Blacksmithing on MoP Classic runs from 1 to 600 in five expansion stops, and the route is close to 950 buffered crafts once you count the stones and Folded Obsidium you make purely to feed later recipes. This guide gives you the bracket route, the craft count expected at each step, and one shopping list you can fill before you start swinging a hammer.

Every number here is computed from the MoP Classic client data, not estimated. Where the usual route sends you to a recipe you can't actually learn yet, or asks for far more (or far fewer) crafts than the math supports, that gets called out instead of smoothed over.

What you need

Blacksmithing is trained in ranks up to Zen Master at 525, same as every other primary profession, and you have to 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.

Unlike a profession such as Alchemy, Blacksmithing doesn't burn a consumable container like a vial. What it does burn is intermediate items you craft yourself: grinding stones, sharpening stones, and later Folded Obsidium all get reused as reagents in the recipes that come after them. The shopping list below counts those separately from the ore and bars, because you make them, you don't buy them.

How the craft counts work

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

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 of that, because expectation is an average and your run will not be exactly average. Some brackets below sit almost entirely in the guaranteed orange zone and barely need the buffer; others start right at yellow and the buffer matters a lot. Both are just what the math says, not a guess either way.

The route

Classic, 1 to 300

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
1-30	Rough Sharpening Stone	33	40	Rough Stone x40
30-75	Rough Grinding Stone	69	83	Rough Stone x166
75-80	Coarse Grinding Stone	6	8	Coarse Stone x16
80-110	Runed Copper Belt	30	36	Copper Bar x360
110-125	Rough Bronze Shoulders	15	18	Bronze Bar x90, Coarse Grinding Stone x18
125-135	Heavy Sharpening Stone	16	20	Heavy Stone x20
135-145	Heavy Grinding Stone	26	32	Heavy Stone x96
145-150	Patterned Bronze Bracers	5	6	Bronze Bar x30, Coarse Grinding Stone x12
150-160	Golden Skeleton Key	14	17	Gold Bar x17, Heavy Grinding Stone x17
160-165	Green Iron Leggings	5	6	Iron Bar x48, Heavy Grinding Stone x6, Green Dye x6
165-190	Green Iron Bracers	25	30	Iron Bar x180, Green Dye x30
190-200	Golden Scale Bracers	10	12	Steel Bar x60, Heavy Grinding Stone x24
200-207	Solid Grinding Stone	11	14	Solid Stone x56
207-210	Solid Sharpening Stone	19	23	Solid Stone x23
210-225	Heavy Mithril Gauntlet	15	18	Mithril Bar x108, Mageweave Cloth x72
225-235	Steel Plate Helm	10	12	Steel Bar x168, Citrine x12, Solid Grinding Stone x12
235-250	Mithril Coif	15	18	Mithril Bar x180, Mageweave Cloth x108
250-260	Dense Sharpening Stone	17	21	Dense Stone x21
260-275	Thorium Bracers	15	18	Thorium Bar x144
275-290	Imperial Plate Bracers	15	18	Thorium Bar x216
290-300	Thorium Boots	10	12	Thorium Bar x144, Rugged Leather x96

Outland, 300 to 375

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
300-305	Fel Weightstone	7	9	Fel Iron Bar x9, Netherweave Cloth x9
305-316	Fel Iron Plate Belt	11	14	Fel Iron Bar x56
316-321	Fel Iron Chain Gloves	5	6	Fel Iron Bar x30
321-325	Fel Iron Plate Boots	4	5	Fel Iron Bar x30
325-335	Lesser Rune of Warding	30	36	Adamantite Bar x36
335-340	Fel Iron Chain Tunic	8	10	Fel Iron Bar x90
340-350	Lesser Ward of Shielding	30	36	Adamantite Bar x36
350-360	Cobalt Boots	10	12	Cobalt Bar x48
360-371	Cobalt Triangle Shield	11	14	Cobalt Bar x56
371-375	Cobalt Legplates	4	5	Cobalt Bar x25

Northrend, 375 to 425

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
375-381	Cobalt Gauntlets	6	8	Cobalt Bar x40
381-385	Spiked Cobalt Boots	4	5	Cobalt Bar x35
385-391	Spiked Cobalt Shoulders	6	8	Cobalt Bar x56
391-396	Saronite Protector	5	6	Cobalt Bar x36, Saronite Bar x24
396-400	Brilliant Saronite Belt	4	5	Cobalt Bar x30, Saronite Bar x25
400-405	Horned Cobalt Helm	5	6	Cobalt Bar x48
405-416	Deadly Saronite Dirk	11	14	Saronite Bar x98, Crystallized Air x28
416-420	Tempered Saronite Gauntlets	4	5	Saronite Bar x70
420-425	Titanium Weapon Chain	5	6	Saronite Bar x12, Titanium Bar x6

Cataclysm, 425 to 500

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
425-455	Folded Obsidium	37	45	Obsidium Bar x90
455-459	Redsteel Bracers	4	5	Folded Obsidium x15
459-462	Stormforged Gauntlets	4	5	Folded Obsidium x30, Volatile Earth x40
462-470	Redsteel Belt	8	10	Folded Obsidium x40, Volatile Earth x10
470-475	Obsidium Bladespear	5	6	Folded Obsidium x72, Volatile Earth x60, Volatile Fire x24
475-480	Obsidium Skeleton Key	5	6	Folded Obsidium x12
480-489	Stormforged Legguards	9	11	Folded Obsidium x22, Elementium Bar x88
489-494	Fire-Etched Dagger	8	10	Elementium Bar x200, Volatile Earth x120, Volatile Fire x40
494-500	Stormforged Helm	6	8	Elementium Bar x160, Volatile Earth x64

Pandaria, 500 to 600

Skill	Craft	Expected crafts	Buy (+20%)	Materials
500-525	Ghost-Forged Bracers	25	30	Ghost Iron Bar x150
525-542	Ghost-Forged Belt	18	22	Ghost Iron Bar x154
542-552	Lightsteel Shield	11	14	Ghost Iron Bar x126
552-557	Spiritguard Shield	6	8	Ghost Iron Bar x72
557-567	Ghost-Forged Helm	11	14	Ghost Iron Bar x168
567-575	Ghost-Forged Shoulders	14	17	Ghost Iron Bar x119
575-590	Masterwork Ghost-Forged Shoulders	23	28	Ghost Iron Bar x196
590-600	Masterwork Ghost-Forged Helm	30	36	Ghost Iron Bar x432

Total shopping list

Buy the raw ore and bars once, then craft the grinding stones, sharpening stones, and Folded Obsidium as you reach them, since those are self-made reagents, not something you find on a vendor. Quantities include the 20 percent buffer.

Material	Total	Buy (+20%)
Ghost Iron Bar	1155	1417
Thorium Bar	420	504
Elementium Bar	352	448
Cobalt Bar	298	374
Copper Bar	300	360
Volatile Earth	234	294
Mithril Bar	240	288
Saronite Bar	183	229
Iron Bar	190	228
Steel Bar	190	228
Fel Iron Bar	172	215
Rough Stone	171	206
Folded Obsidium	156	191
Mageweave Cloth	150	180
Bronze Bar	100	120
Heavy Stone	94	116
Rugged Leather	80	96
Obsidium Bar	74	90
Solid Stone	63	79
Adamantite Bar	60	72
Volatile Fire	52	64
Heavy Grinding Stone	39	47
Green Dye	30	36
Coarse Grinding Stone	25	30
Crystallized Air	22	28
Dense Stone	17	21
Gold Bar	14	17
Coarse Stone	12	16
Citrine	10	12
Solid Grinding Stone	10	12
Netherweave Cloth	7	9
Titanium Bar	5	6

Ghost Iron Bar dominates the list by a wide margin, almost entirely from the last four Pandaria brackets, where the recipes sit close to their own gray point and the RNG math pushes the craft count up. Buy Ghost Iron Bar in bulk before you start that stretch.

Where this route disagrees with the usual advice

Coarse Sharpening Stone is not learnable at skill 70. The client data puts its minimum skill at 75, not lower, so a route that has you crafting it from 70 is asking for a recipe your trainer won't teach you yet. We ride Rough Grinding Stone to 75 instead, then move on.

The 75-110 stretch is one guaranteed recipe, not four. The usual advice hops between Coarse Sharpening Stone, Coarse Grinding Stone, Runed Copper Belt, and Silver Skeleton Key across that range. Runed Copper Belt is learnable at 80 and, in the client data, stays fully orange (guaranteed skill-up on every craft) all the way to 110. Once it unlocks there is no reason to keep gambling on shorter-window recipes, so our route rides Runed Copper Belt straight through, which is both simpler and mathematically cheaper.

Folded Obsidium needs far fewer crafts than the usual figure for the first 30 points. The published quantity for 425 to 455 implies something like 83 crafts. Our data shows this recipe is fully orange (guaranteed) from 425 to 450, and only enters its RNG window for the last 5 points, for an expected total of 37 crafts, 45 with the buffer. That's less than half the usual figure, because most of that bracket needs no luck at all.

Some late recipes need more crafts than a flat estimate suggests, not fewer. Stormforged Gauntlets at 459-462 sits deep in its own RNG window from the moment it's usable, with roughly a 1-in-4 to 1-in-3 chance of a skill-up per craft near the top of the bracket. The expectation for that tiny 3-point window is 4 crafts, 5 with the buffer, not the single craft a flat guess would assume.

Contender's Armor at 575-600 isn't a spell we can verify. It's a vendor-purchased recipe with no matching create-item entry in the client data, so we can't confirm its thresholds or reagents. We cut it and finished the climb on three recipes we could verify: Ghost-Forged Shoulders through 575, then Masterwork Ghost-Forged Shoulders and Masterwork Ghost-Forged Helm carrying you the rest of the way, both single-reagent Ghost Iron Bar recipes with confirmed windows.

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 thresholds, and each has its own guide.

Can I skip ahead if my Blacksmithing 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 isn't gray yet? Between yellow and gray, a skill-up is a chance, not a guarantee, and the chance shrinks the closer you get to gray. If you're stalled for a long run of crafts, first check that you aren't sitting on an untrained rank at 75, 150, 225, 300, 375, 450, or 525.

What do I do with all the grinding stones and Folded Obsidium? Keep them. They aren't vendor trash, they're reagents the later recipes in this same route consume directly. The shopping list counts them separately from raw ore for that reason.

Why does the Pandaria section need so much Ghost Iron Bar? The last four recipes in the route sit close to their own gray threshold for most of their bracket, so each craft has a lower chance of a skill-up and the expected count climbs. That's an honest reflection of the RNG, not padding.

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.