What does it cost to level Blacksmithing right now?

285.8kg in reagents at today's TW auction prices, over about 199 crafts. Sell the results and it comes back to 285.8kg.

Where do these numbers come from?

The skill thresholds are read from the game client data for build 12.1.0.68914. The prices are the region-wide auction house, refreshed every few minutes; these are the snapshot taken at 19:54 UTC.

Why does the route change when I reload?

Because the prices did. The cheapest recipe for a stretch of skill is whichever one's reagents are cheapest at that moment, and that moves through the day.

Profession leveling · Shadowlands Blacksmithing · TW · prices as of 19:54 UTC

Blacksmithing leveling 1 → 203 · Shadowlands Blacksmithing

285.8kg in reagents over about 199 crafts. Sell what you make and it comes back to 285.8kg.

Start skill

Trainer recipes only

Recipe names carry the colour the profession window gives them: orange is a point every craft, yellow is three in four, green is one in four.

Before the first craft — buy it all at once

One trip to the auction house. Vendor lines are cheaper from the profession vendor than from the board.

ReagentNeedEachTotal

Shadowghast Ingot×1629110

Progenitor Essentia×20650

Total285,836

Step 1 · Skill 1 → 10

Orange→Green

Porous Weightstone

About 19 crafts.51

per skill point5

Porous Stone×19

Shrouded Cloth×19

Step 2 · Skill 10 → 65

Orange→Green

Shaded Weightstone

trainer

About 65 crafts.801

per skill point14

Shaded Stone×65

Lightless Silk×65

Step 3 · Skill 65 → 100

Orange

Shadowsteel Pauldrons

needs the recipe item

About 12 crafts.22,333

per skill point638

Step 4 · Skill 100 → 203

Orange

Vestige of the Eternal

trainer

About 103 crafts.262,650

per skill point2,550

Progenium Ore×4120

Shadowghast Ingot×1545

Progenitor Essentia×206

Skill 203 — done. Now sell what you made.

Crafted itemUnitsEachTotal

Shadowsteel Pauldrons1270

128

Shaded Weightstone6510

656

Porous Weightstone1910

191

Vestige of the Eternal1031

1031

Capped at what the market takes in 3 days, so a route never pretends to sell hundreds at once.

Back in your pocket285,819

What's worth crafting with Blacksmithing right now

Questions

How this route is built

What does it cost to level Blacksmithing right now?: 285.8kg in reagents at today's TW auction prices, over about 199 crafts. Sell the results and it comes back to 285.8kg.
Where do these numbers come from?: The skill thresholds are read from the game client data for build 12.1.0.68914. The prices are the region-wide auction house, refreshed every few minutes; these are the snapshot taken at 19:54 UTC.
Why does the route change when I reload?: Because the prices did. The cheapest recipe for a stretch of skill is whichever one's reagents are cheapest at that moment, and that moves through the day.

A first craft pays Knowledge, not skill, so it is shown as a badge and left out of the craft count. Vendor reagents are priced at the lower of the vendor and the auction house.