The Guide to World of Warcraft Mining

When you start playing WoW chances are you have no idea how the rich players are so rich and no one to show you how to get as rich as them. In this guide I'm going to reveal some secrets to help you achieve much more than you currently are.

You won't be able to start learning the mining profession until you reach level 5 in World of Warcraft. As a newbie over your first 5 levels it's a good idea to try to save a little money - you can then use this to get started in mining as soon as you reach level 5.

Once you are ready to leave the newbie area you will be ready to train your mining. Simply ask a guard where a mining trainer is and they will point you in the right direction. Find the trainer and purchase the skill then look nearby for a mining or blacksmithing supplier. You will purchase a mining pick from them. The mining pick is the only tool that you will ever need as a miner.

An easy trap to fall into is to select Blacksmithing, Engineering or Jewecrafting as your second profession. Before you make this mistake, I advise you to choose skinning. Skinning is preferable to Herbalism (the other good candidate) because the Herbalism profession requires that you track herbs. Only being able to track one thing at a time will limit your income potential - so pick Skinning.

Ok, time to head out and start using your new mining profession. Because you're still a low level newbie you will start in copper fields. Head to one of the small yellow dots on your mini-map (this is a mineral deposit). As you start mining you should expect to fail from time to time, this is fine and will happen less and less as your experience increases. To get your first increase in experience, take 2 stacks of copper and smelt them in the forge.

Now that you are starting to get some metal bars you can take them to the auction house and sell them. Check to see what others are charging for the same item and then either meet their price or undercut it by a few percent and you will be making gold in no time.

Every zone follows these same principles. As you get to more advanced zones you'll mine higher quality metals. Repeat the process of smelting them in the forge and then selling them in the AH. From time to time you'll come across a gem when mining. Sell these in the AH as well for an extra little bonus.

If you chose skinning as your other profession you should also be making some good money with that as well. Combining these two income streams together is very effective. The basic methods mentioned above are a good way to start out mining and ensure you always have some gold.