Currently I have 2 characters. My Mage is an Inscriptionist/Herbalist and my Shaman is maxed Jewelcrafter/miner. But I was thinking to change it to Alchemy/Herb as it seems like a good long term choice. Both options looks interesting and viable, but I am not sure which one would be better to play around with and also, which one is better for collectionares? Also, if I decide to go with Alchemy, which specialization fits the best? Potion, elixir or transmutation master? With every profession, my plan is to collect all available recipes/patterns. Tried to do it with my JC, but TBC, WotLK and Cata recipes are so hard to get, also some DF latterns like Hourglass ring and Lariant Neck, it drives me crazy…
Which combo you see better for Wildhammer Dwarf? I usually play as Resto and deeping toes in to the Elemental.
Thanks in advance! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Edit: I was also thinking about Blacksmithing, but that is more for the enhancement, also Leatherworking came to my mind, but not quite sure about it.
I don’t want to give a non-helpful answer, but your character could easily be any of those professions from a rp perspective, depending on what you can dream up and how you want their character to be.
From a practical perspective alchemy is a good trade skill if you just doing it small time for yourself - as you get double duration flasks/phials, and you’re more likely to create and use the weird potions if you can make them yourself and have a good supply. (A but like how warlocks are more likely to use healthstones whilst everyone else forgets until prompted).
I’m a leatherworker myself and I really enjoy being able to craft my own armour, especially since that has become more rewarding with the later expansions.
Skinning as well because I feel less guilty about killing beasts when I can put them to good use, and quite fitting for Tauren. Although I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss herbalism and Alchemist.
Both are rather useful for a shaman, regardless of the race. Alchemy can get you into brews and other consumables, maybe even those useful for communion with the elements. Meanwhile jewelcrafting is among the perfect tools to create more permanent spell foci, like processing or even creating elemental crystals and gems for future use. So your choice which fits better, but both can work.
Alchemy gives access to some fun potions! From invisibility to turning to stone. The only viable gear I can think of is the Alchemist’s Stone which is a trinket that is alright. Nothing to write home about. You can buy most of the potions (if not all) from the AH.
Herbalism has a few neat option like turning into a random herb. Note that these are generally consumables and last only a short time.
Inscription allows you to unlock temporary buffs and in Dragonflight you get some cosmetic shoulder enchants for a short time. There are also a few magical weapons. Perhaps the staves are useable for a shaman? However, inscription allows you to unlock the glyphs for many classes. Depending on the rarity you may sell these on the AH for a pretty penny or use them across your own characters to unlock cool alternate abilities.
If it is purely to add to your sense of collecting, inscription is probably the way to go.
I already have Inscription on my Mage, I was more thinking between Alchemy, Jewelcrafting and maybe Leatherworking. But think I will go with JC/mining since dwarves love mining, rocks and archeology overal. Imbuing stones, rocks to make useful and powerful jewelry sounds like a good option to play around with.
This line of thinking is what made me pick JC / mining with my shaman for largely in-character reasons, so I can vouch for this! Imbuing gems sounds like a fitting craft for them.
As a whole, in-game professions don’t have to correlate with in-character professions. You can pick and choose what you want from any profession to use IC, and you can do so with every profession. Maybe your character is a jack-of-all-trades, so they’d be knowledgeable of every in-game profession there is, despite that not being possible in-game.
If you were to make the entirety of in-game professions your IC professions, I would say Jewelcrafting/Miner might be a little more Shaman-y, due to working with… y’know, earth. Perhaps your Shaman could even use Earth magic to prospect minerals, if not digging up said minerals from the ground as efficiently and least-intrusively as possible! You can make an argument for Alchemy and Restoration Shaman working together as well, as mixing potions and ointments is probably part of any healer’s toolkit, and you can control water to mix as efficiently as possible as well.
However, Wildhammer Dwarf sounds more like Jewelcrafter/Miner to me than Herbalist/Alchemy.