In short, Warhammer Online's crafting consists of alchemy apothecary and talisman making, with several gathering professions to help back those up. It isn't a recipe based, so you aren't likely to find yourself with an inventory full of crap you can't use. You'll be able to harvest items by cultivating plants, stripping the flesh off of animals, scavenging corpses, and Magical Salvaging, which is like disenchanting, only with a ridiculous name.

Don't take my word for it though! Take Mark's, for thirteen minutes. I'll be napping if you need me.

EA Mythic Reveals the Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning? Crafting System
Highly Anticipated MMORPG Introduces Innovative System That Allows Crafters to Create Potions, Talismans, and More to Aid Them on the Field of Battle

FAIRFAX, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—EA Mythic, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), unveiled new details for the crafting system in Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning? (WAR). With two crafting abilities (Apothecary and Talisman Making) and four supporting gathering skills (Cultivating, Magical Salvaging, Scavenging and Butchering), the MMORPG incorporates an innovative crafting system to aid players in their fights on the battlefield?s of WAR.

?Crafting is a beloved MMORPG element for many players, however, it can often feel like an unnecessary addition to the game,? said Mark Jacobs, general manager of EA Mythic and WAR?s lead game designer. ?The crafting system I?ve envisioned for WAR is innovative, fun and doesn?t require hours and hours of grinding materials, items or recipes in order to succeed. It is a system that is tied directly to your Realm?s ongoing war effort whether you are a player who loves PvE, RvR or simply crafting in general.?

The Apothecary crafting ability allows players to create all manner of useful potions, lotions and powders to heal, enhance stats, or cause damage to others. By combining various ingredients, players will even have the opportunity to ?design? their own potions according to their needs. The second crafting ability, Talisman Making, will allow players to make useful items imbued with magic powers to be worn by a character.

WAR?s gathering skills produce the raw materials required for Apothecary and Talisman Making:

Players can train themselves in Cultivating, and plant seeds and spores in order to harvest weeds and fungi, components frequently used in Apothecary creations.
Magical Salvaging lets players break down magical items, converting them into fragments and essences that can be used in the crafting of Talismans.
Scavenging and Butchering are used to collect unseen resources off of the corpses of slain creatures ? Scavenging allows players to recover hidden items from more intelligent creatures, while Butchering allows players to collect meat, skin and bones from non-sentient beasts.
Crafting in WAR is not about grinding for raw materials to create beneficial items, but about using developmental processes that don?t interfere with the Realm vs. Realm? battles that are central to WAR. For example, a character with Cultivating training can continue to grow weeds and fungi even while laying siege to the enemy?s city.