Enchanting

Enchanting is the crafting profession that adds permanent magical bonuses to weapons and armor. An enchanter breaks unwanted magic items down into dust, essences and shards with Disenchant, then spends those materials to put stats, speed or weapon procs on other people's gear. In Classic the most famous of these was Crusader, the glowing weapon enchant that nearly every melee character wanted.

What enchanting does

Enchanting is unusual among the crafting professions because most of its recipes don't make an item. An enchant is cast directly on a piece of gear and stays there until it is replaced by another enchant. Enchanters can enchant their own gear or a customer's through the trade window, where the customer's item is placed in the "will not be traded" slot. In Classic there were no scrolls, so the enchanter had to be present for every enchant, and big cities had enchanters advertising in trade chat at all hours.

Enchants exist for weapons, two-handed weapons, chest, cloak, bracers, gloves, boots and shields. Helm and leg bonuses came from other sources, such as reputation librams and Zul'Gurub idols.

Enchanters also make some items:

• Rods, like the [Runed Copper Rod], which serve as the profession's tool and must be in the bags. Each tier of enchants needs a better rod, ending with the [Runed Arcanite Rod].
• Wands, such as [Lesser Magic Wand] and [Greater Mystic Wand], cheap ranged weapons for casters.
• Weapon oils, notably [[forever:item:20749]] and [[forever:item:20748]], whose formulas are sold by Rin'wosho the Trader of the Zandalar Tribe. These oils were part of every raiding caster's consumables.
• [Enchanted Thorium Bar] and [Enchanted Leather], materials blacksmiths and leatherworkers need.

Disenchanting and materials

Disenchant destroys a green or better weapon or armor piece and gives magical materials: dust from most green items, essences and sometimes shards from greens, and shards from blue items. Epic items give a [[forever:item:20725]]. The level of the item decides which materials come out, from [Strange Dust] at the low end through [Soul Dust], [Vision Dust] and [Dream Dust] to [Illusion Dust], [Greater Eternal Essence] and [Large Brilliant Shard] at the top.

Because enchanting has no gathering partner, enchanters live off disenchanting. Many paired it with Tailoring, which makes a steady supply of green cloth items to break down. Raid enchanters also took the "disenchant" option on items nobody in the group needed, which turned spare gear into materials for the guild.

Trainers and skill ranks

Enchanting uses the four Classic ranks: Apprentice (to 75, level 5), Journeyman (to 150, level 10), Expert (to 225, level 20) and Artisan (to 300, level 35). Artisan training was harder to reach than for most professions. The three artisan trainers live outside the capitals:

• Kitta Firewind, at the top of the Tower of Azora in Elwynn Forest, for the Alliance.
• Hgarth, at Sun Rock Retreat in Stonetalon Mountains, for the Horde.
• Annora, a neutral trainer deep inside Uldaman. She appears only after the scorpids in her room are killed, so reaching her means a trip into a level 40 dungeon.

Leveling route in outline

Enchanting is one of the most expensive professions to level, because every point costs magical materials that could otherwise be sold.

1. 1 to 100: [Runed Copper Rod], then bracer enchants for minor health and stamina using Strange Dust, and [Lesser Magic Wand] using Lesser Magic Essences.
2. 100 to 155: The [Runed Silver Rod], bracer and cloak enchants using Soul Dust, and [Greater Mystic Wand].
3. 155 to 220: The [Runed Golden Rod], bracer and shield enchants using Vision Dust.
4. 220 to 265: The [Runed Truesilver Rod], and bracer, boot and cloak enchants using Dream Dust.
5. 265 to 300: Illusion Dust and Eternal Essences for the high-level bracer and cloak enchants, and finally the [Runed Arcanite Rod].

Each step needs the trainer's next tier of recipes and the right rod, so enchanters made frequent trips to the trainer.

Best-known enchants

Crusader was the default enchant for warriors, rogues, paladins and hunters in melee; its holy glow and the "Holy Strength" proc, Holy Strength, appeared on the screen in nearly every Classic raid. The formula's low drop chance made it one of the most valuable recipes an enchanter could own.

Other popular enchants included Enchant Chest - Greater Stats for +4 to all stats, Enchant Boots - Minor Speed for a small run speed bonus, Enchant Gloves -Greater Agility, Enchant Bracer - Superior Strength, and Enchant Weapon - Agility from the Timbermaw Hold vendor Meilosh.

Enchanting in the economy

Enchanters earned money through tips rather than sales. A customer brought materials, the enchanter cast the enchant, and the customer paid what the work was worth. Enchanters with rare formulas such as Crusader or Spell Power could charge a lot. The profession had no gathering partner, so many players leveled it beside Tailoring or another crafting profession and disenchanted what they made, while raiders often kept it because their guild needed one or two enchanters for every new weapon.

Sources

• Enchanting on Warcraft Wiki
• Annora on Warcraft Wiki