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Is engineering actually worth it?!Follow

#1 Jan 05 2007 at 7:03 PM Rating: Decent
Hi,

I was encouraged to switch my main character from leatherworker / skinner to miner / engineer.

Having reached 170+ in engineering, I have made very little of any use! As a warrior, my character can deal out much more damage than any of the explosives I can make, and she can't really use the guns to their best advantage. I have made a few guns for my hunter alt, but that's about it. Overall it would have been cheaper to buy the guns from the AH.

I now realise that I should have started a character with two harvesting skills - as I have with my hunter.

What I would like to know is...is it actually worth staying an engineer? I can't really make anything I can sell on the AH, as only other engineers can use it - and they can usually make it already!

I'm seriously considering writing off the losses of learning my current skill, and switching back to skinning. Maybe later on I'll start blacksmithing.

Any comments?
#2 Jan 06 2007 at 5:34 AM Rating: Decent
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351 posts
Goblin Jumper Cables XL..

Res that dead priest/pal (although it's better that a hunter can equip these and FD in a wipe)
#3 Jan 07 2007 at 10:21 AM Rating: Decent
As you're leveling up the skill, you'll probably find very little items of use; I know that when I was working my way up, all of the useful recipes were too expensive to craft.

Once you hit the higher levels, two really great recipes become available:
1. The teleporter and
2. Either the Gnomish Death Ray or the Jumper Cables XL.

Personally I think the jumper cables are much more useful, but I specced for the Death Ray anyway ;)

What it comes down to is that when you're lv 60 and a 300 engineer, you will have tools available to you in PvP that only other engineers have. NOBODY expects a thorium grenade to be thrown in their face in the middle of a fight, and it can really turn the tables.
#4 Jan 07 2007 at 7:56 PM Rating: Decent
Engineering is just plain fun (it's a game after all). I love my parachute cloak and my deepdive helmet. I get a lot of comments on my Goblin Rocket Helm. Believe it or not, the Advanced Target Dummy has saved me more than once, and I love my mage being able to rez occationally with his Goblin Jumper Cables XL. Eventually I want to get the repair bot.

I will say that the combat pets have gotten me killed more than they have helped (kind of like unleashing that combat yeti from the quest). They take off for mobs at their own discretion.

I have an alt for gathering, one for alchemy, and a couple of engineers (on goblin, one gnomish) for fun.
#5 Jan 08 2007 at 6:11 AM Rating: Good
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761 posts
Ikaheimo wrote:
I can't really make anything I can sell on the AH, as only other engineers can use it - and they can usually make it already!


Look again.

First, you can make a number of items which are used in quests. For example Advanced Target Dummy is used in Gizmo for Warug, Gyrochronatom is used in Gyro... What? and Delicate Arcanite Converter is used in The Ectoplasmic Distiller. In my experience (your server may differ) the Gyrochronatom is a steady seller as it's for a levelling quest. The DAC is probably hard to sell today, but a while back you could make 20 gold just buying the mats off the AH and selling the DAC to people working on the tier 0.5 upgrade quest. Thorium Widget deserves a special mention - not only is it used for repeatable Darkmoon Faire hand-ins (and thus a great seller every time the Faire event is active) but it's also a key component for Dire Maul Tribute runs (so steady demand from non-engineers).

Second, not all engineers have access to uncommon engineering schematics. Most notably players may take Engineering for PvP and want Hyper-Radiant Flame Reflector and Ultra-Flash Shadow Reflector right away without the hassle of farming Stratholme and UBRS for schematic drops. There are also lower level Flame Deflector, Ice Deflector and Discombobulator Ray which can be surprisingly useful and as consumables are good for repeat business (whereas Reflectors are a single high value sale per customer). The Major Recombobulator is popular with some in group PvP as it removes Polymorph and again not everybody wants to farm Dire Maul for the schematics.

Third, don't overlook the profit potential in selling components for engineering. Probably the most popular option here is Fused Wiring which sells for around 5g and can be looted from expired Target Dummies.

Finally you may want to look at vanity pets and 'fun' items. Specifically Mechanical Squirrel and Steam Tonk Controller sell quite well and are easily marketed by simply using them in busy areas. Quite a few people are collectors and want to have every pet available. Again these items do not require Engineering to use.
#6 Jan 08 2007 at 7:35 AM Rating: Good
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4,877 posts
Great job Morthandeus, you got almost everything I can think of(rate up for you)

When I swiched form alliace to horde My first toon was a engineering, I payed for my level 40 mount by selling deadly blunderbuss(horde only quest), and at least 30% of my epic mount came from selling scopes.

(To Me)Almost everythign in WoW is more important than money. Do you know where all the money in the game came form? Mobs, Yup Mobs and quests. That means you can always get more by killing mobs and doing quests, Engineering provides you with more than you can get by killing a mob. A leatherworker can make some lack luster(unless you need FR) armor that is eazaly replaced by killing mobs. Doubble gathering can get you money, but so can killing mobs.... my point is that this is the one trade that can give you things that make the game fun. It dose not hurt that a player who is willing to take some time,and do some homework, is able to make a decent wage by doing research.

Apeal to the lazy man, Morthandeus mentioned the discombobulator ray, we all love them but how meny folks know how to make them? a level 60 can run though Gnomer and get it solo and if you are on a PvP server, they usualy sell well.
#7 Jan 08 2007 at 7:40 AM Rating: Decent
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638 posts
Second what Morthandeus said. It won't make money for you the way a gathering profession will, but there can be a steady source of income from consumables and quest items, which there seem to be a lot of in engineering. Most hunters wouldn't object to a scope, although you may need to use the trade channel to move them, bronze tubes sell slowly but regularly for a quest in Duskwood (that was my first engineering money-maker), EZ-thro dynamite is nice for everybody to have for that little extra kick of AoE damage, Mithril casings are used for a quest in Un'Goro crater to repair a mechanical ape, unstable triggers are used in large quantities for a quest in the Eastern Plaguelands, the higher level crafted guns and scopes are in high demand (there are a couple of dark iron ones that I see a lot of hunters calling for in the trade channel), and REPAIR BOTS! Raids love those things. These are in addition to the ones mentioned by Morthandeus. And keeping a stack or two of the highest crafted ammo you can make or use to hand to a hunter at the beginning of an instance run could make you friends as well as build you a market. If you are in a guild, there is a constant demand for ammo and scopes as people level and upgrade their gear. And whatever the best target dummy you can make is great for when the biological residue hits the wind generator and you need to *gulp* run away!
#8 Jan 08 2007 at 7:18 PM Rating: Decent
ill stand by engineering. any other trade people without it can use the fruits of. anyone can use an alchemists pots. as long as your trained to use the wepon you can use what blacksmiths make. but the fact that only engineers can use so much of what they make is awesome
i switched from skinning and mining to mining and engineering on my warrio inhis 20s. i ieeadiatly loved the dummies. before id have trouble dealing with 2 mobs each maybe a lvl below me (maybe i was doing something wrong i dont know) but with dummies i could take on 2 that were a lvl, maybe 2 higher than me. and i have no doubt if your partying dropping one as you get ganged would buy the team time to bail and stop a wipe.
and the explosives, my engineering is like 170 and heavy dinamite, is the highest ive made, but my melle is a fraction of that. more then that, it gives my warrior some solid AoE damage

also something i recently found, i dont know if its common knowledge but for find skills, like for miners and herbalists, it enhances the find skills range in whatever direction you are useing the spyglass to look in

and i only dream of the day i get a repair bot. ive done instance runs (this is still back at like 30) when the party wipes a few times, and my armor is about gone, and i have to deal with summoning sickness so i can go to town and reapair
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