Which tradeskills have glass ceilings?

[Ozmandias]

Smithing is too hard, no matter which way you slive it. Perhaps it was too easy before, although all the padding wasn't exactly a cakewalk, but dropping the trivial 70 points was a bit extreme. There's a bridge now to where it was, of course A LOT more expensive, but there. But still, post 188 you're stuck no matter what race/class you are in that you cannot just buy and combine.

I think that's an agreeable fact, no?

[Kronepsis]

did you remember...

That the Humming orbs don't stack?

That's a looooooot of space there...

I'd rather farm the substances and make the orbs as I smith. More space efficient.

[Shaman Arriana]

Don't forget, not only do the humming orbs not stack, but the molds you combine them with don't either, and smiths don't have the luxury of carrying their forge around with them whenever they want.

For the original topic of the thread, the three skills with the largest and most pronounced glass ceilings are:

Smithing at 188
Tailoring at 158
Fletching at 202

Going past those numbers requires quantum leaps in difficulty, and/or time, and/or cost which none of the other skills can really begin to compete with.

[Lorddaeth]

hehe..hehe..hehe

because to make enough for skillup attempts, you would have a mule that only had these orbs on him. and then you have the hours and hours of camping for that same quantity of materials. not to mention finding a guide/gm that will reset Hollowshade to get the owlbears back up.

but hey, more power to ya.

[Cigarskunk]

As a side note to the "mine sucks more than you!" thread...try Iksar Smithing. The ultimate in suck.

Nah - troll "cultural" smithing has you beat hands down -

It all trivials atleast 222+ and is probobly more like 250+.

It all requires 2 BDs.

It all requires several sub-combines which are pretty high.

It all requires a temper made from random ground spawns in just one zone which is 85% covered in water thus making it rather difficult at best to find the @#$% things.

For the original topic of the thread, the three skills with the largest and most pronounced glass ceilings are:

Smithing at 188
Tailoring at 158
Fletching at 202

That's the kind of info that's being looked for.

In answer to the question of "what defines the glass ceiling" - same as I said before - when the tradeskill starts to go beyond the reach of the average player, when the cost/difficulty starts getting so obscene that most folks are going to have to stop.

[ArrakeenNaedShoj]

Mistletoe cutting sickles. Since all high elves worship tunare (right?) you have an easier source of imbued emeralds than any other BD cultural smith. Ok, saying "much" may have been a bit strong, since sickles aren't cheap, but I'd take it over the alternatives that I have - which are also available to you.

Oh ok.

/stops slavering at the mouth.

You are right, If I had the cash I would have an easier time since I could do sickles without any farming of materials, or any alt use, or any bazaar buying, or any bribing of another class for an enchant/imbue/manavial/etc.

However, being that the most cash I have had in my bank at any one time has been 6000pp. And that the most plat I can consistently farm solo in a given hour is around 300pp, meaning roughly one combine an hour. I personally don't consider it "viable" by any stretch of the imagination. But that is only for me. If I were "richer" and had more play time though, it would probably be much simpler.(of course now that I think about it it takes me about 12 hours to get everything for 10 attempts at cultural, so it's still probably easier for me).

Dang, maybe I should switch to sickles.

[Wyrdlan]

Check the prices of sickles on your server.

On mine, Rodcet, 1500 to 2k is still prevalent.

So you take your 6k and your geerlock and you squeak out maybe 3 or 4 sickles of your 20 attempts. You sell for 2k, wash, rinse repeat.

If you manage 1 in 5 you can price at 1500 and continue ad infinitum. If you make 1 in 6, try for 1800, 1 in 7, 2100. 1 in 7+, you go broke and farm for cash, same as the other smiths /grin.

[Ilona]

As someone who tries to do both tailoring (wood elf) and smithing (high elf), I have to admit I find smithing more of a pain in the backside than tailoring in terms of getting the ingredients needed for combines.

Swirling mist is no longer the bottle-neck of HIE smithing, MORNING DEW is, since it's needed in such large quantities (don't get me started on those people that want 75pp EACH for them in the bazaar!). I have swirling mists and moonlights enough for 3-4 stacks of tempers, but nowhere near the amount of morning dew necessary to make attempts on old cultural from them. That's even before I have to spend the time enchanting the mithril... (and imbuing emeralds)

I have 2-3 stacks of flawless hopper hides that I don't currently have acrylia for, but in Tenebrous I can get acrylia with a lvl 30-40 group. I can get velium in CC with the same group (or my lone 36 pally), or take my chanter to velks to get xp and velium at the same time.

Robes are a pain, but they're a LOT less of a pain than sickles. The chain is returned on a failure, and you need 3 tunarean swatches, which STACK. Making the hilt, blade and pommel for the sickle combines takes more clicks before getting to the final (skill-giving) combine, and NON OF THEM STACK. You also need *9* celestial essences per sickle combine, instead of "just" 6 for a robe combine.

The Hollowshade war just doesn't work, and even if it did my pally (lvl 36, the smith) couldn't FARM effectively.

With the characters I have available (52 chanter, 250 JC; 40 WE druid; 36 pally), smithing attempts take A LOT LONGER to prepare than tailoring ones do.

That's before complaining that skillups come less often in smithing as well....

[kiztent]

Check the prices of sickles on your server.

On mine, Rodcet, 1500 to 2k is still prevalent.

So you take your 6k and your geerlock and you squeak out maybe 3 or 4 sickles of your 20 attempts. You sell for 2k, wash, rinse repeat.

If you manage 1 in 5 you can price at 1500 and continue ad infinitum. If you make 1 in 6, try for 1800, 1 in 7, 2100. 1 in 7+, you go broke and farm for cash, same as the other smiths /grin.

Sorry, still haven't seen the location of that imbued emerald vendor...

[Glatius2]

Sorry, still haven't seen the location of that imbued emerald vendor.

Actually I believe his advice was targetted at a High Elf cleric, who has to follow tunare and therefore would be able to imbue his own emeralds. Which in effect makes him his own imbued emerald vendor.

[kiztent]

Sorry, still haven't seen the location of that imbued emerald vendor.

Actually I believe his advice was targetted at a High Elf cleric, who has to follow tunare and therefore would be able to imbue his own emeralds. Which in effect makes him his own imbued emerald vendor.

edit: hm, it might. Never mind.

[Wyrdlan]

Right, response was to ArrakeenNaedShoj who gave the details I mentioned about being a cleric who only had 6k in the bank and figured he could farm 300pp an hour.

By the way, I learned my lesson. I'll never compare tailoring to smiths again.


At least, until I have my own numbers to back me up. /cackles gleefully

[Iannyen]

My dad can beat up your dad.


Tradeskills are hard.

:?

[ArrakeenNaedShoj]

I am officially Off Topic Boy but..

Right, response was to ArrakeenNaedShoj who gave the details I mentioned about being a cleric who only had 6k in the bank and figured he could farm 300pp an hour.

Just to whine a little, I only have about 200pp in the bank right now. I said that the most I have ever had was 6000pp But that was before the Solstice earring now sitting on my right ear. I was trying to make it clear that even though it is easier for me to use the Sickle method than any other racial smith(cept maybe a Human Tunare Cleric/Druid?) because I can imbue my own gems, that doesn't make the method in any way doable, since I can't afford the several hundred K it would cost me to skill up with this method. Nor have I the ability to farm the cash If I so desired to try.

I could be much better off, But I am lucky if I get to play an hour or two a week. This game is really not designed for people like me or anywhere near my level of commitment currently.

[Lunira]

Hehe, you think Iksar and Troll smithing are bad?

Try half-elven smithing