Inscription Leveling Guide 1-600

Luxrah Luxrah

Inscription is a very valuable profession in Mists of Pandaria, especially in the first phase of the expansion when players will be after the powerful Darkmoon Trinkets and Bind-on-Account Weapons and Off-hands that can be crafted with the skill. There is always a demand for the glyphs and shoulder enchants as well.

To level Inscription, you will most likely want to have a character with Herb Gathering to collect all of the herbs that are needed to craft pigments and inks. Otherwise you will be buying most of your materials on the Auction House. We’ve listed the herbs that are needed for leveling in this guide, but you will also be using many more if you plan to do any crafting at endgame. Be sure to take a look at our Herbalism Leveling Guide if you will be leveling both professions side by side.

It’s worth noting that if you have already have a character with high level Inscription, you have the option to trade in their higher-level inks for the lower-level ones that are needed for leveling. This can make it very easy to level the profession on alts if you want to build a small army of scribes, which can significantly speed up your acquisition of cards for Darkmoon Trinkets due to the one-day cooldown on crafting Scroll of Wisdom.

The walkthrough portion of this guide has two versions: one for leveling with raw herbs, and one for leveling with premade inks. If you maxed out your Inscription skill in Cataclysm, you can skip most of the level ranges and start at the Zen Master section.

inscription zen master profession window

Tips for Leveling Inscription

  • Be sure to have a Virtuoso Inking Set on hand for crafting. It’s required for many Inscription recipes.
  • Use your daily Research cooldowns whenever they are available to start learning all of the glyph recipes.
  • You should mill herbs and craft inks only as you need them in order to avoid wasting materials. Some inks are made from the same pigments, so if you use all of your herbs and pigments to make one type of ink, you will not have any left to craft the next type when you get to it.
  • It’s always worth checking the Auction House for cheap herbs, pigments, and inks before you go gathering or crafting them yourself.
  • Remember that you can trade Ink of Dreams (the standard Pandaria-level ink) for lower-level inks at an Ink Trader. Ink Traders can be found near the Inscription Trainers in Orgrimmar, Stormwind, and Dalaran.
  • When you’re doing a lot of Milling, remember you can use a macro to make the process go more quickly.
  • Use the Filter button in the Inscription window and click “Has skill up” to only show recipes that will give you skill points. This will make it a lot easier to scroll through your options.
  • Don’t forget the Darkmoon Faire quest, Writing the Future, which can be completed every time the Darkmoon Faire is active (every two weeks in WoW Classic). This quest requires a minimum skill level of 75 and grants 5 skill points upon completion.
inscription ink trader vendor window

If you have a lot of high-level ink available, you can trade it in for lower level inks.

Trainer Locations

Remember to visit your Inscription Trainer regularly to learn new skill tiers and recipes. There’s a complete list of all Inscription Trainers on our Inscription Trainer Locations page, but here are some particularly convenient ones:

  • Pandaria: Lorewalker Huynh can be found at the Seat of Knowledge above Mogu’shan Palace, which is between the two faction hubs in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms zone.
    • /way Vale of Eternal Blossoms 82.0, 29.4
  • Dalaran: Professor Pallin is at the Scribe’s Sacellum, the Inscription shop in the Magus Commerce Exchange of Dalaran
    • /way Dalaran 42.6, 37.8
  • Alliance: Catarina Stanford is the Inscription Trainer in Stormwind City. She can be found near the Stockade in a shop called The Scribe of Stormwind.
    • /way Stormwind City 49.8, 74.6
  • Horde: Jo’mah is the Inscription Trainer in Orgrimmar. He can be found on the upper level of The Dragon inside The Mighty Pen.
    • /way Orgrimmar 56.2, 46.6
  • Monks: Master Marshall teaches Herbalism and Inscription at the Peak of Serenity, your class hub in Pandaria, easily reached via Zen Pilgrimage.
    • /way Kun-Lai Summit 50.6, 42.4

Inks, Pigments, & Herbs

The basic material for most Inscription recipes is ink. Ink is crafted from pigments, which are obtained by using your Milling ability to process specific herbs. Any of the specified herbs will work for this – you don’t need to have all of them. For example, you can make Alabaster Pigment for Ivory Ink using only Peacebloom.

Each time you use Milling, you will consume 5 of the same type of herb and produce 2-4 of the appropriate pigment(s). Except for the first tier, each tier of herbs makes two types of pigments: a Common (white) pigment and an Uncommon (green) pigment. You will always get 2-4 of the Common type of pigment. You will sometimes get the Uncommon type as well, but at a lower rate. Almost all of the pigments/inks used in this leveling guide are Common.

Our Inscription Milling Table lays out the exact herbs and pigments that are needed to craft every ink.

Required Materials

You can either make your own inks from scratch, which requires a large number of herbs, or you can start with pre-made inks. Here are the materials you will need for either approach.

Recipes

You will not need any special recipes to level Inscription. Everything can be learned directly from your Inscription Trainer or through research.

Supplies

  • Virtuoso Inking Set: You’ll need to have this in your bags in order to craft many Inscription recipes. It is not consumed when crafting, so you should only ever need one.
  • Light Parchment: You will be going through a ton of this stuff. You can just grab it as you need it from an Inscription Supplies vendor, who should be standing near any Inscription Trainer. Thankfully there is only one type of parchment now, so you won’t have to buy a new kind every time you level to the next tier!
  • Eternal Life: This guide uses 24 of these items, which are created by combining Crystallized Life. Crystallized Life has a chance of dropping from Northrend herb nodes and some plant-like mobs. You’ll need 240 of them total to make 24 Eternal Life.

Herbs (if you are making your own inks)

If you are crafting all of your ink from scratch, here are the approximate amounts of herbs needed to level your Inscription from 1 to 600. You do not need both inks and herbs, only one or the other, although you can mix and match. You get a lot of your skill points from crafting the ink through this method, allowing you to essentially double-dip and use fewer materials overall.

Keep in mind that Milling gives a random number of pigments each time, so the exact number of herbs you use will vary. The amounts below are fairly generous and should easily cover what you need unless you get really unlucky.

*You will not need nearly as many herbs for this level range if you are able to discover a good recipe right away through research.

You will use 415x Light Parchment if you follow this guide to the letter.

Inks (if you are not making your own inks)

These are the inks you’ll need to level Inscription from 1 to 600 if you are not making the ink yourself. Keep in mind that you will miss out on the skill points from crafting the inks if you go this route, and you will be using more materials overall. However, this route makes it possible to level the skill very quickly on your alts if you already have a high-level Inscriptionist with lots of Ink of Dreams on hand.

*You will not need nearly as many herbs for this level range if you get lucky with recipe discoveries. **There is one section where you will be better off crafting your own inks for skill-ups.

You will use 374x Light Parchment if you follow this guide to the letter.

Leveling 1-600 With Herbs

Apprentice 1-75

Apprentice Inscription requires character level 5 to learn.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Quantity
1-18 Ivory Ink – Alabaster Pigment x1 18
18-36 Scroll of Intellect
or Scroll of Spirit
or Scroll of Stamina		 – Ivory Ink x1
– Light Parchment x1		 18
36-53 Moonglow Ink – Alabaster Pigment x1 22
53-75 Enchanting Vellum – Moonglow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 22
Materials Summary

Journeyman 75-126

Journeyman Inscription requires character level 10 and Inscription level 50 to learn.

At level 75 skill you can start using your Minor Inscription Research cooldown every day to learn new glyph recipes. This will produce random scrolls and gives you a chance to earn skill points up to 150 when it turns gray. Each time you use this cooldown it will require 1x Moonglow Ink and 2x Light Parchment. Using this recipe will reduce the amount of the below items you need to craft to reach 150.

Craft glyphs while their recipes are orange and they will give you +3 skill per craft. When a recipe turns yellow, check your trainer for new glyph recipes.

Don’t get rid of your Lion’s Ink yet! You will continue using it in the next section.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Quantity to Craft
75-80 Midnight Ink – Dusky Pigment x2 21
80-101 Glyph of… – Midnight Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 7
101-105 Lion’s Ink – Golden Pigment x2 54
105-126 Glyph of… – Lion’s Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 7
Materials Summary

Expert 126-200

Expert Inscription requires character level 20 and Inscription level 125 to learn.

Choose orange glyph recipes as much as possible for +3 skill per craft. From 147-150 and 197-200 you will have to craft recipes that are yellow for 1 skill point each.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
126-150 Glyph of… – Lion’s Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 11
150-155 Jadefire Ink – Emerald Pigment x2 54
155-200 Glyph of… – Jadefire Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 18
Materials Summary

Artisan 200-291

Artisan Inscription requires character level 35 and Inscription level 200 to learn.

You will get both Violet Pigment and Ruby Pigment from the same herbs. Craft only orange glyph recipes for +3 skill points a piece. At 245, you will craft an off-hand for +5 skill points.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
200-205 Celestial Ink – Violet Pigment x2 39
205-226 Glyph of… – Celestial Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 7
226-228 Fiery Ink – Ruby Pigment x1 5
228-246 Glyph of… – Celestial Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 6
246-251 Book of Stars
or Fire Eater’s Guide		 – Fiery Ink x5
– Light Parchment x10		 1
251-255 Shimmering Ink – Silvery Pigment x2 36
255-291 Glyph of… – Shimmering Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 12
Materials Summary

Master 291-350

Master Inscription requires character level 50 and Inscription level 275 to learn.

Craft only orange glyph recipes for +3 skill points each.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
291-305 Ethereal Ink – Nether Pigment x2 45
305-350 Glyph of… – Ethereal Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 15
Materials Summary

Grand Master 350-425

Grand Master Inscription requires character level 65 and Inscription level 350 to learn.

At level 385 you can start using your Northrend Inscription Research cooldown every day to learn Glyph recipes. This will produce random scrolls and grant you skill points up to 450 when it turns gray.

This level range becomes extremely awkward at 386. If you are unlucky with your Northrend Inscription Research, you may be stuck crafting yellow and then green glyph recipes until you reach 395. At that point, if you haven’t learned an orange glyph recipe from research, you will only have a few options to gain skill points. If you’re willing to wait, your best bet is to keep using your research cooldown to get +1 skill and possibly an orange recipe. Otherwise you will have to spend a lot of materials crafting the green Twilight Tome recipe. It’s only a few points. Once you reach 400 it gets a lot better again.

Don’t get rid of your Ink of the Sea yet! You will continue using it in the next section.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
350-355 Ink of the Sea – Azure Pigment x2 154
355-385 Glyph of… – Ink of the Sea x3
– Light Parchment x1		 10
385-386 Northrend Inscription Research – Ink of the Sea x3
– Snowfall Ink x1
– Light Parchment x5		 1
386-395 Glyph of… – Ink of the Sea x3
– Light Parchment x1		 7
395-400 Twilight Tome
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x5
– Eternal Life x2
– Light Parchment x10		 12
400-405 Scroll of Stamina VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
405-410 Scroll of Spirit VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
410-415 Scroll of Intellect VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
415-420 Scroll of Strength VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
420-425 Scroll of Agility VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
Materials Summary

Illustrious Grand Master 425-500

Illustrious Grand Master Inscription requires character level 75 and Inscription level 425 to learn.

At level 500 you will be able to make Forged Documents once per day, which gives you a quest that can be turned in for some gold. You’ll need 1x Blackfallow Ink and 1x Light Parchment to craft it. It gives skill through level 535 and will reduce the number of other items you must craft from the table below.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity
425-450 Blackfallow Ink – Ashen Pigment x2 41
450-460 Mysterious Fortune Card – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x1		 10
460-465 Scroll of Stamina IX – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
465-470 Scroll of Strength IX – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
470-475 Scroll of Agility X – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
475-485 Dust of Disappearance – Blackfallow Ink x1 16
485-500 Glyph of… – Ink of the Sea x3
– Light Parchment x1		 5
Materials Summary

Zen Master 500-600

Zen Master Inscription requires character level 80 and Herbalism level 500 to learn.

Starting at level 525, you should begin crafting Scroll of Wisdom every time it’s off cooldown (once per day) so you can start preparing to craft valuable endgame items and to learn glyph recipes that you can use to level.

If you are working on a BoA Weapon or Off-hand, you can begin crafting those at skill level 560, and they offer a significant amount of skill points: 5+10 for a completed off-hand and 10+30 for a completed staff! Otherwise you can continue to make glyphs, which will turn yellow at level 595, or you can make shoulder inscriptions with Starlight Ink.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity
500-525 Ink of Dreams – Shadow Pigment x2 25
525-526 Scroll of Wisdom – Ink of Dreams x3
– Light Parchment x1		 1
526-545 Ink of Dreams – Shadow Pigment x2 41
545-600 Glyph of… – Ink of Dreams x3
– Light Parchment x1		 22
Materials Summary

Leveling 1-600 With Inks

Apprentice 1-75

Apprentice Inscription requires character level 5 to learn.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity
1-35 Scroll of Intellect
or Scroll of Spirit
or Scroll of Stamina		 – Ivory Ink x1
– Light Parchment x1		 34
35-75 Enchanting Vellum – Moonglow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 40
Materials Summary

Journeyman 75-126

Journeyman Inscription requires character level 10 and Inscription level 50 to learn.

At level 75 you can start using your Minor Inscription Research cooldown every day to learn glyph recipes. This will produce random scrolls and grant you skill points up to 150 when it turns gray. Each time you use this cooldown it will require 1x Moonglow Ink and 2x Light Parchment. Using this recipe will reduce the amount of the below items you need to craft to reach 150.

Choose Glyphs that are orange in your crafting list to maximize skill-up potential. They give 3 skill points each!

Don’t get rid of your Lion’s Ink yet! You will continue using it in the next section.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
75-102 Glyph of… – Midnight Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 9
102-126 Glyph of… – Lion’s Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 8
Materials Summary

Expert 126-200

Expert Inscription requires character level 20 and Inscription level 125 to learn.

Choose orange recipes when they are available for +3 skill a piece. For levels 147-150 and 195-200, you will have to use yellow recipes for 1 skill point each.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
126-150 Glyph of… – Lion’s Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 11
150-200 Glyph of… – Jadefire Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 21
Materials Summary

Artisan 200-292

Artisan Inscription requires character level 35 and Inscription level 200 to learn.

Craft orange glyphs when possible for +3 skill points each. From level 245-250 you will have to craft yellow recipes for +1 skill points a piece.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
200-250 Glyph of… – Celestial Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 21
250-292 Glyph of… – Shimmering Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 14
Materials Summary

Master 292-351

Master Inscription requires character level 50 and Inscription level 275 to learn.

Craft only orange glyph recipes for +3 skill points each.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
290-300 Scroll of Stamina VI – Shimmering Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 10
300-351 Glyph of… – Ethereal Ink x3
– Light Parchment x1		 18
Materials Summary

Grand Master 351-425

Grand Master Inscription requires character level 65 and Inscription level 350 to learn.

At level 385 you can start using your Northrend Inscription Research cooldown every day to learn Glyph recipes. This will produce random scrolls and grant you skill points up to 450 when it turns gray.

This level range becomes extremely awkward at 386. If you are unlucky with your Northrend Inscription Research, you may be stuck crafting yellow and then green glyph recipes until you reach 395. At that point, if you haven’t learned an orange glyph recipe from research, you will only have a few options to gain skill points. If you’re willing to wait, your best bet is to keep using your research cooldown to get +1 skill and possibly an orange recipe. Otherwise you will have to spend a lot of materials crafting the green Twilight Tome recipe.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity to Craft
351-355 Scroll of Recall III – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x1		 4
355-385 Glyph of… – Ink of the Sea x3
– Light Parchment x1		 10
385-386 Northrend Inscription Research – Ink of the Sea x3
– Snowfall Ink x1
– Light Parchment x5		 1
386-395 Glyph of… – Ink of the Sea x3
– Light Parchment x1		 7
395-400 Twilight Tome
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x5
– Eternal Life x2
– Light Parchment x10		 12
400-405 Scroll of Stamina VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
405-410 Scroll of Spirit VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
410-415 Scroll of Intellect VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
415-420 Scroll of Strength VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
420-425 Scroll of Agility VIII
(or any glyph that gives skill)		 – Ink of the Sea x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
Materials Summary

Illustrious Grand Master 425-500

Illustrious Grand Master Inscription requires character level 75 and Inscription level 425 to learn.

Crafting Blackfallow Ink is going to provide the best skill from 425-450, even though you are skipping most ink crafting otherwise. If you really only want to use existing ink, then you can make any discovered glyph that gives skill points instead.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity
425-450 Blackfallow Ink – Ashen Pigment x2 40
450-460 Mysterious Fortune Card – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x1		 10
460-465 Scroll of Stamina IX – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
465-470 Scroll of Strength IX – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
470-475 Scroll of Agility X – Blackfallow Ink x1
– Light Parchment x2		 5
475-485 Dust of Disappearance – Blackfallow Ink x1 15
485-500 Glyph of… – Ink of the Sea x3
– Light Parchment x1		 5
Materials Summary

Zen Master 500-600

Zen Master Inscription requires character level 80 and Herbalism level 500 to learn.

At level 500 you can opt to craft Ink of Dreams or Starlight Ink instead if you are in need of either. They remain orange until 535 and don’t turn gray until 545.

Starting at level 525, you should begin crafting Scroll of Wisdom every time it’s off cooldown (once per day) so you can start preparing to craft valuable endgame items and to learn glyph recipes that you can use to level.

If you are working on a BoA Weapon or Off-hand, you can begin crafting those at skill level 560, and they offer a significant amount of skill points: 5+10 for a completed off-hand and 10+30 for a completed staff! Otherwise you can continue to make glyphs, which will turn yellow at level 595, or you can make shoulder inscriptions with Starlight Ink.

Skill Level Recipe Materials Required Quantity
500-527 Tome of the Clear Mind – Ink of Dreams x1
– Light Parchment x1		 9
527-528 Scroll of Wisdom – Ink of Dreams x3
– Light Parchment x1		 1
528-600 Glyph of… – Ink of Dreams x3
– Light Parchment x1		 27
Materials Summary

Author

Luxrah

I've been playing World of Warcraft on and off since vanilla, usually as a healer or caster and often as a guild leader. I play both retail and classic. I also love RPGs, sandboxes, and sims.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments