Crafting Leather Gear

[Drunkensot]

Ive got a lvl 21 ranger with the ability to skin stiff hides, and I've got about 60 hides (not strips) all told, in the bank. I tried diplomacy until I realized it was worthless, essentially, so now Im thinking about being a leather crafter. Any tips? I did the basic low level crafting stuff and generally know how it works, but what is needed besides hides, a few components that drop from time to time (rune of damage or something like that), and the basic solvents etc you buy? How long would it take to get to the level of being able to make decent gear for a level 21 adventurer? About as long as it took me to get to level 21?
Also, are those of you who are casual players and crafters happy with it? I don't intend to spend my life doing it 24/7, and I'm not some guild slave.

[Ysharros]

Levelling crafting is a bit more of a grind than adventuring, mainly (IMO) because the work order system is pretty repetitive and you don't really travel much -- which latter tends to break up the adventuring grind nicely for me.

That said, "grind" is one of those partly subjective terms and I don't do much of what I could consider "grinding" -- to me, a grind is something you do because you *have* to and which is, by definition, boring or frustrating. I still enjoy crafting, though it certainly has its frustrations.

Since I don't like doing the same thing for days on end I'll play alts, adventure, craft, harvest -- whatever seems like fun at the time, since that is after all why I play the game: fun. As a result I've got one level 21 weaponsmith and 3 other crafters in their teens, a level 20 bard and a grunch of alts in their adventuring teens. I haven't felt compelled to grind, by my definition, at all.

In all fairness though, crafting takes time. How you react to spending said time on an activity which *is* pretty repetitive depends mostly on your playstyle. You might find it really enjoyable... or really irritating. If getting through the teens in crafting gets your goat, I'd advise forging a relationship with a friendly leatherworker instead. It's clear that you can supply them with stuff they can use. Many crafters will be happy to make stuff for suppliers at a much reduced cost or no cost at all; I'm a big fan of this type of barter, since usually it means both parties walk away feeling they got a good deal. Having read of your unhappiness with diplomacy, it's possible you might have a much better time pimping resources to a friendly crafter and getting gear pimped back to you in return -- this leaves you free to do what you *really* like, which is the point of playing these games.

[SwordMage]

As far as game time to level is concerned, the time to level is "supposed" to be the same for both crafting and adventuring; however, I have found that crafting is, or seems, a bit slower. If you are really interested in crafting, then I would suggest doing much of your early leveling in outposts for the other two continents so that you build the faction you need to craft their recipes as well as those of your home continent--the three easiest places are Tawar Galan, the Refugee Camp (south east of Khal), and Southwatch (north west of New Targonor).

Pursuing the various crafting quests can add a bit of spice and a welcome break to the basic work order grind.

If you are interested in creating leather armor, then you really need to have reaping as your other harvesting skill (leather armor has cloth padding and, conversely, cloth armor has leather trim). You will emphasize the outfitting and leatherworking skills, as well as, material preparation for refining the raw ingredients.

To make armor for a level 21 (the full tier 3 set), I would suggest being close to level 30. At least for tier 1, I needed to be level 12 to feel comfortable about getting A quality on the tunic without losing my hair or biting my nails.

[Ceyllynn]

basically...

depending on the level.. crafting 1 to 10 can take you a day or two, if you do it non-stop.

after 11 it gets harder, that epending how well you grind could take atleast a week, especially if you're a casual player to get to 21.

it's not like adv you have to learn how to deal with things... complications are adds in crafting... and they can wipe you out more frequently.