I don't get it
You gotta start somewhere. Each crafting discipline starts out using the low-level crafting materials and low level items, and you work your way up to high level crafting materials and high level items. If you do it right (maximize your experience gain by refining materials until it provides no further experience, THEN actually crafting), you’ll be crafting level-appropriate gear in no time.
What I’m wondering is why you expected to be making level 40 items right off the bat.
Are you saying that, if I had started crafting earlier, by the time I got where I am now I be able to make things that are better than the loot that drops?
Anyway, since I have lots of iron ore but not copper ore, and soft wood instead of green wood, why can’t I use the better stuff for refining? It makes no sense that I have to buy the inferior stuff to craft.
Technically, if you keep your crafting levelled up to where you can make stuff for your level, you can make use of the crafted gear. But, it would take so much farming/gathering of ore, etc., to get to that point. Either that or you’d have to buy a bunch of it off the TP.
If it’s your first character and you are just starting out, you probably aren’t going to be able to craft stuff to wear as you level up. This is largely because you level so fast in this game, that you level faster than you can farm mats for your crafts.
I gathered / mined / chopped from the beginning, and what I could craft lagged my character level by just a little. But I gathered / mined / chopped a lot.
At this point, you can either buy the lower level materials your crafter needs from the TP, or get them yourself. You can get them by going back to your lower level zone (1-15 for copper and green wood), or by exploring other lower level zones you haven’t seen, yet. You’ll have to buy or go mine / chop in a lower-level zone until your crafting level lines up better with your profession level.
Edited to add: And yes, you can craft things that are better than dropped items, although these things usually need ingredient drops or other hard-to-get components to make.
Each tier of crafting uses a better material so in the case of jeweler only your first tier will be copper (up to lvl75 jeweler) your next tier will be silver. you can craft much better items the higher your crafting gets
btw jewelry does not use iron ore.
Gunnar’s Hold
It makes perfect sense that you can’t use higher level crafting materials right off the bat, both from a game design perspective and a realistic perspective.
From a game design perspective, crafting the best stuff at the very start makes it pointless to include any sort of player economy. In a game like GW2 that gives experience for crafting, it’s even more important for there to be a progression.
From a realistic perspective, go take any class on – for example – jewelry making. When you start out, you’re not going to be given diamonds and gold and told to make jewelry. You’re started with less expensive, easier to use materials. This applies to just about any crafting profession – woodcarvers start with softer woods when they’re learning, blacksmiths often start with bronze and iron, and tailors often start with linens. You will literally never meet a real world craftsperson that learned their craft on premium materials.
Are you saying that, if I had started crafting earlier, by the time I got where I am now I be able to make things that are better than the loot that drops?
Anyway, since I have lots of iron ore but not copper ore, and soft wood instead of green wood, why can’t I use the better stuff for refining? It makes no sense that I have to buy the inferior stuff to craft.
You need to build up to the stronger stuff. It’s just like leveling; in order to wear higher end gear, you need to gain levels and become stronger. In order to craft higher end gear, you need to gain levels in that crafting profession and become more experienced. You have to use the inferior crafting supplies to craft your way to the appropriate level to use iron ore and soft wood.
If it’s your first character and you are just starting out, you probably aren’t going to be able to craft stuff to wear as you level up. This is largely because you level so fast in this game, that you level faster than you can farm mats for your crafts.
Yeah, I guess that’s the bottom line. At least for some crafts, f you wanna craft stuff you can use, you need to either buy much of the materials or spend extra time farming.
BTW I switched to tailoring and found that I had enough materials to make it to level 150 without buying anything except for the spools that the instructor sells… and the stuff I’m now crafting is as good as the stuff I’m finding in the field. So maybe some crafts are easier to level than others.
Rob
Also, when you are concentrating on one crafting class, you can sell materials from other classes you don’t think you’ll need. I started with tailor, so sold mostly wood and some food items on the tp
Then I used that money to buy the lower level materials I needed.
Crafting tips:
1)Use the discovery anvil in the crafting menu to ‘discover’ new recipes. You’ll level up your craft faster.
2)Salvage the things you craft, especially at lower levels, to regain some of the crafting materials.
3)Salvage lots of items anyway, to get copper and other materials for crafting.
Each craft can gain you about 10 levels in xp.
Have fun!
like most games, the crafting here is just terribly designed. its not fun, its not innovative, the discovery tab is a complete sham (the mystic forge is where people actually discover recipes), except for cooking where there is a ridiculous combination of stuff to “discover” the problem being, 95% of food is worthless as in sold for next to nothing, and like other crafts your better off selling the mats instead.
if it wasnt for the xp gain most people would ignore it.