Monastery.
- Elwynn Forest, the border of the zone is best followed with the exception of the starting area and the eastern border.
- Dun Morogh, with veins spread out around the zone as well as along the border. Many caves make it a bit easier to find highly concentrated deposits.
- Darkshore, where you want to look around both sides of the main path, which leads through the zone.
Having done that, you should visit one of the trainers listed in the next section of this guide and learn Journeyman Mining in order to continue with our WoW Classic mining guide. Having done that head to one of the selected zones to gather Tin Ore, Copper Ore, and Silver Ore, which can be smelted later to get a few more points until you get to 125. The zones for this part are:
- Hillsbrad Foothills, where you want to mainly look for mines and caves but looking around the zone border is also going to provide reliable yield.
- Redridge Mountains, in here you should only interest yourself in the northwestern mountainous area above Lakeshire.
- The Barrens, where you should look around the mountainous areas in the center as well as the border of the zone.
- Duskwood, where you can expect good amounts of Tin Veins around the Twilight Grove and around the southern border of the zone.
Given the usual difference between the prices of Silver Ore and Silver Bar, you might consider buying the first to make the latter and sell at the same price more or less while gaining levels.
Next, visit a trainer again to learn Expert Mining, remember that you need to have at least 125 skill points in mining. This time around you will be mining Iron Ore, Tin Ore, and Gold Ore. For the last few points, you might consider getting some Gold Ore from the Auction House to smelt and get the last few points. Do notice that you need to be 155 in mining to learn how to smelt Gold Bar. The zones recommenced are:
- Arathi Highlands, in here your main focus should be caves with many mineral nodes, as well as the zone borders.
- Thousand Needles, where you want to go all around the zone’s border.
- Alterac Mountains, where again the caves ought to draw your interest, and even more so – the Ruins of Alterac which have one of the higher concentration of nodes.
Having done that, you ought to now aim to reach 245 mining, while remembering to learn Artisan mining before you reach 225 skill points, however, you can do so as soon as you have leveled up mining to 200). You now ought to be collecting Mithril Ore and Truesilver Ore. The best zones to do so are:
- The Hinterlands, where you want to be looking around the zone borders and cliffs.
- Tanaris, in here the zone’s border is as usually a decent spot, however, the nodes are quite spread out around the zone as well.
- Badlands, where you ought to look around the southern side of the border, as well as borders to the east and west, meanwhile ignore the northern part since its mostly devoid of ores.
Afterwards, you want to move on to mining Mithril Ore, Truesilver Ore, and Thorium Ore in one of these zones to optimize your leveling experience and make it less tedious:
- Un’Goro Crater, where you should also patrol around the borders of the zone, both inside the crater and on the outer edges, however, before you can harvest rich nodes, do stay more to the eastern side.
- Blasted Lands, this zone is especially good for Horde players, who can not only patrol the border, but also go to the very lucrative garrison armory, where many nodes are usually waiting to be harvested.
- Felwood, where the players should just patrol around the mountainous edges of the zone.
As for the final step, you can either stay in the Un’goro Crater, altering your path to include the western edges of the crater for more Rich Thorium Veins, which are now going to be your main interest. Other than that, to look for those Rich Thorium Veins, as well as Thorium Ore and Mithril Ore in general choose one of those zones:
- Winterspring, which is one of the best zones for Thorium, the players ought to patrol the border with the exception of the western part.
- Burning Steppes, with the caves around Dreadmaul Rock to the east being the main focus of this zone for miners.
- Eastern Plaguelands., where you should look around the zone border as well as scar and ziggurat areas.
After a short while in there, you should be able to complete this WOW classic Mining guide and would have reached the peak of Mining with the skill level of 300. Congratulations!
Mining Trainer
Below you can see the extensive list of all the Mining Trainers that can be found in all of Azeroth. You will need to visit them as you progress through this WOW classic Mining guide. However, do note that unlike production professions, gathering professions, such as Mining do not have ranks of trainers. Hence, you can choose any trainer who is closest to you and learn the next level of Mining at any time.
Alliance
- Brock Stoneseeker who can be found at Thelsamar in Loch Modan, in the building on the eastern side (37.2, 46.8).
- Dank Drizzlecut, located at Gol'Bolar Quarry in Dun Morogh, in the camp above the quarry (69.2, 55.4).
- Matt Johnson, who can be found at Darkshire in Duskwood, in the southwest outside of the blacksmith area (74, 49.6).
- Geofram Bouldertoe, who can be seen at The Great Forge in Ironforge, in the Deep Mountain Mining Guild building (50.4, 26).
- Gelman Stonehand, usually found at the Dwarven District in Stormwind City, in a building on the west side (51, 17.2).
- Yarr Hammerstone, who is located at Steelgrill's Depot in Dun Morogh, east of Kharanos (50, 50.2).
- Kurdram Stonehammer, who can be found at Auberdine in Darkshore, outside of the building on the northern side (38.2, 41).
Horde
- Brek Stonehoof, who is located at the central bluff in Thunder Bluff, in a building on the west side (34.6, 57.6).
- Krunn, found at Razor Hill in Durotar, by the forge on the northeast side (51.8, 40.8).
- Makaru, who can be met at the Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar, in the center-most building (73, 26.4).
- Brom Killian, who is at the War Quarter in Undercity, in the inner cloister (56, 37).
- Johan Focht, who is found in the Sepulcher in Silverpine Forest (43.4, 40.6).
Neutral
- Pikkle, who is located at Gadgetzan in Tanaris, in a building on the west side (51, 28).
Congratulations on your excellent choice of profession and completing this WoW Classic mining guide with us. We sincerely hope we were able to answer all of your questions within this guide and that it helped you in overcoming any and all difficulties you might have encountered while working towards building your perfect character.
