Complete NPC crafting orders to gain knowledge points in The War Within

Dragonflight implemented a major rework of professions for players, adding quality tiers to materials and crafted goods, profession knowledge trees, and crafting orders. Love it or hate it, The War Within iterates on these changes, so the system is similar to what we had before, but with some refinements — such as Concentration replacing Inspiration. But perhaps the most exciting change is the addition of NPC crafting orders, which will help solve two of the largest criticisms of the Dragonflight profession revamp: the lack of crafting orders, and the absence of a knowledge catchup mechanism.

Crafting orders are a way for players to help out other players and maybe get a little income in the process. There’s just one problem: there are way more characters able to fulfill the crafting order than there are those submitting them. As a result many players gave up early on trying to complete crafting orders and instead relied on “personal” orders between their alts to complete any relevant quests. To alleviate this issue players will now receive personal orders from NPCs in The War Within. Like public orders, these orders will provide mats and may also have special rewards as part of the “tip”. They will also appear on a regular cadence similar to world quests, with new orders appearing on a biweekly basis.

The ability to actively partake in the crafting order system is a nice improvement, but there’s another aspect to it as well: the acquisition of crafting profession knowledge points will largely come from crafting orders in TWW — with Enchanting being the exception, as it will mostly gain knowledge via disenchanting. As a result players looking to unlock new recipes and increase their efficiency will want to be sure they’re checking their personal orders on a regular basis.

While some may be distressed about a crafting order “requirement,” this system will also be used as a way to do knowledge catchup later in the expansion. Players who take time off from their professions — or join the expansion late — will receive additional NPC orders as a catchup mechanism, and the complexity of the orders will decrease as well. Overall this change addresses two issues with the profession revamp, and most players should find their crafting experience improved by this change.