Welcome to my Mists of Pandaria (MoP) Blacksmithing Guide. I’ll show you how to get from either level 500 or 525 to level 600 the fastest and most efficient way possible. There’s no need to waste gold leveling, you can actually make a lot of it back by selling mats. If you’re smart you’ll read about how to make gold so that you’re never poor again.

There are three new ores in MoP:

• Ghost Iron Ore – early level ore, similar to Obsidium in Cataclysm
• Kyparite – mid level ore, only found around Kyparite Trees in Dread Wastes and Townlong Steppes. You can not smelt Kyparite.
• Black Trillium Ore & White Trillium Ore – Very rare. Miners combine two of each and get a single Trillium Bar.

With out ore you won’t go anywhere with Blacksmithing, so either take out your pocket book or load up your Miner and start farming.

Leveling Blacksmithing

If you level Blacksmithing from 500-600 you’ll need at least 267 Ghost Iron Bars, if you’re already 525 you can get to 600 with only 242 Ghost Iron Bars. Results may vary slightly, but that should give you a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into. You’ll also need a single Spirit of Harmony to get from 575 to 600. Otherwise, that’s all you need!

Levels 500-526

Due to the way that Blacksmithing levels are designed, we want to make sure that we hit level 575 exactly, not 576 or 574. This will ensure we don’t spend more Ghost Iron Bars than we would otherwise need. To do this, we want to start at level 526. Until level 526, you can gain 5 levels each time you craft Ghost-Forger Bracers and 1 level for each Ghostly Skeleton Key. Craft these so that you stop at level 526 without going over.

• Level 500-501: Craft 1 Ghostly Skeleton Key – 1 Ghost Iron Bars
• Level 501-526: Craft 5 Ghost-Forged Bracers – 25 Ghost Iron Bars

* If you’re already level 525, craft Ghostly Skeleton Keys until you hit level 526. Don’t go over 526.
* Don’t forget to actually train Zen Master Blacksmithing, otherwise you’ll be stuck at level 525! 

Levels 526-532

There are several options at this stage, just make sure you land exactly at level 532 and no higher or lower.

• Level 526-532: Craft 2 Ghost-Forged Belt – 14 Ghost Iron Bars

Levels 532-559

The next three steps need to go exactly as follows. Make sure you aren’t tempted into crafting the Legplates, since that will throw off your level and screw everything up.

• Level 532-544: Craft 4 Ghost-Forged Boots – 28 Ghost Iron Bars (the first 3 can also be Belt or Gauntlets)
• Level 544-549: Craft 1 Lightsteel Shield – 9 Ghost Iron Bars
• Level 549-559: Craft 2 Spiritguard Shield – 18 Ghost Iron Bars

Levels 559-569

Next you can craft a Breastplate and a Helm (it’s easier to sell one of each):

• Level 559-564: Craft 1 Ghost-Forged Helm – 12 Ghost Iron Bars
• Level 564-569: Craft 1 Ghost-Forged Breastplate – 12 Ghost Iron Bars

Levels 569-575

This is the most expensive stage. But whatever you do, don’t use your Spirit of Harmonys! If it’s during the Darkmoon Faire I recommend doing Baby Needs Two Pair of Shoes quest, which rewards you 5 points to your Blacksmithing. Check your in-game calendar to see if the Darkmoon Faire is going on and if it is, save yourself 3-4 stacks of Ghost Iron Bars.

Otherwise, the cheapest option is to craft Ghost-Forged Shoulders until you hit 575. This is going to take anywhere from 6 to 12 crafts.

• Level 569-575: Craft 10 Ghost-Forged Shoulders – 70 Ghost Iron Bars

Levels 575-600

At level 575 your best bet is to spend 1 Spirit of Harmony at your faction’s Blacksmith vendor in your faction’s Pandaria capital. You’ll need to be able to access Vale of the Eternal Blossom, which requires that you complete the Temple of the White Tiger quest chain, then find your faction’s Blacksmithing vendor:

Horde: Jorunga Stonehoof in Shrine of the Two Moons
Alliance: Cullen Hammerbrow in Shrine of Seven Stars

You can pick any pattern you like but I recommend crafting a Contender’s piece (PvP gear) because it will sell on the auction house to new PvP characters.

• Level 575-600: Craft 10 Contender’s Revenant Shoulders – 70 Ghost Iron Bars

Congrats on getting level 600 Blacksmithing!

Tip: Have you ever wondered how players have so many level 85s or how they can level an 85 so quickly? I use and strongy recommend Zygor's in-game leveling addon which will enable you to level in 5 days of played time. You can find a free version of it here.