Crafting

vanillexhope · December 2016

Hello, as a new/returning player, I'm curious about crafting. I know it's a huge time investment in terms of research. The thing is, I really don't like crafting... in any game. Will I be at a huge disadvantage if I do not craft my own gear? Can I just gather the mats and ask someone to make me something? Is crafted gear much better than say gear you will find in dungeons?

Rev Rielle · December 2016

To answer in reverse: Dungeon gear is comparable to crafted gear, in fact these days the 'best' gear is commonly felt to come from dungeons and world drops, as opposed to crafting.
You most definitely can ask around for other crafters to help you, and usually you will find someone; most of us are happy to help out, it's just usually expected that you have the materials (or at least the most important materials) to be used for crafting (e.g. silk and tannins for clothing)
So, no you will not be a huge disadvantage if you do not craft. If you don't like you don't have to do it at all.
Yes, It takes a lot of time to research yes, but it's not a huge time investment for us, we simply start the research then that's it. It goes till it's done, then we start something else and so on.

Even if you do not want to craft, I would still recommend thinking about deconstructing items to improve your level enough so you can invest a couple of skill points to improve your extraction chances when deconstructing items. That way you can build up your own stores of upgrade components for when you'd like to find a crafter to make something for you.

Take home message is: if don't want to craft, don't. there is no necessity to do so at all.

Hope this helps you.

Reverb · December 2016

Crafted potions, poisons and food are much better than the drop or crown store ones, and passives you get from levelling those crafts allow the effects to last longer. I'd strongly urge investing in those crafts.

Crafted gear is notably lacking compared to dropped gear (excepting TBS), and if you do decide you want crafted gear, it's easy enough to find someone willing to make it for you. You won't miss out on much by deciding not to bother with those crafting skills.

vanillexhope · December 2016

Thank you very much for your replies

davey1107 · December 2016

I concur with the other posters.

If you can stand it, it's nice to work up alchemy on a character so you can make your own potions. All this involves is working alchemy to 50 and spending skill points...not a big time investment. Check out sunshine daydreams guide to efficient alchemy leveling...you can get to fifty with a couple hundred potion-crafts, maybe like 5000 golds worth from guild stores. Potions and poisons you make can be very strong, and they're speedy to buy.

Enchanting is a super long grind, and can probably be ignored if you don't like crafting. Guild stores carry the most used glyphs. Provisioning is a pretty short grind. It's nice to get hirelings, who deliver the mats you need to make purple food for yourself, but it's optional. My hirelings deliver enough frost Miriam to make about 20 purple foods a week...these sell in guild stores for $8k/20, so that's the benefit of being a food crafter.

As for the equipment lines...yes, that's a lot of work. You have to research items, find and learn motifs, get the materials, blah blah blah. If you hate this aspect of the game, skip it. If you ever find yourself needing a crafted set, politely ask in zone or guild text chat and someone will almost always help you out. Usually when I craft for a random, they give me the mats and then some sort of tip.