Herbalism

Is Herbalism worth taking?

Yes, and it is the strongest of the three gathering professions right now — because Alchemy gained 70 new recipes and four new raid flasks, and all of that demand lands on herbs.

It earns no Legacy Points. Only the six crafting professions do.

The camp object is Incense Candle at skill 20: 25 Intellect to everyone sitting nearby, the same as Arcane Intellect. Useful — but redundant if you have a Mage, and the two do not stack.

What it pairs with

Herbalism with Alchemy. Unchanged, and Alchemy has no other feed.

Worth flagging for a veteran: with Merchant's Favor able to buy recipes, and crates purchasable from the auction house, the Herbalism half of that pair is more optional than it used to be.

Levelling it

1. 1 → 50 — Peacebloom, Silverleaf, Earthroot. Barrens, Durotar, Tirisfal, Elwynn
2. 50 → 100 — Mageroyal, Briarthorn. Barrens, Ashenvale, Darkshore, Westfall
3. 100 → 150 — Bruiseweed, Wild Steelbloom, Kingsblood, Grave Moss, Stranglekelp. Wetlands, Barrens, Stonetalon, Ashenvale
4. 150 → 205 — Liferoot, Fadeleaf, Goldthorn, Khadgar's Whisker. Stranglethorn, Arathi, Alterac, Swamp of Sorrows
5. 205 → 230 — Firebloom, Purple Lotus, Arthas' Tears. Azshara, Tanaris, Western Plaguelands, Searing Gorge
6. 230 → 270 — Sungrass, Blindweed, Ghost Mushroom, Gromsblood, Golden Sansam
7. 270 → 300 — Dreamfoil, Mountain Silversage, Plaguebloom, Icecap

The skill-up curve is published: a herb gives a point every time for its first 25 points, then less and less, until it turns grey 100 points past its requirement.

This is the cheapest profession in the game to level. The only cost is travel.

What Forever changed

• All 28 herbs are unchanged and sit at their Classic thresholds. None is flagged as new.
• Six new herbs exist with no published node: Demonsage, Death Lotus, Marefoil, Stranglevine, Rosecap and Frilled Lichen. All are typed as herbs, and Death Lotus is a reagent in all four of Alchemy's new raid flasks. None appears in the gathering table. These are probably the "Scarce materials" that Bountiful Harvest boosts, but that is not confirmed.
• Tauren Cultivation was completely rewritten. Classic gave a passive +15 Herbalism skill. Forever gives an active: "Cultivate a nearby herb, growing a duplicate you can harvest without requiring Herbalism skill. Each herb may only be cultivated once." One-hour cooldown. It was then nerfed on September 24 to require a character level of the herb's skill divided by 5, and level 60 for anything above 300 skill. A veteran Tauren will be wrong about this twice over.
• Three camp objects, all new:

| Skill | Object | What it does |

| --- | --- | --- |

| 20 | Incense Candle | 25 Intellect nearby — exclusive with Arcane Intellect |

| 140 | Greenhouse | Blueprint. Grows herbs over time from planted seeds |

| 300 | Seed Hybridizer | Blueprint. Multiplies seeds, or combines them into rarer tiers |

• A seed economy now exists — and it is entirely undocumented. Both higher camp objects reference seeds and rarer tiers; no source, drop table or tier list has been published.
• Herbs now buy recipes. A real example: Waylaid Crate: Apprentice Herbs asks for 20 Peacebloom, 20 Silverleaf, 10 Earthroot, 10 Mageroyal or 10 Briarthorn. Vanilla's worthless starter herbs have a guaranteed buyer.
• There is no Herbalism specialisation. Claims about specialising into rare lotus or extra herbs per node are not in the client data.

What is not known

Where the six new herbs are gathered. What a "Scarce material" is. The entire seed system. Whether Find Herbs tracking changed at all. And node locations and respawns in Forever's own zones.