by Shawn Woods
Engineers have had it bad. Really bad. Just think back a few
patches and expansions and when was the last time that someone
said, "man I wish I could make gold like an engineer"? I'm going to
hazard a guess and say around about...never. It just doesn't happen.
Engineers are not lauded or held on high for their gold making -
they are panned and ignored because they don't make enough and
because you're not going to get much of anywhere with one unless
you like playing with cool gadgets (which, admittedly, I do).
Of course, that has all changed with WotLK as Engineers were given
quite a few cool new things to craft that can make them some solid
profit. You've got your Nitro Boosters, your Pyro Rockets, your
Gnomish Army Knife (this is a great one to save bag space) and
those Overcharged Capacitors everyone is always asking for in
Borean Tundra and Storm Peaks (huge profit on these in week one).
But, the big money maker and the sole reason I'm okay with
Engineering even being called a profession again is the addition
of the crafted mounts - the Chopper and Hog. These puppies might
cost over 15,000 gold to craft, but you can make a 5,000 gold
profit on each one you make. If you happen to have some gold laying
around, knocking out two or three of these in one week will cover
you for a month or two of grinding.
To top it off, everyone and I mean everyone wants one. Finding
someone with 20,000 gold to toss around is the hard part, but in
this age of 700+ gold an hour grinding, it's not nearly as
farfetched as you might think.