I'm new to EQ2 and one of the things I'm excited about is the Tradeskill system. I've always enjoyed making gear in other games, but I have a question regarding how it works here. How good is crafted equipment? In my opinion, the best games give you the ability to make gear that is on par with some of the best drop gear in the game. Make it ridiculously hard to make, but let it be made by people if they try hard enough. Well, that's my opinion anyway. Can anyone give me the info please?
Crafted gear, especially with refining and Experimentation prestige abilities, is usually just lower than raid gear. Crafted gear will absolutely give you everything you need until you get to end game. Mastercrafted gear and expert spells will serve you well from 20-90. To fully equip a toon requires 2-4 tradeskill classes so you being new I would suggest finding a friendly guild a decent sized guild will have members who will craft gear for you if you provide the rare materials.
So it's certainly profitable then? Also, I heard someone in a leveling thread state that the first thing he does with a new character is get to Craft level 85 to use flying mounts. Can anyone explain what this is and whether it's viable to do so at a low level?
Crafting can be profitable, but you have to really pay attention to the market and what you're doing. For example, the rare materials will often sell for more than the items crafted from them. Some non-rare materials fetch a decent price at times, while others you can't give away. And these items will change depending on who's farming what. I will tell you this: if you want to quickly level a toon to crafter level 85, it is certainly doable, but it will cost you quite a bit of plat to do so, since you'll need to buy a lot of your materials (or be very good at harvesting, but most people don't seem to be able to harvest high level zones with low level characters).
Yes you can level with nothing but quest gear but Mastercrafted gear seems to be better than the quest rewards so far. Granted I'm a returning player and haven't level but a few characters above level 30 so that might change. But from what I've seen crafting gear is still worth it especially if you enjoy leveling locking and taking your time leveling up.
The problem is unless you're level locking and taking your time, the time you'll spend in each tier doesn't really offset the cost of making the mastercrafted gear. If you're a new player, forget it, unless you get lucky while harvesting and get enough for your gear.
It depends on your play style. I don't level lock, but I do keep my slider at around 75%.. I don't spend ages at a level, but I spend enough time to make the master crafted armor I make worthwhile. Granted, I also harvest my own rares, so I don't have to any 'plat farming'.
Your signature file says you are a 95 adventurer and a 95 tailor, so you are NOT a new player. You have resources available to you that someone truly new will not have. The best thing to do for someone truly new to the game who is uncertain about crafting is to level up their first character to end-game and then answer this question: Did I need to use any player crafted gear to get here? (The answer will be no.) The next question should be: Is there any player crafted gear that I actually need to play in the end-game that I can not obtain from the broker or in the crafting channel or from a guildmate that would make it worth my while to level up crafting? (The answer for most players will be no.) I have seven crafters. I could have put the time and resources used to level them to better use.
I started a brand new character on a new server. No twinked gear, no bank of rares... And my very first character I explored crafting and kept it at or ahead of my adventure level and made my own gear.... as a brand new player. It can be done for those who are interested. I am not the type to race to end game as fast as possible, but neither do I level lock. What works depend very much on what the player is interested in and likes to do. You've found that crafting was a waste for you, I've found it every enjoyable.
There is some crafted gear that is quite nice. I've heard some people say that some of the fabled crafted gear gets close to best in slot when it's experimented upon. I made quite a bit of coin even selling just handcrafted when the level cap first raised again (tier 10 handcrafted). As I level up a character, I like having the ability to make my own gear. 9 times of 10 prior to level 70+ it's better than most of the drops/quested gear. Higher than that it's hit or miss whether you luck out and get a great drop (though Kunark named drop good gear like candy these days). Raiding guildies/friends regularly ask me to make things for alts. To sum it up, despite what some say, crafting is worth it if you enjoy it. Same as always. Sure you can level to 95 never using a single crafted item, but you could also easily level 1-95 using nothing but handcrafted gear (no waiting around to find rares/earn coin to buy rares).
Sorry about that, but this game is eight years old so you should look at it from a variety of perspectives. The upside is that the players in the Crafting channel are very knowledgeable and very helpful. If you decide not to pursue crafting in EQ2, you can be sure to find someone in that channel that will be willing to help you with gear. (Always remember to be polite there and to tip the crafters generously.)
As someone who crafts, adventures, raids, groups, chronos and offers advice. I can say nothing bothers me more then offering my help with an item and not at least getting some form of small tip. I remember that not all lvl 10 toons are Alts and have 10p for a tip. I mean when I run all the way to your crafting station in your hall and end up using my raws and fuel and just your rare... I expect something in return. Other than that I love helping people just not people who are ungrateful, there is something to be said for a simple "thank you" when someone helps ya . Crafting very much has a purpose outside of Raids even some slots can tie into Raid content.
I'll just add one thing to this: if you want to start a crafter, now is the perfect time. There's a repeatable daily quest in the frostfell zone that allows you to craft level 70 items, which go a long way to levelling up new characters. If you're willing to be a bit 'creative', you can actually stay in that crafting instance as long as you want crafting those items. All you need is some money for fuel (cheap fuel at that) - the materials are all provided, and you don't have a bunch of crap you don't want in your inventory when you're done. Level up to 10 doing the 'normal' tradeskilling tutorial, which also nets you the first books. Go to the instance and craft until you hit nineteen. Immediately leave and go back to your trainer and pick your class, which bumps you up to twenty, then go back and finish crafting. With an XP potion - check your veteran rewards if you've been playing a while - and vitality you can go from level 1 to 30 something in one shot no problem. Do this every day and you'll have a toon in her 60's in no time (at which point doing rush orders becomes much more attractive option).
I am a returning player that currently does not have any high level characters left. I have restarted on a new server. Due to the mergers, I did not like where I ended up. So I have no bank roll to use to buy my gear or materials. I really enjoy the crafting system in EQ2. Crafting does not cost much if you have the patience to gather your own materials. Once you are up to about level 15 in your chosen path, you can even start making money and status points just by doing crafting writs. But again you will need your own materials. By the time you have gathered all your own materials and taken the time to level up your character to the next tier, you normally will have a stack of left over rares that are not your primary ingredients. I normally put these in my shared bank for the next character I decide to level up. But you could also put them on the auction house and make a little extra money. So do not left the people who do not enjoy the crafting process discourage you from giving it a try. Everyone has there own idea of what is fun and worthwhile. As for the gear, I found that the Handcrafted gear is better than the beginning gear you will get in each tier (1-9, 10-19, 20-29, etc.). And the Mastercrafted gear is better than the gear you will get in the middle of each tier (usually around level 5, 15, 25, etc.). So if you are willing to harvest all the nodes you find while questing, you will usually have enough rares to make a full set of Mastercrafted gear by the middle range of each tier. Of course if you run a few dungeons, you might get some Legendary gear drops the are obviously better than the Mastercrafted. Hope to see you enjoying your time at the crafting table as much as you are out in adventuring zones.
don't listen to him I have friends who aren't into raiding that love the Armour that was made for them from the refined material you can make from the prestige points you get at end level. and my Guild leader for one of his alts was very happy to have the bow I made from refined lumber even though he does raid(since getting obols is very much time consuming.)it was a nice thing to have till he could get his raid bow. now I don't make alot of plat But I have as mentioned above found endlevel crafting useful. I have 3 toons at so far at end level my woodworker(she's my main an ranger so it was a given what she would be), my weapon smith and my sage. My weapon smith manged to refine some hard metal and make 2 nice swords for the above friends that they were very happy with. I have a 50+ armourer coming up that as soon as they fix the bug in the refining of lower level hard metals is going to have a good time outfitting my scouts and SK. I also have 2 Provis I"m going to level up folks always need good food. an alchie I just got to 40 and jeweler who is upper 30s soon to be in 40s My carpenter is 50+(storage containers upper levels are usable as they carry more, sales crates as well as the furniture) or soon to be and my tailor is in her upper 30s I think(bags leather and cloth armour, quivers etc.) I think that is all 9 tradeskills. plus you can branch out to Tinkering and Adorning on all your crafters which does come handy for adventure. do talk to the crafting channels and if you aren't on Antonia Bayle do a /join Antonia_Bayle.homeshow to find out what decorating is all about. did I mention i'm an Alt aholic and I love tradeskiling so much that on Guk my home server I plan to have 2 of each tradeskill LOL
Put me also in the category that says Spaz is using flights of illogic. The first, best and only answer I like to give is do you find crafting fun? (not just the interface, but the quests, and the ability to mitigate the RNG and make gear for yourself on demand) If the answer is yes, then do crafting. Ignore anyone who says there is a faster this or a more effective that. They might be wrong, they might be right, but their answers dont impact the 'is it fun' question. For myself, I find crafting enjoyable and rewarding, as well as giving greater tactical options.
