"Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

[FogSurrounds]

[Hello!]

I've been playing this game for a little over a month now when i can find the time... wish there was more hours in the day!!! I've been wanting to get started crafting, and I was hoping that someone might have some tips on what the best craft to begin with is, and maybe give me some tips on how to get started... thanks in advance for your advice!!

[Cade]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

There is no best craft. SE has done a pretty good job at making all the crafts endgame items worthwhile. The only real differences is what you wanna end up makin' an how much money you want to spend.

The thing about crafting though is do not expect to start making money early on. It is a major time an money investment (mostly money). When you have put in the tears of your labor an the blood from your wallet, then you might find it fairly profitable to make quality endgame an midgame gear for peoples. However, that is only after the millions an millions of gil you've already gone through.

Just be patient an be willing to farm your own materials (or gil, for when you want to just buy the materials).

Can't go wrong with Alchemy though i guess as a start... makin' stuff everybody ends up usin' regardless of level. Visit the craft boards here (though they might be kinda outdated in terms of prices an cheap skilling routes) an visit http://ffxi.somepage.com frequently for recipies!

[FogSurrounds]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

cool, thank you for your advice! I'm mostly hoping to craft not so much as a get-rich-quick scheme, but something to do when I can't find a party. Alchemy sounds interesting; i'm off to check the crafting boards. I appreciate your response!

[Leonyn]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

hello mind if i ask what a bone maker is crafting?
i cant imagine what he is doing maybe some rings or armors but that would be weird

[Jei]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

there are many armors made from corpse... um i mean bones. like the scorpion harness.

[Balfree]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

bone is often used to craft jewelry in real life

check here

Double Post Edited:
spike necklace



bone earring and HQ version XD

[Spinnthrift]

Re: "Newbie" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

I'm often asked similar things from newbies in my LS... how do I start crafting?

My best advice to you to start: Dabble in each until you find something you like.

Clothcraft entry:
1: Grab a couple of stacks of Lightning Crystals, about 3 stacks of Earth Crystals, and about 10 stacks of Wind Crystals and go to Giddeus.

Kill Bees for the Beehive Chips/Honey, and Yagudo's for the necklaces.

Start with Lightning Crystal + Yagudo Necklace = Copper Ingot.

- This will take you to 1 Goldsmithing.

Then synth Wind Crystal + Yagudo Necklace = 3x Grass Thread.

Synth all your Wind Crystals + Necklaces after that until you have many many stacks of Grass Thread in your Inventory.

Then synth Earth Crystal + 3 Grass Thread = Grass Cloth.

If you're a low level, you'll be procuring Wind Crystals on site anyways - so this can be quite nicely self sustaining at low levels.

You'll now have the materials for some entry level Clothcraft. Play around - see if you enjoy it. If not, you've not lost anything bar some time, you can now sell those materials on later if you don't like it.

Smithing/Goldsmithing entry:
For starters - hit one of the smithing guilds, armed with a few stacks of Fire Crystals. Buy 3x Copper Ore and a Tin Ore and mix em together with a Fire Crystal. Mix up a load of these into stacks of Bronze Ingots. You'll want to use them later on for synths.

Goldsmithing - do the same startout with 4x Copper Ore and Fire Crystal. Make several stacks of these. Then turn those into Copper Hairpins by mixing those Copper Ingots you just made with Wind Crystals. Cap that at 4 and desynth with Lightning to get some Ingots back.

Back to Smithing now... take your stacks of Ingots and turn them into Sheets with the mix of Bronze Ingot + Fire Crystal = Bronze Sheet. Make a fair amount of these - say 4 - 5 stacks at least. Then mix up the Sheet + Wind Crystal = Bronze Scale. Take this to 10 Smithing. Pass your test and get ready for the next bad bit...

Four Tin Ores + Fire Crystal = Tin Ingot.. Repeat this till you're 15 Smithing.

You're now at a point where you can synth while you mine. Synthing Iron and Brass Ingots on the field, and selling your Darksteel Ores and Gold Ores while you mine is now an option for you.

Leathercraft Entry:
Dark Crystal + Sheep Skin + Windurstian Tea Leaves + Distilled Water = Sheep Leather.
If you're getting started with this, it's a nice synth to play around with.

Bonecraft Entry:
Wind Crystals + Bone Chips. Then Wind Crystals + Bone Chips x2. Bone Chips are the order of the day with this one.. and as I've just started this route.. I can't tell you how best to begin. I'm yet to find a 'profit' synth in the first 10 levels

Alchemy - I'm not really sure about... I've got a few points in it, but my route was far from ideal. However - the routes for Cloth, Smithing, Goldsmithing and Leathercraft all are popular low skill profit synths. That's where I'd start if I was doing it again.

Hope this answers some questions.

- Sae

P.S. 'n00bs' don't ask questions, they beg for money, swear and generally annoy the playerbase of decent gamers (oh - and butcher the poor defenseless language known as English) . 'Newbs' or 'Newbies' ask questions and are generally rookie players who'd fit in well. Remember this and don't do yourself a disservice.

[mikesjustice]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

I would suggest investing in a consumable's craft first. Find a profitable path within, and start piggybacking off it onto others.

I started off with cooking so long ago. Once I reached high enough to make insect paste, I abused it for 3 full days to the tune of a 450k profit. Not bad for a newbies payday.

There is no right or wrong craft to choose, but just know there are right or wrong decisions that will help you advance quickly or slowly.

As an example....

When I started, I worked with cooking to 60, which funded another craft to 60, which produced more gil options, which funded another to 60, etc. Rinse and repeat until all your crafts are 60. At this point it's time to select a main to 100, supported by all the guilds you just lvled. However, gil should be easier to come by.

I continued this cycle for over 2 years, not stopping with one craft to 100, meanwhile I had a friend which started gsmithing not too long after I started crafting. Still have and respect for that person.

Today in time, I sit with (5) 95-100 crafts with countless subcrafts at 60, and he just got past "Gold Hell" in gsmithing. This was because I compounded my efforts making gil options available for me early. I wasn't stuck with a very gil demanding craft right from the get-go. I worked my way up with less struggle.

I don't use our examples to demean his method, as there's nothing wrong with it at all, and I respect him greatly. I just want to try and help people get the most out of everything they possibly can from the path we've already walked.

People will say cooking, alchemy, or woodworking might be below their standards for w/e reasons, that it's not worth their time as a first craft. They couldn't be further from the truth. These are the crafts you want to learn the ropes with. Crafting is expensive, and when you make a mistake, you want it to be a cheaper mistake rather than an expensive one.

Want to hear a joke?

- Ever hear about the newb crafter that blew 250 million on gsmithing to only reach lvl 75?

It's true on our server. He ran a casino and made tons of gil, but decided to lvl a craft and lost it all due to lack of education. He's not around any longer.

Without the proper experience, a craft like gsmithing or smithing really can eat you alive. My suggestion is learn the ropes and keep growing starting from a consumable guild.

[Nakti]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

It's easier to level a craft if you have easy access to one of its guilds. This is because you can get synthing support. Whichever craft you choose, consider moving your character to the town that supports it.

If you're leveling a craft for fun, pick the one which has the most appealing synths. Maybe you want Clothcraft so you can make and sign gear for you and your friends. Maybe you want Cooking so you can make your own food. Maybe you want Woodworking and Smithing so you can make ammunition for your RNG job.

If you're leveling a craft for "passing the time", make a list of the drops you get from XPing - crystals and items. Then take a look at the synthing lists. You'll probably find some low-level synths that use them.

If you're leveling a craft for profit, you'll need to do a LOT of research. And I mean a LOT. Look at what's selling well on the Auction House, how often, and for how much profit. Remember to figure in time spent farming and gathering materials to how much the "cost" of a synth is. Your time is money. Farming is never "free" unless the drops are just side effects of whatever you happen to be doing.

Many synths require skill in multiple crafts. I think it's unusual to find someone who's leveled up just one craft (Cooking is the only one I can think of that might be a solo craft) and not worked on others. So dabble a bit. ^^

[Sabaron]

Re: "Noob" looking for tips on starting out crafting....

I am Bastokan, and I've made nearly all of my money by crafting. I don't farm, but I tend to keep things I pick up and use them in my crafts. You can often "exchange" crystals you pick up in your early levelling for the kind of crystals you need. Be patient, crystal prices fluctuate. In Bastok, the easiest way to start a craft for profit is to start and the Goldsmithing and Smithing guilds making Bronze and Copper ingots. You don't have to lose money unless you are trying to level up fast. Keep an eye on the auction house for items that you can make that you can produce for a profit, materials you can use that are selling at cheap prices (occasionally, you'll want to tender bids that are 25-50% lower than the list price on the AH especially if there are a lot of items in stock). Starting Alchemy is not a big money maker; the only thing down at your level will be Tsurara and they're profitable but it's pennies compared to ingot sales. If you have multiple characters in different towns, use the mailbox to transfer your goods to the place where you'll get the best return on investment. I recommend getting at least 1 second character as soon as possible. If you have the cash to buy a stack of Prism Powder and a stack of Silent Oil, you can move a character to Jeuno so that you can list items there without having to go there yourself. Once you get high enough level in smithing (15-20 skill), you can go down to the Zeruhn mines and mine ores. You can transform your mined ores into Iron, Brass, Bronze, and Copper ingots. Make sure you go light on the equipment so you have a lot of space and take plenty of fire crystals.