Is Armorer still useful? I chose it for the first time (have previously maxed carpenter, provisioner, and jeweler back when max was 80) because I'm playing with two plate and two chain classes so thought I could make gear for all of us but so far (level 21) I'm finding that the quest rewards are as good or better than what I can make - even mastercrafted in many cases. If we aren't going to wear the stuff, it seems like a waste to level it. Does this continue through the tiers or is it because of the newer zones (Neriak and Frostfang) being in for lowbies and it will go back to normal in next tiers? I'm thinking of switching to woodworker because at least I know for sure that I'd use the totems.
The last quest that will give you a full set of armor is the really old Armor quest series that is aimed at level 20. I haven't seen the newest version of those armors, but from what I remember it was ok armor, not quite up to mastercrafted but better than handcrafted. Considering how much effort you had to put into that quest series, its a dubious reward. 30+ its going to be difficult to find a whole set of armor through drops, and there won't be any quest series that just gives you a whole set. Armorer will be good at getting a jump on the drops, and it will be good for filling in holes that itemization doesn't cover. The basic problem with armorer is that the first guy to level gets the most customers. After someone buys armor they won't need MORE armor. If you are looking to make gear for yourself, everything should be fine. If you are looking for a money maker...you'll have to put in a lot of effort and it won't last for very long before the market gets flooded and the profits just disappear.
The first toon I started in EQ2 all those years ago was an armorer. I harvested A LOT, and also kept an eye on the broker for the occasionally Really Cheap hard metal rares (it does happen). I made mastercrafted armor, usually full sets, but if I had a limited number of rares I focused first on chest and legs that could be imbued. I sold TONS of armor. This continued until the release of Echoes of Faydwer. After that point, run of the mill dropped armor began to be either equal or much better than mastercrafted, and it became a huge waste of time. Until dropped Treasured items start being better than MC gear, however, you will make good money as an armorer. Other professions that do well are Carpenter (house decorators buy stuff from all tiers, plus sales crates), all the Scholars (because Expert spells), and Tailor (backpacks).
Thanks for the replies! Really appreciate it. I've been out of the game for a long time so not sure what things are like now. I picked it to make our own gear but had just been disappointed to realize that no one needed anything due to the quest drops being so much better than they used to be. Will keep at it and hopefully we can all have matching outfits in T3 or T4.
The level 20 AQs have been updated to be in-line with current itemization. The are level 20 Legendary.
I knew about those quests being good now which is why I almost gave it up but if there is nothing similar for 30s and 40s then it should still be worthwhile since there are four of us. Really appreciate the help. EQ and especially the crafters have the best community of any mmo.
I think the next time there is an easy way to get a full set of armor (without raiding) will be The Shadow Odyssey, and even then there will be all-classes recipes to make the armor cheaper than what you can get from the NPCs. In that expansion you'll have some early demand like usual. The expansion after that there shouldn't be much demand because almost everybody will have the tier 2 version of the armor which is slightly better than MC from what I remember. Also the TSO armor looks great. Very iconic.
EOF had sets that drop from dungeons. I think that was the first time we had "sets" outside of raiding. We also may have access to the Cloud Mount timeline in KoS which also gives a non raid set.
There are quested or dropped "sets" from the 60's (KoS), 70's (Kunark), 80's (TSO, SF), 90's (DoV), all the way to 100, of varying qualities. That said, I usually rely on crafted armor for most of my toons, well into the 90's. While you may find the ocassional piece of armor that's better and worth upgrading to, the handcrafted (and mastercrafted, if you have the rares) is better than most of what you'll encounter.
