What does it cost to level Blacksmithing right now?

20.2kg in reagents at today's US auction prices, over about 206 crafts. Sell the results and it comes back to 20.1kg.

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 16:57 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 · US · prices as of 16:57 UTC

Blacksmithing leveling 1 → 203 · Shadowlands Blacksmithing

20.2kg in reagents over about 206 crafts. Sell what you make and it comes back to 20.1kg.

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×9333

Progenitor Essentia×350

Total20,151

Step 1 · Skill 1 → 10

Orange→Green

Porous Sharpening Stone

About 19 crafts.3

per skill point33

Porous Stone×38

Step 2 · Skill 10 → 65

Orange→Green

Shaded Weightstone

trainer

About 65 crafts.92

per skill point1

Shaded Stone×65

Lightless Silk×65

Step 3 · Skill 65 → 75

Orange

Crafter's Mark II

trainer

About 10 crafts.743

per skill point74

Laestrite Ore×150

Luminous Flux×50

Step 4 · Skill 75 → 100

Orange

Shadowsteel Pauldrons

needs the recipe item

About 9 crafts.2,566

per skill point102

Step 5 · Skill 100 → 200

Orange

Crafter's Mark IV

trainer

About 100 crafts.14,914

per skill point149

Step 6 · Skill 200 → 201

Orange

Crafter's Mark of the First Ones

trainer

About 1 crafts.368

per skill point368

Progenitor Essentia×1

Step 7 · Skill 201 → 202

Orange

Vestige of Origins

trainer

About 1 crafts.635

per skill point635

Laestrite Ore×40

Shadowghast Ingot×15

Korthite Crystal×40

Step 8 · Skill 202 → 203

Orange

Vestige of the Eternal

trainer

About 1 crafts.828

per skill point828

Progenium Ore×40

Shadowghast Ingot×15

Progenitor Essentia×2

Skill 203 — done. Now sell what you made.

Crafted itemUnitsEachTotal

Shaded Weightstone6510

656

Shadowsteel Pauldrons970

Porous Sharpening Stone1912

192

Crafter's Mark IV1001

Crafter's Mark of the First Ones11

Vestige of the Eternal11

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

Back in your pocket20,136

What's worth crafting with Blacksmithing right now

Questions

How this route is built

What does it cost to level Blacksmithing right now?: 20.2kg in reagents at today's US auction prices, over about 206 crafts. Sell the results and it comes back to 20.1kg.
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 16:57 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.