Herbalism is a gathering profession: you harvest plants growing in the open world and level simply by picking them. Alchemy is the main buyer, First Aid now needs herbs for healing potions, and several other Forever recipes use them too, so a full bag always finds a taker on the Auction House.
Beta build: skill requirements below are read from the beta client. Spawn zones for the higher herbs follow their Classic locations and still have to be confirmed once the level cap rises.
Gold while leveling: it costs nothing to start, and you walk past herbs on every quest route from level 1 to 60.
Good partners: Alchemy if you want to use the herbs yourself, or Mining for a second income. The minimap tracks one resource type at a time, so a double gatherer keeps switching between Find Herbs and Find Minerals.
Race: the Tauren racial Cultivation was reworked. Instead of a flat skill bonus it now duplicates a nearby herb.
Classes: anyone can gather. Druids slip past enemies with Travel Form and Prowl, Hunters and Warlocks let a pet hold the monster while they pick, and a Hunter can Feign Death afterwards.
Camp items: the Incense Candle (skill 20) adds an Intellect buff to a campfire, a weaker Arcane Intellect that does not stack with the real one.
Where to Learn Herbalism
Rank
Skill cap
Requirement
Trainer fee
Apprentice
75
None
10 copper
Journeyman
150
Skill 50
5 silver
Expert
225
Skill 125, level 10
50 silver
Artisan
300
Skill 200, level 25
5 gold
In the starting areas, an early quest also lets you choose Wild Harvest as its reward, which teaches Apprentice Herbalism on the spot. Click a waypoint to copy it, then paste it in chat (TomTom-style /way).
A fresh herbalist can pick Peacebloom and Silverleaf, and Earthroot from skill 15. Any starting zone will do: Forever even seeded the very first areas, such as Northshire, with Wilted Peacebloom and Stunted Silverleaf. Move on when the herbs around you turn green, and remember that Stranglekelp only grows under water.
Un'Goro Crater, Western and Eastern Plaguelands, Winterspring
The number after a herb is the skill needed to pick it in the beta client. Rows above 225 could not be walked under the beta level cap.
Gathering Tips & Boosts
Herbalism needs no tool. Switch on Find Herbs, walk to a plant on the minimap and interact with it, provided your skill is high enough.
Herbalist's Gloves and Enchant Gloves - Advanced Herbalism each add 5 skill and stack to +10. The gloves are leather, the enchant goes on any pair.
Goldthorn Tea, a Cooking recipe, grants a temporary +15 Herbalism in Forever.
A bonus lets you pick a herb before you reach its requirement: with +10, Goldthorn opens at 160 instead of 170.
New in Forever
Three endgame herbs were added: Marefoil, Demonsage and Death Lotus. Where they grow and what skill they need is not known yet.
A harvest can drop extras: herb seeds in four tiers (Commonplace, Uncommon, Unusual, Scarce) and the scarce materials Frilled Lichen, Rosecap and Stranglevine. Players have reported Commonplace Herb Seeds and Frilled Lichen from Peacebloom and Earthroot; the full table is still unknown.
Seeds are what the Greenhouse and the Seed Hybridizer consume: the first grows herbs over time, the second multiplies seeds or merges them into rarer tiers.
Herbalism Recipes
Herbalists craft nothing except their three camp items.
Alchemy
Blacksmithing
Enchanting
Engineering
Herbalism
Leatherworking
Mining
Skinning
Tailoring
Cooking
First Aid
Fishing