To disenchant in World of Warcraft: Forever, learn Enchanting from a trainer, open the Professions window (K), cast Disenchant from the Enchanting section, and click an uncommon (green) or better weapon or armor piece in your bags. The item is destroyed and you get enchanting materials: dust, essences or shards, depending on the item.
Disenchant is part of the Enchanting profession, so it takes one of your two primary profession slots. Below are the steps, what each kind of item breaks into, the WoW Forever changes that matter to enchanters, and where your materials earn their keep. Blizzard has not published a WoW Forever page about Disenchant itself, so we name Blizzard wherever a detail comes from its WoW Forever posts and flag what comes from earlier versions of the game. Checked November 7, three days after launch.
Step-by-Step: How to Disenchant an Item
- Learn Enchanting. Blizzard’s New Player’s Starter Guide says to “speak with the appropriate profession trainer in a starting area or major city.” Ask a city guard if you cannot find one.
- Make room for it. Each character gets “two primary professions and all three secondary professions”, so Enchanting must fill one of the two primary slots.
- Find Disenchant. It comes with Apprentice Enchanting and sits in the Enchanting section of the Professions window (K), not your spellbook. Drag it to an action bar.
- Cast it, then click the item in your bags. Only uncommon (green), rare (blue) and epic (purple) weapons and armor can be disenchanted in earlier versions; gray and white gear cannot.
- Collect the materials from the loot window when the cast finishes.
What You Get From Disenchanting
In earlier versions of the game, the result followed the item’s quality and level:
| Item quality | Usual result |
|---|---|
| Uncommon (green) | Mostly dust, sometimes an essence, rarely a shard |
| Rare (blue) | A shard, occasionally a Nexus Crystal at high level |
| Epic (purple) | Large shards, or Nexus Crystals at high level |
Armor leaned toward dust and weapons toward essences. The material tier rose with item level, from Strange Dust, Lesser Magic Essence and Small Glimmering Shards at the low end to Illusion Dust, Greater Eternal Essence and Large Brilliant Shards near level 60.
The WoW Forever beta shows the same family of materials is in place. Blizzard’s beta known issues list a fix for a crate that “does not accept Greater Magic Essence, and incorrectly allows you to target Lesser Magic Essence”, and its beta notes adjust the vendor prices of enchanter-made wands named for each tier: Lesser and Greater Magic, Lesser and Greater Mystic, and Lesser and Greater Eternal.
What Changed in WoW Forever
One WoW Forever change matters to anyone planning an enchanter alt:
- No skill gate. In earlier versions you needed higher Enchanting skill to disenchant higher-level items. In WoW Forever you can disenchant gear of any level from Enchanting skill 1, so a low-level enchanter alt can break down a level 60 item.
Selling enchants is another matter. Blizzard’s WoW Forever notes list no enchanting vellums, the scrolls later versions used to sell or mail an enchant, so plan on casting each enchant directly on an item, through a trade window when the item belongs to someone else.
Where Your Materials Go
- Your own enchants. Blizzard’s beta notes mention WoW Forever enchants such as Revelation, Insight and Weapon – Recovery, alongside more than 600 new recipes across professions.
- Merchant’s Favor crates. Waylaid Crates are filled with materials to earn Merchant’s Favor from WoW Forever’s commerce factions, the Azeroth Commerce Authority for the Alliance and Durotar Supply and Logistics for the Horde, and the “Apprentice Curiosities” crate in Blizzard’s known issues takes Greater Magic Essence.
- The camp. Enchanting’s first camp feature, the Enchanted Lute, unlocks at skill 20 and buffs armor, stats and resistances for nearby players. Our camping guide lists every profession’s feature.
- Legacy perks. Blizzard’s Legacy System overview says the Dedicated Study perk is a daily cooldown that speeds up your tradeskills, “or gain free Elemental Essences” once all of them reach 300. Its challenges also award Legacy Points at 150, 225 and 300 skill in each non-gathering profession, and Enchanting counts.
Disenchant or Vendor?
Blizzard’s October 8 beta notes adjusted the vendor prices of enchanter-made items, such as Lesser Magic Wand at 1 silver 10 copper and Greater Eternal Wand at 25 silver. Whether a green is worth more to a vendor or as materials comes down to Auction House prices on your ruleset. Tailoring pairs well as the second profession: it turns cloth into green gear you can disenchant, and neither profession needs a gathering skill. Our best addons guide covers Auctionator for pricing your materials, and every WoW guide we have is on the World of Warcraft hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
What profession do you need to disenchant in WoW Forever? Enchanting. Disenchant is part of it, and Enchanting takes one of your two primary profession slots.
What items can you disenchant? In earlier versions, uncommon (green) or better weapons and armor. Gray and white items cannot be disenchanted.
Do you need high Enchanting skill to disenchant high-level items? No. WoW Forever drops that requirement, so you can disenchant gear of any level from Enchanting skill 1.
Does disenchanting level up Enchanting? Blizzard has not said how it works in WoW Forever, so plan on crafting enchants for your skill-ups and on disenchanting for the dust and essences they use.
Can you sell enchants on scrolls? Blizzard’s WoW Forever notes list no enchanting vellums, so plan on casting enchants directly on items, through a trade window for someone else’s gear.