WotLK Mining Guide: Turbo-Boost Leveling from 1 to 450

Unlike other professions, mining requires you to mine ore nodes found in the game world to accumulate experience. This is a lot easier to level up as opposed to a profession that requires crafting recipes to gain experience, as you do not need to farm materials to follow along with this guide.

However, mining does include the smelting option, whereby you smelt ores into usable bars for other professions such as blacksmithing. It is entirely possible to level up mining without ever smelting, however, smelting can be done to maximize your efficiency whilst mining the ores you encounter.

Smelting requires you to be near a forge, which can be found near most mining trainers, especially those in large cities and faction outposts. The smelting skill can be learned from level 1, so it is recommended to pick it up whilst getting your initial mining training.

To reach max level in mining, you will require access to Northrend zones and subsequently Outland zones. Otherwise, you will not be able to mine the required ore deposit, or receive both master and grand master mining training.

General Mining Tips

• The mining profession gives you access to the Find Minerals ability, which highlights ore nodes on your mini-map. This makes it easier to find ores nearby.
• Additionally, you may choose to install the Zygor addon to provide optimum routes to follow as well as storing the locations of nodes you have already mined. An optimum mining route usually is a continuous route that doesn’t have an end, so that you can continue on the route until you reach the desired level.

Apprentice 1-75:

For this level bracket, you will want to stick to mining copper ore and towards the end of the bracket, tin. You may also choose to smelt these ore into Tin Bars and Copper Bars, to maximize leveling efficiency.

Copper Ore and Tin can be found in the following zones:

• Azuremyst Isle
• Dun Morogh
• Durotar
• Elwynn Forest
• Eversong Woods
• Mulgore
• Teldrassil
• Tirisfal Glades
• Darkshore
• Loch Modan

Towards the end of the bracket, the amount of experience gained for ore will diminish, and so at this stage, it might be smart to start smelting the ore you have accumulated for maximum experience gain. Do so until you reach level 75.

Journeyman 75-150:

For leveling from 75 to 150, you will need to transfer zones and start mining Copper, Tin, and Silver.

The recommended areas to farm these ore deposits are:

• The Barrens
• Redridge Mountains
• Hillsbrad Foothills

The Barrens is the best zone for this bracket, as the north is very Copper rich, which you will need to focus on at level 75 since the latter deposits require a higher level to successfully mine. Again, smelting these into usable bars can increase leveling efficiency and speed when mining these ores begin to diminish in experience return.

Expert 150-225:

When you reach 150, you will need to acquire expert training. At this stage, you will want to turn your focus to Iron deposits and Gold deposits. The best zones to farm these ores are as follows:

• Thousand Needles
• Arathi Highlands
• Desolace

Depending on where you farmed the ore in the previous section, you can choose which zone is easier to reach for you. Certain factions will also find certain zones easier and more accessible. For instance, Thousand Needles is a nice zone to move to if you finished Journeyman mining in The Barrens. However, The Barrens may be less favourable if you are an Alliance player, as it is a Horde zone.

This should help you to reach level 175, at which stage you can turn your focus to Mithril Deposit. Mithril Deposit is best found in the following zones:

• Tanaris
• Hinterlands

Continue mining and smelting until you reach 225.

Artisan 225-300:

At mining level 225, you can continue to farm Truesilver Deposit found in Tanaris and the Hinterlands until you reach 300. However, you may also choose to farm Thorium Deposit as well as Mithril and Truesilver. The best zones to mine for this bracket are:

• Felwood
• Blasted Lands
• Un’Goro Crater
• Silithus

At the end of this bracket, smelting becomes much faster than mining in terms of pure leveling speed. So make sure you smelt the ore you find in these zones towards the end of the bracket.

Additionally, you may choose to farm Rich Thorium Deposit past level 275, which can be found in the following zones:

• Un’Goro Crater
• Silithus
• Eastern Plaguelands
• Burning Steppes
• Winterspring

Master 300-350:

At level 300, you can begin farming Fel Iron Deposit in Hellfire Peninsula. Both factions can utilize this zone’s deposits, as it is a zone that is cross-faction and accessible to both.

Additionally, you can continue farming Fel Iron and then Adamtite Deposit from 325 onwards, in the following zones:

• Zangarmarsh
• Terokkar Forest

Grand Master 350-450:

Now you will want to turn your focus to Northrend zones. From 350-400, you will want to focus on Adamantite Deposit and Cobalt Deposit, which can be found in the following zones:

• Nagrand (in Outland, for Adamantite)
• Borean Tundra
• Howling Fjord

Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord also both feature a grand master mining trainer, so you can receive training and also smelt at the forge located nearby.

The best place to mine from 400-450 is Sholazar Basin, and for this zone, you will want to focus on Cobalt Deposit and Saronite Deposit which becomes mineable from level 400 onwards.

Mining these ores suddenly becomes quite lucrative in terms of gold, especially once smelted into usable bars. For this reason, you may choose to sell these materials at the auction house for extra gold income.

And that should bring you to level 450, finishing the leveling guide. You can now turn your focus to mining Titanium and Titansteel, which are endgame ores for this expansion and can be found in Icecrown, Sholazar Basin, and The Storm Peaks in Northrend.