Help me out you hard core players you

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO

What's up you crazy hardcore nerdy players you. I need your help. I am a 36 year old father of a 5 year old....what that means is that I cannot be as hardcore a player as I would like. That doesn't mean that I don't love the game and want the most out of the game. That being said....i need yalls help.

I am a semi-hard core player...lets call it medium core. I am a nightblade. I am assassin heavy (for the moment at least). I have narrowed my crafting down to three and I figure focusing on two will be doable. Clothier, blacksmithing, and enchanting. Which two should I focus on? The only reason I am thinking blacksmith is because I figure I can research sword and/or daggars and basically just focus on those in order to craft a couple of pretty damn sweet weapons. But then again....I REALLY want to craft armor because well...it's armor. it will be easier to find a couple of good weapons, but if I can't find that elusive hat as a drop then I can craft one. And enchanting just seems like it will be beneficial to me and my wallet.

But I only want to focus on two because I dont' want to spend anymore skills except on two. I figure the game is designed around focusing on two crafts. Anyway...yall get the gist of my question....HELP A BROTHER OUT YO.

Chirru

Do all three.
Of the three only enchanting need 2 skill points invested if you go beyond level 10.
the other two can be leveled without skill-points initially.

And do not forget to research the items you find desirable (especially weapons)...else you will regret it later. There are some really good trait you get from research. Also, disassemble everything possible so you have the mats to refine items. For example...Citrine is need to add a trait to an iron weapon and sharpening stone is needed to refine the weapon.

Have fun

Matthir

Alright I guess I would be considered one of those "hardcore players" since I have put in about 3 Days worth of time so far. Don't judge I'm on terminal leave haha! If you can log in once a day even as a family man that is a plus for sure(even for 10 minutes for research sakes!). SO you CAN do all 3, and off the bat they will be viable, for your first 20 levels or so. Start your planning now for once you reach level 50 and beyond.

To tell you the truth my BS and Enchanting is past my current character level of 42. I can make level 50 gear however I get questing items too quickly that are just better that what I can make for the cost. I just deconstruct EVERYTHING and store the items on pack mule toons for later use. The trick to making viable armor is using the crafting stations spread around the world for the armor set bonuses. Along with knowing traits for the items you want to craft. Now this where they go hand in hand. All of these crafting stations require not only the materials to make the armor and weapons, but a certain number of traits in each piece. So for example I'm currently in The Rift, and I stumbled upon a crafting station with a rather nice set bonus. The downfall to creating that set was I needed to know 6 traits on a piece of gear in order to craft it. So you may think well 6 traits how long can that take, quite some time actually(I'm guessing but like a week or 5 days worth of total research PER armor or weapon piece, from 0 traits to 6 traits). And since you can only research two abilities (as far as I know for now, because I have only have 2/3 points into research) you will have to pick and choose wisely. At the end of the day it all scales down to time, rather than skill points. Early on it may seem daunting with skill points, but you don't really need to invest many points into the professions because I personally have not crafted any gear since level 20. Once you get to a higher level, you will have plenty of skill points if you quest and find skyshards.

So I danced around a little bit, but keep an eye out during questing for ANY items(white/green and even blue) with traits that you don't have researched. And ALWAYS have your maximum research going on for all professions(WW/BS/Cloth). Since you are a family man this will require some planning and holding onto extra items for those days you can only log in to "check your mail" so to speak. On the days you play extra and collect items from adventuring and questing, hold onto those items for research later. I have a little notepad open and have marked down what I have researched so I can use it for quick reference without having to run back and forth to the forge. Even though I'm not a woodworker/clothier I have invested skillpoints into the research ability so I can research two things with those as well. Am I a crafter of those professions right now, no, but if I decide down the road with some spare skill points(or Re-spec) that I want to be a woodworker, the research is done and I can begin crafting viable gear for myself and for profit.

Now I know I said earlier that I get questing items that are "better", and some dude might quote me and say "well actually, blah blah blah" and he will be right. I can craft better stuff than I get from quests however it is going to cost me a lot in upgrading materials which are very valuable right now. I deconstruct EVERYTHING and so far I have around 60-70 honing stones(green), 30 Dwarven oils(blue), 2 of the BS purple upgrades(dont remember their name), and 1 of the legendary upgrade items. That stuff is most likely going to be much more valuable later on creating a piece of gear that I will use for days/weeks, or using to craft set items for someone to buy. Because right now I could make a nice Blue chest plate and go the whole 9 yards, and it would be great for 2-3 levels, but then I will get a green chest plate from a quest 9 hours later that would replace it and I don't think those materials were worth 9 hours of use.

That's all I can think of for now, it is a lot and pretty jumbled but should help with your planning. Which is what everything in crafting comes down to because it takes TIME.

-Happy Hunting

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO

jumbled is good. I like jumbled. Jumbled stuff brings out the philosopher in us Westerners...which is hard to do. Thanks for the help...I guess basically yall are saying I STILL have time to decide and that maybe I should focus on three for the time being. I haven't put any skill points into any craft yet, but I was thinking about it. And as I get higher and higher I figured I should probably only put skills into no more than two crafts. Would this be a wise choice I guess?

robertsian87b14_ESO

First, what @Mattir said was pretty spot on, in my opinion. If you're concerned about time investment, my advise would be to forget about enchanting altogether for now, and do clothing and blacksmithing.

There is ongoing debate whether or not enchanting is so slow to level by design or if it's bugged... but regardless, in its current state it's an extremely frustrating and unsatisfying slog. I wouldn't drop more than one skill point into enchanting until you're damn sure you really enjoy it (for reasons that escape me haha).

Blacksmithing and clothing are much more satisfying in my opinion, and I do both on my assassination nightblade as well. As far as focus between those two, there's probably two schools of thought. One - you have more armor slots than weapon slots, so clothing may benefit you more in that respect. Two - you can focus your weapon research easier on just one weapon of choice, so you can get your ideal traited weapon. I'm in agreement though, go ahead and pursue both simultaneously. There are more than enough skyshards out there to provide quick skill ups... especially if you turn to the dark side and look up a skyshard location map (neither endorsing nor discouraging this action!).

SadisticSavior

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO wrote: »

I am a semi-hard core player...lets call it medium core. I am a nightblade. I am assassin heavy (for the moment at least). I have narrowed my crafting down to three and I figure focusing on two will be doable. Clothier, blacksmithing, and enchanting. Which two should I focus on?

Tailoring and Blacksmithing are probably going to be the most practical. Probably Tailoring more.

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO wrote: »

The only reason I am thinking blacksmith is because I figure I can research sword and/or daggars and basically just focus on those in order to craft a couple of pretty damn sweet weapons. But then again....I REALLY want to craft armor because well...it's armor.

Sounds like you will be using Light and Medium armor more than heavy. But you can do both.

Enchanting is going to be a lot of work to get good at it (at least at the moment...I am expecting the DEVs will buff it in the near future) and the learning curve will be more time consuming. I'd only pursue it if you really want to specialize in it. I am disenchanted (lol) with enchanting because of the temporary nature of the enchantments. I don't like that I have to recharge stuff. I would only consider it again if there is some option introduced to make it permanent or something.

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO wrote: »

But I only want to focus on two because I dont' want to spend anymore skills except on two.

Tailoring for sure, and probably blacksmithing. Woodworking advances pretty fast (for me it has outpaced both tailoring and blacksmithing even though I don't pay a lot of attention to it), and might be useful for making Bows.

The main reason to pursue multiple professions at once is so you can research them in parallel. You can only research one thing at a time, but each profession is considered separate. Unless you are a dedicated crafter though, it's probably more trouble than it's worth.

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO

Oh I definitely plan on focusing on two crafts....I just can't decide which two of the three I listed. I guess I always assumed I was going to stick with enchanting, but you raise some interest points.

hypothetically speaking....if I stuck with enchanting....which should I then focus on clothier or blacksmithing?

--edit--
But I am seriously considering going with blacksmiting and clothier...hmmm. DAMN I CAN'T DECIDE. I know I want to focus on two crafts and sink a few skill points into it from time to time.

LunaRae

Can you clarify what skill abilities you're investing in? I'm a nightblade dual-wield assassin and I'm focusing on ENCHANTING, CLOTHING (Leather), and BLACKSMITHING. I want to craft my own daggers, leather armor and I want to enchant said gear. For those three abilities I am ONLY spending points in upgrading the level of gear I can craft, that's it. I'm not investing in the hireling to gather stuff while I'm offline (thought this might be a good pick up for you), I'm not investing in being able to see mats from far away, or anything of the sort. I think if you can clarify what abilities you're leveling up we might be able to better help with options instead of investing too many points in abilities that have very minimal functionality. Leather is by far the worst for gathering so if you're going to invest any extra points into a gatherling for instance I'd put it into that skill line.

Also make sure you're not trying to craft a full set of gear every two levels. You won't have enough resources to do that. Up to level 16 I crafted two full sets of medium armor (hardest mat to gather). I crafted a set around level 8-10 and another at 14. Once you hit level 16 it's another new crafting mat so don't hang on to too many old mats. For iron (daggers) it's super easy to farm that in 30 minutes to make a couple daggers, and even get a few honing stones in the process to improve them.

Anyways if you need more tips let us know, good luck!

tylerdavidsonb14_ESO

-luna-

I am building a dual blade assassin as well. And I am planning on only putting points into two crafts pretty much the same way you do...except maybe a hireling or two. And I won't try to craft whole sets of gear every two levels...the two crafts I eventually pick will be leveling as I level so that eventually at the end I can craft whatever gear I may need as a high level assassin in whatever end game there is. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I just figured focusing on two crafts while questing and leveling and whatever else would be the most feasible. But my philosophy is the same as yours....I want to craft things and enchant them for myself. Unless I choose clothier and smithing...in which case I will just craft things for myself.

God...maybe I SHOULD just focus on three crafts....there ARE a lot of sky shards......

RylukShouja

Like @Matthir said, don't underestimate the value of research. Even if you don't plan on running a full crafter, having a few honing stones and the traits you like best will help you for the rest of your levelling, and potentially save some coin. Personally I am levelling a pure crafter with all 6 skills, but that sucks unless you are fine with using mules to cart around extra mats.

As far as enchanting goes, you'll end up with a lot of extra mats so if you're planning on dropping one, that will free up the most space for you. Your clothier and blacksmithing will share all their racial and trait stones, so it's less of a space investment. At that point, if you ever decide to do woodworking later on, it will only take a few more bank spaces for the wood of whatever level you're working on and room for the improving mats.

All that to say, there is no reason you can't work on all 3 and just sell your extra mats. It will only take a couple skill points per grade of materials to keep going, and if you sell off surplus mats the bank space isn't an issue.

Good luck in whatever you decide!