Guns and Butter

Vanguard Guide to
Harvesting Wealth

By Changul


Here's the thing. It is possible to make money in any sphere of
Vanguard, but two spheres are a bit slower going. It doesn't take
a degree in economics to make money here. To every problem, there is a
solution. To every solution there is a trick. In this game, there is an
economy and any economy is based on two things: supply and demand. In
any game where crafting is involved, harvested goods become a valuable
commodity (supply). Many crafters will harvest their own resources, but
Vanguard limits them to two types. For example, you may skin and reap
for leather and cloth, but you cannot chop down a tree unless you are
with someone else who can. This creates a market for linked resources
that a crafter might need to create a particular good (demand).



A dedicated crafter can become very wealthy in a short amount of time,
especially if he levels quickly and makes items that are in demand.
When the game launched, the most valuable item a person could make was
a
Jute bag. Why? Demand. A Jute bag sold for several silver and gave the
buyer more slots to store loot. Bags are a desired commodity for every
player. The higher the quality, the rarer the resource, the more items
it can store. The trick here is to understand the crafter. He is your
market. He needs the resources, not just to create goods to sell , but
in order to level! Your goods benefit him doubly. Most of the crafters
I have seen will not stop levelling long enough to go out and harvest
their own resources and, in fact, cannot spend the time to harvest the
rares needed for better goods either. Of course a crafter can make many
things, but his bread and butter will come from the items that every
player either needs or wants.



So how do you make money? Simple. Supply the crafters with the
resources they require to make items that are in high demand. First, go
to href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=577">Ten
Ton Hammer's Harvesting Guide href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=577">,
and read up on the various resources available to a harvester. You will
see that you can harvest Common, Rare or Ultra-rare resources. We will
only concern ourselves with the first two. Ultra-rare is nice, but
it's..well..ultra-rare. You want to set up a steady supply line. You
will need to decide which two types of resources you should harvest. In
order to do that, you need to understand your market. Again, supply and
demand. Every player needs armor and weapons, you say? True, but your
money train isn't on that track. Take a look at the most expensive
resources on the broker, and then listen in chat. The most desirable
items in the game, and the most expensive, are houses and boats. Houses
and boats take massive amounts of resources to produce. They require
rare resources as well as common. Your mission, should you choose to
accept it, is to supply the crafter with these high-demand items. They
are in such high demand, that you will rarely find them on the broker!



 Houses and boats require dry wood, firegrass, sandstone and
soapstone,
among other things. Higher tier require different resources, but let's
stick with the houses and href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=vtth-screenshots&id=08_16_06_TenTonHammer_1of4&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; float: left;" alt=""
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/08_16_06_TenTonHammer_1of4.sized.jpg"
hspace="2">boats
available to Average Joe Player for
now. It takes 20 dry logs to make one timber, and one timber to make
one board. It takes 20 chunks of sandstone to make one slab, which then
makes one brick. Consider this: it takes 100 bricks for the smallest
house. There is your demand. 20 slabs of sandstone or 20 dry timber
sell for about 20 silver. 20 bricks or boards sell for about 50-80
silver. I highly recommend new harvesters to specialize in quarrying
and lumberjack. The demand never ends for dry wood and sandstone.



And here is the trick. There are certain areas where nodes will spawn
repeatedly. A node can be trees, ore, rocks, or plants. Usually there
will be 4-5 of that same tier resource in the same area, with an
adjacent area that spawns immediately after you harvest the first! They
may also respawn into a higher tier resource, or even a rare resource.
Hence, a common knotted tree may spawn into a rare warped tree at
random, within that node. Firegrass may respawn into Silkbloom, or
Mature Silkbloom! That's your jam. Your bread and butter will come from
repeatedly harvesting those areas (Hint: If you see a rare resource,
mark it! It will return in some fashion to that same area within hours
at most.). You can easily reap 80 bales of firegrass in a couple hours,
and by staying there, the chances of being on hand for the rare spawn
increases. Consider this: One bale of mature silkbloom sells, on
average, for 1.5 gold. One
bale.

One soapstone slab sells for about 2 gold! (Hint: A harvest buddy is
crucial for the rare spawns. It increases your harvest to at least a
full stack of the commodity.) There is no reason why you cannot make
2-3 gold PER DAY with one rare resource and 100 stacks of common.



Yes, it takes time to make money. You will need to upgrade your
harvesting gear to maximize your results. You should also check the
broker to see if there is a glut of certain goods before placing them
up for sale. Another tip is to join the Crafter's channel and see if
any crafters have a particular demand. Crafters love steady suppliers
who don't gouge them. Build your reputation as a supplier, and you will
be in demand! It is simply good business to deal honestly and fairly
with crafters because ultimately, they pay your bills. Not to mention
the additional perks you can receive, in the form of discounts or trade
for an item YOU want or need. Finally, check out href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=115">the
crafter's forums.
They will give you valuable information regarding needs, maps, and
spawns. There is no reason to be poor in this game, if you can simply
learn the tricks of their trade!


href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=12887">Discuss
this Vanguard Guide in our forums!



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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Karen is H.D.i.C. (Head Druid in Charge) at EQHammer. She likes chocolate chip pancakes, warm hugs, gaming so late that it's early, and rooting things and covering them with bees. Don't read her Ten Ton Hammer column every Tuesday. Or the EQHammer one every Thursday, either.

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