No World of Warcraft character is complete without professions! Along with their gold making potential, professions can provide powerful bonuses to your damage, healing, or survivability. This guide will go over the best professions for a Shadow Priest in Cataclysm PvE content.
Best Professions
Engineering
- Synapse Springs give you 480 Intellect for 10 seconds and can be used once per minute, averaging 80 Intellect if always used on cooldown
- Nitro Boosts give you a much-needed mobility cooldown
- Lightweight Bio-Optic Killshades are pre-raid BiS for Shadow Priests
- Jeeves and other convenience items are great for farming and solo questing
Tailoring
- Lightweave Embroidery is a powerful cloak enchantment that can proc a 580 Intellect buff for 15 seconds
- Master’s Spellthread is a cheaper version of Powerful Enchanted Spellthread specifically for Tailors
- You can craft bags, Spellthread leg enchantments, Cloth armor, and a magic carpet mount
- Embersilk Nets can be useful and are Tailor-exclusive
Useful Professions
Inscription
- Felfire Inscription offers 80 more Intellect than Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone and saves you from having to farm Therazane reputation
- You’ll be able to craft glyphs, scrolls, and Off-hands, all of which can be useful to you or sold for a profit
Alchemy
- Mixology gives you 80 bonus Intellect when you use a Flask of the Draconic Mind
- Flask of Enhancement is a reusable flask item that you can use in easier content and PvP
- Vibrant Alchemist Stone is a pre-raid BiS trinket option for healers
- You’ll be able to craft your own flasks and potions and perform transmutations
Enchanting
- Enchant Ring – Intellect gives a total of 80 bonus Intellect when used on both of your rings
- You’ll be able to enchant all of your own gear
- Often used as a sister profession to Tailoring since neither skill requires its own separate gathering profession and Tailored items can be disenchanted for use in Enchanting
Jewelcrafting
- Brilliant Chimera’s Eye gives 81 bonus Intellect in total if you use 3 of them (which is the max you can have equipped)
- (This bonus gets reduced to 51 Intellect later on when Brilliant Queen’s Garnet is added)
- You can prospect ore and craft gems, Necks, and Finger pieces
- Stardust is a powerful buff to your Sparkle stat!
Blacksmithing
- Socket Gloves and Socket Bracer allow you to use two extra gems for a total of 80 bonus Intellect
- (This bonus gets raised to 100 Intellect later on when Brilliant Queen’s Garnet is added)
- You’ll be able to craft keys, enchanting rods, weapons, and plate armor, but most of it won’t be useful to you as a Priest
Sub-Par Professions
Leatherworking
- Draconic Embossment – Intellect gives 80 more Intellect than Enchant Bracer – Mighty Intellect
- You’ll be able to make Leather equipment, Leg Reinforcements, and Armor Kits, but none of these will be useful to you
Herbalism
- Lifeblood gives you an extra healing ability that doubles as a powerful Haste cooldown
- You’ll be able to gather herbs for use in other professions
Skinning
- Master of Anatomy gives a passive 80 Critical Strike Rating
- You’ll be able to gather skins and hides for use in other professions
Mining
- Toughness gives a passive 120 Stamina bonus
- You can gather ore and gems for use in other professions
Â
About the Author
Passion
I love MMOs of all shades, especially the nitty gritty numbers parts of them. You might recognize me from the Shadow Priest discord, otherwise I play a little bit of everything, especially games with support roles available.