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Tradeskills and You!

Posted August 23rd, 2005 by Savanja

Tradeskill Basics

Crafting Levels 1-10

Guide by: Savanja

 

I have never been big on tradeskills in game, which is ironic given that I started out my MMORPG career as a scribe in Ultima Online. I was afraid to venture too far away from the city, so I stayed where it was safe! Once I did venture though, I never turned back, and I didn't like the idea of being cooped up in a sweatshop for hours of my gaming day.

Now that my character has maxed out on adventure levels, I thought I'd give crafting a try just to see how it is. It isn't quite as bad as I had envisioned, and now I actually enjoy hanging out in the tradeskill instance for short periods of time!

So since I'm noobing (is that a word?) my way through learning to craft, I thought I'd drag my fellow tradeskilling virgins along with me! Don't worry, I'll be gentle.

The first step in crafting in EQ2 is finding where and figuring out what.

The "where" is fairly easy. You will need a crafting station and those can be found in various places. Basically, the starting isles, and each village around Qeynos and Freeport will have a tradeskill zone. Kelethin and Neriak have their tradeskill areas arranged differently, and you will find the stations throughout the zones in the open areas. I much prefer the trade zones, but some like having the stations in the open cities. If you are new to game, you will want to talk with a crafting trainer, one is found in the starting locations, or in front of any of the tradeskill zones. Or better yet, if you are seriously not at all familiar with the crafting process, and are a new character to the game, you will find a "Seeking a Tradeskill Profession" in your inventory once you have arrived in your starting city, or you may get one from a tradeskill trainer if you deleted it long ago like I did. This quest will not only teach you the basics, but it will also gain you recipes and levels!

The "what" of crafting is a bit more difficult. We all start out as an Artisan, and will be such until we pick a crafter class at the completion of level 9. During your first 9 levels of crafting, take some time to try all of the various "jobs" and see if you find one that appeals to you. If if doesn't really matter to you which one you choose and you are guilded, try picking something that your guild could use. This will ensure you plenty of work (and lots of friends) in the future!

Now that you you know where to go, it is time to craft something!

Crafting works in tiers, so for levels 1-9, you'll be harvesting in the starting areas around Qeynos or Freeport, or in the starting areas of Greater Faydark's Nursery or The Darklight Woods. You'll need to know what each harvesting node drops:

Tier 1

Animal Den dear meat, turtle meat, rawhide leather pelt
Ore leaded loam, tin cluster
Stone rough malachite, lead cluster
Fishing frogleg, sunfish
Shrub jum jum, Baubleshire cabbage, black coffee bean, white tea leaf
Root root
Wood severed elm

You will also need to purchase a fuel for each each station:

Engraved Desk incense
Woodworking Table sandpaper
Forge coal
Chemistry Table candle
Loom (Sewing Table) filament
Workbench coal
Stove & Keg walnut kindling

Recipe books can be purchased off of the broker or from the crafting trainer.

For the early levels, I suggest harvesting everything and anything (you will need LOTS of bags for this), so that you have it all on hand and can test out the various skills.

Once you have everything you need for each recipe, and are ready to craft, I'd take a moment to set up a hotbar for crafting. I have one for each tier. You'll find, in your knowledge book, a tradeskill with a bunch of icons. There will be a few icons that will be significant to each of the skills used at the stations. During the tradeskill process, there will be an occurrence shown on your tradeskill dialog box. You counter each one of these with one of your icons. The picture on the icon will let you know which counter is needed.

Now that you have all your needed items, and are all set up..Craft something!

It doesn't take long to level up in crafting, and I made level 9+ before I ran out of harvested supplies.

At this point you will want to choose your tradeskill class and progress to level 10. To do this, you will need to talk to a Crafting Trainer. In Qeynos: Alfred Ironforge on the dock in Qeynos Harbor (where the construction is happening). In Freeport: Alethea Augustine in West Freeport at the Coalition of Tradesfolke. For Neriak, the crafting trainer is in the building with the bank. For Kelethin the crafting trainer is just outside Tunare's Pages. They also put trainers outside of the crafting instances which was a very nice addition!

Ding! You are now level 10 and are either a craftsman, outfitter, or scholar. Congrats!

Next we will look at more advanced tradeskilling in levels 10-20.

 

Thanks for visiting Ten Ton Hammer! If you have any questions or comments regarding this guide, please let me know or make a post on our forums.

Windows
Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
Genre: Fantasy
Status: Published
Release Date: November 8, 2004
Fee: P2P
ESRB Rating: T