Engineering

Engineering is a primary profession full of inventions: goggles that sharpen sight, powerful guns, robot pets, mechanical Mounts, Riding and Skyriding, odd trinkets and plenty of explosive junk. Its items help every class in PvE and PvP, and Hunters in particular use engineered guns and scopes.

To balance this, most engineering items need engineering skill to use, and many can misfire with funny results. Most schematics can be built anywhere once you have the materials.

Since patch 8.0.1 (2018) every expansion has its own skill bar with a small cap, instead of one long bar that covered all expansions together. Classic runs from 1 to 300; the newer bars are much shorter:

You learn the first schematics cheaply from trainers at a low level. More come from trainers, loot, quests, vendors or the Auction House; each has a minimum skill and some need reputation. Like other crafts, schematics fade from orange to gray as your skill rises.

• Many schematics need an extra item in your bags or equipped, such as an Arclight Spanner, a Blacksmith Hammer or a Gyromatic Micro-Adjustor.
• Anvils are needed too; they stand in most cities, the Lightforged Draenei racial can summon one, and high-level engineers can build Thermal Anvils.
• Gnome characters get +5 Engineering skill from their racial Engineering Specialization.

Mining supplies most materials for leveling and crafting. Skinning helps a little with the leather some recipes use, and Jewelcrafting works well alongside a mining character (see Gathering Professions).

At skill 200 you can join one of two schools, Gnomish or Goblin. The main differences are the teleporters and the effects of the trinkets; some items need a given school to use, others are made by one school but usable by both, and most recipes stay open to everyone.

• Gnomish teleporters: Gadgetzan in Tanaris and Toshley's Station in the Blade's Edge Mountains. Trinkets include the Gnomish Shrink Ray and Gnomish Battle Chicken; the mount is the Geosynchronous World Spinner.
• Goblin teleporters: Everlook in Winterspring and Area 52 in Netherstorm. Trinkets include the Goblin Rocket Launcher and Goblin Dragon Gun, plus explosives like the Goblin Sapper Charge; the mount is the Depleted-Kyparium Rocket.
• Every engineer, whatever the school, can make teleporters to several places in Northrend and Pandaria.

You may switch schools as often as you like: open the Professions window and click the red icon next to the specialization. The specialization NPCs are Roxxik in Orgrimmar for the Horde and Lilliam Sparkspindle in Stormwind City for the Alliance.

• Tinkers: special enchants that work alongside normal enchants. Glove tinkers usually raise your output; belt tinkers are utility effects that can sometimes backfire or fizzle.
• Cogwheels: engineers trade crafted goods for cogwheel gems that fit only certain engineering helms.
• Mounts: the Flying Machine and Turbo-Charged Flying Machine need engineering skill to learn and fly, and stop working if you drop the profession. The Mekgineer's Chopper / Mechano-Hog has an extra seat and can be sold to anyone.
• Goggles for the head slot, often with a unique look, and guns, some of which bind to the engineer who makes them.
• Handy devices: Jeeves (repairs for everyone, bank access for the engineer), MOLL-E (a portable mailbox), Blingtron 5000 (one free gift per day per account), Goblin Jumper Cables and the Gnomish Army Knife (chances to revive someone), and the Loot-A-Rang.