So which crafting skill will give me the best results?

[Coldplay]

I'm a lvl 20 whm and I am running low on gil. I need to upgrade my armor and save for spells, and I only have about 15k. Which crafting skills will help me at low crafting lvl's and which skill will help me at higher lvl's? And is fishing worth it anymore? After the update, I see a lot of people complaining on how its been nerfed. Any help at all would be appreciated.

[Zafron]

I can only speak for cooking. If you follow Xephoids guide, you can make a little profit on cooking at low levels. You just have to be patient enough to sell off your products.

[Silke]

If u want an honest reply.... dont go into crafting with that gil u got. get the best gear u can and go farm...
when u have say 100k to spend then go into crafting...

thing is u need alot of gil to put into it to get to a decent level and a lot of time to make money out of crafting... so hands down u looking for quick gil dont craft!

I'm one of those hoping crafting will give me a good income later on and I really think it will... but mark the word later on... u need a high lvl in any of the crafts to make gil.. dont expect to make gil at low lvls... sure u can with a lot of luck but dont count on it...

ok finished ranting... so flame away..

[Dodgy Trunks]

no need to flame... I completely agree with you.

You want to level a THF and start farming with it. Sub your whm to keep your HP up...

[Frumply]

Originally posted by Silke
If u want an honest reply.... dont go into crafting with that gil u got. get the best gear u can and go farm...
when u have say 100k to spend then go into crafting...

thing is u need alot of gil to put into it to get to a decent level and a lot of time to make money out of crafting... so hands down u looking for quick gil dont craft!

I'm one of those hoping crafting will give me a good income later on and I really think it will... but mark the word later on... u need a high lvl in any of the crafts to make gil.. dont expect to make gil at low lvls... sure u can with a lot of luck but dont count on it...

ok finished ranting... so flame away..

I think you forgot to add a few 0's in your money count there.

The "easy" synths like cooking and alchemy will get you profits from early on, but the profits will be minimal. If you hope to make money in the other crafts just sitting in Jeuno... well, you got competition that'll more than be willing to weed you out (and they have the cash power to do so).

Don't lose hope, though. Synth by itself won't make you money, but if you bring the tools with you, you can farm and synth. Sheep wool and sheep leather sell for a decent amount of cash @ AHs and dont require insane investments; dhalmel leather sell for upwards of 10k a stack, though that'll definitely vary from server to server.

[Crow]

So leathercrafting is a good option for some decent profit? I always thought it was more of a "supplemental" craft in this game(like to smithing or clothcrafting). Anyway, I'm looking for a craft too. I do have 100k to possibly spend. I've gotten to level 27 in cooking pretty easily, but I'm just looking for a new craft with some slightly better options. Any suggestions for which craft to enter? I've been avoiding crafting recently and mining, but I want to get back into it. Thanks!

[Icemage]

I agree with the above posters. Gain some levels. Crafting from the ground up at level 20 is just asking for pain, as the first 20 levels of any craft involve heavy gil investment with little to no return.

Still, if you insist on working on a craft, here's my personal opinion of each. I base these on my own observations, and from my conversations with other crafters.

Fishing: Significant investment to start. Good starting gear would be Composite Fishing Rod + all of the purchasable +fishing armor (4 pieces). Depending on your server economy, this should run you somewhere in the vicinity of 40K gil. After that, fishing turns into almost 100% profit on investment in bait. However, it is by FAR the most time-consuming of all the crafts, and you won't see much in the way of profits above sale of moat carp until you reach the 40s or so in skill.

Cooking: The least profitable of all of the crafts, as the end products are relatively inexpensive, but also one of the least expensive to level for the same reason. Almost completely unprofitable until level 25, and even then the profits are marginal until level 50+. However, to offset these negatives, Cooking offers a lot of utility for personal use, as you can use it to save yourself money on food that you use for yourself (though even this is relatively marginal).

Leatherworking: From what I've been told by higher level leathercrafters, it can be profitable within specific skill ranges (most of the leathers can be sold for a mild to moderate profit). This craft has issues with lack of useful HQ results from synthing, lack of any useful consumable items for most of its level ranges, as well as a high dependency on dark crystals, which can be relatively expensive and occasionally in short supply.

Clothcraft: High end clothcrafting is amazingly useful, but the journey there can be a bit tricky. First 50 levels or so of clothcraft can be extremely inexpensive, as the materials are not terribly valuable (other than silk thread, but that's the exception, not the rule). Finding buyers for the finished products can be difficult at some level ranges, however.

Woodworking: Ah, the perennial craft of choice for Ninjas and Rangers. Woodworking produces furniture and arrows, as well as the life-blood of the Ninja profession - Shihei (blink powder). This craft requires significant gil investment. Be prepared to throw a lot of money at skilling up, and to be patient with the AH sales. Fairly profitable at high levels, and becoming more so with the addition of new features to furniture.

Goldsmithing: This is currently the most expensive of all crafts to level. Materials are relatively scarce, and become extremely expensive very fast as you gain levels. High level goldsmithing can be very profitable, but the gil investment to get to that point is staggering.

Smithing: Second only to goldsmithing for highest gil requirement to gain skill, Smithing makes some of the more interesting and useful armors at the highest levels. The problem is, you have to get past all the low levels to get there, and that can be an extremely expensive proposition.

Alchemy: One of my favorite crafts, Alchemy produces a wide range of useful items, but the gil investment to level this craft is very high. However, this can be offset by the fact that Alchemy boasts a number of high-demand consumable items at almost all level ranges, which allows a smart crafter to recover much of the investment. At very high levels, can be profitable because many of the formulas become more cost-efficient with HQ results.

Bonecraft: Very inexpensive craft to level. If you are smart about what you synth, you can break even on many, many of your levelling recipes. Material costs are very inexpensive except for a few standout items like coral fragments. On the minus side, this craft produces very few useful items.


Icemage