Horde Herbalism Leveling Guide
If you choose Herbalism as your profession you will be able to do more than just pick some pretty flowers from off the ground. If you have the Herbalism profession you will be granted an ability called “Lifeblood”. This ability is a unique HoT (Heal over Time) ability that you will be able to activate every 3 minutes. Lifeblood will grant you a certain percentage of your maximum health over 5 seconds.
But wait, that’s not all, Billy Mays wants you to know more about Herbalism! Added in Outlands, there are certain mobs that you will be able to Herbalize, so to speak, when they die. Using Herbalism on a mob works very similar to skinning, with the exception of not needing a skinning knife! Now that you know a bit more about Herbalism, time to get started with the guide!
As a Horde player, right after you pick up Herbalism you will want to head out into Durotar to get to work. Out here you will want to be collecting any Peacebloom and Silverleaf that you may stumble across. While roaming around Durotar you should stick to the northern sections. This is where I’ve always had the most luck when it comes to farming herbs.
The best place I’ve found to find Peacebloom and Silverleaf in Durotar is just off the eastern coast. Above this paragraph is a picture of the area I am talking about. Here I usually find 5 – 8 nodes of either Peacebloom or Silverleaf which aid me very well in skilling up. If you’re confused exactly to what the herbs look like or just for the sake of argument need to see a picture of them, below is a picture of both the herbs you will be farming.
TIP: If you’re new to the whole gathering profession thing then you will want to make sure you’re doing two things. One, make sure you have your Track Herbs turned on. You can find this ability under the main page of your Spellbook. Two, make sure to keep an eye on your mini map for the little sparkly-dots letting you know where the herbs are. You can find a picture of what I mean by this below.
As you level up your Herbalism in Durotar you will be able to start picking more of the herbs that you come across here. For example, once your skill reaches 15 you will be able to gather Earthroot, which is a herb most commonly found near rocks, hills or mountains. This herb will be more prone to give you a skill up than Peacebloom and Silverleaf since it requires a higher skill level to pick. For this reason, starting at skill level 15 you should start patrolling around the hills and mountains.
Earthroot
In all of Durotar there is only one other type of herb you can find and that is Mageroyal. Mageroyal requires you to have at least 50 points in Herbalism in order to gather it. What this means is pretty much by the time you are able to gather it you will already be wanting to leave Durotar and move on to The Barrens/Stonetalon.
In The Barrens there are five different locations you will want to focus on for raising your Herbalism. These locations include, Lushwater Oasis, The Stagnant Oasis, The Forgotten Pools, The Dry Hills, Takk’s Spawn Location. The first location you will want to visit and focus on is Takk’s Spawn Location, which is far to the northeast of The Barrens. Below is a picture of all 5 locations, Takk’s is the only blue circle in the top right of the picture.
Here you will find an abundance of Earthroot, Silverleaf and Peacebloom which will take your skill up to 60 when you will be able to pick Briarthorn. Once you’re able to pick Briarthorn you will want to head far west to The Dry Hills, which is the furthest west blue circle on the map. Here you will want to gather all the Briarthorn in the area as well as any other herbs before hitting all three of the Oasis’.
Briarthorn
You can keep this cycle up until you reach 100 with your Herbalism skill, than you will want to move on to Stonetalon Mountains. As far as Stonetalon goes, there is only really one good place for you to raise your Herbalism there and that is right on The Barrens/Stonetalon border. Below is a picture of this exact area.
TIP: At Takk’s Spawn Location you have a rare chance to not only find Takk, which is an elite that will drop a rare green item, but also his nest! Takk’s Nest drops a Leaping Hatchling which you can sell for upwards of 200g on the Auction House!
The area in Stonetalon for you to gather herbs is rather small but there are many, many herbs compacted into the area. Here you will find Briarthorn, Mageroyal and Bruiseweed, all of which you will be able to harvest right away. When your skill reaches 110 then you will be able to gather the Wild Steelbloom in the area. The final and hardest herb to pick in this area is Kingsblood. Kingsblood requires a skill of 125 in order to gather but will easily take you up to 150 which is when you’ll want to leave this small area.
Kingsblood
You’ll be able to clear this small area within 5 minutes and then you won’t have any more herbs to gather. There are two things you can do at this point. A, log on an alt for 5 minutes as you wait for respawns or B, go afk for 5 minutes as you wait for respawns. Or if you feel compelled to continue playing you can go back to The Barrens and gather Briarthorn for extra moolah.
Once your skill reaches 150 you will want to finally head out of Stonetalon Mountains and take the Zeppelin from Orgrimmar to Grom’Gol. STV will be your next big herbing place for awhile. When first entering STV you will want to hang out around the top-portion of it and only run around by rivers for Liferoot.
Liferoot
Liferoot will be the only herb that you’re able to gather in STV (aside from Kingsblood) with 150 skill. And since Liferoot can only be found around bodies of water, that is the reasoning for staying around the rivers and lakes. On the map below you will want to follow the red lines when you first arrive in STV and then branch off more into the blue circles when your skill gets to 160.
Starting at 160 you will be able to gather Fadeleaf which is an uncommon herb found in these parts but is rather valuable. From skill level 160 to 170 you’ll want to hug the rivers/bodies of water but also run more in-land for any Fadeleaf and Kingsblood that you see. You may also occasionally pass a Wild Steelbloom but they are much more rare in these parts.
Goldthorn
Starting at 170 skill you will be able to gather Goldthorn. Goldthorn is kind of uncommon in this area but not nearly as much as Wild Steelbloom. Goldthorn can be seen on the map above as the little yellow circles and dots. In your adventures around this area you will want to visit all of these places as much as possible to insure you get quick skill ups off the Goldthorn.
Khadgar's Whisker
You will want to farm the Goldthorn until your skill reaches 185. Once you’re at 185 you will be able to collect the last herb located in upper-STV and that is Khadgar’s Whisker. From this point on you will want to farm all the herbs you come across in STV until your skill reaches 200. Once your skill reaches 200 you will want to leave STV and head over to Swamp of Sorrows.
Fadeleaf
In Swamp of Sorrows you will be gathering Fadeleaf, Goldthorn, Khadgar’s Whisker and Liferoot until your skill reaches 235. Once you reach 235 you will be able to gather an herb called Blindweed. Blindweed is everywhere in Swamp of Sorrows and really doesn’t have a static “golden” spot as many other herbs do. Blindweed is great because it will take you all the way up to 300 which will help make your life so much easier.
Blindweed
TIP: If you ever get bored of Swamp of Sorrows, any time your skill is over 230 you can head just south into the Blasted Lands and gather the Firebloom, Sungrass and an occasional Gromsblood.
Now for the rest of Azeroth you won’t have to worry about switching zones. When you’re done here and your skill is 300 you will want to leave Swamp of Sorrows and head over to Hellfire Penninsula in The Outlands. Here you will want to gather any Felweed, Dreamfoil, Golden Sansam, Dreaming Glory and whatever else that you come across. Even if the herbs don’t give you a skill up I recommend gathering them since their value on the Auction House will be so high.
Felweed
At first you won’t be able to gather every single herb you fly (or run) over but eventually you will be able to. Rather quickly too I may add. Hellfire has quite a few herbs lying around and when you’re just starting out here every single one of them will give you a skill up. As far as specific places to go to farm for the herbs in Hellfire there really isn’t any. Your best bet is to just mount up and fly around aimlessly looking for any of the herbs that you can pick.
Although, I have found the area around Honor Hold to be a half way decent spot when it comes to gathering herbs. Around the Alliance town you will find many different types of herbs. I have good luck generally around Zeth’gor to the south of Honor Hold when I’m looking for some old-school herbs. The Ravine to the east of Honor Hold, where Alliance do their initial Outlands quests also has a few different herb-nodes throughout it.
Sadly, and oddly, many more than the Horde equivalent has. Another place you will want to hit up is The Great Fissure by Falcon Watch. In here I usually find a Dreamfoil or two and a Mountain Silversage. Sometimes I even stumble across a Golden Sansam mixed in with all of them.
The final place worth mentioning is The Pools of Aggonar. In here I usually find at least one Dreamfoil and 3 or 4 Felweed nodes when flying over. The slimes here that wonder around can be a pain in the ass if you’re looking for an un-interrupted herbing session since they always seem to patrol over the nodes. Either way, the Pools of Aggonar is definitely a place you will want to pass over in your patrol route.
Locations you will want to fly between in Hellfire
As times goes on and your skill goes up in The Outlands your possibilities increase on what you can do. Technically you could hang out in Hellfire until your skill is 375, even 400! Or if you need some variation you can switch up zones and go to Zangarmarsh, Terokkar or even Nagrand. If you want to switch zones, you should make sure your skill is at least 320 before going to Zangarmarsh, 325 before going to Terokkar and 330-345 before going to Nagrand.
As far as everyone goes, the option of where you want to go is totally up to you. In Terokkar Forest you will probably make the best money since you will be able to gather a ton of Terocone. Nagrand is kind of the “whatever” zone in the batch, you’ll get good money here and good skill ups. The upside to Nagrand is you won’t have to deal with a dark and gloomy zone.
In Zangarmarsh you can do one of two things. A; fly around and gather herbs up off the ground like any other zone or… B; kill the Withered Giants and Bog Lords in Northern/Western/Southern Zangarmarsh and Herbalize their corpses. The two places for this are The Dead Mire and The Spawning Glen. If you’re interested in learning more about any of these locations click here to follow the link.
As always, I love to give many different options for people that are using my guides. So, your newest option is when do you want to leave Outlands? You could technically farm Nagrand, Terokkar and even Hellfire until you reach 375 or even 400 with Herbalism. OR you can switch to Northrend the second you get to 350. The decision is entirely up to you and what you want to do.
Switching at 350: If you switch to Northrend at 350 skill you will want to hit up Howling Fjord and gather all the Goldclover you come across as well as any other herbs you can pick. These herbs will take you all the way to 400 where you will be able to switch to Dragonblight and easily cap out your gathering. If you’re curious of where you can find the most Goldclover in Howling Fjord, just look anywhere, you’ll find tons of it.
Raising Herbalism Past 400
If you switch to Northrend when you reach 400 skill that isn’t a problem either. The first zone you will want to go to when you reach 400 is western Dragonblight. Here you will find tons of Frozen Herbs which will easily take you up to 450. Dragonblight is a better choice than Zul’drak if you’re lower level and looking to raise your Herbalism or you just plain flat out don’t like Zul’drak.
Another option for gathering Frozen Herbs is northern Zul’drak. You will be able to find an abundance of Frozen Herbs here as well which, same as Dragonblight, will take you to 450 without a problem. Also while in Zul’drak you’ll find higher level herbs mixed in with the Frozen Herbs, rather than in Dragonblight where you’d find lower level herbs.
