Guild Wars 2

It seems that until I reach a certain level of, let’s say, Armorsmithing, I can only make bronze weapons. I soon found that this is pointless because the quest and drop items I get are always better than the weapons I can make. I’m sure I could craft armor at high levels which would be worth the effort, but the only way I can use better materials than bronze is by getting my level up. Does this mean I have to make a bunch of useless armor sets and weapons to boost my level before I can make anything useful?

The key to lvling your crafting skills is the Discovery tab.
Just try to mix different ingredients and see what you can come up. You get much more experience for that then by crafting stuff that, indeed, gives you not much experience and cost you a fair amount off mats.
So go discovery and lvl quick!

All right, good to know; however, what types of ingredients? I feel as if I can’t just throw in whatever and have something good magically come out. :/

Actually you can! Generally, you need to make an inscription and 2 parts of a weapon (sword blade + hilt). Combine them in discovery and you’ll “discover” a new recipe. Do that with different inscriptions and weapon parts to level up.

There are six tiers of crafting. Tier 1 = 0 to 74 points, Tier 2 = 75 to 149 points, etc., up to Tier 5 = 300 to 374. Finally, Tier 6 is 375 to 400.

Go to the Wiki for more info: http://wiki.guildwars2.com

Fastest way to level AS:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/62169-armorsmithing-guide-0-400-discovery-method/

and another great site for crafting is:
http://www.gw2wiz.com

: ))) hope this helps! key is discovery. the site above does a good job of helping you level.
also, if you have any crafting boosters on hand, it helps a bit too. not guaranteed, but in general, you’ll gain a lot more levels. be sure to use them only if you plan to craft for a good amount of time, just to make the best use of the booster ; ))