Need some guidance for BODs - which are worth it?

[Theron]

I have a few BODs now but haven't done any yet.

Wondering which small ones are worth collecting to fill a larger BOD and which should I not bother to bribe or collect and should instead fill up/turn in for another BOD.

 

[Basara]

It takes a little time examining the reward charts to figure out a strategy. See the Wikis for each crafting skills on uo.com for the point values, and the "claim rewards" tables for each skill with your crafters.

Small BODs

• If a small BOD has no large and can't be bribed to a colored material, filling it to get a new BOD is a no-brainer - so long as it can be filled CHEAPLY. A number of small BODs are not worth the effort (the BODs that require ML ingredients for example). Note that the choice between banking points or getting a reward is more the issue - many small BODs are only worth 0.2 to 1.0 points (which can add up but takes forever) as you only get 2% of the point value, while their rewards are really only useful for charging your in-house crafting machine veteran rewards or supplying your miner with tools rather than tinkering them.
• If a small bod is non-combinable, but can be bribed up to non-base materials, look for what its value would be for each material, and what the rewards are. IF you have rewards you want that are at 400 and 700 points respectively (pulling numbers out of thin air), and the maximum value of the BOD when bribed to the highest material is 550, you don't need to take it past 400/410/425.
• Small BODs that do fit a large, keep at least one set of (possibly 2-3 if you have room), preferably per colored material level, if applicable. Whether you keep more sets, or fill the remainder for more BODs, is up to you.

Large BODs

• Large BODs that won't cost an arm & a leg to fill (again, the archery ML-recipe-item BODS in general are junk), but don't have the ability to be upgraded to special materials, often aren't worth enough to be worth turning in for a low-mid level reward. HOWEVER, as larges are worth 20% of full value for banking, compared to 2% for smalls. The gemmed jewelry Tinker LBODs are prime examples of this type. Imbuing scroll BODs and some smith weapon BODs might be as well.
• Other base material BODs might be worth bribing up for mid-range rewards. Examples of these would be Cloth 5-part LBODs for Clothing Bless Deeds (and possibly 4-parters to get Spined Kits for reforging, if you don't already have a ton) and the larger smith weapon LBODs for POF.
• For most LBODs outside of Smith & Tailor, you want to look for their rewards if fully bribed up, and if they can be bribed to color. You don't want to bribe too far (many can't reach the top end, so look to take to the most efficient point value), and others need to be bribed up to max value to be worth doing. Take into account your resource supply. If you can get a reward you want for gold/agapite, or Yew, there's no need to bribe to Valorite or frostwood.
• For some of the stuff, especially Tailor, keep track of what's "worth it". After all, as a 6-part Spined 20Ex LBOD is a barbed kit (the highest reward), the only time you need to bribe 6-part smalls to Horned or Barbed leather is to try to fit a large that is already those materials (as even the normal quality LBODs of those types are worth horned kits). You might be more willing to do a high-end 5-parter that's a Studded LBOD than a Bone LBOD, because of the bones and that failures can't be recycled.
• A FEW high-cost LBODs are really worth it. For Cooking, the Aprons are a must, and might be sold for decent money. For Scribes, the Book LBOD may take a LOT of scrolls, spell scrolls, etc, but the reward is a talisman that adds bonus properties to spellbooks you craft- even to a Scrapper's! One book can pay for the LBOD filling 10 times over.

 

[Dizzy]

I made a spreadsheet that will help. You can change the cost of the materials, and it'll tell you how much it costs to fill a BOD. You can also select the price of the reward, and it'll tell you if you're making gold or losing gold on the deal.

Selling BOD rewards is hard. Only things that get used up (barbed kits, powder of fort, etc) maintain any sort of value. The archery BODs are crazy money losers. And because of the point reductions, banking points rarely makes sense.

Anyway, here's my spreadsheet if you want to play with numbers.

 

[Basara]

And, some BODs are rare values compared to the others.

The 20 EX cloth 5-part large is easy to fill by a skilled tailor, and gives a clothing bless deed (which works on hats, sashes, robes, cloaks, footware, etc.) People will pay far more than they'll ever save insurance from it, because of the convenience. It takes 200 normal leather and 800 cloth.
The 20 part normal 6-part LBODs in normal leather also give this, but are difficult to bribe up (tend to increase normal to Ex or from normal leather to spined). But, if you assemble a set of the parts from collecting BODs, saving for the large to show up, you can fill them at zero leather cost, by buying the items to fit the smalls.
The 20 part Ex 5-part LBODs in normal leather require crafting, and will have lots of failures (even with max talismans) - but are good for training up sub-120 tailors from where gains from oil cloths or cloth ninja hoods stop.

The 20 EX 2-part "Polearm" LBOD is actually one of the more efficient LBODs, needing only 720 Iron Ingots to fill, with the reward at the POF point value level. That it only consists of 2 smalls and a large also means that it's relatively cheap and easy to bribe up the components as well.

Almost as good are the 5-part weapon LBODs, as you can get POF-level points from any of them (and before the change to point values, you had a 20% chance of POF from a 20 Normal LBOD, but now that BOD is just below the POF threshhold).
The 6-part Exceptional weapons LBODs also can be used for POF or DC hammers.