Alchemy on MoP Classic runs from 1 to 600 in five stops, one per expansion, and the whole thing is roughly 610 crafts of mostly cheap herbs. This guide gives you the bracket route, the craft count expected at each step, and one shopping list you can fill in a single Auction House trip before you start.

Every number here is computed from the MoP Classic client data, not estimated. Where the route and the community consensus disagree, the disagreement is called out rather than smoothed over.

What you need

Alchemy is trained in four ranks up to Zen Master at 525, and you must visit a trainer to unlock each rank before your skill will move past it. The ranks land at 75, 150, 225, 300, 375, 450, 525. If your skill stalls dead on one of those numbers, you are not unlucky, you are untrained.

You also need vials, and you need more of them than anything else. The route below burns roughly 730 Crystal Vial across the full climb. Buy them from an alchemy supplier in stacks before you start, because running back to a vendor mid-route is the single biggest time sink in leveling this profession.

Herbalism on the same character pays for itself here, but it is not required. Every herb in the shopping list is a common Auction House commodity on progression realms.

How the craft counts work

A recipe is orange while your skill is below its yellow threshold, and every orange craft raises your skill. Between yellow and gray, each craft has a diminishing chance to give a point, and at gray it gives nothing.

The "expected crafts" column is the mathematical expectation for that bracket, computed from the recipe's real yellow and gray values in the client data. The "buy" column adds 20 percent on top, because expectation is an average and your run will not be average. If you end a bracket with leftovers, that is normal and intended.

The route

Classic, 1 to 300

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
1-58	Minor Healing Potion	58	70	Peacebloom x70, Silverleaf x70, Crystal Vial x70
58-105	Lesser Healing Potion	55	66	Minor Healing Potion x66, Briarthorn x66
105-110	Elixir of Wisdom	5	6	Mageroyal x6, Briarthorn x12, Crystal Vial x6
110-140	Healing Potion	31	38	Bruiseweed x38, Briarthorn x38, Crystal Vial x38
140-155	Lesser Mana Potion	17	21	Mageroyal x21, Stranglekelp x21, Crystal Vial x21
155-185	Greater Healing Potion	32	39	Liferoot x39, Kingsblood x39, Crystal Vial x39
185-205	Lesser Invisibility Potion	28	34	Fadeleaf x34, Wild Steelbloom x34, Crystal Vial x34
205-215	Greater Mana Potion	10	12	Khadgar's Whisker x12, Goldthorn x12, Crystal Vial x12
215-240	Superior Healing Potion	27	33	Sungrass x33, Khadgar's Whisker x33, Crystal Vial x33
240-250	Elixir of Greater Intellect	10	12	Blindweed x12, Khadgar's Whisker x12, Crystal Vial x12
250-270	Elixir of Detect Demon	21	26	Gromsblood x51, Crystal Vial x26
270-285	Elixir of the Sages	15	18	Dreamfoil x18, Sorrowmoss x36, Crystal Vial x18
285-295	Major Healing Potion	11	14	Golden Sansam x27, Mountain Silversage x14, Crystal Vial x14
295-300	Purification Potion	5	6	Icecap x12, Sorrowmoss x12, Crystal Vial x6

Outland, 300 to 375

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
300-315	Volatile Healing Potion	15	18	Golden Sansam x18, Felweed x18, Crystal Vial x18
315-330	Elixir of Healing Power	16	20	Golden Sansam x20, Dreaming Glory x20, Crystal Vial x20
330-340	Elixir of Draenic Wisdom	11	14	Felweed x14, Terocone x14, Crystal Vial x14
340-350	Super Mana Potion	10	12	Dreaming Glory x24, Felweed x12, Crystal Vial x12
350-360	Resurgent Healing Potion	10	12	Goldclover x24, Crystal Vial x12
360-365	Icy Mana Potion	5	6	Talandra's Rose x12, Crystal Vial x6
365-375	Spellpower Elixir	10	12	Goldclover x12, Tiger Lily x12, Crystal Vial x12

Northrend, 375 to 450

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
375-380	Pygmy Oil	5	6	Pygmy Suckerfish x6
380-385	Potion of Nightmares	5	6	Goldclover x6, Talandra's Rose x12, Crystal Vial x6
385-395	Elixir of Mighty Strength	12	15	Tiger Lily x29, Crystal Vial x15
395-400	Elixir of Mighty Agility	5	6	Goldclover x12, Adder's Tongue x12, Crystal Vial x6
400-415	Indestructible Potion	15	18	Icethorn x36, Crystal Vial x18
415-425	Runic Mana Potion	16	20	Lichbloom x39, Goldclover x20, Crystal Vial x20
425-450	Draught of War	29	35	Cinderbloom x35, Crystal Vial x35

Cataclysm, 450 to 525

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
450-455	Ghost Elixir	5	6	Cinderbloom x12, Crystal Vial x6
455-460	Deathblood Venom	5	6	Stormvine x12, Crystal Vial x6
460-465	Volcanic Potion	5	6	Cinderbloom x6, Azshara's Veil x6, Crystal Vial x6
465-475	Elixir of the Cobra	12	15	Azshara's Veil x15, Cinderbloom x15, Crystal Vial x15
475-480	Elixir of Deep Earth	5	6	Heartblossom x12, Crystal Vial x6
480-490	Elixir of Impossible Accuracy	12	15	Cinderbloom x15, Heartblossom x15, Crystal Vial x15
490-495	Golemblood Potion	5	6	Volatile Life x6, Heartblossom x6, Crystal Vial x6
495-500	Mythical Healing Potion	5	6	Twilight Jasmine x6, Crystal Vial x6
500-530	Alchemist's Rejuvenation	42	51	Crystal Vial x51, Green Tea Leaf x51

Pandaria, 525 to 600

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
545-575	Virmen's Bite	33	40	Crystal Vial x40, Green Tea Leaf x40, Snow Lily x40
575-600	Master Mana Potion	25	30	Crystal Vial x60, Snow Lily x30, Green Tea Leaf x30, Fool's Cap x30

Total shopping list

Buy this once and you can run the whole route without stopping. Quantities include the 20 percent buffer.

Material	Total	Buy (+20%)
Crystal Vial	608	730
Green Tea Leaf	100	120
Briarthorn	96	116
Cinderbloom	68	82
Goldclover	61	74
Peacebloom	58	70
Silverleaf	58	70
Snow Lily	58	70
Minor Healing Potion	55	66
Golden Sansam	53	64
Khadgar's Whisker	47	57
Gromsblood	42	51
Sorrowmoss	40	48
Felweed	36	44
Dreaming Glory	36	44
Tiger Lily	34	41
Liferoot	32	39
Kingsblood	32	39
Lichbloom	32	39
Bruiseweed	31	38
Icethorn	30	36
Fadeleaf	28	34
Wild Steelbloom	28	34
Sungrass	27	33
Heartblossom	27	33
Fool's Cap	25	30
Mageroyal	22	27
Talandra's Rose	20	24
Stranglekelp	17	21
Azshara's Veil	17	21
Dreamfoil	15	18
Mountain Silversage	11	14
Terocone	11	14
Goldthorn	10	12
Blindweed	10	12
Icecap	10	12
Adder's Tongue	10	12
Stormvine	10	12
Pygmy Suckerfish	5	6
Volatile Life	5	6
Twilight Jasmine	5	6

The vial count dominates everything else, which surprises most people the first time. Buy them in bulk.

Where this route disagrees with the usual advice

Two places, both in your favour.

The commonly published route sends you to Lesser Healing Potion at skill 58. The client data says that recipe is not learnable until 80, so starting it at 58 is not possible. Stay on Minor Healing Potion until 80, then switch.

The commonly published quantities also run consistently higher than ours, most visibly at Major Healing Potion where the usual figure is 14 crafts against our 11. That is padding, not disagreement about the mechanics. Our figure is the expectation and our buy column already carries the buffer, so you are covered either way.

One bracket in the standard route, the 530 to 545 stretch, is filled with discovery recipes rather than a fixed craft. Discoveries are random and cannot be planned, so this guide routes around that window with recipes that have known thresholds instead of asking you to hope.

FAQ

Does this work on any MoP Classic realm? Yes. The route is computed from the Mists of Pandaria progression client, so it applies to Mists of Pandaria progression realms. Classic Era and retail have different recipes and different caps, and each has its own guide.

Can I skip ahead if my Alchemy is already partly levelled? Yes. Find your current skill in the bracket tables, start there, and buy only the materials from that row down. The totals are additive.

Why do I keep failing to gain skill even though the recipe is not gray? Between yellow and gray, skill ups are a chance, not a guarantee, and the chance shrinks as you approach gray. If you are stuck for a long run of crafts, check that you are not sitting on a training rank at 75, 150, 225, 300, 375, 450, or 525.

Do I need Herbalism to level Alchemy? No. Every material in the shopping list is a commodity you can buy. Herbalism lowers your cost, it does not change the route.

What do I do with everything I craft? Most of it vendors for a little. Keep the Minor Healing Potions from the first bracket, because the second bracket consumes them as a reagent.

When this guide changes

This route is computed from MoP Classic client build 5.5.4.68806. If Blizzard adjusts recipe thresholds or adds recipes in a content patch, the brackets shift and this page is recomputed from the new client data. The material quantities are expectations from the current thresholds, so they move with them.