I'm planning to start leveling my warrior alt, and was just looking for some opinions on blacksmithing vs engineering while leveling. I eventually plan to have both professions on the character, just looking for some opinions on which would be more useful to me while leveling (and hence which one I should level at max level). I know that it would probably more efficient to just do skinning and mining for cash and level actual profs later. At the same time, I do somewhat enjoy professions while leveling. Is it really that big a difference that I should just hold off for now? Is one more useful than the other to a leveling warrior? Am I massively overthinking this?

Just looking for some advice from the more experienced players here.

My opinion is dont level professions as a warrior unless you are going herb/alch to provide yourself with pots which will reduce the difficulty of leveling at the cost of efficiency. Aside from this cooking/fishing could help. Any proffesions you do level will slow your progression and wont provide overall value compared to leveling without them.

If this is an alt or youre looking at endgame performance, you would likely want Engineering/Blacksmithing as a warrior with a separate toon to gather for you.

Ease? Cooking/Fishing and Herb/Alch will reduce the difficulty of leveling a warrior.
Efficiency? Nothing or skinning.
Gold? Skinning (while leveling), Herb or Minning - any gathering proff will make gold.
Performance? Engineering(must have) and Blacksmithing for exclusive items.

There is not a "best" set of professions to take. I dont take professions while I level. Getting to max is the most important thing to me. The cost of opportunity for not being 60 is massive. The gold I can earn by getting to 60 fast massively outweighs the extra effort of going back and paying to level up my professions or leveling them after I have a mount etc at 60. From my personal perspective, every day my character is not getting raid lockouts, the character is bleeding away opportunity for gear.

However, some people view endgame as fishing. They like casting a line over and over and clicking the bobber as it bounces. This is their endgame. You need to figure out what you value and take professions that match your playstyle.

Thanks, this was more or less the type of breakdown I was looking for. My line of thinking was that maybe blacksmithing would be worth it because warriors are supposed to be SO GEAR DEPENDANT, or that maybe engineering would be useful enough in dungeons to justify the pain of leveling it up, but if you say its not worth it then I'll take your word since you leveled a warrior to 60 in the same time I leveled my hunter to like 24. This is kinda the answer I was expecting but I like to confirm my assumptions by tapping into others' expeirence.

2 days ago i asked myself the same - originaly planed on skinning/mining - skinning for the gold, and mining just as a test, to see if i actually get enough ores - now im lvl 12 with 75 engineering - without actively looking for ores i got 97x ores just on the go and was able to level engi to 75 on the first visit to the trainer. i know that its better/recommended to just dont bother with professions but for me i think i made the right decision. and if i am honest it just feels less draining to level the professions while leveling than rush/farm them after i hit 60 (which will be in months). while leveling i look forward to craft a few things and use them as upgrades. when im 60 its a chore altough i get it - its faster/easier. like i have an idea for a great short story and sit down to write down my ideas vs i have homework due to tomorrow and need to write something. nr. 1 just feels better.

If this is an alt, I wouldn't prioritize BS. You can buy a weapon if needed when your warrior's weapon gets stale, and while the other spots are helpful, weapon is that main gear dependence. I levelled engineering with my warrior, and couldn't be happier with it. That dynamite is invaluable for when you want to tank, especially before you have your full toolkit. Everybody opens up immediately in dungeons now, so having that dynamite for initial AOE aggro has been huge for me personally.

Edit: Also, what's the advantage to having BS on your warrior as opposed to mining? Are there some critical BOP or requires BS skill items I'm unaware of? (Not sarcasm, actually curious). I planned to level BS/Alch on a pally alt and leave him at 35, but if there's a reason for my warrior to pick it up, would like to know early!

What @Stfuppercut said. I opted for mining and skinning, but I'm only leveling the latter at this point since I don't have to go out of the way for it. Once I reach 60 I will worry about professions. My plan is to keep mining and drop skinning for engineering.

If you do insist on investing on Blacksmithing or Engineering while leveling, I would say go for Blacksmithing on a PvE server and Engineering on a PvP server.