Herbalism, Mining and Skinning level up faster than anything else in Legion and bring in gold every day. The main thing is knowing where everything grows and what the ranks are for.
Gathering ranks
Every resource has its own three ranks, and they are learned separately (from World Quests, from the trainer, from books off rare mobs).
- Rank 1 — plain gathering.
- Rank 2 — more resource per node and a chance at Blood of Sargeras.
- Rank 3 — more resource still and a higher chance at blood.
Until you have rank 2 on the main herbs and ore, your farming goes about twice as slowly as it could.
What is gathered where
| Resource | Profession | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Aethril | Herbalism | Azsuna |
| Dreamleaf | Herbalism | Val'sharah |
| Foxflower | Herbalism | Highmountain |
| Fjarnskaggl | Herbalism | Stormheim |
| Starlight Rose | Herbalism | Suramar, more rarely other zones |
| Felwort | Herbalism | Broken Shore, fel zones; requires skill 800 |
| Astral Glory | Herbalism | Argus |
| Leystone Ore | Mining | Every zone of the Broken Isles |
| Felslate | Mining | Caves and lowlands, Broken Shore, dungeons |
| Empyrium | Mining | Argus |
| Stonehide Leather | Skinning | Beasts of Highmountain and Stormheim |
| Stormscale | Skinning | Stormheim, scaled beasts and dragons |
| Felhide | Skinning | Demons, Broken Shore |
| Fiendish Leather | Skinning | Argus |
Where to farm in practice
- Herbs: run circuits through Suramar (Starlight Rose) and Val'sharah (Dreamleaf). Azsuna is convenient because Aethril grows along the coast in dense strips.
- Ore: Highmountain and Stormheim have the most Leystone nodes. Look for Felslate in caves, ravines and inside dungeons.
- Hides: Highmountain is wall-to-wall bears and moose. For demon hide it is easier to farm on the Broken Shore.
- Flying is a must: without it, gathering in Legion is almost pointless. If you haven't finished Pathfinder yet, take care of that first.
Blood of Sargeras
This is the main crafting resource of the expansion. It is soulbound and cannot be sold.
Where it comes from:
- gathering resources at rank 2 and above — the main stream;
- dungeon and raid bosses, disenchanting Legion items;
- World Quests, profession ones included.
What to do with the surplus: Ilnea Bloodthorn in Dalaran (by the blacksmiths' building) sells a stack of herbs, ore, leather, fish or meat for 1 blood. That is how spare blood turns into goods for the auction house.
How much it pays
- An hour of flying around Suramar and Val'sharah is usually several hundred herbs plus a dozen or two blood.
- Starlight Rose and Felwort are consistently the most expensive: they are needed for flasks.
- Felslate is worth more than Leystone Ore — it yields more gems when prospected.
Prices on a private server depend on the population and the economy, so look at your own auction house rather than someone else's guides. But the "rose is worth more than aethril" ratio holds almost everywhere.