Has crafting XP been fixed?

SevenKingdoms · April 2016

I played for a brief period a while back, and I remember that there was no logical way to keep your crafting level on par with your character level -- you couldn't keep your character outfitted in basic, pre-endgame gear. Completing dailies, breaking down weapons & armor that mobs dropped, research, etc., there was no way for the crafting system to keep up with character progression.

I've been considering revisiting the game, but this was the first thing I thought of. Just curious, has anything been done about this?

helediron · April 2016

It's getting interesting right now, and i can't answer with simple yes or no. Character leveling is made easier and next major patch removes veteran levels leaving champion points as veteran advancement system. First hundred CPs drop like candy. I believe when playing first character you can't keep up with that.

You will reach max level at 50 and after that it's gear and CP advancement. Current VR16 will be CP160 gear and for awhile is the max gear level.

But when you reach 160 CPs, THEN you can catch up with crafting, because CP cap is currently 501. That cap is roughly same as leveling three VR16 characters. Since CPs are account wide, your second toon needs only level to 50, and can immediately put on max gear, jumping effectively to old VR16 level right away.

If you last played when VR1 was a shock and struggle, then everything has changed. Leveling is now very easy. It does not much matter what you wear. There are much more daily quests to keep earning CPs after all quests are done. All Cadwell silver and gold areas open up now after main quest is finished or you reach VR1. New areas are open from level 1.

SevenKingdoms · April 2016

helediron wrote: »

It's getting interesting right now, and i can't answer with simple yes or no. Character leveling is made easier and next major patch removes veteran levels leaving champion points as veteran advancement system. First hundred CPs drop like candy. I believe when playing first character you can't keep up with that.

You will reach max level at 50 and after that it's gear and CP advancement. Current VR16 will be CP160 gear and for awhile is the max gear level.

But when you reach 160 CPs, THEN you can catch up with crafting, because CP cap is currently 501. That cap is roughly same as leveling three VR16 characters. Since CPs are account wide, your second toon needs only level to 50, and can immediately put on max gear, jumping effectively to old VR16 level right away.

If you last played when VR1 was a shock and struggle, then everything has changed. Leveling is now very easy. It does not much matter what you wear. There are much more daily quests to keep earning CPs after all quests are done. All Cadwell silver and gold areas open up now after main quest is finished or you reach VR1. New areas are open from level 1.

The biggest thing for me was the pre-50 crafting. Upon endgame content in other MMOs, that's when I'm typically accustomed to having to reach out to other crafters or the auction house for gear while I continue to level my character.

I stopped playing before 50, but if you're referring to "CPs" taking effect after your crafting level reaches 50, then that's beyond what I'm talking about. What bothered me was that the entire time I was leveling my character (before 50), I couldn't even craft basic armor to match my level. My character level was 35+, yet my crafting level was around 10, and that disparity was continuing to grow at an alarming rate.

Basically, I don't want to have to be at endgame before I can craft armor for a level 30 character. For example, if my character is at level 30, I'd like to be able to craft level 30 armor. When I played, the system for leveling crafting was you research items, you break items down, and you complete crafting dailies. I noticed, however, that doing these things on a daily basis was not giving anywhere near the XP required to appropriately level my crafting, keeping it somewhat consistent with my character.

Research took long periods of time, and didn't give any XP to be a viable way to level. Breaking items down didn't give any XP. Crafting dailies also didn't give XP. The only way I was able to level my crafting to level 10 was by resorting to taking an item, laundering it, then breaking it down. I couldn't even do this with the items I looted from mobs since they weren't marked "stolen" -- I actually had to go to vendors and take items. It was a completely broken crafting system, and if it's still like that, I'd like to know before I bother reconsidering this game.

Nestor · April 2016

SevenKingdoms wrote: »

I played for a brief period a while back, and I remember that there was no logical way to keep your crafting level on par with your character level -- you couldn't keep your character outfitted in basic, pre-endgame gear. Completing dailies, breaking down weapons & armor that mobs dropped, research, etc., there was no way for the crafting system to keep up with character progression.

I've been considering revisiting the game, but this was the first thing I thought of. Just curious, has anything been done about this?

This all depends on how you level. In may case, I took my time, TES style and did not rush to end ranks. It took me 8 months to get a character to upper Vet Ranks. Even then, if your in a hurry but are doing the content and not just grinding out levels, you should be able to decon enough gear that you loot from mobs to keep the crafting up with your character.

All that being said, it really does not take all that long to get a character to upper ranks of crafting by grinding mobs and deconning all the gear. Especially if you wait until you get to L40 or better before you decon. Then, decon everything you get from grinding on the undead in Coldharbor. I have leveled at least one character to 50 in crafting just from that alone in not much time.

Besides, your not going to have enough points to flesh out the crafting skills until your in the vet ranks anyway. And, until you get there, you don't need crafted gear, just use mob loot to gear your character.