My reason for making a guide on tradeskill efficiency is that I've found in some professions that require a variety of ingredients to build a particular item can make finding the cheapest path difficult to figure out. Being that my first experiment with trade skills was as a blacksmith where recipes are pretty straightforward -- i.e., get a bunch of metal "X" and make a bunch of metal "X" items, etc -- the whole idea of getting a few of a bunch of different items at once seemed kind of daunting at first. Upon further inspection, however, it can be cheaper in some professions to get started because if you allocate your resources efficiently you can get levels making items consisting of cheaper ingredients allowing you to bypass some of the more expensive recipes.
The following info attempts to find the most cost effective way to level them up by picking the cheapest skill route (in money terms). Since this is a first draft, I've done my analysis using just by figuring out the cheapest recipe for a given skill range and Using the list of ingredients for each item, I’ve approximated the cost of levelling each item based on the median cost of ingredients from http://wow.allakhazam.com .
Prices may vary on your server but hopefully this will give you direction if you just want to level up your skill quickly with as little upfront cost as possible.
Below is the chart of my findings. The "Cost" field is the cost of creating the item, the "From" field is the level at which to start creating that item, "To" is when to stop, "#" is the number of times you make that item, and Total Cost is the total money (silver) spent on creating that item.
Item name Cost From To # Total Cost Disenchant 1 20 19 0 Enchant Chest - Minor Health 5 20 70 50 250 Enchant Chest - Minor Mana 10.1 70 80 10 101 Enchant Bracer - Minor Stamina 15 80 100 20 300 Enchant Bracer - Minor Spirit 20.2 100 105 5 101 Enchant Bracer - Minor Strength 25 105 115 10 250 Enchant Shield - Minor Stamina 30 115 130 15 450 Enchant Cloak - Minor Agility 30 115 130 15 450 Enchant Bracer - Lesser Stamina 19 130 155 25 475 Enchat Bracer - Lesser Strength 19 155 165 10 190 Enchant Shield - Lesser Stamina 19.6 165 175 10 196 Enchant Chest - Greater Health 28.5 175 180 5 142.5 Enchant Bracer - Strength 20 180 200 20 400
Figure 1 - Item for each level range
Now for a little background info...
Here's the stuff you need and its cost:
Items needed Cost (in silver) copper rod 2 strange dust 5 lesser magic essence 10.1 simple wood 0.38 greater magic essence 30 small glimmering shard 40 lesser astral essence 30 silver rod 25 shadowgem 4 fire oil 25 soul dust 9.5 greater astral essence 101 shadow protection pot 55.5 large glimmering shard 92.5 blackmouth oil 15 kingsblood 3.5 iron ore 5 lesser mystic essence 37.5 star wood 16.87 small glowing shard 101 golden rod 90 iridescent pearl 50.25 elemental fire 75 elemental earth 40 large fang 15.99 vision dust 20 greater mystic essence 99
Figure 2 - Bought ingredients and cost
Below is the list of stuff you can make, their costs, and levels prior to going green. The level color data was compiled from info at http://wow.allakhazam.com
Item name Get At Green Grey Cost Runed Copper Rod 1 5 10 17.1 Disenchant 1 20 60 Enchant Chest - Minor Health 15 70 110 5 Enchant Bracer - Minor Health 20 70 110 5 Lesser Magic Wand 10 75 115 10.48 Enchant Chest - Minor Mana 20 80 120 10.1 Enchant Bracer - Minor Deflect 20 80 120 15.1 Enchat Chest - Minor Absorption 40 90 130 20.1 Enchat Cloak - Minor Resistance 45 95 135 15.1 Enchant Bracer - Minor Stamina 45 100 140 15 Enchant Bracer - Minor Spirit 60 105 145 20.2 Enchant Chest - Lesser Health 60 105 145 30.2 Enchat Cloak - Minor Protection 91 110 150 45 Greater Magic Wand 91 110 150 30.38 Enchant Bracer - Minor Strength 80 115 155 25 Enchant Bracer - Minor Agility 80 115 155 40 Enchant Chest - Lesser Mana 80 115 155 40.1 Enchant Weapon - Minor Striking 90 120 160 80 Ench Weapon - Minor Beastslayer 90 120 160 80 Enchant Shield - Minor Stamina 130 170 30 Runed Silver Rod 100 130 170 149 En 2H Weapon - Lesser Intellect 100 130 170 90 Encha 2H Weapon - Minor Impact 100 130 170 60 Enchant Cloak - Minor Agility 110 135 175 30 Encha 2H Weapon - Lesser Spirit 110 135 175 60 Ench Shield - Lesser Protection 115 140 180 75 Encha Cloak - Lesser Protection 115 140 180 70 Enchant Bracer - Lesser Spirit 120 145 185 60 Enchant Chest - Health 120 145 185 50 E Cloak - Leser Fire Resistance 125 150 190 55 Enchant Boots - Minor Agility 125 150 190 90 Enchant Boots - Minor Stamina 125 150 190 40 Enchant Bracer - Lesser Stamina 130 155 195 19 Enchant Shield - Lesser Spirit 130 155 195 80 E Cloak - Lesser Shadow Resist 135 160 200 156.5 Ench Chest - Lesser Absorption 140 165 205 203.5 Enchan Weapon - Lesser Striking 140 165 205 111.5 Enchan Bracer - Lesser Strength 140 165 205 19 Enchant Gloves - Fishing 145 170 210 54.5 Enchant Gloves - Herbalism 145 170 210 20 Enchant Gloves - Mining 145 170 210 24.5 Enchant Chest - Mana 145 170 210 161 Ench 2H Weapon - Lesser Impact 145 170 210 121 Enchant Cloak - Defense 155 175 215 68.5 Enchant Shield - Lesser Stamina 155 175 215 19.6 Runed Golden Rod 150 175 215 361.25 Enchant Chest - Minor Stats 150 175 215 203 Encha Bracer - Lesser Intellect 150 175 215 202 Lesser Mystic Wand 155 175 215 63.87 Enchant Chest - Greater Health 160 180 220 28.5 Enchant Boots - Lesser Agility 160 180 220 47 Enchant Bracer - Spirit 165 185 225 37.5 Enchant Bracer - Stamina 170 190 230 57 Ench Bracer - Lesser Deflection 170 190 230 56.5 Enchant Boots - Lesser Stamina 170 190 230 38 Enchant Cloak - Fire Resistance 175 195 235 112.5 E Weap - Leser Elemental Slayer 175 195 235 178.5 Enc Weapon - Lesser Beastslayer 175 195 235 170.48 Greater Mystic Wand 175 195 235 135.87 Enchant Shield - Spirit 180 200 240 119 Enchant Bracer - Strength 180 200 240 20
Figure 3 - Made ingredients and cost
By finding the cheapest recipe for each level range we get the chart shown in figure 1. Now there may be some ways to improve the overall efficiency, say perhaps if it's cheaper to make a particular item after its green a couple of times than to make the next yellow item. If anyone figures out any such situation, please let me know.