Disenchanting

Disenchanting is the process of using the [Disenchant] sub-skill of  [Enchanting] to convert armor or weapons of uncommon, rare, or epic quality into magical elements (dusts, essences, shards, and crystals), which can then be used in enchanting recipes. Until Warlords of Draenor, only enchanters gained the ability to disenchant, but with the expansion, non-enchanters can disenchant via the Enchanter's Study. Disenchanting is the primary source of enchanting ingredients. Disenchanting can also provide Enchanting skillups as high as 70 skill.

Use with care, this process destroys the target item permanently!

Do not disenchant from a full inventory! The disenchanted item will still occupy a space and you won't be able to pick up any materials unless you already have a partial stack.

Required Enchanting skill

This section concerns content that is out-of-date. Reason: Needs update for and beyond.

Enchanting skill determines what item levels a player can disenchant.

Uncommon Skill Req. Level Item Level 1 1-15 1-20 25 16-20 21-25 50 21-25 26-30 75 26-30 31-35 100 31-35 36-40 125 36-40 41-45 150 41-45 46-50 175 46-50 51-55 200 51-55 56-60 225 56-64 61-99 275 64-70 100-120 325 67-74* 130-150 350 73-80* 154-182 425 81-85* 232? 425 81-85* 272-333

Rare Skill Req. Level Item Level 1 1-15 1-20 25 16-20 21-25 50 21-25 26-30 75 26-30 31-35 100 31-35 36-40 125 36-40 41-45 150 41-45 46-50 175 46-50 51-55 200 51-55 56-60 225 56-64** 61-99 275 64-70 100-120 325 68-80 130-200 450 78-85 288-377

Epic Skill Req. Level Item Level 225 56-60 61-89 300 60 90-92 300 70 100-151 375 80 200-277 475 85 359-416

• In the classic connection between required level and item level breaks down. Using required level is not recommended.
  • There are 6 exceptions to this level range.

For most of the range, this is equivalent to 5*ceiling(iLevel,5)-100 = 5*ceiling(req. level,5)-75; that is, round up the required level to the next multiple of 5, multiply by 5, and subtract 75 to find the minimum enchanting skill necessary to disenchant an item.

Epic items lower than iLevel 61 fall within the ranges for Uncommon/Rare items.

For more detailed percentages, quantities, and iLevels associated with each material, see the disenchanting tables.

Disenchanting materials

The type and quantity of materials produced from disenchanting varies by item type (armor or weapon), iLevel and quality. The following general rules can be used:

• Dusts usually come from uncommon armor (75%) and weapons (20-22%).
• Essences usually come from uncommon weapons (75%) and armor (20-22%).
• Shards come from rare equipment (~100%), epic equipment iLevel 55 or less (100%, 2-4x), and rarely from uncommon equipment (3-5%).
• Crystals come from epic equipment iLevel 56+ (100%) and extremely rarely from rare equipment (~0.5%).

For more detailed percentages, quantities, and iLevels associated with each material, see the disenchanting tables.

Non-disenchantable Items

This section concerns content that is potentially inaccurate. Reason: There may be a few categories missing, but should be pretty good.

Not all items of uncommon, rare or epic quality can be disenchanted. Most armor and weapons can be disenchanted. However, there are some general exceptions:

• Bags.
• Companions or battle pets.
• Consumables, e.g. drink, food, scrolls, etc. (or in the past, things like Twilight Trappings and ammo).
• Gems.
• Items which cannot be equipped by a player cannot be disenchanted.
• Professional recipes.
• Quest items.
• Quest rewards for which replacements can be obtained, e.g. Zul'Gurub armor sets.
• Quest rewards from some expansion intro event sequence quests.
• Vendor-purchased BoP equipment, this includes PvP equipment, faction reputation rewards, and badge items.
• Wands crafted by an Enchanter.

See also

• Disenchanting tables for results and probabilities by item type and level
• Economical enchanting training
• Making money with enchanting