When to switch over to MTP ?

[Nanndas]

Hi everyone. 1st post here. This board is very informative!
I am a 33 Beastlord on Drinal. He is my main and I have a 25 Druid and 22 Pally as well. All three characters have very nice equipment for their levels. I've got them there by selling pelts, silks, swirling shawdows etc in his early years. The last month I've been rasing various tradeskills. Selling Halas pies and Heady Kiola's atm are a good source of income. His skills are:
Baking 199
Brewing 172
Pottery 147
Smithing 110
Tailoring 79

The question was going to be about what Tradeskill should I take to GM as I'm only 33 and I level slowly. It will be a while till I reach 51 and can put AA's into tradeskills. I am going to GM in Baking.

When should I switch over to MTP's ? I tried over 60 combines when I was at 193 and it was a disaster. Not one skill up and I only made 8 of them (2 successful combines). Even making the pies at 185 I failed a lot but not even near as bad as the picnics. I am well set up to make the pies and if I have to I'll continue till they trivial. Any advise would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Nanndas:

[eniamn]

i started doing 200 runs of picnics at 193. the halas pies were about 240ish combines around 193-202. halas pies took more money and more time. they sold for 3pp max when i was selling them on my server at the time. at 250 baking now the picnics have a <50% success rate. they sell for 10pp easy though so one stack pays for the 200pp it takes me to do a run. if you can get 5 successes they pay for themselves. good luck. i would and did switch where you are at now.

[Rewde]

Now taht you are at 199, it would be a good time to switch to the MTPs. Do them in runs of 200, making sure to slice tha cake only when needed, i.e. make 2 stacks of 20 slices, savew space in your bags. The highest success you will ever get will be about 54%, and more often than not, expect 50% at a skill of 250.

You don't say what class you are. If you are a druid, and don't mind the foraging, you can also do pinemyer pasta. And, if you can get your hands on the components cheaply, do griffon and annaconda melts, a much less item intensive combine.

Good luck in getting to 250, and don't forget to post back when you get there.

[Zyrtryx Conjureblade]

In the past, I was advised to not even attempt MTPs until at least 210. Around 192, I did one stack of combines after finding some picnic baskets on a vendor - no successes or skill-ups.

If you're in a guild or have friends who play, and they can hunt in Jaggedpine, ask them to save Griffon and Anaconda Meat for you. Or wait until you get about 15 more levels, and go get it yourself.

If they're foragers, ask them to save any Plant Shoots they come up with, too.

Doing Griffon Melts, Anaconda Melts, and Cheesy Vegetable Casseroles are much easier than doing HMPs or MTPs, and don't cost as much to make, either.


(I got a LOT of Griffon Meat from guildmembers who hunted in JP and gave it to me. If not for that, I would've gone nuts doing Baking!)

[Nanndas]

Thanks for all the replies, nice of you all.

Just a few replies. I'm a Beastlord Kitty. I think sometimes that having paws instead of hands is a hindrance...

I'm guildless atm, but my Druid is bound in JPF. So I'll gate back every so often and check for meats.

I had enough components on me for 200 combines. I had spent the better part of an evening getting the materials and making the combines. I got a little frustrated when I failed the first Brownie combine (I only could locate 2). And then the 60 combines and only 2 succesful ones and no skill ups.

So I'll finish off the pies tonight as I only have 30 mammy meats left. Then everything left for pies will be put on my trader. And I'll get organized and give the picnics a good shot. I'll keep you up to date..

Nan

[Nanndas]

I made it to 200 making the last batch of hmp.

Making the mtp was brutal. If this is SoE's idea of a joke they are sick. I spent 4 hours getting all the ingredients to make all the sub-combines and then sit down and attempt to make them. I did 200 combines and I didn't get 1 skill up. And I only got 76 picnics to boot. (:

I'll stick to hmp's. I can make 100+ in 30 minutes and have a better chance of skilling up..

Nan

[Nairn Niteraven]

at 250 baking now the picnics have a <50% success rate.

I agree. I'm at 250 and I refuse to make these things except on request. I did it completely in Jaggedpine using Griff Meats and Plant Shoots. The subcombines needed for MTP's are absurd given the success rate; for me it's just too time consuming to be worthwhile.

Take a serious look at JP, or ask guildies to help. It's a slow, but relatively painless path. Plus, you can trash the Basilisk Genitors for Eggs.

[lasertop]

Do truffles, mushrooms can easily be bought in the bazaar for 1 t o 2 pp and they trivial at 202.

[Zyrtryx Conjureblade]

Originally posted by lasertop
Do truffles, mushrooms can easily be bought in the bazaar for 1 t o 2 pp and they trivial at 202.

Doh! I can't believe I didn't mention those!

Truffles are what I got most of my skill-ups on going from 191 to 200. They don't sell great, but they DO sell. (You might want to offer some to any pure Melee classes in your guild - I used to have a regular customer for them in my guild, but he quit playing - some Rangers seem to like them, too)
I've sold them for about 2 or 3pp each, which is a fair profit.

Just take a trip to Cobalt Scar (or ask a guildmember who can to go there for you) and buy several stacks of Brown Algae, then shove them in the bank.

From 191 to 200, I did Ohabah Truffles (and Griffon Melts, when I could get the meat from guildmembers who hunted in Jaggedpine) for skill-ups, Halas 10lb Meat Pies for profit. I think I did at least 100 HMP combines, and got only 1 or 2 skill-ups from them.

[Britneyy]

Originally posted by Nairn Niteraven
at 250 baking now the picnics have a <50% success rate.

This I would have to say is wrong as they are more closer to less then 50%, I had a 53% with 5% mod making it 48%, which I parsed over 1500 combines.. and counting.

As for when to start I started from 191-250 =)
Took around 4500 combines totaly to do that if i recall.. I could find my skillup chart somewhere too if you are interested.

[cannyar]

if you can i'd recommend sticking with halas meat pies until closer to 220 or so. i tried to do picnics at 195 or so. just had stack after stack of failure and no skillups. the trivial for picnics is much higher than your current skill. meat pies is closer. yes there are more combines to make one but you'll succeed more often and skill up more often. i never counted but i wonder if the clicks total up the same in the end anyway. with more successes making meat pies you're more likely to skill up. also meat pies sell pretty well in the bazaar, so you'll make some money back because you'll have more product.

[eniamn]

i do a run of 200. i don't remember ever having over 2 bags at the end of the run and i bake all 200 at a time before i start giving to guildies and selling.

200 * 4 * 50% = 20 stacks = 2 full 10slot bags.
< 2 bags means <50%

that was my math at any rate. didn't parse it.

[Nanndas]

Update number 2!

I must be hard headed or like punishment...

I took Sat night off and went and leveled.

I started yesterday morning. This time I bought some jewelery and raised my Dex to 130 from 88. I went from 200 to 202 and made 100 picnics from 200 combines (12.5%)
On the next batch I bought wisdom gear (went from 131-155) and low and behold I skilled up from 202-206 and made 112 picnics (14%)
3rd batch 207-209 and 128 picnics (16%) and the final one 210-213 and made 144 picnics (18%)

So 800 combines later I got to 213 and have 484 picnics for resale!

They take quite a while to prep for 200 combines. Even when I had extra items I'd fail and have to go get some more. The Madrakes and Euca leaf were the worst subcombines due to the failures .

I'm picnic'd out. Going to take a break for a while. Atm the Bazzar is flooded with pies and picnics with the corresponding drop in prices.

Btw does anyone know what the average cost s/b for 200 combines? And if that included failures on the sub combines.

Thanks for all the replies,

Nan

[eniamn]

i spend 200pp or there abouts to buy everything alchemy and make the steel boning for a 200 run for me. euca leaves are the worst at 80pp. mandrake takes another 80pp. buy the beer cheap and make the boning. fennel is about 40 so 200 pp + frosting, milk, rennet, etc. i almost never fail a sub combine anymore. way above trivial on all parts though.

you're at about 60 combines per skillup. i averaged 40 on whatever recipe i used at 255 int. get more wis if you can. chanter buffs rule. buy a few qeynos tea and eat picnics while your making them if you aren't.

i spend about 4 hours a run because i have to take breaks to bs and other good stuff making picnics. 800 in one day is very impressive. i feel for your wrist. guildie has given me 2 stacks of brownie parts and i'm still on the first one lol.

advice on lowering costs and annoyance
the iskar smiths in pok sometimes have steel boning. very reasonable price and saves me clicks.
the halfling in rivervale almost always has jum jum beer because people skill to 168 on it there. the 10 yeild means plenty of them are on the vendor.
check all the alchemy vendors in pok for the woven mandrake. i can pull 3 or 4 stacks off them sometimes. that is a lot of picnics and cuts cost dramatically. tailors skill up to 66 on them sometimes. 2ppish a stack and you save about 80 plat on that run. i do my own basket weaving though.
save all the extra parts i find till my next run also.
i also auction 10pp each in pok and give discounts on full stacks. they sell well most days.

edit selling at 10pp each you just made 4k at lv 33. get some new gear and stuff. i never had the room to save picnics for multiple runs in a row. did a run and sold them then did another.

edit2 lol. my skills are in my sig. to lower mandrake failures i suggest at least 100 tailor. more can't hurt. i will make picnics but wont brew headys. yes i am a bit weird hehe.

[Nanndas]

Don't think I'll attempt that many combines in a day again. I was cross-eyed last night when I finished. In fact 100 at a time is nice as it reduces the baggage required a lot.

Thats a good idea. I buy my fruit and veggies in the bazaar atm as my Druid can't forage fast enough. So I'll do a quick check for other components with my trader when I log him on.

Tailoring is at 82 atm. The Greyhoppers wouldn't co-operate by dropping a lot of Greyhopper hides on Sat night. Went to buy a tailoring geerlok but the only one for sale was at 1kp, so that can stay there.

Yes, I'll get more wisdom gear. I bought for slots I was sure didn't have any wis. Trouble is a lot of my items do have wisdom, so I'll have to work on that.

I suspect with the failures on Euca leafs and Madrakes I'm around 250 for 200 combines.

Nan

**edit
Thanks for the shopping ideas Eniam. Here's what I got last night:
156 picnics at 2pp each
18 woven mandrake at 3pp each
20 cakes at 2pp each
and 1800+ beer at 9 copper each (my druid definately doesn't like me)
Sewing Geerlok - tailoring is at (82*1.05) 86.
Got my Wisdom to 174. Now I have to start swapping an item with wisdom for another with higher wisdom on it.
Made another batch. Got 1 skill up (214) and 168 picnics.

Thanks again