Every RPG game involves some basic daily necessities like food and rest, even for characters like vampires or the undead. In World of Warcraft, "consumables" aren't just for fun, but also serve as an essential part of every raider's inventory. The raid leader will look just as closely at a player's collection of consumes as they will a gear score.
The term "consume" in WoW doesn't have to mean something that is eaten, but any item that is "consumed" upon use. This applies to Spellstones and weapon oils along with the injectors that are made by Engineers. The best ones not only give the character buffs and bonuses to their most important stats but can also be shared with other party members.
7 Flasks
Flasks were introduced in The Burning Crusade, and the few recipes that were available to Alchemists were rare and difficult to get. There's a wider variety in The Wrath of the Lich King, but some varieties are soulbound and are only useable by high-level Alchemists.
The crucial difference between Flasks and other potions and elixirs is that they last two hours no matter what. That means that they persist through death, so a player doesn't have to go through a whole handful of them in the event that they die a few times. The exact one will vary depending on the class and party role, but there are flasks that give extra hit points, spell power, and agility, among others.
6 Feasts
Cooking is an important secondary profession. Anyone can learn it, so there's no excuse to show up to a raid without an array of buff foods. However, it's an uncomfortable fact that everyone forgets sometimes, and raids are all about working together, which is why the game now has Feasts.
There are Gigantic and Small Feasts, which do nothing else except make characters bigger or smaller, which is fun but not useful for raids. Fish Feasts and Giant Feasts can buff the whole raid, granting each character that partakes the best ability bonus for their class and role.
5 Potion of Speed
There are all kinds of potions and elixirs that grant some kind of speed buff, and both are used for either combat or transportation. What sets the Potion of Speed apart is that it only lasts for 15 seconds and stacks with other potions, elixirs, or flasks that that player is already using.
Players who suck back one of these during a tense fight will get a 500 buff to Haste, an edge that is great for any class. The recipe for this potion was introduced in Wrath of the Lich King and is used by characters that are level 70 and up.
4 Haste Buff Foods
Not everyone can be an Alchemist with access to potion recipes, but anyone can max out their Cooking skill. There are several food buffs to choose from, and all of them are useful in raids depending on the player's race and class, but Haste is a buff that's equally useful to everyone.
Haste wasn't added to the array of bonuses that foods can grant until Wrath of the Lich King, and there are only five recipes in the game that currently have it. Imperial Manta Steak, Baked Manta Ray, Very Burnt Worg, Roasted Worg, and the seasonal dish Candied Sweet Potatoes, which is only available during the Pilgrim's Bounty holiday.
3 Potion Injectors
Only Engineers can make Potion Injectors, and they get a bit of extra juice when they use them, but any character can take advantage of the faster delivery and more efficient storage options that Potion Injectors provide. There are only two kinds of potions that are available as injectors: mana, and health.
With this in mind, Potion Injectors are more about staying alive and staying mobile as opposed to augmenting an existing skill. The schematics for these injectors were introduced in WotLK, giving the ability to make consumes to one other profession besides Alchemists and Cooks for the first time.
2 Healthstones
Healthstones are crafted by Warlocks but anyone can use them. Warlocks can conjure a Soulwell that's a veritable cookie jar and anyone else in the party or raid can take one. Before The Wrath of the Lich King, players could carry more than one Healthstone provided they were of different ranks, but that ability was nerfed when the expansion dropped.
Different Warlocks make different cookies depending on how many talent points they've placed in the Soulstone section. This option is located in the Demonology tree, so these Warlocks tend to have the most powerful Healthstones. They don't share cooldowns with other items that restore health, like potions or bandages, which makes them even more useful.
1 Invisibility Potion
Druids, Rogues, and Night Elves have variations on the Stealth ability, but other classes and races have to improvise. One way to do that is to use a Potion of Invisibility, and there are several different kinds with different durations.
When it comes to raiding, the Invisibility Potion is more about getting through dangerous areas after a wipe or skipping sections. Sometimes, it can be used to break aggro, which is a great perk, but depending on the dungeon level it doesn't always work.
World of Warcraft and Wrath of the Lich King Classic are available on PC.