Note: this post contains spoilers for Wrath of the Lich King.

This is the first of a two-part guide to Inscription, the new tradeskill being introduced in Wrath of the Lich King. The second part will cover specific recipes, required mats, and a recommended path for levelling the skill as efficiently and quickly as possible – however, that’s a fair way off, and won’t be published until the list of recipes is reasonably complete. This post will be updated as more information comes to hand.

Last Update: 30 July; beta build 8681
If you have questions, feel free to contact me.

REVISED Inscription Guide

• Part 1: Introduction (Scribe abilities, How Glyphs Work, Inscription Trainers, Milling)
• Part 2: Levelling Guide (Recipes, materials, recommended stockpiles) – this post

For the full list of Inscription recipes and the complete Inscription Guide, download the guide as a PDF file here: inscription10.pdf. (The full guide is in PDF form because frankly, it’s almost impossible to format all those tables as a blog post.)

Otherwise: read on for the original post.

Note that I’m calling people with Inscription ‘inscribers’, because ‘inscriptionists’ sounds clunky. If the community standardises on a name I’ll change to that.

What Inscribers Do

Inscribers create a number of scrolls, glyphs and other consumables that anyone can use. They make:

• scrolls boosting attributes (eg Scroll of Stamina, Scroll of Spirit V, Scroll of Agility IV)
• glyphs for characters to permanently modify or boost their spells and abilities
• possibly runewords, temporary enchantments for armor (comparable to stones and oils for weapons)
• materials for enchanters to create packaged enchantments
• other utility items (eg Scroll of Recall, a consumable hearthstone-equivalent on a 15 minute cooldown, usable only by inscribers)

How Glyphs Work

Every character has a ‘glyphs’ tab in their spellbook, which has slots for 6 glyphs – 2 minor, 2 lesser and 2 greater. Glyphs created by Inscribers are put in these slots, and will modify the character’s spells.

Minor glyphs give a minor or cosmetic effect, eg:

• changes the visual effect of a spell
• gives a small reduction in a spell’s mana cost
• gives a buff spell increased duration

Lesser glyphs give a minor upgrade, eg:

• gives a moderate reduction in an ability’s mana/rage/energy cost
• increases a spell’s damage over time (while decreasing its upfront damage)

Greater glyphs give a significant upgrade, eg:

• increases chance to avoid interruption while casting
• increases damage done by a spell

Learning Inscription

There are Inscription trainers in Northrend:

• Vengeance Landing (Horde), Howling Fjord
• Mindri Dinkles, Valgarde (Alliance), Howling Fjord
• Professor Palin, Dalaran Trade District

Inscribers will also need Scribe Tools and blank parchment for their first skill-ups; at present there’s an Inscription vendor in Dalaran, although others may be implemented elsewhere in future.

Milling

Milling is a subskill of Inscription, and a direct parallel of Jewelcrafting’s Prospecting. Inscribers can learn Milling when they reach 30 skill; it allows an inscriber to turn 5 herbs into raw materials for more complicated recipes.

These raw materials are called “pomace”; different types of pomace are derived from milling different herbs. The first tier of herbs – Peacebloom, Silverleaf and Earthroot – produce Alabaster Pomace. Other types of pomaces (such as Dusky Pomace, Golden Pomace and Emerald Pomace) are milled from higher-ranked herbs.