Pros and cons of doing lower level writs?

Danikat · March 2017

I'm still levelling my characters (highest is in the mid-30s) and still working on levelling my crafting skills on a dedicated crafting character.

Which means I was usually unable to do daily writs because they required the highest level of materials I could find, which I usually had very little of (sometimes I'd get ahead of myself and they'd need materials I'd never found). I realised I could get around this by removing points from the crafting skills which allow you to use higher level materials - so my writs drop back to using the lowest level of materials.

I assume I won't get as much gold, XP etc. as if I was doing higher level writs, but it's more than I got when I couldn't do any.

But are there any other downsides (or upsides) I haven't considered? I've only just started experimenting with this and I'll figure it out eventually, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask too.

Danksta · March 2017

The gold (and XP??) received for completing writs is actually scaled to your character's level. I think the biggest downside would be the less likelihood of getting gold upgrade materials, but at level 30 your chances aren't very good anyways. Another downside would be less inspiration (crafting XP). There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of downside at your current level, but when you're able to craft higher level writs you'll want to do them as high as you can for the better chance at gold upgrade materials.

xari228 · March 2017

I use one character (she's at Level 38 or so) as my crafter (in crafting she's at Level 8 now). Out in the world, she is presented with resources at both her character level AND her crafting level.

I used to also level my other character's crafting skills (she's now CP 72-ish), until the day I reallocated my skills and took a few crafting points away to use for some passives now available to me... Went to turn in my writs and still received just as much gold!!! (Quickly realized what Danksta pointed out: The gold you receive is based on your character's level not their crafting level.)

Now, resource-wise, I was having the same shortage problem as you, but I found that buying crafting mats from Guild vendors was a good return on investment in terms of completing writs. A one-time expense (as long as you find a good deal) would last me at least a week--since only one character needed access to those higher level mats--and I would make back what I spent many times over.

(Plus, of course, investing in the hirelings to bring in a few more mats each day.)

Good luck!

Danikat · March 2017

Thanks for the advice.

I am experimenting with hirelings too. I got a few of them early on then stopped it because I was annoyed with my inventory filling with stuff when I wasn't quite sure what it was, but I don't think that will be a problem now.

I am a bit concerned about the reduced inspiration, I might try putting a few points back into my crafting skills to see if I can reach a point where I'm still using materials I've got but I get better inspiration as well.

But I'm glad to know I'm not completely screwing myself over by doing it this way.