Returning player here. I played the burning crusade and wrath of the lich king. Started playing early this week and I’m having a blast. It feels so good to be back. Finally. I’ve really missed it after 10 years. I used to be jewelcrafting and mining on my main and alchemy and herbalism on my alt. I don’t know which profession to get to do dungeons and raiding soon? Should I go for alchemy and herbalism or enchanting herbalism as suggested by my friend? Sorry I just don’t know before I commit. Haven’t played in 10 years. Thanks! I want to make the right decision. Thanks again!
Entirely up to you. If you aren’t swimming in gold and/or would like to make some, consider a profession to create the legendary crafting items (for personal use or to sell), which in Shaman’s case is Leatherworking.
As a Herb/Alch myself, I had to fork out for mats and have guildies craft the item for me at a price I’m not comfortable with, though it’s not hard to make it back at this point of the expansion thanks to the usual ‘starting expac’ overpricing of materials. Enchanting is always useful, particularly if you want to level alts in the future.
Having said that, Alchemy isn’t much of a benefit from a greedy sense outside of raiding, and the reputation to unlock Shadestones (to get the il200 Alch Trinket) is an absolute slog. Sure, you could make oils, pots and flasks, but you’re not going to chug them outside of raids or maybe M+.
The only truly useless profession I’ve encountered in SL thus far is Engineering. It’s basically a copy/paste of BFA (yet slightly worse), with no legendary crafting, poor QoL items, and the only noticeable benefit being an AH at Oribos. You can get some benefit out of it, but not nearly as much as everything else.
TLDR: Just go with your gut in terms of your finances and whether you want QoL, profit, legendary crafting, or whatever it is you’re seeking with that character.
I’m Alch/Herb, with a max-level alt who converted from Mine/Engy to Blacksmith for legendary crafting (and to feed plate gear to a separate level 50 alt who’s working on Enchanting and maxed out Tailoring just by using the cloth I sent her from the other characters).
As a result, I’ll be able to craft two armor-types of legendary items, can feed mats to my Enchanter (dust and blue shards at least), stock up on oils, potions and flasks (or sell them and the herbs for gold), etc.
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You ll make some good money selling flasks + you ll be self-sufficient with flasks, potions and weapon loations ( oils ).
It’s not really big money business though (source: I can craft R2 mail helmets now). You’re better off with skinning and selling the hides you get.
Engineering for PVP and general quality of life.
Herbalism for money.
Alchemy for an alt.
Like I said, depends on the player’s finances. You can’t assume the person asking has the same financial stability or server prices as everyone else, which has a drastic impact if you value money in either direction. Not everyone is swimming in money and some server prices are obnoxious to say the least, particularly with smaller population.
It’s just a warning to those who (for whatever reason) aren’t packing a phat gold wallet. The legendary vessels themselves aren’t hard to make and the materials to make them sell very well, as do the actual legendary vessels (which won’t last for long). You can make quite a lot of money going that route and remove the need to rely on others to make your legendaries – or, you can consider other options if you prefer.
TLDR: There’s really no ‘bad’ choice at the moment, except maybe Engineering, which is the most niche of the bunch by far - and I say that as someone who does like QoL and PvP. It leads to nothing substantial and won’t make you much money either (comparatively anyway). It’s basically just identical to what we got in BFA - arguably worse. Engineering has been a poor shade of its older versions for a long time now. Still handy, but not something I’d go with.
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As other people have already said - Alch/Herb
However, if you have no issues with making gold. I HIGHLY suggest going Engineering for the Oribos auction house and (the best part) Shadowlands Wormhole Generator, which allows you to portal to any Shadowlands zone with a 15 minute cooldown (sooo helpful) and maybe enchanting so you can disenchant epics for some decent steady gold flow.
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I disagree entirely, the Wormhole generator in itself saves a ridiculous amount of time that you would usually have to spend on flightpaths flying to Mythic dungeons/doing daily callings. Each to their own I guess. 
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Saving time is nice - just like the AH at Oribos so you don’t have to go to Orgrimmar - but that’s still all it does. It’s a large part of why I’m a Vulpera.
I have HS, Astral, and my personal camp, so I can move between Oribos and Sinfall without having to bother flying – all while maintaining more useful professions that save (or make) money and provide more than QOL.
Sure, if you value that ease above all else, then Engineering is worth it - but comparatively speaking, it’s still entirely niche.
Yes, engi & encha are my drugs of choice. Engi for unparalleled quality of life, encha for the $. Works very well.
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Not everyone is a vulpera though. It’s a small minority. Yeah I agree, when I found the Wormhole had a 15 minute CD I kept my gob shut for a while because I thought it was a little too convenient.
But yeah, engineering can be super handy right now if you want to avoid tons of flight paths.
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Alchemy and enchanting. Invest in mats, sell enchants and potions/flasks, and see your initial investment triple.
People need enchants for new gear, and consumables for raiding.
Oh I’m not denying that in the slightest. I was Engineer throughout all expansions up to early SL (on non Vulpera). It always was that niche choice with lots of QoL and especially desirable in various eras of PvP, but again, the word niche is strong in terms of Engineering.
Doesn’t change the fact that it only provides one gear type (helm), portals, AH access, and other things that are (mostly) just QoL. It has no ties to legendary crafting at all and isn’t exactly a money maker, so the true value is for those who value the QoL above all else. I’d still recommend people getting to grips with SL utilize other professions first if money or present features are a concern in any way.
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