Blacksmithing

camperkids

What's the fastest way to level up Blacksmithing? It takes forever to level it up, at least for me.
Any ideas, or recommendations appreciated.

Robbmrp

Deconstruct every item you receive as it's free experience for any crafting skill. Find a deconstruction buddy to trade items with. Deconstructing other peoples items provide a lot more experience than making the same item and deconstructing it yourself.

JimbobMarley

You should also try and do the crafting writ as that gives a decent xp as well as a chance for a survey map to gather materials .

whyB

crafting writ + stealing and deconstructing.

CGPsaint

Steal all the weapons and armor that you can carry (leave 4 open inventory slots) and then deconstruct everything. Rinse and repeat until you hit 50, or until you get bored. Stolen items provide more inspiration than looted items.

camperkids

CGPsaint wrote: »

Steal all the weapons and armor that you can carry (leave 4 open inventory slots) and then deconstruct everything. Rinse and repeat until you hit 50, or until you get bored. Stolen items provide more inspiration than looted items.

Did this yesterday for a bit. Went from lvl 5, to 9 after 5 minutes of stealing things.

CGPsaint

camperkids wrote: »

CGPsaint wrote: »

Steal all the weapons and armor that you can carry (leave 4 open inventory slots) and then deconstruct everything. Rinse and repeat until you hit 50, or until you get bored. Stolen items provide more inspiration than looted items.

Did this yesterday for a bit. Went from lvl 5, to 9 after 5 minutes of stealing things.

If you're AD, then you can find plenty to steal and deconstruct in either Vulkhel Guard, or at Elden Root. In case it wasn't obvious, you can steal everything in an area, deconstruct it, and then logout--->log back in and everything will be there again.

Swindy

Once you get invited to Craglorn, or if you have an affiliation to get yourself there earlier (I did not), stealing armour/weapons in Belkarth is simple and ample, and then as stated numerous times above, deconstruct, log out, log back in, repeat.
I was 50 in all 3 contructs doing this long before I managed anything noteworthy as a player.

camperkids

Swindy wrote: »

Once you get invited to Craglorn, or if you have an affiliation to get yourself there earlier (I did not), stealing armour/weapons in Belkarth is simple and ample, and then as stated numerous times above, deconstruct, log out, log back in, repeat.
I was 50 in all 3 contructs doing this long before I managed anything noteworthy as a player.

One of my friends probably is. I'll try it, thanks.

Zephyr01

I'm new to Blacksmithing too so I'll give the deconstructing stolen weapons a go too.

I have a couple of questions too: I'm Character Level 11, Blacksmithing Level 4. When can I expect to begin making weapons at a level higher than 1? Also, is there some kind of 'rule' where I should deconstruct an item at a certain level above my own to get the maximum benefit from the item?

Also, I presume these 'rules' apply to Carpentry and Clothing?

Talking about Clothing, should I continue with the Clothing Writs even though I'm only interested in making Medium Armour?

tiamak

Zephyr01 wrote: »

I'm Character Level 11, Blacksmithing Level 4. When can I expect to begin making weapons at a level higher than 1?

You already can: when choosing the item you want to craft, you can also adjust the amount of iron (or whatever material you're using) bars that you want to invest. The more you use, the higher the level of your weapon or armor. For iron this goes up to level 10 or 12, iirc. Then, the next tier begins with steel weapons. In order to craft those, you have to invest skill points in the first passive of the crafting skill line. (Just saying, 'cause it's easy to miss: if you want to improve your items with tempers, you can raise the chance to succeed by using more tempers in just the very same way.)

Also, is there some kind of 'rule' where I should deconstruct an item at a certain level above my own to get the maximum benefit from the item?

What matters with respect to the crafting experience is the level of the item compared to your crafting level. The more proficient you get at, e.g., blacksmithing, the less crafting exp you'll get from deconstructing items. If you can get your hands on a v14 weapon (made of void steel) and deconstruct it, you'll see that you get way more crafting exp than when you decon a weapon made of iron.

Also, I presume these 'rules' apply to Carpentry and Clothing?

Yes.

Talking about Clothing, should I continue with the Clothing Writs even though I'm only interested in making Medium Armour?

Why not? Those writs give you crafting exp for the clothing skill line which you need to level in order to craft medium armor.

Swindy

Zephyr01 wrote: »

I'm new to Blacksmithing too so I'll give the deconstructing stolen weapons a go too.

I have a couple of questions too: I'm Character Level 11, Blacksmithing Level 4. When can I expect to begin making weapons at a level higher than 1? Also, is there some kind of 'rule' where I should deconstruct an item at a certain level above my own to get the maximum benefit from the item?

Also, I presume these 'rules' apply to Carpentry and Clothing?

Talking about Clothing, should I continue with the Clothing Writs even though I'm only interested in making Medium Armour?

I actively searched for materials, stole, deconstructed, as a priority over many other things (I was rather squishy lol), & I was 50 in all 3 aspects long before I was level 40.
Now I clearly couldn't create stuff above my level, but you can deconstruct anything, & I noticed (verification anyone?) that stealing stuff (or killing npc's & looting their corpses) above my level & deconstructing that stuff increased me faster than stuff of my level or below.
Yet every little bit helps.
I'm VR14 & still loot every body, crate, sack, & deconstruct everything, just for the elusive rarer materials. I use auto collect everything & throw rubbish out when I'm safely out of harms way.

I'll guarantee you will want all three armour classes at later stages of the game in one form or another, so imo don't ignore clothing writs.

Zephyr01

Thank you so much for this info. I will take the items I have at lvl 11-12 out of the bank and go Deconstruct them. I just thought that because I was at a low level I wouldn't get the full benefit (ie: goodies) from the item.

I didn't realise I could increase the number of ingots used to make items of a higher level. Duh! I feel so silly now


Thanks again folks, I really appreciate you taking the time to help.

Zephyr01

Quick question. When you Deconstruct stolen items should they be Laundered first?

Johngo0036

@Zephyr01 - I dont think you have to

Zephyr01

OK. Thanks.

Also, I'm now being asked for Linen Clothing. How do I refine the Jute to get Linen or should I be looking for another kind of plant? Same for Steel Weapons/Armour. Will the Ore look different or will it just yield a different metal?

NBrookus

Zephyr01 wrote: »

OK. Thanks.

Also, I'm now being asked for Linen Clothing. How do I refine the Jute to get Linen or should I be looking for another kind of plant? Same for Steel Weapons/Armour. Will the Ore look different or will it just yield a different metal?

Different plant/ore. Move into higher zones to get higher level crafting items.

Zephyr01

"Higher Zones"? Do you mean I won't find that stuff while I'm still in the same area? Or at the same level?

camperkids

Zephyr01 wrote: »

"Higher Zones"? Do you mean I won't find that stuff while I'm still in the same area? Or at the same level?

You won't find it while in the same area. You'll have to go to a different area. Certain things are in certain areas, like youll find "High Iron Ore" (steel) in Grahtwood, and Iron in Auridon.

CGPsaint

Zephyr01 wrote: »

Quick question. When you Deconstruct stolen items should they be Laundered first?

Never launder stolen goods that you intend to deconstruct, as stolen items yield more inspiration than looted items.

OmniDevil

I leveled Clothing, Woodworking and Blacksmithing purely from deconstructing quest rewards and world/dungeon drops. By the time I made halfway through Cadwell's Silver, all three were 50. I only saved items I intended to use for research, but only of green quality, as blue and higher were better for decon especially for the mats. Hell, I got Enchanting to 28 purely from extracting dropped glyphs. I can imagine it being a lot higher if I started doing this from the beginning, but I only started doing it during Cadwell's Gold.

Zephyr01

I just discovered last night that when you Research a Trait it's only for the weapon/armour piece that it's taken from. I didn't know that so I've wasted 3 or 4 days Researching Traits from different weapons thinking I could use them on my KB daggers Dammit!

I've also discovered that it's expensive Deconstructing everything instead of selling it. If I didn't have my original character's money I'd be forced into a life of crime just to survive

Also, is there some kind of 'rule' whereby a Deconstructed weapon/armour piece won't yield anything? EG: If a Weapon description says: Sword, level 12, Value 9 is it 'worth' deconstructing even though I get nothing from it (do I get XP?) or is it better to sell it for the pittance it gathers? Whereas if it's description is Sword, level 12, Value 9, Adds 4% enchanting cool down it's more likely to yield something from its deconstruction. So yeah, should I deconstruct everything or just those with a Trait or at a high(ish) level?

Swindy

Zephyr01 wrote: »

I just discovered last night that when you Research a Trait it's only for the weapon/armour piece that it's taken from. I didn't know that so I've wasted 3 or 4 days Researching Traits from different weapons thinking I could use them on my KB daggers Dammit!

I've also discovered that it's expensive Deconstructing everything instead of selling it. If I didn't have my original character's money I'd be forced into a life of crime just to survive

Also, is there some kind of 'rule' whereby a Deconstructed weapon/armour piece won't yield anything? EG: If a Weapon description says: Sword, level 12, Value 9 is it 'worth' deconstructing even though I get nothing from it (do I get XP?) or is it better to sell it for the pittance it gathers? Whereas if it's description is Sword, level 12, Value 9, Adds 4% enchanting cool down it's more likely to yield something from its deconstruction. So yeah, should I deconstruct everything or just those with a Trait or at a high(ish) level?

Enchanted stuff yields more goodies like tempers & stones, & more XP.
I found everything with a sell price yields something, more so with the deconstruct passives maxed.
Can't state enough how significant those passives are for gaining mats.

Zephyr01

Thanks for that info.

At a low level (14) it's always a struggle to put that hard-earned Skill Point into a Blacksmithing Passive when Attack Skills are needed too. It always take me several minutes to decide where to put that new Skill point. I could Sky Shard hunt I guess, but I don't game that way, lol.

Again, thanks for the help.