New Player Tips -- Second to None

New Player Tips is a recurring feature in which we ask World of Warcraft veterans to share their thoughts and advice for new adventurers on a variety of in-game topics.

This week’s topic is: secondary professions for fun and profit.

The secondary professions in World of Warcraft (archaeology, cooking, first aid, and fishing) are available to characters who have a few levels under their belts. These are activities that many players might have in common; a level-19 gnome rogue and a level-75 draenei warrior might never cross paths otherwise, yet they could meet at the same fishing hole. A goblin priest and a tauren hunter may think they have little common ground before joining forces to complete a cooking quest. New players often wait before training and fully investing themselves into the primary professions, but the secondary professions can be embarked upon with fine results from the start.

While they offer immediate, tangible rewards, new players may find that taking up some or all of the secondary professions can be a challenge. Secondary professions require that a player dedicate time and effort in order to reap the rewards, and these benefits may not be immediately obvious to all characters. It might take a new player a long time to fully perceive all of the benefits of fishing, for example. While the most obvious benefit of fishing is the gathering of materials for cooking (which provides its own set of benefits), there are other gainful uses for caught fish. In many places, there are even items to catch other than fish.

This is where we turn to those of you who have done it all, or at least filleted it all and cooked it on a campfire in Hillsbrad Foothills. How do you think a new player can get the most fun and profit from the secondary professions?

If you were a new player starting today, how would you tackle the secondary professions? As a seasoned veteran, what tips would you give to help newcomers make the most of archaeology, cooking, first aid, and fishing?


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