Is Crafting Worth It?

[Raora]

Hey Raora,

 

Any tips for what type of items you look for? Is it all mats? How you determine what the "best going" rate is?

 

Thanks!

 

check your PM

[maestruljedi]

I have to disagree completely. Level 10-49 gear is nice looking (especially imp agent outfits). Lvl 40 PvP is awesome looking ... I still miss my PT Pyro set! Most of it looks and feels like it belongs in SW. The crap they push on us at 50 is the clown gear obviously made to appeal to all the WoW kids ... uber elite raiders.

 

I only wish we could RE all the pre 50 gear into orange schematics so we could make it for end game. But this would actually add value to crafters ... so no chance of it happening.

 

Not all 10-49 gear is nice looking. IA outfits were a disappointment to me, i wore the black talon coat until level 30-something when i changed it for the cademimu coat. But the lvl 40 pvp set i didn't like. Also the marauder lvl 40 pvp set looks like crap. Also the inquisitor sets are nothing special whatsoever. Yes, for BH the PvP gear looks amazing (i got it for both my merc and my PT) and also for juggernauts. It's personal taste i guess, but for myself i only found it good looking only for 3 out of 8 ACs. True, most of the level 50 gear looks like crap, though some pieces like the Rakata set for IA look amazing.

 

But my point was that having crafting professions gets you closer to your dream char. For instance, my IA wears a mix of crafted gear by both armormech and synthweaving and it looks exactly like i want it to and it's always updated with armorings and mods that i also craft. No GTN, no PvP grind. I do PvP, but for some classes there are better use for those comms. I'd rather craft my own gear and use those comms for something else, even if it's turning them into WZ medpacks and selling those.

[asbalana]

I get the augs part but is synth really a benefit for gear? I mean, assuming you don't level up by pvp'ing or doing space missions you get orange gear thrown at you, every other mission offers you a mod, and 2 or 3 per planet offer you armoring, and by the end of a planet you have enough commendations to buy whatever you want for yourself and maybe a companion or 2, so why spend the time and money on synth? Unless it's a matter of looks, and I can understand that, but you can buy a good looking lvl 50 orange chest piece for 5k....

 

I have stopped well short of dong a study considering whether purple modded orange gear is better than crafted purple gear at any level. I am sure that some of the more accomplished crafters on the forum have and can put forth an opinion.

 

I am in the fortunate position that for a leveling charcter I can craft just about any orange gear and any mod (mod, armoring, enhancement, barrel, etc.) at purple.

 

My comment was simply based on my preference to craft purple gear for all possible slots when I hit a level rather than update mods accross the line although I use orange lightsabers and other weapons. I find that easier and faster and less expensive once I have the purple Synth recipeis than continually redoing mods at purple. I am probably wronger than wrong on this, but my baseless opinion is that while leveling the purples are stronger that the purple modded oranges. When I get a new companion, I can gear them to the max quickly by using my Synth crafting and dipping into my cargo hold for mats.

 

At 50, except for Rakata braces and waist (BOP from Synth), I have switched to orange gear.

 

As a final thought, after leveling my first character I have had little use for commendations and drops (even the rare good ones) while leveling because they give items (gear and mods) well below what I am wearing or could craft. I mainly use them as an upgrade for companions that I do not play and for whom I have not bothered to craft gear.

[asbalana]

sorry, maybe its me but there seems to be a tons more people crafting than there is selling mats full time. I can count maybe 5 others on my server for whom I'm always competing on pricing wars versus the hundred of others making the same armor over and over.

 

I have to agree and share your point of view.

 

We all have our unique experience, but although I can make money crafting and selling gear it is a much slower proccess with much less of a return and so much more competition. Early on, my experience was that I could sell the mats faster and for more money than the crafted gear that they can make. I check back every so often but have seen nothing to change my opinion.

 

If we are on the same server, perhaps we compete although I list under all eight of my characters (spread it around and keep a low profile) so it may be hard to nail me down. LOL, I avoid price wars as much as possible because they do not benefit the smallish group of mat sellers and only tend to drive everone's prices down. The key is to have a number of different products (mats) to sell and be able to sell in any and all quantities. The price wars work their way though quickly and the market rights itself and then I sell the item in question.

 

The only exceptions to selling mats are things like augments and mods at all levels. I had no intention of getting into the item modification market, but ended up with a tone of blues (and greens) for a number of items while REing to get to purple recipie. My choice was to RE them for the mats or put them up for sale and see what happened. To my surprise, they sold and provided a larger profit for the mats involved than I could have made selling the mats alone. They sell much more slowly than the pure mats so although they provide greater profit per unit, yeild much less income because of the lower volume. So I heep a reserver of augs and mods and list them when my current listings have sold.

 

LOL, there are two things that are fun when listing mats. The first is that right afte hiitting submit for the listing is to get the message that I have new mail. The second is to check the prices before listing and seeing that the average is say 1,700 credits per unit with a low of 1,500 and finding that someone has listed a stack of 20 at 300 per unit. My favorite there is that at times I stumble accross listings for junk stuff that are not worth selling (the Slicing crap for example) that are listed in volume and well under the vendor prices.

 

I also agree that splitting and listing stacks is a pain in the big toe. It is almost like BW tried to make the GTN and listing process as user unfriendly as possible.

[Raora]

I have to agree and share your point of view.

 

We all have our unique experience, but although I can make money crafting and selling gear it is a much slower proccess with much less of a return and so much more competition. Early on, my experience was that I could sell the mats faster and for more money than the crafted gear that they can make. I check back every so often but have seen nothing to change my opinion.

 

If we are on the same server, perhaps we compete although I list under all eight of my characters (spread it around and keep a low profile) so it may be hard to nail me down. LOL, I avoid price wars as much as possible because they do not benefit the smallish group of mat sellers and only tend to drive everone's prices down. The key is to have a number of different products (mats) to sell and be able to sell in any and all quantities. The price wars work their way though quickly and the market rights itself and then I sell the item in question.

 

The only exceptions to selling mats are things like augments and mods at all levels. I had no intention of getting into the item modification market, but ended up with a tone of blues (and greens) for a number of items while REing to get to purple recipie. My choice was to RE them for the mats or put them up for sale and see what happened. To my surprise, they sold and provided a larger profit for the mats involved than I could have made selling the mats alone. They sell much more slowly than the pure mats so although they provide greater profit per unit, yeild much less income because of the lower volume. So I heep a reserver of augs and mods and list them when my current listings have sold.

 

LOL, there are two things that are fun when listing mats. The first is that right afte hiitting submit for the listing is to get the message that I have new mail. The second is to check the prices before listing and seeing that the average is say 1,700 credits per unit with a low of 1,500 and finding that someone has listed a stack of 20 at 300 per unit. My favorite there is that at times I stumble accross listings for junk stuff that are not worth selling (the Slicing crap for example) that are listed in volume and well under the vendor prices.

 

I also agree that splitting and listing stacks is a pain in the big toe. It is almost like BW tried to make the GTN and listing process as user unfriendly as possible.

 

what server ARE you on? lol

[Elyx]

sorry, maybe its me but there seems to be a tons more people crafting than there is selling mats full time. I can count maybe 5 others on my server for whom I'm always competing on pricing wars versus the hundred of others making the same armor over and over.

 

This makes sense. those that enjoy crafting may not enjoy playing the auction. I'm one of those. people who craft to excess but aren't serious GMT players will usually price their items to sell fast. This has a cascading effect. those that play the GMT will snatch those up and resell. I'm perfectly comfortable with that. I'm hardly the GMT expert, but when i want to make a bit of extra money, I watch the prices and try to be competitive but within a range that nets me a profit. But it's not something I enjoy. I prefer to craft, and in all honesty, i prefer to farm my own materials too. so when im bulk crafting, If I sell I sell at low prices.

 

The fact that you benefit from my cheap sales is actually a good thing to me. Your doing something you enjoy, and Im doing something I enjoy, and we both reap the benefits!

[SentinelDranoel]

For pure money making, maybe not so much. For being self sustained, yes. I have all the crafting skills currently in the game (with synth, armormech, armstech and cybertech at max) and i can only say that it's worth the effort.

 

First of all, my main and highest level has cybertech/scavenging/underworld trading. Cybertech makes armorings and mods for all classes and specs, so all my alts have their gear up to date. Scavenging fueled armormech and armstech long before my alts got off the capital city planet. Scavenging works anywhere, while questing, while hunting for datacrons, even in flashpoins. Underworld trading provided rare mats and schematics for my alts as well.

 

Then my first alt runs synthweaving with archaeology and also underworld trading. UWT isn't really needed, but i wanted to maximize my chances for rare schematics. Synth can make orange armor for ANY class. Heavy, medium, light, all can be made by a synthweaver. Some of it also looks really good. Synth can also get augment kit parts from RE and make augments for force users.

 

My second alt runs armormech with scavenging and slicing. Armormech can also make some nice orange armor, augments for non-force users and get augment kit parts. Slicing is for augment schematics and skill trade missions. The beauty of slicing is that it basically pays for itself to level, and once you get to max level you can supply your other trade skills with missions and augment mats.

 

Rest of the alts run armstech (barrels), artifice (color crystals, enhancements), biochem (stims, adrenals, implants) with their respective gathering/mission trade skills. Between all my chars i am self-sufficient. Anything i need, i can do myself.

 

Now, i'll admit, i'm not rich. Maybe i have 2 mil across all my chars. But i also got bank tabs full of mats, gear already crafted for entry level into operations, and i hardly buy anything from GTN (the odd good looking orange armor perhaps). I get crafting mats way above the level of some of my chars because slicing nets me missions. From the missions i get prototype and artifact grade mats which i further use to get the best gear for my level.

 

I did sink a lot of time and creds into crafting. Since 1.3 i spent around 400-500k creds to get the new orange armor schematics. But i also made a mil from being among the first to sell orange belts and bracers at decent prices. That money i funneled again into crafting by leveling the mission skills, but that also netted me with a lot of mats. Let's put it this way, grade 1 to 5 rare metals/fabrics/compounds/gems i got at least two stacks of each possible material. My companions are all 9k+ affection. All my chars have their ships equipped with the best parts for their level. More than that, all my chars look exactly how i want them too (except my 'sin, damn supreme inquisitor's robe) because i can craft almost any armor in the game. No, i don't have a lot of money, but as all my professions will be maxed, there won't be much need to run so many missions anymore and the creds from questing or whatever will pile up, because i will hardly use GTN to buy stuff.

 

Crafting is time consuming, frustrating sometimes (after literally hundreds of grade 1 and 2 UWT missions, still no orange bracers schematic) but well worth it for the reasons above. Self sufficiency for myself and my few friends is paramount for me, not to mention the convenience of not depending on the market.

 

Oh one last thing, i have zero lvl 50 chars.

 

Hope this helps.

 

You are my idol. I do not care for making money off the gtn. I never do in every mmo i play, well except DFO but that is because every price is so damn inflated. I want to be able to sustain myself with crafting and you just gave me some ideas.