Guide to Blacksmithing Specializations in TBC Classic

At Blacksmithing skill 200 and character level 40, you can specialize in Armorsmithing or Weaponsmithing to craft powerful weapons or armors. This guide will show you the benefits of both specializations to help you choose between the two.

Guide Contents

  1. Armorsmith or Weaponsmith?
  2. Upgrading weapons and armors
  3. Armorsmith recipes
  4. Weaponsmith recipes
  5. Changing specialization

Armorsmith or Weaponsmith?

Most players should choose Weaponsmithing because the weapons crafted by Blacksmithing specializations are the best weapons you can get in Phase 1. But, the choice basically comes down to one simple question. Do you want an epic chest piece or an epic weapon?

Below you can find the list of recommended specializations for each class/spec:

  • Protection Paladin: Armorsmith is better because you almost always want a Spell Power weapon, so the weapons are not that good for you.
  • Retribution Paladin: Swordsmith if you PvE and Hammersmith if you PvP.
  • Enhancement Shaman: Hammersmith
  • Combat and Sub Rogue: Hammersmith
  • Protection Warrior: Swordsmith because there are better chest pieces for tanking. But you can't go wrong with Armorsmith either.
  • Fury Warrior: Hammersmith
  • Arms Warrior: Swordsmith if you PvE and Hammersmith if you PvP.

Specialization Quests

For information on how to become an Armorsmith or a Weaponsmith, please see my separate guides:

Armorsmith Quest Weaponsmith Quest

Upgrading weapons and armors

You can upgrade the weapons and armors crafted by Blacksmithing specializations into more powerful items. Every item crafted by a Blacksmithing specialization is Bind on Pickup, so you can't sell any of them.

  • Stage 1: Crafting the Stage 1 items requires many materials, but none of them are BoP, so if you have enough gold, you can craft these as soon as you hit Blacksmithing 350.
  • Stage 2: Upgrading items to Stage 2 requires Blacksmithing 375, and you will also have to farm Primal Nethers from the final boss of 5-man Heroic Dungeons. (100% drop in Heroic, low chance in Normal)
  • Stage 3: Upgrading items to this stage requires Nether Vortex from Serpentshrine Cavern or Tempest Keep. These raids won't be available in Phase 1 at launch, so you can only craft the Stage 3 weapons in Phase 2.

Armorsmith recipes

Plate Mail

Weaponsmith recipes

Axesmith Hammersmith Swordsmith
Two-Handed One-Handed Two-Handed One-Handed Two-Handed One-Handed

Changing Blacksmithing Specialization

One of the new additions to Burning Crusade Classic is that you can switch your Blacksmithing specialization without dropping Blacksmithing. To cost of changing a specialization is 100 Gold for level 70 players and 50 gold for level 60 players.

To change your specialization, you must first talk to the trainer that originally taught your current specialization to unlearn it. If you are swapping from Weaponsmithing to Armorsmithing, you must unlearn both the weapon sub-specialization and weaponsmithing.

List of trainers:

Once you dropped a specialty, you could then choose a new specialty for no cost. You don't need to complete the quests for the other specialty if you wish to switch.