Guild Wars 2

Is crafting suppose to be the dedicated gold and/or time sink?

My highest toon is level 35, and I have significantly outleveled my crafting discipline (tailor). My tailor is at level 40, and I have checked that in order to craft something that is comparable to level 35 vendor items, I need to raise my tailor to at least 100. It requires work, I’m fine with that. However, the raw materials are almost non-existent. I am no longer finding jute scraps past level 20 or so.
Currently, I have two options. Option 1: farm (read: grind) starting areas. The problem is, jute scraps rarely drop. I have killed about 50 bandits, opened 8 bags, and salvaged 2 pieces of dropped armor. I have gained a whopping 5 scraps of jute. Comparatively, I can chop down 2 trees get double the amount of green wood.
Option 2: buy jute scraps from TP. As you can guess, the prices are ridiculous because of the high demand and low supply.
I am not looking to make a bank from crafting. I only want to craft OK gear naturally, as I explore and level up. This is almost impossible because the most basic component for crafting is so scarce.

HA! You think this is bad? Jute Scraps are nothing compared to the horror that is, as I call them, DROP MATS. But you probably encountered them… scales, totems, vials of blood… you’re going to need them to craft EVERYTHING. And they rarely drop when you need them! I’ve spent a full gold just getting my skills up that last 25 to the next rank so I can use the next level of mats.

The fact that you can’t craft anything in the armorsmithing or weaponsmithing crafts without using these Drop Mats (Except plain boxes, but those lose viability for levelling pretty darn fast) is utterly ridiculous.

Chessrook.8643:

HA! You think this is bad? Jute Scraps are nothing compared to the horror that is, as I call them, DROP MATS. But you probably encountered them… scales, totems, vials of blood… you’re going to need them to craft EVERYTHING. And they rarely drop when you need them! I’ve spent a full gold just getting my skills up that last 25 to the next rank so I can use the next level of mats.

The fact that you can’t craft anything in the armorsmithing or weaponsmithing crafts without using these Drop Mats (Except plain boxes, but those lose viability for levelling pretty darn fast) is utterly ridiculous.

Ouch! I wouldn’t know because I usually run out of jute scraps before i run out of blood.

Eloquence.5207:

Chessrook.8643:

HA! You think this is bad? Jute Scraps are nothing compared to the horror that is, as I call them, DROP MATS. But you probably encountered them… scales, totems, vials of blood… you’re going to need them to craft EVERYTHING. And they rarely drop when you need them! I’ve spent a full gold just getting my skills up that last 25 to the next rank so I can use the next level of mats.

The fact that you can’t craft anything in the armorsmithing or weaponsmithing crafts without using these Drop Mats (Except plain boxes, but those lose viability for levelling pretty darn fast) is utterly ridiculous.

Ouch! I wouldn’t know because I usually run out of jute scraps before i run out of blood.

Well I can’t speak for Tailoring but I’ve generally found there’s three stages for at least Armor and Weapon.
Stage one requires three each of one of three different types of drop mats.
Stage two requires three each of one of four different specific drop mats.
Stage three requires any drop mats, but now you need EIGHT of one of the mats.

Mind you I’m referring to “as a reasonable use for levelling up your skill” but you get the picture. As far as I’ve heard, the only exceptions to this rule that I know of is Cooking and Jewelry.

I’m having the same problem. Seems that Jute scraps are the rarest drops in the world. I’m lvl 33 and have outlevelled my tailoring. So I went back to the starting area to farm jute scraps thinking that the low level mobs would drop low level gear. After killing alot of bandits I managed to salvage 5 jute scraps. The surprising part is that these lvl 8 bandits drop lvl 26 items. I can’t get them to drop low level armour. When I started playing I was salvaging drops to get mats but then I had to face a trade-off, salvage items or sell them to make some money. After awhile I decided to sell stuff as I needed the money. Now I can’t get these low-level items to salvage.

Level crafting through discovering new recipes (Discovery tab) not crafting in bulk. I wasted a lot of tier 1 resources before I realised the value of discovery.

Also, salvage lots to get crafting materials. Easier later in the game though.

The crafting in this game is absurd.
It was a little easier before they nerfed cooking and now instead of jute scraps, vials, totems, etc, I get butter and chocolate.
It’d be nice if we got some sort of reply on if anything is going to change rather than have a whole bunch of posts about crafting pop up everyday.

Just fyi the best way to go about crafting is to refine your base mats, then make just enough components and upgrades to discover one each of every piece. The bulk of your xp comes from discovery and this allows you to get to the next mat level without burning through so many of the previous level mats.

Bluestone.7106:

Level crafting through discovering new recipes (Discovery tab) not crafting in bulk. I wasted a lot of tier 1 resources before I realised the value of discovery.

Also, salvage lots to get crafting materials. Easier later in the game though.

The problem is, there are only so many discovery recipes in each “tier”.

For me (huntsman/leatherworker) for lw I have head/shoulders/chest/gloves/leggings/boots with at least 4 possible low level upgrades and at least 3 high level upgrades (that I’ve found). After you exhaust all refineable material that should put you in range for the discoveries to boost you to the next level. The high level upgrades were giving me 3 levels a piece in some cases.

The problem is exacerbated if you happen to have chosen both Weaponsmith AND Armorsmith because they seem to use the same mats. I would be very happy to see the number of required fine/rare mats halved, but double the amount of ore needed instead. At least ore can be obtained in a reasonable fashion.
I find it really demotivating that a game like Guild Wars, which is supposed anti-grinding, makes it so frustrating to craft. It seems impossible to keep my crafting skill at a usable level (compared to my character level)

Eloquence.5207:

Bluestone.7106:

Level crafting through discovering new recipes (Discovery tab) not crafting in bulk. I wasted a lot of tier 1 resources before I realised the value of discovery.

Also, salvage lots to get crafting materials. Easier later in the game though.

The problem is, there are only so many discovery recipes in each “tier”.

If you discover even half of the recipes in each tier you will have leveled out of that tier. Heck, probably a third or a quarter of them. There is something in the range of 500 recipes per crafting profession.

how on earth you waste full gold O___O DISCOVERY! USE DISCOVERY! >_<

ive wasted on most 60-80s my self for my weaponsmithing, and its 178 or something now.

cooking, is the moneysink with gain, or was, now they changed it and i feel lucky that i levelled it and stocked up while there still was vendor sold stuff :>

discovery in short: main part+mainpart+stat modifier = discovery.

such as, sword blade + sword handle + power modifier item (crafted by profession from the rare drop mats) =strong materialtype sword. such as strong iron sword.

and this goes up in tiers.

start ones with 3 rare ingredients for stat modifier > blue rarity.
next ones with 3 rare ingredients for stat modifier > 5 levels higher blue rarity
final ones with 8 rare ingredients for stat modifiers > 10 levels higher masterwork
start ones with 3 rare ingredients for stat modifir > 15 levels higher blue rarity.

so on so on, so each time you get new ones, it increases last ones items level by 5, and every time you use 8 one, you get masterwork wich doesnt haveu pgrade slot.

and i recall that normal discovery was 4 times the exp, and masterwork was 6 times the exp as discovery than as crafting, so its -really- worth it, as oftenly discovery gives 0.6-1.8 levels. so best way to level: get as many different rare drop mats as you can, make 1 of each type modifier you can per weapon ort item you can craft, and discover. dont craft, discover. its worth ALOT more and saves alot of materials in the long run

Keep in mind that it is going to be difficult to go to low level zones to grind out crafting materials because even though the zone is lower level, you will still receive drops around your own level to the zone (you’re level 20 in Queensdale but you’re scaled down to level 5. The drops will probably be around 16-18 in level).

Just remember to carry salvage kits and salvage everything you get (at least this is what I do, and sometimes I still need to purchase scraps). Also, the fine crafting materials will go from needing 3 to 8, and if you purchase the special intricate designs from the vendor, those will require 15 fine mats (vials of blood, claws, bones, etc) to make one piece of armor. But also remember that you can discover each component of armor (chest, leggings, feet, etc) with EACH insignia recipe (so each one you get can make six pieces in the discovery tab as long as you craft six of the same insignia). This provides a lot of experience to your craft and also to your current level.

Also to note, the more materials something takes, and if you make items of the “rare” quality over something like masterwork, it will yield a bunch of experience. My husband was able to craft an amulet today of rare quality where it provided him with a base experience of 30,000+ with a bonus of 14,000+ experience (this was around 300 Jeweler and the item was level 65).

So, just remember to discover all you can. Even if you have to mix and match insignias or whatever component your crafting discipline teaches, use it! Remember to purchase some (or all, if you’re able) crafting recipes from the trainer using karma because those will yield with the highest discovery experience, but also cost the most materials.

Sorry the post was so long. I’ve been dealing with my own professions too (230+ tailor, 220+ jeweler and 210+ cooking at level 55). >_< lol

Things all crafters ought to know:

1. Discovery is king. There is a logical mix to the materials, you just have to understand them. The bonus exp saves a lot of duplicate crafting for leveling.
2. The color in the creation panel (the one with the list of known recipes to the left) shows how much exp there is still to earn from crafting said thing. (things in red are “coming soon” craftable fyi so you can prepare the materials when you get there)
3. You CANNOT survive on fine loots you get exploring alone. This becomes particularly apparent when you try to craft gear for your level, which is the same optimal level for gathering fine materials of that level.
4. Tied to #3, you SHOULD use the TP to your advantage. Regardless how expensive you may think things cost, you will soon move out of that tier and get to a more comfortable plateau for crafting and earning coin eventually.
5. AVOID THE CRAFT ALL BUTTON if you are not flooded with mats. You must not create any more than 6 of ANY insignia. You would not want to make any more than 6 pieces of armor parts PER insignia you can create. Also avoid making all iron ingots when you might move on to steel soon (and other such movements)
6. The discovery panel will blur out the pieces that are not usable. pretty obvious but effectively it prevents you from wasting mats in the event you forget that you’ve discovered something already. (usually helps when you make all the junk insignias first then one part of the components and see which ones blur out.
7. do not expect a profit. seriously, people are not buying any less than the rarest stuff so expect returns only much much later.

All i could give at the moment.

Eloquence.5207:

Bluestone.7106:

Level crafting through discovering new recipes (Discovery tab) not crafting in bulk. I wasted a lot of tier 1 resources before I realised the value of discovery.

Also, salvage lots to get crafting materials. Easier later in the game though.

The problem is, there are only so many discovery recipes in each “tier”.

I have been leveling only through discovery since i learned how it worked. Each ter of mats I will make all the shield discoveries, all the dagger discoveries and sometimes one or two sword discoveries, this means I have not touched the axe, hammer, mace, greatsword, spear discoveries. I am sure the other professions are similar and its just a matter of figuring out what you change to make a whole new item.
For example each shield discovery uses 1 shield boss (costs 2 metal ingots), 1 shield backing (costs 2 metal ingots) and the third component is the one that changes.

keep tabs ob mobs that drop those mats can always go gather mats, in fact i intend to set up a magic find set that focuses on just that purpose. its of course farming but i’m to cheap to buy crap off the AH.

Jute scraps was a bottleneck (farm Beggar’s Burrow, outside Divinity’s Reach) and the fine materials are the supply regulator. At least at this point in release, I can’t see crafting having any value (perhaps at max level, not there yet) as you can’t sell what you make for a profit and you can buy greens cheaply off TP.

Hey..my cat’s name is Lokai

My problem is that I out-level the quality of mats required very quickly, such that crafting is mostly worthless. I can get an orange longbow on the trading post for 40 silver, or grind huntsman for 2-3 gold, so I’ll pick the former. I have to play my low level alts to get mats for my main so he can level up the crafting skills. At level 75, I’m making level 30 items so … eh

Pony.3256:

The crafting in this game is absurd.
It was a little easier before they nerfed cooking and now instead of jute scraps, vials, totems, etc, I get butter and chocolate.
It’d be nice if we got some sort of reply on if anything is going to change rather than have a whole bunch of posts about crafting pop up everyday.

Is that what they did? I was wondering why I was getting a kazillion butters and chocolates when I was trying to farm scraps, viles, totems.

Try huntsman.
Go back to tailor and be satisfied.
Crafting requires you to actively gather whatever you can, not just run around and what you may or may not find will suffice.
Prob. better to do that on a second character while the first one has gathered enough.

I have never got discovery to work. I have items for it, but it won’t let me craft the new items cause of my lvl not being high enough. lvl 75 to craft the next tier of items is ridiculous. 245 for the one after that? WTF. I have crafted a ton of stuff with only items i gathered and salvaged. Yet my levels are only 20 each?

What is your craft barbour

Newbie question here but: We should only use discover to lvl our profession? And only make one weapon of each “signet” ex 1 bow of power and 1 bow of condition damage and so on?

There are some very nice crafting guides on the Internet.

Basically, each tier (75 levels) has three sub-tiers, 25 levels each. To be perfectly efficient, only refine raw materials for the first 25 levels (ore, planks, bolts, etc.); next, craft your parts and inscriptions/runes (you won’t need one for every possible combination) and discover your blue items for the middle 25 levels using the inscriptions that use three fine crafting mats. Finally, discover your masterwork items (inscriptions that use eight fine crafting mats) for the final 25 levels. Repeat at the next tier.

I follow this mostly and I never have to make one of everything, far less than that.

Grid.1064:

Newbie question here but: We should only use discover to lvl our profession? And only make one weapon of each “signet” ex 1 bow of power and 1 bow of condition damage and so on?

Discovery is not only for leveling your craft, but it is the fastest and most efficient way to level it

It does teach you new recipes you can make. I didn’t level my crafting till after I was 80 so I didn’t make anything to level with. Karma vendors always had decent gear for leveling.

lukemon.9782:

The problem is exacerbated if you happen to have chosen both Weaponsmith AND Armorsmith because they seem to use the same mats. I would be very happy to see the number of required fine/rare mats halved, but double the amount of ore needed instead. At least ore can be obtained in a reasonable fashion.
I find it really demotivating that a game like Guild Wars, which is supposed anti-grinding, makes it so frustrating to craft. It seems impossible to keep my crafting skill at a usable level (compared to my character level)

Hmmm, that would be a better change, or at least give an increase in the drop rate of the other material (claws, blood, bones, etc), since almost every other crafting material is gathered at a node.
Having three different characters, each with the appropriate armor and weapon professions, its a pain trying to level each of those professions.

Karma dealers generally have good gear for leveling, but it’s very hard even then to get the gear fast enough for your current level. I’ve never seen an MMO where you could craft your own gear relevant to your current level. By the time you are actually able to farm the mats for the gear, you’ve already out leveled it. The fact that in GW2 you actually gain exp when you raise your crafting skill only exacerbates the problem.

Using the “Discovery” pane, I’ve levelled my cooking to exactly 100 last night – on a lv. 25 character.

I didn’t even look up recipes because I didn’t want to spoil it – I’m sure I could find more that way and level it up even faster.

I forget what my Jewelry is at, but I admittedly haven’t focused on it. I think it’s at least 75. So it’s really not that bad, especially for not even really trying. :-P

I have weaponsmith and armorsmith on my warrior. No problems getting them up together.

Honestly I am sure the people who are struggling to keep their crafting leveled up cannot be doing discovery or at least not doing it right. Before I figured it out I thought crafting was insanely difficult but now, with discoveries, I realise it is rather easy to level crafting.

Is all the crafting professions equally hard/complicated to lvl up? Seems like i dont have a clear view of what to do to lvl up my huntsman..

Grid.1064:

Is all the crafting professions equally hard/complicated to lvl up? Seems like i dont have a clear view of what to do to lvl up my huntsman..

No, its actualy very easy

to level huntsman all the way up to 385 you gona need:

500 copper ore or so
1k/2k iron ore for Iron ingots and Steel Ingots
500/1k platinium ore
500/1k Mithrill ore

Tons of Fine Crafting Materials

3/4 Crafting boosters

With all this and some smart planning you reach 385 at least in less then 3 hours

Well, I decided to check out tailor since I was tired of running around killing things. I already had some mats in bank, and some insignia i had bought cheap, so I placed some bids at the TP and waited a bit for them to roll in. At start, i had 33s1c in cash, 213 scraps, 158 bolts, and 21 spools. I wanted to get more cash, so sold 50 scraps for a little under 14s. I also got impatient and crafted 3 sandal uppers. Other than discoveries, I needed to craft 2 additional items to hit 25. I still have about 20s in TP items waiting to sell, and now have 43s. If you factor out the scraps I sold, I guess I was down about 4 or 5 silver, but I also have a number of components for the 25-50 round of crafting. And I only used 6 bolts of jute total to get there.

If you use the TP efficiently and use discovery, you can turn a decent profit from crafting. If you don’t do either, you should probably not bother with crafting, as it would be a huge cash sink.

Sneakier.9460:

Grid.1064:

Is all the crafting professions equally hard/complicated to lvl up? Seems like i dont have a clear view of what to do to lvl up my huntsman..

No, its actualy very easy

to level huntsman all the way up to 385 you gona need:

500 copper ore or so
1k/2k iron ore for Iron ingots and Steel Ingots
500/1k platinium ore
500/1k Mithrill ore

Tons of Fine Crafting Materials

3/4 Crafting boosters

With all this and some smart planning you reach 385 at least in less then 3 hours

Sounds good! but its the smart planning thing im not so crazy about maybe i should find a good guide for huntsman.. The ones that ive already found guides me to do anything else but discovery so thats some kitteny guides according to the forum i’ll need to find some other guide then.

Ya, I tried out crafting again after forever being broke. Waited 20 levels or so and tried again with a pocket full of change. I lost it all for like 20 stupid points. I am about done with crafting in this game. Just not worth it.