Crafting

[Jazrael]

Crafting is very useful.   I tried leatherworker and made my engineer all of her armor gear.   I did have some nice drops for loot, but overall I was able to make armor that was just as nice, if not better.  I was able to put my own "insignias" with traits for my class on the armor.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting

Everyone can gather materials, you just need the gathering tools equipped.   Each node is available to more than one player, you won't be fighting over "nodes" of materials.

Here's a link to crafting recipes and other items in the game.

http://www.gw2db.com/

Video for beginning crafting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFU_b4e2bxU&feature=relmfu

More in depth crafting video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry3Ddw6Gqmo&feature=relmfu

Cooking is the most challenging craft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpPWp1Yh_30&feature=relmfu

[arabeth]

question:  what good is "salvaging?"  it doesn't seem to do much other than destroy items that i probably could have sold instead.  i understand you can get some crafting mats from it, but are they unique in some way, or can you get them another way?  it just seems like a big waste.

[Jazrael]

You can get those materials as loot or from gathering, if you don't want to salvage.   

There are different levels of salvage kits as well, I've not experimented with them.

[arabeth]

ah, that makes a huge difference.  yeah, i saw that you can get different levels of salvaging tools, with different % chances to work:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Salvage

but it seems like given the choice, unless maybe something is a rare loot drop, it's never worth it.  also it seems like salvage items can sometimes return the "upgrade" item you put into the weapon/armor, but i can't tell if that's accurate or not.  it seems like very little info is out there on salvaging which means its either a fairly useless mechanic (why put it in the game?) or people really just don't know what it's good for yet.

all the same, if you can get those mats from looting/gathering then yeah, not sure why you'd want to take up one more precious inventory slot with a salvage tool.

[Jazrael]

I've found salvaging very useful for crafting and will be using it in the game.  Yes, you can get those materials from gathering and loot, but it helped tremendously for me to get those extra from the kits to level up leatherworking. 

Also, you can send your materials directly to your collections tab in the bank from wherever you are, so your not having to run to the bank to drop them in.  It saves time and bag space.   

Another nice thing they added recently, you can access your bank from the crafting stations.

[arabeth]

unsurprisingly i haven't watch the videos so forgive me if i am repeating, but crafting has been quite a tricky thing to figure out.  i thought i'd share a few tips:

- first, tailoring is one of the slowest going crafts right now because it requires a ton of jute, which can only be gotten from mob drops.  leatherworking is probably also screwed, but the double-whammy on tailoring is that more classes use it.  every time the trading post is up jute scraps are more expensive than gems.  anything that involves gathering is actually easier to get off the ground because it's easier and more reliable to gather (at least in my opinion).  (later this may not be the case.)
- don't forget that all armor crafts can make bags, but they are stupid expensive material-wise.  i didn't buy the starting 4-slot bag for a few copper and now i think i will go back and get a few.  you can always pass them to your alts once you have better ones.

with tailoring (and i'm guessing others) the main thing to keep in mind is that discovery is your absolute best method to level.  making items you already know or that you'd actually want (a full set of X, for example) is a horrible use of resources, sadly.  you'll probably want to wait and start with a huge pile of common materials (jute scraps, for example) so that you get the most leveling out of simply making the base material (bolt of jute).  you can technically level to 20 only by making bolts of jute, but you probably won't be able to get that much at this point in the game.  once you have a ton of jute bolts:

- make a few of those insignias that are listed in your recipes (it took someone else pointing them out to me to find them).  "mighty," "vital," whatever.  make a few of each type if you can, but use whatever items you've picked up.
- make the garment "pieces" for shoes and gloves because they are the cheapest, material-wise.  there are two pieces each and they have the same base name (i.e. "wristguard").
- go to the discovery panel and add one insignia and each of the two garment pieces, and craft it.  BAM - a few tailoring levels, and an item you can salvage for more jute.
- repeat with unique combinations

once you hit 25, you can make headpieces (also cheap like gloves) and 3 more different types of insignias.  making each of the 6 headpieces, shoes, and gloves will get you going pretty well.

don't forget:  if you have extra jute scraps and you need bolts, don't waste precious crafting boosts doing it yourself if making bolts is grey for you!  send 'em to an alt or a guild mate; every armor crafter can make jute bolts, and they need the boosts.

i'm just now at 25 and i wasted a bunch of jute on crap i might actually want to use so i'm hoping to get further soon.  any other tips are appreciated!

[arabeth]

more crafting tips:

- jute is even worse than i thought before because all armor crafters need it.  i didn't even realize earlier that all armor crafters make insignias out of jute.
- HOWEVER this is also an opportunity:  if you're raising an alt, give it another armor crafting profession and then use it to craft simple materials, like bolts of jute and insignias.  don't waste precious skill-ups on grey recipes!  get an alt or another guildie to craft low-level stuff so you can get the maximum bang for your jute.

an addition to the advice above:
- once you hit level 50 in tailoring you can make shoulders; rinse-repeat the process for headpieces.
- the masterwork items you can make using the better insignias are extremely expensive mat-wise.  jute isn't even your problem here:  it's the "tiny claws" and "tiny totems" and whatnot.  plus, they will be easily replaced with wool items.  probably best to avoid unless you really need that skill-up.



additionally:

we are at a very interesting place in guild wars 2's development:  since SO MANY people are leveling their crafting right now, the trading post (when it is up) is filled with a glut of crafted gear.  typically this gear is listed for a net loss to the trader:  i.e. the cost of the transaction from the total listed price is LESS THAN the vendor price of the item!  (people don't seem to notice they're doing this.)

first:  don't do this!  don't list your items because you will actually lose money.  the better strategy is to salvage your crafted item to get that precious jute back out!  since jute sells for well over 20 copper a piece, if you get 2 pieces of jute for an item that vendors for 27c, you came out ahead.

second:  don't make gear for yourself - BUY IT!  this seems very counter-intuitive, but hear me out:  since gear is selling on the trading post for a few copper more than you could vendor it, you can effectively rent gear for a few coppers a piece and then just vendor it (or salvage) when you're done.  this can keep you in the best equipment for your level at the cost of a few coppers!  (or, you can look at it as a long-term strategy to buy yourself more crafting mats through salvage.)  either way, it's a buyer's market right now, so take advantage of it.  don't bother making yourself a chest piece since it is extremely jute-expensive; just use your precious jute for unique (and boring) discoveries and then use the trading post to keep you in gear.

[arabeth]

...since gear is selling on the trading post for a few copper more than you could vendor it, you can effectively rent gear for a few coppers a piece and then just vendor it (or salvage) when you're done.

EXCEPT i just checked into this and it's impossible.  auction hawks have made sure that all reasonably priced crafted gear is gone.  i'm guessing this is because either:
1) the current price of jute is now 30 copper a PIECE so buying something for 40c that might give 2 jute is still a good deal, or
2) they did that to intentionally drive jute prices up to 30c / ea

so in the end, salvage your gear, or sell it for the most you can get for it to the salvagers.


one last thought:

please keep in mind that crafting is fun and good for XP, but it will destroy your wallet, just like in other games.  and sadly, if you want to be efficient, it means pretty much never making more than a few pieces that you actually can wear.  for example, it's inefficient to spend jute on crafting chest or leg pieces, and you wouldn't save gear for alts because storage is even more so.

for instance, how about this calculation:  a single chest piece costs 6 jute bolts + 5 blue items (plus some leather and thread, but who cares).  6 jute bolts = 12 jute scraps, which sell for 30c each.  the blue items are going for a lot more - i saw some for >90c each!  let's call them 50c.  30 x 12 = 360 + 50 x 5 = 250, for a grand total of over 6 silver!  for a level 5, or at best level 15 item?  it's much more wallet-friendly to buy yourself gear and sell your mats; you'll come out WAY ahead.  but that's generally true in any crafting system:  like war, the only way to win is not to play. 

[arabeth]

here is a great image that has all the basic crafted armor laid out by crafting tier (finally!) for a female human (along with some PVP names if you want them).  the image is quite huge, fyi.

[arabeth]

the Droknar's Forge forum area in guildwars2guru.com is really a great place for more info on crafting.  here is a guide for armorsmithing that says a lot better and more clearly the advice i was trying to post earlier.  it's pretty much the same for the other two armor crafting skills.  very good read.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/62169-armorsmithing-guide-0-400-discovery-method/

what i've now realized is that - other than jute - the main problem you have when crafting are the fine materials - X totem, X claw, X poison sac, etc.  there is a chart in this thread that shows it nicely (2nd chart):

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/51691-guide-to-choosing-your-crafting-disciplines/


in my tier-1 crafting experience - where i 100% a zone before i leave it and constantly gather and never avoid fighting and get all my drops - i've found that it's still impossible to craft more than a single profession without going back and grinding and/or buying materials on the trading post.  even using the most efficient method possible (with some cock-ups) and having some alts help a little bit, i only managed to clear tailoring and get about 1/2way through tier 1 artificing before running out of fine materials.

given that people have figured out just how valuable those mats are, their price is now about 50c / ea (and you need 3 to do anything), thus pricing them out of reach for anyone without an end-game character.

my advice is to only try to level 2 professions if you are doing something and cooking, or something and jewelry.  otherwise, you may want to wait and try doing each of the other 6 on different alts.  or on a character that you plan to 100% the world and so you're re-doing all the starting zones, anyway.


edit:  given the price of fine mats, it may be worth using the nicer salvage kits for the low % chance of getting a fine mat out of the items you find or craft.  i admit i've not done this so far and maybe that could help somewhat (but it still doesn't seem like it'd help enough, and you'd be spending more gold).  you should DEFINITELY salvage all white items and less valuable stuff for the raw materials at the least.

[arabeth]

artificing guide to the rescue!

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/63836-artificing-leveling-guide-0-400-cost-efficient-and-fast/

so it IS possible to combine tailor/art. with the fewest fine mat expenditures possible - at least until ANet gets wind of this and changes it to make it harder.    good luck getting it done before the trading post prices shoot up!

[arabeth]

don't make gear for yourself - BUY IT!  ...since gear is selling on the trading post for a few copper more than you could vendor it, you can effectively rent gear for a few coppers a piece and then just vendor it (or salvage) when you're done.

so it turns out my "rent your equipment" idea is still a pretty good one.  every now and again the common/blue stuff gets gobbled up by someone(s) trying to spec the market, but generally speaking people tend to list the lowest level stuff (usually blue) for a few copper more than vendor price (and they are, in fact, still losing money doing so).  i don't know if this strategy will work once the majority of players are maxed out, but while most people are still leveling the value of crafted equipment is next to nothing.

i just hit 45 and bought a full set of level 45 blue gear for about 20 copper more than it will vendor for when i'm done with it.  you don't always get the stats you might like, but if you shop around you can get good deals.  the hardest part is understanding how to search the trading post for armor, since there are so many and each type has its own sub-types and naming conventions!

[arabeth]

for anyone interested, i can now make "masquerade" light armor - see the crafted armor picture, above.

here's the catch:  it's only for level 50, and only the vitality/toughness version (hearty).  (making different stat versions costs me a one-time fee of ~500 karma, which i'm happy to do if you'd like it.)  however, it's still very nice, rare, light armor - and it looks cool.    i can make it for typically a few silver less than the trading post price, which is currently only about 15 silver a piece (i had originally planned on making this my money generator, but then the price of tier 3 rare mats dropped in half and so did the prices on this armor...).  i do plan on at least grabbing the karma recipe for a level 65 and 80 version (probably cleric:  power/healing/toughness), even if i never make them.

sadly, by the time i was able to craft it, i was 10 levels past - but i'm still gonna use it, dammit! 



also, some crafting tips:

- NEVER craft in "overflow."  you don't get the WvW bonuses that way.
- similarly, crafting on thursday/friday is the best time of the week right now, since that's near the end of our WvW matches and our bonuses are highest.  saturday/sunday is a bad time, since they just reset.
- saturday/sunday is also usually (not always) a bad time to buy mats, since demand is extremely high.  supply is also high, but demand tends to outweigh it in my limited experience.


crafting is still such a weird, mixed bag.  right now i'm doing tailoring and artifacing and they could not be more different.

tailoring is extremely difficult and expensive.  mats are so hard to come by that you'll never have enough by the time you've completely outleveled the content that drops them, so you'll have to go to the trading post, and that shit ain't cheap.  (i got most of my cotton from 100%ing two maps!)  you also don't really get to make anything for yourself since you can't afford to "waste" materials.  and almost everything you craft is worth the vendor price only (although at higher levels this is slightly less true since fewer people are crafting that stuff yet).  i finally blew over 50 silver to make a full set of masquerade stuff (and to level up from ~160 to 200 to be able to do it) but overall it has not been fun - especially for how much i wished i could do with it.

artifacing by contrast is a BREEZE, and nearly revenue-neutral as long as you're mining regularly.  i'm up to 385 and i've probably spent a gold (total) to do it; i could have gone slower and spent a lot less.  (up to 280ish i probably spent a couple dozen silver total.  then i got greedy.  )  as long as you are even a halfway decent gatherer, you can have everything you need and then some without issue:  and the stuff that is hard to get is all CHEAP.  the trick, of course, is to completely ignore making weapons and just focus on junk potions - but in the end it's a very viable way to gain 10 levels and have some fun doing it.  plus, i've learned a lot more about crafting and the trading post.  i'd recommend this profession for anyone:  in fact, every single character should probably level this to max just for the cheap XP and then switch to what they'd really like to do.  be sure to use the guide linked above!

so, there you go!  how are the other professions going?  i know cooking was supposed to be "hard" but it turned out to be SUPER easy and so they nerfed the ever-living crap out of it - is it still easy?  do any of the other weapon professions have short cuts?

[arabeth]

well, i finally crafted my first exotic:  a cleric's pearl quarterstaff!  it's one of the few craftable exotics that is still cheaper to craft than to buy.  and it's just as "strong" as a legendary - HA! 

i've gotten tailoring up to 350 but i have a feeling that's going to be a much slower (and more expensive) process.  and frankly i'm wondering if i should even bother, given that for most exotics it's still cheaper (or nearly cheaper) to buy them than craft them.

i have to say, in the end:  crafting has definitely been disappointing, but it's hard to say exactly why.  it's interesting to do, but it's also incredibly complicated and quite a headache to keep track of everything (try buying mats for a finished item when you already have about half and keep track of everything and running back and forth from the TP).  it's fun to make stuff, but because of the trading post and the fact that everyone can craft everything, nothing is profitable to make:  in fact, crafting is nearly universally a gold sink.  it's cool that it gives XP, but it also causes you to outlevel the content that gives you the drops you need.  ironically, the completely open crafting system also is what made it so hard to do anything with.  if it were more limited, it would likely be more profitable/useful.  it's like my post above:  i mentioned that i could make some cool-looking rare level 50 armor, but ultimately, who cares?  you can buy it yourself for a few silver more, and honestly if you're a light armor wearer you're probably able to make it yourself.  it seems like there is no incentive for a guild to work together and share resources, because all the finished products are extremely common.  there were probably some profitable / useful niche markets for the first month of the game, but now that the rest of the playerbase is getting to 80, there's just nothing left.

in the end, crafting is really something you should wait for your second character to do for fun, or just do when you're level 80 and have lots of gold.  you're never going to make yourself stuff to use while you level up anyway, so it's not like you'll miss anything.  instead, sell all the mats you get on the trading post:  you'll be rolling in gold, and you'll be able to get crafted armor/weapons just as easily since everyone is selling them for coppers above vendor price.

[arabeth]

fyi:  i did end up taking my tailoring to 400, and it wasn't quite as bad as i'd feared; silk is DIRT cheap right now (probably a byproduct of lots of people salvaging rares in hopes of ectos), and people are taking a bath on the masterwork inscriptions, so it's a decent time to level it.  it still cost around 30 or 40 silver or something, but it wasn't too bad, and i made about 1/3rd back from selling greens back on the TP.

long story short:  if anyone needs anything tailored and you see on GW2Spidy that the mats are cheaper than the finished product and you think it's worth bothering, feel free to send 'em my way and i'm happy to make them.  i can do the valkyrie, cleric, or explorer's rare 80 armor (it also has the masquerade skin), and any other one is just a karma purchase away.    i also plan on getting a few exotic armor recipes as well, so if you want any of those just let me know.  in the end you're probably still better off spending one or two extra silver and not bothering to wait, but hey - it's an option if you want it.