Re: Questions from yet another returned player
120 Smith
120 Tailor
100 Carpy
100 Fletcher
100 Armslore
100 Tinker
45 Music
Rest Magery
If I am not mistaken mining is only for smelting/mining?
1. Yes, mining is for smelting smith rejects and mining. Note that you CANNOT smelt anything that you can't mine the ore for, and that the smelting return is based directly off the Mining skill.
Unless you're always going to make 100% exceptional smith items, and never smelt anything, you'll need mining. Your ingot return is 0.66% times your Mining Skill, rounded down. So, without mining, you'll get 1 ingot back for every 8 ingots in the item if human, NONE if an elf or Gargoyle - and you can only attempt to smelt iron.
Note that the Recycle bag (buyable from provisioners) will give you +1 ingot back for each item in bag, and is quicker than any old smelt macro or the UOA Recycle Bag.
Mining includes, (*with books)
Mining ore
*Mining Stone (the masonry specialization of Carpentry now has MANY new Gargoyle items to make, including armor!). Note that stone now only weighs 1 stone each, and stacks. (stuff from before the change won't so use any of it left over first)
*Mining sand (the glassblowing specialization of Alchemy - Gargoyles have some glass weapons) Sand now stacks as well.
*Mining Gems (normal gems - works like mining ore, and requires its own specialization book to read).
2. You will eventually only need 0 or 5 real music skill.
There's the following items that will serve you much better.
Any ring with +15 Music
Any Bracelet with +15 music
Singing Axe (ML Recipe craftable that gives +5 music when held)
or... Traveling Minstrel Talisman from the Britain Library collection (+5 music and +5 to another bard skill - let your bard, if any, wear it until you need to craft instruments).
If an elf, the Song Woven Mantle Recipe craftable leaf sleeves give +10 music.
Ring+Bracelet+Mantle, + either the talisman or Axe = 45 music, no real skill invested, for an elf.
Ring+bracelet+Axe+Talisman will make the other two races only need 5 real skill - and if you manage to find a runic-crafted fishing pole with +10 music or a +10 music Dryad Bow from Doom, then you won't need any real music skill on those races, either.
3. This will let you have 75 or 80 skill in Magery, if a 48-month account (55 or 60 if under 12 months, +5 for every 12 months up to 48). That's enough to craft with, and since magery & music aren't currently both used for an item, you could use a +Magery Spellbook (especially the Treasures of Tokuno major Tome of Lost Knowledge, which is +15), and a different set of jewelry than your music set (both are in the same skill group, so only one of the two skills can be on any given item), to get yourself up to 110, 115 or even 120 Magery skill (whatever you can afford a powerscroll for). Of course, having no eval int will limit you to summons, heals, and travel spells, plus mind blast (which isn't affected by SDI).
My suggestion is to get yourself a couple of soulstones (which are now 1st year veteran rewards, and no longer have the 24-hour timer).
Make your template like this
120 Smith
120 Tailor
100 Carpenter OR 100 Fletcher (have one on a soulstone. Recipes & books stay with characters, even when the skills are taken off temporarily). You'll need 2 soulstones - one to put the skill being taken off, and one to hold the other skill (you can't hot-swap a skill with just one stone).
100 Mining (and read all the books - this will allow you to supply your smith with metal and your carp/mason with stone).
100 Arms Lore
100 Tinker
0 or 5 Music (depending on race and equipment), raised to 45 with equipment. Start at what you have to have to make instruments with your equipment at hand, but it's easy for a miner to get the talisman, turning in ingots at the Britain library, the singing axe you can make, or get someone already with the recipe to make for you, and if you're an elf or decide to become one, the Mantle sleeves rarely sell for more than 25% of the cost of the ingredients that are required to make them - when you can find a pair.
The Rest in Magery (with your everyday equipment raising it higher).
Note that also changed was the method for making Boards out of logs.
Now, ANY Lumberjack or Carpenter (and possibly Bowyer), with the skill to work or harvest the wood type in question, can make boards by CHOPPING THE LOGS WITH AN AXE. This allows you now to fully divorce Lumberjacking from the need to have a carpenter handy, and put it on an Axer combat character.
Optionally, you could get another soulstone, and put Alchemy on it, and have it as part of the Carp/Fletching trade-out system.
4. Have you looked into the new Imbuing skill, yet? Or have you not added Stygian Abyss as yet to your account.
It allows custom crafting of items, but not ones theoretically as powerful as what can come from a runic tool (as properties have weighting that prevents most items from having 5 100% intensity properties, while high-end runics make items that can have 5 such properties, plus their exceptional bonus, plus even more bonuses from the material and/or recipe used). Imbued items don't have Self Repair, and can't have durability raised with Powder, either (and jewelry ends up with durability if properties added with imbuing).
5. Lastly, another option might be just to have a second crafter with the 120 skills and mining, only have enough smith & tailor on the Carp character to make items and get colored BODs, and add other crafting skills (like Imbuing or Alchemy). You can have Arms lore twice, or just swap it between characters wiith a soulstone.
Currently, my General Purpose crafter is
120 Imbuing
100 Alchemy
100 Carpenter
100 Tinker
100 Mining (with stone and sand books)
75 Tailor
70 Blacksmith (and hold a +10 ASH if I need to make a forge)
5 Music (plus gear I add when I need to get to 45)
50 Magery (plus gear that puts me over 100 - allowing me to defend myself in any facet other than Fel, and to get the loyalty rating needed for the Gargoyle Queen's Forge use in Imbuing).
Note that there's a Treatise on Alchemy talisman, also from the Britain library, that gives +5 Magery, an Enhance Potions bonus, and a crafting success bonus to Alchemy. I use it as my primary talisman. This allows me to not only cast EVs, but with my EP bonuses on my gear (And from GM Alchemy), be a fairly competant explosion potion tosser.
100 Arms Lore is available on my Smith/Tailor and my fletcher, so that if I need GM Arms Lore for crafting with Carpenter/Mason, Tinker or Glassblowing, I can stone Mining off, and add in Arms Lore. As yet, I've not had the need, as I don't play Gargoyles.
