A recipe lists a set of required ingredients that can make or produce an item depending on a required profession or class and a required level. This can be in the form of an item (like a note, parchment or scroll) or given by a trainer. When in the form of an item, they are sometimes found (in limited supply) on vendors throughout the world,or as drops from mobs. In the game manuals, they are sometimes called blueprints.
Primary professions:
- Tailoring and Leatherworking recipes are scrolls called Patterns.
- Engineering recipes are scrolls called Schematics.
- Mining recipes are books. There is only two of them in the game, one referred to as a "guide" and the other a "study".
- Enchanting recipes are paper sheets called Formulas.
- Alchemy recipes are scrolls called Recipes.
- Blacksmithing recipes are scrolls called Plans.
- Jewelcrafting recipes are scrolls called Designs.
- Inscription recipes are books called [Book of Glyph Mastery] working a little different than most recipes. Each book may teach the scripe a random glyph chosen from 50 different kinds. There is also one book called "Technique" working like a common recipe.
Secondary professions:
- Cooking recipes are scrolls also called Recipes.
- Most First Aid recipes are books called Manuals, although one is a scroll called a Formula.
- Fishing once used recipes being books teaching the player higher levels of fishing, but as of patch 3.1, new levels are taught by trainers like in any other profession.
Recipe names are, to an extent, interchangeable. For example, it is not uncommon to see people referring to ANY recipe, be it jewelcrafting, alchemy, etc, as a "pattern", "plans", or "design".
Rarity of different recipes
Recipes often come in different colors (both picture and name), depending on their rarity. Although the system differs between different professions, a common rule is that recipes in white are "common" recipes that usually are bought from vendors, while any other colors are more uncommon recipes dropped by monsters or obtained from quests. Generally, the color of a recipe reflects the quality of the crafted item, and if the item is either unusual or powerful for its level, the recipe is often hard to obtain.
There are however several exceptions; some white cooking-recipes may for example be considered extremely rare even though they are bought for less than a gold from easily accessable vendors, or are rewards from simple low-level quests. This is because many cooking-recipes are only obtainable by players playing as a Horde-character and vice versa, thus only allowing the opposite faction to learn the recipe by selling it in the neutral auction house. Another phenomenon is rare recipes often selling for quite the price between players even though the crafted item may be next to useless; this is because many players devoted to their profession seek to complete it as much as possible, even with useless items. Before selling a recipe, players therefore should always check the market to see what people are willing to pay.
See also
- Category:World of Warcraft recipe items
- Category:World of Warcraft ingredient items