Provisioning Hirelings: Worth it?

Sunburnt_Penguin · January 2016

I've just started on provisioning (maxing it out today) and I've pumped 3 skill points in to hirelings incorrectly thinking I can get fragments for ambrosia.

So my question is are the hirelings worth it and do you get anything rare or is it simply just an abundance of crap that you can easily loot/buy elsewhere?

Edit: also, the hirelings are on my level 23 but my main is 49. If you do get rare stuff from them, would I have a better chance of opening the packages on the higher level character?

Thanks

UrQuan · January 2016

Provisioning hirelings and writs are the only 2 ways you can get purple ingredients, so without hirelings or doing writs, you'll never be able to use any purple recipes to craft tri-stat food or drinks. You won't get different ingredients based on your level, though.

Provisioning hirelings are also a handy passive source of gold. When you've got more ingredients built up than you need, just craft a bunch of food/drinks of the highest level you can with the ingredients you have and vendor it. I tend to do this every few weeks, and I usually end up with at least 40-50K gold from it. I'm getting 16 provisioning mails per day, though, so your mileage may vary.

SirAndy · January 2016

Absolutely!

All my 8 characters have provisioning at 50 and 3/3 into hirelings.

EQBallzz · January 2016

SirAndy wrote: »

Absolutely!

All my 8 characters have provisioning at 50 and 3/3 into hirelings.

I think it probably is worth it. I don't think you need 3/3 into hirelings, though. 2/3 is all you need. That third point is kind of stupid. It allows you to pick up bags twice in one day but it can't be before 12 hours has passed from when you pick up the first bag.

Think about that for a minute. Unless you are playing 24 hours a day or can easily log in every 12 hours to take advantage of it this becomes nearly impossible to manage. Most people play in the evening so if you always log in at 6pm you will not really benefit from that third point. Also, if you do happen to collect that second bag it then jacks up the timer for the next bag so it's just not worth the hassle IMO (and you don't get more or better stuff with that third point).

IMO it's better to just spend less points and collect bags once a day at a known time. This is especially true if you have multiple characters with hirelings. If all the bags are not showing up at the same time it becomes a serious PITA to deal with.

Devve777 · January 2016

yea, as previously stated, it is most def worth it. i would argue that prov hirelings are more beneficial than hirelings from any other profession.
also, when purps drop they drop is stacks of 3-10 (in my experience, most often in stacks of 6).

Teflondon75 · February 2016

It is very very worth it. And the 3/3 hireling is worth it as well. As UrQuan stated you can make some decent money from the excess as well.

Aelthwyn · February 2016

I've definitely found it worth it because I find that while it's really easy to get drink materials from barrels and sacks in dungeons, food materials seem to be less common. Before getting the hierlings I was having a hard time finding enough things like potatoes and flour, but now, between the hierlings and doing craft writs, I don't even need to bother to take the time to check containers in the world for food items, so it saves me time and I actually get all the ingredients I need, rather than having to go out searching for them.

Sunburnt_Penguin · February 2016

Thank you, all!

BabeestorGor · February 2016

Is the 3/3 hireling worth having if you can't log in twice a day?

Sunburnt_Penguin · February 2016

@BabeestorGor apparently not. Although I'm fine having one redundant skill point - for now anyway.

BabeestorGor · February 2016

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

@BabeestorGor apparently not. Although I'm fine having one redundant skill point - for now anyway.

Thanks

Think ZOS should change the way that passive works. How many people can manage to take advantage of that on a regular basis. I'd have to log in before going to work to manage it.

Sunburnt_Penguin · February 2016

@BabeestorGor yeah it would be nice if you didn't need to accept one for another one to come through but the aim is to increase playtime so it wouldn't really work unless they were wanting to skip that aspect

JuZ · February 2016

My woodwork hireling on 2/3 has never given me anything purple, I'm thinking I should have him beaten!

EQBallzz · February 2016

BabeestorGor wrote: »

Is the 3/3 hireling worth having if you can't log in twice a day?

No. I don't think so. The timer on when you can collect your next set of bags only starts after you collect the bags from your mail. There is also a requirement on the 3/3 skill that the second set of bags can't arrive sooner than 12 hours from the first set. That means if you usually log in at 6 or 7pm the only way you can collect the second set would be to log in again at 6 or 7am to maintain that same time in the evening.

Let's say you can't log in in the morning but you can log in during lunch the next day. Well now you were able to collect the second set of bags but you have to wait 12 hours from that point so you won't be able to collect again at your normal time of 6pm and your whole schedule for picking up the bags is messed up. It's not worth the hassle or skill points IMO. They really need to change it so just give you more/better stuff instead of this two bags 12 hours apart nonsense.

Teflondon75 · February 2016

I don't know guys/gals....I wake up, get my breakfast ready while turning on the ps4. While eating I cycle through all 8 characters and Zoom down the mails to open them. Takes 4-5 minutes While doing something already, eating breakfast! Get home, do it again. I often can get both bags and I work 10 hour/6day weeks. Every now and then it rolls over and I miss one but that's fine, I personally love having that third point.

Mansome · February 2016

Definitely worth getting the hirelings. For the gear professions and enchanting these give me more chance at golds than breaking down mats since I hardly get a chance to play regularly. Besides what else you going to spend the skill points on? Almost everything worth getting is at max for me, might as well make crafting easier.

The Elder Scrolls Online

Provisioning Hirelings: Worth it?

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