Is it?

Seconded....super important imo. Whats not to like about an extra 300hp for any kind of character no matter what they are? Many have dual-buffs at higher levels as well...Stam/Spirit....Stam/MP5 etc etc.

Besides, its so easy to level while getting your character to 70...just don't throw away any cooking mats and store them to level up later if you don't feel like taking the time to do it while grinding up. Cooking and fishing go hand in hand so don't slack on that either.

Cooking is the best and if your lvl up your fishing they complement each other although it kind of sucks that the lower lvl foods only give you 15 min. buff instead of the 30 min. buff at high lvls.

Cooking has this funny deadzone that's an artifact of pre-TBC content. Before you get to 300 cooking, you'll have a time when (around level 50 or so), the buff you get from being well-fed doesn't last all that long (15 minutes) and isn't super-fantastic (+8 stam, whee!). Once you get to 300 and the outlands, though, you'll be much happier. The food gets a significant power bump, and the duration was extended to 30 minutes.

That said, you can always find a friend to cook for you. It isn't like first aid or engineering, where you need a skill level to use the item. You're just eating, after all. But I'd say it's worth it.

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Q u o t e:
Absolutely. Bottom line for Cooking: It gives you free buffs for yourself and your party mates, using many ingredients you would be finding already in the course of leveling Fishing, doing quests, or killing incidental beasts.

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i concur with the white foot. especially since they'll be adding daily cooking quests. woowoo. i'm hoping they'll make a +5 cooking apron and big white chef's hat. that'd be awesome.

I agree with the others above -- cooking is quite handy. There are times when leveling it is a pain, but even so, I strongly recommend leveling it as you go. (Just wish that spices were easier to find some days!)

It's worth it even if you just vendor the food you cook. There are a good many recipies that simply require an open flame and a piece of meat (no spices or other ingredients). And you can vendor it for a slight boost over what your get from the raw meat.

Take these and put them on the AH for a modest amount and you can make some decent coin already.

And any skinner should absolutely have cooking. Come Nagrand time you'll be skinning so many clefthoof bulls and talbulks that the meat drops come in handy. Free buff for you (STR/SPI and STAM/SPI respectively). And again, just need a flame and the plentiful meats they drop.

Cooking is not a hard skill to level. Besides, do you really want to trust a mage's food? Plain tasting with no buff and God only knows what orafice they "conjured" it up from.

It also opens a few quests that I don't think are available if you don't have the skill. Win-win-win for the would-be chefs of Azeroth and Outland.

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Q u o t e:
I agree with the others above -- cooking is quite handy. There are times when leveling it is a pain, but even so, I strongly recommend leveling it as you go. (Just wish that spices were easier to find some days!)

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i was very happy to see that most of the bc food didn't need spices :)

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Q u o t e:
Is it?

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Absolutely; free buffs (stam, strangth, spirit, +damage, etc...).

at lvl 70...

pvp- nah, not worth it. you die too often so the buff gone quickly.

pve- def worth it! In a raid when i look at the buffs people have on them i have respect for those with food buff--> they come prepared to help themselves and the group. I look with disdain on those without food buff. They dont want to take a little extra time to help out the group and themselves.

solo- eh- take it or leave it. I usually run with the stam buff from the skyguard food which I can buy and dont have to gather.

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Q u o t e:
I still wish they'd put in my Palehoof's Prune Prawn Preserves.

Heals 7200 over 30 seconds, grants a Well Fed Stamina at 10 seconds which lasts for 15 minutes. When that buff expires, you get 1-3 Khorium Ore.

They won't take it seriously over on the Suggestions forum.

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ROFL!

I can just imagine the animation that goes with that emote!

And what would the text log say?

You "receive" [Khorium Ore]x2

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Q u o t e:
at lvl 70...

pvp- nah, not worth it. you die too often so the buff gone quickly.

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Thats like saying that Arcane Intellect or Fortitude isn't worth it. It takes me 10-15 minutes to farm a stack of Clefthoof Meat. That is 10-15 minutes to a stack of +20 Strength (+40 AP) and oh yeah a spirit buff.

And the 200 health from the stamina buffing food can mean the difference in a battle.

Some cooking Staples (and these are just some)

Tabulk = +20 Stamina
Clefthoof = +20 Strenth
Basilisk = +23 (i think) Spell Damage
Golden Darter = ::+51 healing:: ACTUALLY IT IS 44

I keep stacks of those in my bag pretty much all the time. (at least the first 3. I'm Ret, who am i kidding with the last one)

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I just think they should add some "broths" or juice or something for mana-regen for casters

edit for accuracy

Most definitely. And as previous posters have mentioned, you should be leveling fishing at the same time. I regularly fish for crawdads to be cooked for the +30 stam buff as I am a tank. I alos catch golden darters, which cook up for +41 healing I believe and sell for 2g-2.5g each on the AH. Nice little pocket change.

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Q u o t e:
I alos catch golden darters, which cook up for +41 healing I believe and sell for 2g-2.5g each on the AH.

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We were both wrong. Golden Fish sticks (from golden darters) buff healing by 44.

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Q u o t e:
I still wish they'd put in my Palehoof's Prune Prawn Preserves.

Heals 7200 over 30 seconds, grants a Well Fed Stamina at 10 seconds which lasts for 15 minutes. When that buff expires, you get ported to one of the out houses in the badlands.

They won't take it seriously over on the Suggestions forum.

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Fix't