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120 blacksmith/tailor 100 tinker/miner

Garm The Green

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So you've finished your mule 2x legendary.

What can he do that will enhance your characters most that you don't require imbuing for?

How do you earn POFs as i don't have enough bods to fill Lbods.

How do you earn Agapite/Val hammers or BRSKs?

Is it worth having a mule that can't imbue?

Just feel a little lost with mine....ie: i could burn 100 turquise or runics before getting a decent weapon, or just burn a few and then get an imbuer to make it "right", so what's the point in crafting?

Any suggestions?


Cheers,

Garm.
 

Basara

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So you've finished your mule 2x legendary.

What can he do that will enhance your characters most that you don't require imbuing for?
I'll answer your questions 1 at a time...

Q1. How do you earn POFs as i don't have enough bods to fill Lbods.
A1: Check what the small BODs you do have, do as a small turned in separately, as well as when added to a large.

a. If the reward is junk both ways, you can use it to get another BOD fill by filling it and turning it in, and most normal iron items can be bought from a blacksmith, armorer, weaponsmith, cobbler or tailor NPC, to conserve resources
* several of the weapons are weaponsmith only - shop Jhelom or Moonglow for those
* only 1/3 of tailors have Shirts (the others double up on fancy shirts or doublets)
* some tailors don't have kilts, instead doubling up on skirts
* Body Sash, Full Apron, Surcoat, and Bonnet have to be crafted.
And, don't pass up free small BODs that you can fill without difficulty (about anything that isn't a Bone small, and even those are easier and cheaper now since bone is a reagent for mysticism)

b. determine whether the remaining small BODs are worth keeping for larges; After a while, you'll probably not fill any large that doesn't give a chance at a Anvil deed (or a copper/bronze hammer) or better, or any large that gives a powerscroll as a base reward, as the ingots are more useful filling many smaller BODs to turn in (why fill a 15-count normal Shadow Ringmail for 1 90% powder chance when the same ingots could fill 4 Ex Shadow 15-count smalls, each with a 90% powder chance?).

c. Wait till you get about 50-100 BODs, then follow the "BOD Cycling" advice I give in the FAQs. In other words, take a pile of filled smalls, turn in one at a time, requesting a new BOD after each one (if you're an old player recently returned, in 2005 they finally gave us one of the main crafter wants - the ability to immediately get a new BOD pull after turning in a filled BOD). Doing this (and repeating the process, sorting and filling the new BODs) will build you up a supply of POF in no time.

My last time doing this, starting with 100 BODS, after 3 or 4 times through (in other words, pulling about 350 BODs, since everything that wasn't a throw-away large or keeper for a good large was filled and turn back in, for 3 return trips), resulted in
* about 20 larges thrown away as not worth filling
* about 20 more BODs worth keeping for larges (3 of which completed sets I had waiting)
* dozens of each of the 4 mining tools (the two sturdies, PT, & GPA), of which I sold all but the GPAs back to a nearby tinker NPC
* a dozen or so PS & gloves that I dropped,
* One Anvil (why am I cursed to where 6 of the 8 anvils I've gotten have been copper?)
* about 60 smalls left to go YET AGAIN (but I was too tired after 6 hours of BOD filling and turning in),
* and between 40 & 50 POF (some from BODs I had, others from BODs I got from turning in, that I immediately went after the turning in all filled BODs and filled to turn in again).

theoretically, each small you get can be filled and turned back in, repeat as neccessary, until you get one you need, or hit the 8% of BOD pulls that are larges, and get one not worth filling.

Also, if you can spare 0.2 skill, put 0.1 smith and 0.1 tailor on non-crafters, to give them the ability to pull 1 BOD for each an hour (which will always be low-end normal iron or cloth small BODs). You can use this to substantially up the number of BODs for turning in for new BODs, as you fill them and turn them in with your 120 crafter.

******

Q2. How do you earn Agapite/Val hammers or BRSKs?
A2. See the answer to #1. If you keep filling the BODs you don't want to put into a large, and turning those in for new BODs, you WILL get the high-end BODs much more quickly than just going by your 4 a day pulls alone. Typically, a verite or valorite hammer small BOD will come along about 1 out of every 1000 pulls, while the small for the much more common barbed kits averages about 1 every 25-30 pulls. The LARGES, However, are about 1/12 as common as the smalls. But, expect to get a gold or agapite hammer several times a year.
There's also the random bonus that can elevate a Gold Hammer or higher level BOD 1-4 steps higher, and a similar random effect for Tailor BODs that give at least a horned kit (if not 115 PS). So, doing Horned kit larges will occasionally get you a barbed kit (and the Horned kits are good for creating stuff to imbue or unravel, anyway...)


Q3. Is it worth having a mule that can't imbue?
A3. I have 1 Imbuer - but he only has the minimums for Smith and Tailor to get colored BODs and make the carpenter items that require the skills. All my "real" smithing and tailoring comes from a "real" Legendary Smith or Tailor (which out of boredom I have 3 leg smiths, two of which are leg tailors, spread out over 3 accounts - and 2 other characters I can work up to that level easily)



Q4. Just feel a little lost with mine....ie: i could burn 100 turquise or runics before getting a decent weapon, or just burn a few and then get an imbuer to make it "right", so what's the point in crafting?
A4. While it's a crap shoot, High end runics can make items well over 530 or 580 base intensity (armor or weapons), over 700, if you go by weighted intensity. Simply put, while you can imbue realy nice custom items, they literally just can't come close to what a lucky turn with a runic can produce. And, it's often easier and cheaper to take some of the runic rejects and imbue them, then having to pay for/acquire the relics and special items needed for some properties (say, 30% SSI, FC 1, FCR 3, and many others) - especially if your non-crafters don't go to the Abyss regularly to gather stuff.
 

Garm The Green

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Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I haven't even read your reply yet basara - but gee whizz!

You really put in the effort! You're last response was so useful, i can't wait to sink my teeth into this!
 

Garm The Green

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
to Q1 - ahh this makes more sense. Luckily I've followd your previous advice and am starting to collect sBods in anticipation of large ones. I was just getting frustrated with more shovels when i can craft them :p
I've bought a few large bods, and will use the rose library to see if they're worth saving...
 

Garm The Green

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Q2-4) Several times a year? For so much time, that's a kinda tough return! I understand that the total intensity can be way higher, but the chance, like you say, don't seem to be in favour of the crafter! I was asking because i was interested to see if despite having a "true" crafter you still need to have an artificer. Seems like you do! Bit of a shame; reminds me of when the people got upset on the warrior forum because they "needed" to have bushido as it just raised the bar for what was possible...

From what i can see, all this crafting effort allows for a supply of POF, some useful runics which hopefully will produce weaps/pieces of armour most of which will need some imbuing modifications. A tiny proportion of which may be outstanding and will last forever? The other bonus is crafting "artis" and also crafting for relic frags?

So basically BODs win prizes, but it's tough and a slow road there!

I guess that justifies the price of those BRSKs etc etc!

Will read this again and see how i get on - will let you know.

Cheers for the wise words ;)
 

Percivalgoh

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From a historical perspective as a crafter for over 10 years it's a blast to make items with the properties you want but I sitll enjoy the random thrill of smithing or tailoring with runics. I haven't quite figured out how to incorporate imbuing into it but I'm learning. I need to go fill the POF BODs that I have to powder up some stuff. One thing I do know...that is Basara always offers a wealth of information to crafters at no charge. I am probably the weirdo of the Uo community in that I have no mules. All can fend for themselves to a large degree but not as well as noncrafters.
 

Basara

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For smith BODs, it often seems that that the larges are easier to get than the smalls (and part of that was from a bug that MADE it that way, as until 2008, a bug in the Smith BOD code made larges several times more common than they should have been, and many are left over from then, on vendors).

For Tailors, the larges are the hardest thing to get, by far. Just to give you an idea, I'm currently sitting on around 20 sets of smalls for barbed kits, and about a half-dozen larges that need 1 small.

While you get 1 Barbed kit small per ~25 BODs, remember that there are EIGHTEEN Barbed kit larges, not counting the several dozen 120 PS & Horned kit BODs that have a random chance of an upgrade to a barbed kit when turned in. Barbed kits are down to 1 million gold each on my shard.

A Barbed kit every time:
All counts, Ex 6-part Barbed LBOD (6)
Barbed 20-count Normal 6-part LBOD (2)
Barbed 20-count Ex 5-part LBOD (2)
All counts, Ex 6-part Horned LBOD (6)
Spined 20-count Ex 6-part LBOD (2)

That's (16*6 + 2*5) 106 DIFFERENT Barbed kit Large small BODs. Even if one of every 25 smalls you get is a Barbed kit small, the odds are very small that any two smalls you get will fit the same large. That makes it seem a lot harder than it actually is to fill a Barbed Kit LBOD.
 
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