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Have you actually ever tried Engineering/Skinning? I always bought my crafting materials and it was never a money problem. And this is my first character too. And engineering not useful? Heh, it saved me so many times I cannot count. The Deepdive Helmet helped me while fighting underwater [Zangermarsh]. The Gnomish Rocket Boots save me all the time in PvP. Not to mention the ton of damage bombs can do...
Edit: Forgot to say, bombs STUN! Stuns are one of the best things hunters can have as a tool. Even more so in PvP
No, I’ve not taken the combination of skinning and engineering. But I have level capped twelve characters, pre-expansion, with a wide variety of professions. So I am somewhat familiar with the subject. But there are a heck of a lot of variables. How much things sell for and how much they cost fluctuates a lot between servers. And each person’s play style can differ greatly. If that combination of professions works for you then that’s great. But from my experience it would not have worked very well for me. I still feel the easiest, though not the only, rout is to take the gathering profession that matches the production profession.
As for the usefulness of engineering, again it largely depends on play style. As a hunter I have absolutely no need for it. I don’t like AoE bombs. Unlike paladins, I have plenty of ranged attacks and I don’t PvP at all. I have no need of a combat pet, as my class already comes with one. I don’t need additional teleports. And my hydrocane (http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=9452&locale=enUS;source=live) works perfectly well for underwater combat.
That having been said, I do like engineering. The pets are fun. I miss the mechanical yeti my alliance engineer can make. Toys like the shrink ray are a hoot. And while I don’t need an additional transportation device, it’s nice to have a backup. And the view from on high is quite nice when the device fails, at least for a moment before I plummet to my death. But for my play style, even on my human paladin, engineering is more of a fun profession than a useful one. Though I fully admit that your mileage may well vary.