The Ministry of Exodar

Added with patch 3.02, “Echoes of Doom,” the Inscription profession allows its practitioners, called "scribes," to enhance the spells and abilities of players’ characters, such as enhancing a rogue's Backstab ability to deal more damage to stunned targets, or allowing a priest’s Circle of Healing to heal one more target.

Scribes can also aid enchanters by permitting them to sell their enchantments directly on the Auction House, or help other characters by creating enhancing scrolls like Scroll of Strength.

All in all, inscription is a very useful profession for the benefits a scribe brings to his friends and himself. This profession can be chosen by any character of any race or class.

Getting Started
In order to get started as a scribe, you must first learn the profession from one of the many Inscription trainers scattered across the worlds. In Azeroth, Horde and Alliance scribes can stop in at any of their faction's capital cities and ask a guard for directions to the nearest Inscription trainer. In Outland, aspiring and practicing scribes for the Horde should visit Neferatti in Thrallmar to brush up on their skills. Scribes among the Alliance should speak with Michael Schwan in Honor Hold in order to advance in the art.

Scribes should visit their trainer often as they progress in the art of Inscription. Once he has surpassed his current trainer's skill, the trainer will tell him where to go for further study. Lastly, when getting started as a scribe, a character should not neglect to purchase a Virtuoso Inking Set from an Inscription Goods vendor. Without this item in his inventory, a scribe will be unable to progress in his craft!

Practicing The Art Of Inscription
Once a scribe has chosen his path and begun to learn the Inscription profession, he will need to gather the materials necessary to create his scrolls, glyphs, vellums, and items available only to scribes. The most common items used are parchments, which can be purchased from an Inscription Goods vendor (usually located near a trainer), and pigments, which are obtained by milling herbs. Milling is a special Inscription-only ability much like Prospecting for Jewelcrafters. In order to create his inks, a scribe will mill several herbs together using this skill. Therefore, scribes may find it most useful to pick up the herbalism gathering profession in order to keep themselves in a steady supply of pigments for their inks. Some of the inks, the pigments required to make them, the herbs they can be milled from, and the skills required to obtain them.

Once a scribe has his inks and his parchments, he can use his Inscription skill to scribe the glyphs he already knows onto the parchments. The resulting item can then be sold on the Auction House, traded to a friend, or applied directly to the character's glyph sheet, provided they are near a Lexicon of Power. The glyph is applied to the glyph sheet in the spellbook in much the same manner as a weapon coating, weightstone, or sharpening stone is applied to a weapon in the character menu.



The Lexicon of Power
You will find this mysterious floating book next to the inscription trainers. You can also ask the guards in any major city where to find the nearest Lexicon of Power. Whenever a character wants to inscribe a glyph onto his glyph sheet, whether it is one he bought from a scribe or made himself, he will need to be next to the Lexicon of Power in order to inscribe the glyph onto the glyph sheet of his spellbook. Inscribing the glyph works in much the same manner as adding a weapon coating, weightstone, or sharpening stone to a weapon in the character menu. But let’s learn a little more about glyphs.

Lastly, just as for enchanting or for gems, once a glyph is inscribe to the glyph sheet, it cannot be removed. However it can be overwritten with another glyph should the character wish to change his glyphs at a later date.


Glyphs: Major And Minor
Once a scribe has gathered his pigments, created his inks, and purchased his parchments, he can begin practicing his skill in scribing scrolls and glyphs. However, before a scribe can place a glyph on his spellbook or that of one of his friends, he should learn a little about the glyphs and the levels required to unlock them.

At level 15, a character's first Major and Minor glyphs are unlocked, allowing him to be enhanced by one Major Glyph and one Minor Glyph. At level 30, the character unlocks a second Major Glyph. Levels 50 and 70 bring him the last two Minor Glyphs and, at level 80*, he will unlock the final Major Glyph in his glyphs sheet.

Cards, Vellums, and Objects
While creating Major and Minor Glyphs is, perhaps, the most well-known ability a scribe possesses, scribes can also create Vellums which enchanters can use to cast their Armor or Weapon enchants upon, allowing them to sell enchants on the Auction House just as the other production professions can sell the results of their skills and labor. No longer will adventurers search in vain for the rare enchanter who, having overcome Morose and his friends, has mastered the Mongoose enchantment! And no longer will enchanters be condemned only to sell their skill when they can be physically present. With a Vellum, everyone benefits!

Additional Information For Scribes
Gaining Levels In Inscription
Inscription up to the Artisan level (maximum skill 300) can be learned from:

* Feyden Darkin in Darnassus
* Jo'mah in Orgrimmar
* Elise Brightletter in Ironforge
* Poshken Hardbinder in Thunder Bluff
* Catarina Stanford in Stormwind
* Margaux Parchley in Undercity
* Thoth in The Exodar
* Zantasia in Silvermoon City

To learn Master Inscription (maximum skill 375), scribes must visit the following Outland trainers:

* Horde players should seek out Neferatti (Thrallmar, Hellfire Peninsula)
* Alliance players need to find Michael Schawn (Honor Hold, Hellfire Peninsula)

Inscribing For Fun And Profit
Beyond just scribing the Major Glyphs for characters, scribes can use their profession to earn gold. Here are some tips for how to maximize the profit from Inscription!

* Pick up herbalism: this will allow the scribe to gather his own herbs and create his own pigments. Also, scribes can sell pigments on the Auction House to those who did not pick up herbalism.
* Create Vellums: Enchanters will want vellums. These items will allow them to sell their enchants on the Auction House.
* Combo with Enchanting: if a scribe already has high level Enchanting, he can team up with an herbalist and sell his own enchants on the Auction House.
* Scrolls, scrolls, scrolls! Many high-end profession recipes require the use of level V scrolls to create items. As scribes can create scrolls whenever they like, this can supply a steady stream of income for them.
* Minor Inscription Research: Use this skill whenever it is available. Some of the Minor Glyphs are very highly sought-after!