How to drop or change a profession, step by step
Changing a profession takes two steps. First you drop the old one, then you learn the new one from a trainer. The first step takes about ten seconds. The second can take weeks, depending on how high you want to level it.
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- Open your profession list. Classic used the Skills tab of the character panel. Forever runs on the modern client, so look for the profession panel or the profession entry in your spellbook.
- Select the primary profession you want to drop. Gathering skills like Herbalism, Mining and Skinning count as primary professions here, the same as crafting ones.
- Click Unlearn (or the abandon icon) and confirm. The confirmation is the last chance to back out. Once you accept, the skill and its recipes are gone.
- Go to a trainer for the new profession. Every capital has them. Learn the Apprentice rank and you start at skill 1.
| What happens when you unlearn | Kept or lost |
|---|---|
| Skill level (e.g. 225/300) | Lost, back to 0 |
| Trainer recipes | Lost, you have to buy them again |
| Drop, vendor and reputation recipes | Lost, you have to find or buy them again |
| Items you already crafted | Kept |
| Ability to build that profession's campsite objects | Lost until you relearn it and reach the required skill |
| Secondary skills (Cooking, First Aid, Fishing) | Untouched, because they don't use a primary slot |
| Gold cost to unlearn | None |
Fresh professionForever Profession Leveling 1–300For players who just switched and would rather not grind a new tradeskill from 1 alone. A vetted pro helps you level it while you quest.from 49 EURSee options Do you lose your recipes if you unlearn a profession in Forever?
Yes. When you unlearn a profession, every recipe in it is removed, including rare drop patterns and recipes bought with reputation. Relearning the profession later does not bring them back. You have to collect each one again.
This is the part that hurts most in Forever. Blizzard added 600+ new recipes, and advanced campsite gear comes from Blueprint recipes that drop from specific dungeon bosses. Throwing away a profession that holds a few Blueprints means farming those bosses again.
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No. You get two primary professions per character, and gathering skills fill those slots too. Cooking, First Aid and Fishing are secondary skills, so they don't count toward the limit and you never need to drop them to make room.
Forever gives you a few ways around the limit without switching. Per Wowhead, the Deadmines weapon Rockslicer lets you mine Copper, Tin, Silver and Iron nodes without Mining (30 charges). Tauren Cultivation grows bonus herbs without Herbalism. Mister Graphed in Powderfuse Port (Riverglades) sells some high-end reagents, such as Black Lotus and Arcane Crystal, at a fixed 50 gold each with no purchase limit.
Do you lose Legacy points when you unlearn a profession?
Blizzard hasn't said that unlearning takes away Legacy points, and Legacy Challenges work as one-time milestones. The Tradeskills category gives one point the first time each non-gathering primary profession reaches 150, 225 and 300, counted across your whole account.
That makes switching interesting for altoholics. A profession you have already taken to 300 has given you all three of its points. Your next character can take a different profession to collect three more, which is better than levelling the same one twice. Gathering professions are not part of these challenges. Their Legacy value comes from perks like Bountiful Harvest in the Professions tree.
When is it worth switching professions?
Switching is worth it when you start leveling or right before endgame, and rarely in between. Early on you lose almost nothing. Most players drop a gathering skill at 60 and pick up a crafting one for raid consumables or campsite buffs.
Gathering early pays for the crafting later. Skinning, Mining or Herbalism earns gold while you quest, and that gold covers the reagents when you switch to Blacksmithing, Alchemy or Leatherworking. After the November 6 hotfix, the Leatherworking Tanning Rack needs only skill 125, so getting to the first useful campsite object takes less time than it did on the beta.
Can you change professions on another character instead?
Each character has its own professions, so an alt can take a different pair without your main unlearning anything. Characters only trade with players on the same ruleset and faction. Put a crafting alt on the same ruleset and faction as your main, or its crafted gear can't reach your main.
Restocking after a switch
Plenty of players want the new profession but not the grind from 1. PewPewShop's vetted human players can help you level a Forever profession or farm its materials. Everything is done by hand, with no bots.
Frequently asked questions
How do you drop a profession in WoW: Forever?
Open your profession list, select the primary profession you want to drop, click Unlearn (or the abandon icon) and confirm. You don't need a trainer and it costs no gold. Your skill level and every recipe in that profession are removed at once, and the free slot can be filled by any trainer.
Can you get your profession skill back after unlearning it?
No. Unlearning resets the skill to zero and removes all recipes. If you learn the same profession again, you start at skill 1 and have to rebuy trainer recipes and find drop, vendor and reputation recipes again. Items you crafted before unlearning stay in your bags.
How many professions can you have in WoW: Forever?
Each character can have two primary professions. Gathering skills like Herbalism, Mining and Skinning use those slots too. Cooking, First Aid and Fishing are secondary skills, so you can learn them in addition to your two primaries without dropping anything.
Does unlearning a profession remove Legacy points?
Blizzard hasn't said it does. Tradeskill Legacy Challenges count the first time a non-gathering primary profession reaches 150, 225 and 300 across your account. A good plan is to give each character a different crafting profession, so every milestone they reach adds a new point.
What is the best profession to switch to at level 60 in Forever?
It depends on your role. Most raiders want a crafting profession that makes consumables or campsite buffs for their group, such as Alchemy, Blacksmithing or Leatherworking. Players who mainly want gold often keep two gathering professions. Switch once you have stockpiled the low-level materials for the new profession.
Do you need gold to change professions in WoW: Forever?
Unlearning is free. Learning the new profession and its recipes at the trainer costs gold, and that cost goes up with each rank. Leveling also needs materials. If you gathered or saved them before switching, the change is much cheaper.