F2P lv 20 cobalt farming

[Raban]

Just started the wotlk part of leveling engineering,

starting with farming cobalt, but iit's hardly there to be found.. rediculously low amounts, maybe a tenth or less nodes compared to shadowlands.
I know northend is less busy, but am I missing something? phasing?

any tips?

 

[Beachcomber]

Howling Fjord is always where I went.

https://www.wow-professions.com/wotlk/cobalt-ore-farming-wotlk-classic

 

[blue09]

Node distribution is very unfavorable in zones from Cata down to Outland (since they were done with flying farming in mind, it would not make sense to have nodes very close to each other).
Best advice is to try and find smaller areas where the nodes are more concentrated ( the open world pvp areas are great, see Winterspring or Tol Barad for example) but Howling Fyord is in general the go to zone for cobalt (but expect to spend quite a lot of timr there). As an engineer, another good spot is Borean Tundra, the hot apinrg zone where the gnome robots are. There are some nodes in the caves near that spot and eng scavenge the robots for parts to use in leveling.