Inscription Leveling Guide 1 450 – WotLK

Inscription Leveling Guide 1-450 – WotLK

Table Of Contents
  1. Training Inscription
  2. Pigment Tiers
  3. Required Materials
  4. Leveling Inscription
  5. Endgame (Off-Hands, Master Inscriptions, and Darkmoon Cards)

Inscription is one of the most unique professions in WoW. Added in WotLK, Inscriptionists create glyphs, like Glyph of Circle of Healing, which enhance specific abilities or attributes for a character. In this way, Inscription is similar to Enchanting, but glyphs are not bound to your gear. Instead, they’re bound to your character, and broken up into Major and Minor categories, allowing them to be changed at any time. Glyphs are also not BoP, meaning they can be sold on the Auction House.

At higher levels, Inscriptionists are able to make powerful item enhancements like Master’s Inscription of the Pinnacle and Master’s Inscription of the Crag for several different stat combinations, making Inscription a worthwhile profession for all classes. It also produces Darkmoon Cards, which make up the decks necessary to obtain powerful Darkmoon Faire trinkets like Darkmoon Card: Illusion and Darkmoon Card: Death. At all levels, as well, Inscriptionists can create off-hand items, culminating in gear like the Faces of Doom.

To get the pigment necessary to craft Glyphs, Inscriptionists’s most important skill is Milling. Milling is the process of grounding up a stack of at least 5 of the same herb to collect the pigments. Because of this, Herbalism is the gathering profession most commonly paired with Inscription, but it is entirely possible to level to 450 by only purchasing herbs. Check below to find a list of pigments and what herbs create them.

Old World

Like all crafting professions, every major capital will have an Inscription trainer. Because Inscription was introduced after Patch 3.0, all of these trainers will be able to teach you the full way through Artisan.

Outland

After making your way to Outland, your Master Inscription trainer will be in your faction’s respective starting area. For Alliance questing at Honor Hold, you must find Michael Schwan.

Neferatti will train the Horde at Thrallmar. After reaching Shattrath, all players can also find either Recorder Lidio of The Aldor or Scribe Lanloer of The Scryers.

Northrend

Like Master trainers in Outland, you’ll be able to find your Grand Master Trainer as soon as you enter your first stronghold in Northrend. At Valiance Keep, Alliance players will need to find Tink Brightbolt; In Warsong Hold, Adelene Sunlance will teach the Horde. Once any player has access to Dalaran, they’ll be able to speak with Professor Pallin in The Scribes Sacellum within Magus Commerce Exchange. Arthur Denny at the Argent Tournament Grounds will do the same.

Because this is a power leveling guide, if you have access to Dalaran, Professor Pallin is the most recommended trainer. His shop is located near the AH for buying herbs and selling glyphs and has Jessica Sellers, who will exchange your ink for other types, inside.

Aside from the herbs milled to make Alabaster Pigment, each tier of pigment has a Common type and an Uncommon type. Certain groups of herbs all produce the same type of Common pigment, but some within those groups have a higher chance (50% vs a standard 25%) of making the Uncommon variety. Those that have the higher chance are noted in the list below.

While at times the Uncommon pigment type is necessary for recipes, it is possible to go through the Milling section of your crafting without entirely using the herbs with the highest chance of providing it.

Alabaster Pigment

Dusky Pigment and Verdant Pigment (Bruiseweed and Stranglekelp have higher chance)

Golden Pigment and Burnt Pigment (Liferoot and Kingsblood have higher chance)

Emerald Pigment and Indigo Pigment (Wintersbite and Khadgar’s Whisker have higher chance)

Violet Pigment and Ruby Pigment (Gromsblood, Blindweed, Ghost Mushroom have higher chance)

Silvery Pigment and Sapphire Pigment (Icecap, Plaguebloom, and Mountain Silversage have higher chance)

Nether Pigment and Ebon Pigment (Ancient Lichen, Mana Thistle, Nightmare Vine, and Netherbloom have higher chance)

Azure Pigment and Icy Pigment (Adder’s Tongue, Lichbloom, and Icethorn have the highest chances)

In addition to these pigments, you’ll need to purchase different types of Parchment from Inscription supply vendors to write the Glyphs and scrolls on.

As you level, there will be periods where you have a number of options for what Glyph to learn from your trainer next. During those times, there are no correct Glyphs to learn first, but what is important is only learning one at a time and crafting it until the glyph is no longer orange. These are marked below with “Glyph of… “, and all in the level ranges indicated will use the same materials.

1 – 19: Ivory Ink

19 – 35: Scroll of Stamina

35 – 53: Moonglow Ink

Once you’ve finished making your Ink, make sure to train Journeyman Inscription.

53 – 75: Armor Vellum

75 – 80: Midnight Ink

This recipe will become gray after 80, but you need to make 20x Midnight Ink.

80 – 100: Glyph of…

  • Use Midnight Ink to make different glyphs until you reach 100.

100 – 105: Lion’s Ink

You’ll need to make 50-60x Lion’s Ink.

105 – 120: Glyph of… 

  • Use Lion’s Ink to make different glyphs until you reach 120.

120 – 125: Glyph of Arcane Missiles, Glyph of Healing Touch, or Glyph of Mending.

After you’re done making the Glyphs you’ll be able to learn Expert Inscription.

125 – 133: Dawnstar Ink

  • Convert all Burnt Pigment collected during your milling into Dawnstar Ink.

133 – 141:  Strange Tarot

141 – 150: Glyph of Imp, Glyph of Lightning Bolt, Glyph of Sunder Armor

OR

125 – 140: Glyph of….

  • Use Lion’s Ink to make any Glyphs that are orange until you reach 140.

141 – 150: Glyph of Imp, Glyph of Lightning Bolt, Glyph of Sunder Armor

150 – 155: Jadefire Ink

  • Mill herbs until you have 20x Jadefire Ink.

155 – 175: Glyph of… 

  • Use Jadefire Ink to craft orange glyphs until you hit 175.

175 – 185: Royal Ink

Once you’ve done that, begin crafting Arcane Tarot to reach one 185.

185 – 190: Glyph of Sap or Glyph of Frost Shock

190 – 200: Glyph of Revenge or Glyph of Voidwalker

When you’re done writing these Glyphs, go train up to Artisan. 

200 – 205: Celestial Ink

Like the other inks, you’ll need to make quite a bit of Celestial Ink after it greys out. Craft 50x total.

205 – 210: Armor Vellum II

210 – 215: Glyph of Sinister Strike or Glyph of Smite

215 – 220: Glyph of Searing Pain or Glyph of Healing Stream Totem

220 – 225: Glyph of Starfire or Glyph of Barbaric Insults

225 – 228: Fiery Ink

You’ll need to make x12.

228 – 230: Scroll of Agility IV, Glyph of Disengage or Glyph of Ice Block

  • Use Celestial Ink to craft scrolls or glyphs until you reach 230.

230 – 235: Glyph of Dispel Magic or Glyph of Crusader Strike

235 – 247: Weapon Vellum II

247 – 250: Glyph of Cleaving, Glyph of Soulstone

250 – 255: Shimmering Ink

255 – 260: Scroll of Spirit V

You’ll make 25x of these.

260 – 275: Glyph of…

  • Make any orange glyphs until you reach 275. At this level, they’ll require 2 parchment instead of one.

275 – 285: Ink of the Sky

285 – 290: Glyph of Sprint, Glyph of Execution or Glyph of Death Grip

After these Glyphs, you’re ready to cross through the Dark Portal and become a Master.

290 – 305: Ethereal Ink

This will be your primary ink for TBC glyphs, so you’ll need to create quite a bit. In total, you’ll need 80x.

305 – 325: Glyph of…

  • Use Ethereal Ink to write any orange glyph until you reach 325.

325 – 330: Darkflame Ink

If you don’t have Ebon Pigment you can also:

325 – 330: Glyph of…

  • Continue using Ethereal Ink to make yellow glyphs until you reach 330.

330 – 345: Glyph of… 

  • Continue using Ethereal Ink to make orange glyphs until you reach 345.

345 – 350: Glyph of Whirlwind or Glyph of Vampiric Blood

  • Finish out your Ethereal Ink by writing either of these glyphs.

Once you’re done with this set of Glyphs, you can head to Northrend and train Grand Master Inscription.

350 – 355: Ink of the Sea

You need to make 95x of these in all.

355 – 360: Scroll of Spirit VII

360 – 365: Scroll of Intellect VII

365 – 370: Scroll of Strength VII

370 – 375: Scroll of Agility VII

375 – 380: Snowfall Ink

  • Convert all Icy Pigment you’ve milled into Snowfall Ink.

If you don’t have any Icy Pigment, continue making scrolls until you hit 380.

380 – 385: Glyph of…

385 – 386: Northrend Inscription Research

386 – 400: Glyph of… [Northrend Inscription Research]

  • Use Ink of the Sea to write 25 of any glyph you discover from your Research.

400 – 405: Scroll of Stamina VIII

405 – 410: Scroll of Spirit VIII

410 – 415: Scroll of Intellect VIII

415 – 420: Scroll of Strength VIII

420 – 430: Scroll of Agility VIII

430 – 450: Northrend Inscription Research and Glyph of…

  • For the remainder of your leveling, the quickest way to consistently level your skill is by regularly using Northrend Inscription Research and crafting the glyphs you discover.

Once you’ve researched and crafted enough glyphs, you’ll reach 450! Congratulations! Keep reading to find out about what Inscription can do once you’ve capped.

One of Inscription’s most prominent uses in Northrend is creating Darkmoon Card of the North. Collecting these cards is the first step in earning the Epic Darkmoon Faire trinkets like Darkmoon Card: Death and Darkmoon Card: Illusion. Once a player flips a card, it turns gains a number between 2 and 8 and a suit of either Undeath, Prisms, Nobles, or Chaos. After you’ve collected all 8 cards, you can combine them into a Deck, like Nobles Deck, that will start a quest which will award the trinket. None of the cards or decks are bound to you, so you can create and sell as many as you want. The decks and trinkets include:

Capped Inscriptionists can also use Snowfall Ink to create profession-specific, Master’s Inscriptions for shoulder armor. Like Enchants, these change your gear’s status to Soulbound. All classes can benefit from a Master’s Inscription, which are:

Finally, Inscriptionists are able to create Epic, pre-raid gear for Off-Hands. While leveling, there are a number of off-hands that can be created, but in Northrend, Faces of Doom and Iron-bound Tome are the most powerful. Each has use for different types of spell casting classes, so which is best for you depends on your build. Their stat increases are:

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