Professions got a complete overhaul in Dragonflight and introduced a lot of welcome changes for players looking to develop their skills and make some gold. Mining is one of the most popular gathering professions for both competitive and casual players alike.
If you’re looking to max out Mining quickly in World of Warcraft, I’ve got you covered. I’ve pulled together a guide on everything you need to know about Dragonflight Mining, including where to learn it, how to level up quickly, and which specialization to pick up.
Here’s how to level Mining quickly in Dragonflight, with tips on where to go and what to look out for in order to make the process as speedy as possible.
Where to Learn Dragonflight Mining
Before you start trying to level up Mining in Dragonflight, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve learned Dragon Isles Mining first.
Unlike other expansions where you would have been able to mine ore without the correct Mining type learnt (simply giving you ore and no Skill Points) Dragonflight requires that you pick up Dragon Isles Mining before setting out on your run.
There are a few trainers in The Dragon Isles, but the easiest one to get to is Grun Ashbeard.
Grun can be found in the Wingrest Embassy, which is one of the first zones that you’ll be able to visit when you go to the Dragon Isles for the first time. Pick up Dragon Isles Mining from him, and you’ll be good to go.
I’d recommend having a look at the Dragonflight Mining journal before you set out, as it contains a few hints on where to look for specific kinds of ore. It also has information about the different Mining specializations, but we’ll dive into that in more depth later.
How to Level Up Mining in Dragonflight
There are two main ores that you can mine in Dragonflight, along with a rare third type. The main two are Serevite and Draconium, and the additional is Khaz’gorite.
There are different ores that you’ll need to focus on at different points during the leveling process. Serevite only gives Skill Points up to Mining level 50, and the other two give Skill Points all the way up to level 100.
In a similar style to the Herbalism profession, Mining nodes have different modifiers that affect how you can interact with them and what reagents you can get. The modifiers to watch out for with Mining include:
- Hardened. Hardened nodes will take a little longer to mine than regular ones. They can reward you with Rousing Earth, and are a type of Elemental node.
- Molten. Molten nodes are also considered Elemental nodes, and can be a bit of a pain to pick up. They’re often found near fire or lava, and will inflict you with a DoT called Smouldering Ore, which applies Fire damage over 20 seconds. You can put it out with a defensive purifying spell or by jumping in water.
- Rich. Rich nodes are just regular nodes that contain more reagents and are slightly bigger than the standard ones. They will reward you with more ore than a regular node, but no secondary items or crafting materials.
- Primal. Primal is an Elemental node type that can reward you with Rousing Earth or Rousing Fire when you interact with it. There is a Primal node sub-specialization that can give miners a boost to their offensive moves, called Explosive Elements.
- Titan-Touched. Titan-Touched nodes are some of the most rewarding Elemental nodes to track down. They give you the ability Enlightened Potential when gathering which increases speed by 15% and can also reward you with Rousing Order, too. Titan-Touched specialists can get a 3% secondary profession stat boost, too.
- Infurious. This Elemental node type can only be found with War Mode on. Gathering it will reward you with Rousing Ire, and it can also give you the Fury of Battle buff which gives you the chance to get extra Rousing Ire when killing an enemy player.
While Serevite stops giving Skill Points past level 50, modified nodes will give Skill Points at all levels. This means that if you find a Titan-Touched Serevite node at level 51, it’s still worth gathering as you’ll still be able to level up with it.
If you’re hoping to level up another profession like Engineering, Blacksmithing or Jewelcrafting while leveling Mining up, keep hold of the materials that you gather. They can all be found on the Auction House, of course, but they’ll cost a considerable sum.
To start your leveling process off, I’d recommend going in a loop in The Waking Shores between the cliffs and rocky areas. I found these to be awash with Serevite nodes and came across a decent amount of Rock Walls and modified nodes, too.
Follow a looping pattern in The Waking Shores until you hit Mining level 50. If you find going in a loop to be boring, make sure to check out the coastline and the cliffs between zones as these can also have useful nodes and items.
Once you’ve leveled your Mining skill up to level 50, I’d suggest following the cliff lines and rocky areas in between zones to get from levels 50 to 100. You’ll have the best luck finding modified ore nodes in rocky and cavernous areas, or by water or lava sources.
This is the route I followed when taking my Mining from level 50 to level 100.
While it would be possible to level 50-100 in just one zone (for example, there’s plenty of rocky locations and caves in the Ohn’ahran Plains) I find it much more fun and productive to have a larger route that keeps me constantly moving.
If you want a route that requires less movement, though, try following this path throughout the Plains to level up your Mining from 50-100 quickly.
Whichever route you decide to take, make sure to focus on only the modified ore nodes in order to level up quickly. If you’re trying to make gold or level up crafting professions with this leveling run it’s still worth getting the other nodes, of course, but if you’re purely focusing on getting from 1-100 quickly then it’s not a priority.
I’d suggest keeping your eyes open for Dragonriding Glyphs as you go if you haven’t maxed those out yet, too. Your Dragonriding mount is going to be very valuable while you’re leveling Mining, and having extra Vigor or abilities can make all the difference.
How to Pick a Mining Specialization
As with the other professions in World of Warcraft, you’ll gather Knowledge as you level up and will need to pick a Mining specialization. There are three to pick from, and they each come with unique abilities and perks.
It’s important to note that, at the time of writing, any choices you make with your profession specs and abilities will be permanent. You do get to pick a spec at levels 25, 50, and 100 respectively, but you won’t be able to undo any changes that you make.
There are sub-specializations to consider for each profession spec, and it’s worth spending some time looking at the different abilities that they have before you commit.
The three Mining specs that you can pick from are:
- Mining Process. This spec focuses on improving efficiency and finding different Mining opportunities. The three sub-specializations that it has are:
- Surveying. This can help you find extra deposits and rare materials. For example, you can find Illimited Diamonds when you mine a Rich node.
- Sorting. This increases your Finesse, allowing you to get more ore from the nodes that you mine.
- Industrialization. This spec focuses on increasing Deftness. This allows you to gather more quickly and can also reward you with gems, which are useful if you’re trying to level Jewelcrafting.
- Metallurgy. This spec focuses on increasing your skill with different metals and it can help you refine ores too. You can specialize in Serevite or Draconium, with both increasing your stats while interacting with the respective node. The former can reward you with gems and the latter with Rousing Essences.
- Mastering the Elements. This spec allows you to get extra Skill Points from Elemental nodes, can reward you with more Rousing Essences, and it gives you the Overload Elemental Deposit ability too. You can specialize in any of the Elemental node types (except Infurious) and improve your ability to mine them.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to pick up every specialization at some point during your Mining journey. It’s worth picking up Mining Process as your first spec from my experience, as the ability to mine more efficiently and get more materials is useful.
How to Open Rock Walls in Dragonflight
As you’re working on maxing out your Mining in Dragonflight, it’s likely that you’ll come across Rock Walls while going around the map. They’re easy to open and are worth checking out if you spot one on your mini map.
When you see a Rock Wall come up, you can fly to it and mine it like a regular ore node. This will knock down the rocks and allow you into the cave, which can often contain useful items and even treasures in some cases.
I’ve found some great ores, some herb nodes, and even treasures with items like rare Battle Pets in Rock Wall caverns before.
To save yourself time, make sure to look on the mini map and check whether there are any ore nodes showing up very close to the Rock Wall. If not, it’s possible that the cave will just be empty. This caught me out a fair few times and managed to waste time on my leveling run, so double check before you fly over.
How to Mine While Mounted in Dragonflight
If you’ve tried leveling a gathering profession in Dragonflight before, you’ll know that one of the things that can take the most time is mounting and dismounting when picking up a node. It’s a small detail, but can be frustrating regardless.
Luckily, it’s possible to mine ore nodes while on your Dragonriding mount in The Dragon Isles. All it requires is a careful selection in your Mining spec trees.
To start, you’ll need to gather up 35 Knowledge Points. These are easy enough to come across while following the standard speed leveling routes shown above, and it shouldn’t take you too long to rack these up.
Make sure to keep an eye out for new ore nodes, Knowledge boosting items, and modified nodes. These will help you gain Knowledge more efficiently and make this process a lot quicker for you.
Once you’ve got them, make sure you’re at least level 25 in Mining. Then pick the Mining Process specialization and spend all 35 of your points here, maxing out the first Mining Process ability. This will give you the ability to mine nodes without ever getting off your Dragonriding mount.
What to Do After Leveling Up Mining
Once you’ve maxed out Mining in Dragonflight, I’d recommend having a look at your secondary profession. Mining is often paired with Blacksmithing or Jewelcrafting, as the reagents from Mining are incredibly useful for these two crafting professions.
If you’ve got any leftover reagents and materials from your journey, make sure to head to the Auction House and see whether you can make any gold with them. Crafting materials go for a lot of gold in most cases, but make sure to check the prices on your server first.
