The World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore challenge has breathed new life into the old world of WoW Classic, and introduced an entirely new way of playing the game. Instead of the usual rush to end-game, players choose to intentionally slow down and enjoy a much more relaxed leveling pace.
The aim of the Hardcore challenge is to make it through the journey to 60 without dying once, so your damage, talents, and even your WoW Classic Hardcore professions should all be customized in a way that will ensure maximum survivability.
In this article we’ll cover some of the WoW Classic Hardcore best professions, and share some tips & tricks on how you can optimize your professions to ensure you never die.
@ Blizzard
What Professions to Choose for Leveling
Leveling from 1 to 60 will be the most challenging part of your WoW Classic Hardcore journey. This is when you’re most susceptible to dying, so you really want to minimize all possible risks while traveling the world of Azeroth.
Professions play a huge role in making sure you stay alive and healthy while leveling. They offer different crafts, gadgets and consumables for all your leveling needs. Out of all the available crafting professions, two stand out as the top candidates – Alchemy and Engineering. In terms of gathering, Mining and Herbalism will be the best choices.
Read Also: WoW Classic Hunter Leveling Guide
Engineering
Engineering is probably the best profession in WoW Classic Hardcore for a variety of reasons. It offers players so many cool, little gadgets such as grenades and explosives, pets, useful trinkets, powerful gear, and target dummies.
Engineering requires a lot of materials to level, mostly ore and gems, which is why it’s recommended to pair Engineering with Mining to supply your own materials as you level.
Here are some of the best crafts you can get with engineering:
- Target Dummy – You drop a target dummy on the ground that attracts nearby monsters for a few seconds. The dummy has low hp, but serves as a great aggro reset for those moments where you feel you’re about to die. Everyone should carry a stack of Target Dummies whenever they go out adventuring. It’s easy to craft and the mats are cheap.
- Iron Grenades – These grenades can be crafted relatively cheap if you have access to Iron Ore mining nodes. The Iron Grenade stuns the target and everything around it for 3 seconds, making it an excellent choice for almost any situation. Classes that don’t have access to crowd control or reliable interrupt skills will especially benefit from these grenades.
- Trinkets – Fighting elites will be the most challenging part of your leveling journey. These monsters hit hard and have higher health, so you’ll need to employ different tactics to take them down. Engineering trinkets such as Gnomish Battle Chicken or Arcanite Dragonling will allow you to solo these elites much more reliably, and ensure you live to see another day.
- Goblin Sapper Charge – These explosives are so powerful that they also injure you in the process. Despite the obvious drawback, they’re still incredibly useful for situations where you badly need an AoE attack to finish off a group of monsters before they overwhelm you. Use these cautiously.
These were just some of the best gadgets you can craft with Engineering. They will drastically increase your odds of survival in WoW Classic Hardcore, and will spice up your gameplay.
Alchemy
Alchemy is a strong second pick for WoW Classic Hardcore. With Alchemy, you can craft strong potions, elixirs and flasks that will aid you in your journey to 60. These crafts will require herbs, which is why we strongly recommend you also pick Herbalism to gather your own herbs as you travel the world of Azeroth.
@ Blizzard
Here are some of the best Alchemy crafts you can get your hands on:
- Flask of Petrification – This item is borderline game-breaking in WoW Classic Hardcore as it allows entire raid groups to become completely immune to damage for 1 whole minute. It’s more of an end-game fail-safe item than for leveling, since it requires level 50 to use and a whole bunch of mats you probably won’t have access to while leveling.
- Elixir of the Mongoose – This little thing increases your Agility by 25 and adds a whopping 2% crit to your character for 1 hour. One of the best elixirs in the game, despite it only requiring level 46 to use. There are other similar elixirs for lower and higher levels, but Elixir of the Mongoose is one of the most popular ones.
- Free Action Potion – This potion makes you immune to Stun and Movement Impairing effects for 30 seconds. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to run, pop a Free Action Potion and reset the fight. You won’t get stunned or dazed, which will almost guarantee you making it out alive.
- Mana/Healing Potions – Alchemists can craft their own Mana and Healing potions and don’t have to rely on random drops. Healing potions are crucial in WoW Classic Hardcore, so having an option to craft them on demand is always helpful.
Level Your Professions
While leveling to 60, always make sure to keep your professions up-to-date. It will save you time in the long run and ensure you always have the best crafts available for your level. Engineering and Alchemy are the best two WoW Classic Hardcore professions, but if you feel confident you won’t need them, feel free to pick a different profession combo.
If you enjoyed this guide and you’re interested in more, visit our WoW news guide section where we have plenty of other WoW guides waiting for you.
