Unlike most tradeskills - tinerking has changed significantly since the tradeskill changes of RoS. However it wasn't good for tinerking. It went from making a bunch of stuff to only belts. From RoS on, there is exactly 1 item any player might want from tinkering per expansion, and its always only a belt, making it an incredibly limited tradeskill. I was thinking about how tinkering can be revitalized without adding in a ton of wierd recipies of questionable use and alot of dev time (spreadsheetable changes per expac are useful). Making tinerking like it's sister skills - poison making and alchemy. A great way to make tinkering not be "belt making" would be to let it create consumables. This would generate a reason for the skill to exist beyond the once per expac possible need for a belt. Currently, poison making is mainly for rogues, but it does make a poison usable by all melee. Alchemy is full of potions for casters. So it follows that tinkering should also make something useful. A few ideas might be a defensive buff (less version of enchanter spell runes perhaps), or a damage buff for pets (NOT A PROC). Perhaps a buff that increases the healing you take, or has a chance of deflecting an AE. These are just random ideas, but the core is to give tinkering some sort of valuable consumables to put the skill on the same level as the other two skills - alchemy and poison making.
Tinkering is by far one of the most powerful racial abilities in the game because it is literally required if you want a full set of T2 raid armor. (that sneak (which lets you use any vendor), and ogre frontal stun immunity are my top 3 overpowered racial abilities) If anything racial abilities should be normalized so that one race isn't more desirable than another(or give those abilities to all classes/races through aa). Alchemy and Poison Making are class abilities and are a bonus to the class so they are a different balance type vs tinkering which is racial.
Bring back crafted powersources that require a tinkering item. At least that was a consumable in high-ish demand.
That one item is the most valuable tradeskill item in the game, when it's the one item you don't have. But I get what you're saying and agree tinkering is kinda boring.
Because they never knew what to do with tinkering. Tinkering, as a racial ability, sounds WAY cooler on paper than in actual practice.
That's a supply problem, not a tinkering problem. I was making a philosophical point anyways, not a physical one. Whether tinkering makes one bis item, or twenty, you'd still have low prices for everything. The fact that tinkers can also make all of the other items anyways, makes it a non issue. Almost makes tinkering getting an item everyone wants but only they can make a little op...
every tradeskill makes BIS items. Each one makes one to many items that are the very best of that type. Smithing, tailoring, fletching, ect. Heck, alchemy and poison craft technically do as well - the best potions and the best poisons. Your argument that since tinkering makes the best thing for 1 slot, it shouldn't get anything else is fascious. EVERY tradeskill is the best at something. The issue is tinkering is supposed to be more than 1 item per expac.
There is only 1 race in the game that can tinker and the last few expansions all had belts that required tinkering to make. I think they need to reduce new tinkering stuff. The fact you can't get T3 belt without finding a gnome to make it for you is really annoying and most gnomes don't want to do all the running around to get stuff and sub combines for it. It would be better if the tinker drops you need to make the belt at least dropped in the current expansion. If you go off ratio of gear slots you can make T3 for to the number of players per race that can make those items any more than 1 slot is too many and probably 1 is too many. What about potion making I never heard of anything useful they are used for because at least tinkering gets belts and poison making adds extra damage to other classes so is useful.
On ToV, there were actually 2 items, belts and the core for powersources. Now agreed there are only belts and something else would be nice
But like, tinkers can make everything everyone else can make, too. Tinkerings just a free endorsement on everything else they can make. The fact that tinkers make belts is perfectly balanced or even op since it's limited to one race. I'd love tinkers to get more expendable stuff like they used to but that's dev time they don't have and need to upgrade every year.
Do you even tradeskill? Do you even know what we are talking about? Please show me all those other items tinkering can make since the broken mirror. I'll wait....
People who can tinker can also smith, tailor, pottery, jewelcraft....etc. Being a tinker doesn't mean you're just a tinker. Being a tinker means you can make all the bis items everyone else can make, AND one more than them.