How many picnics from 238-250?

[Valcare]

How many picnics will it take to get from 238 skill to 250 baking with 305 wisdom assuming (a) the random number generator hates me as always or (b) several minor miracles occur and I progress "normally" for 305 wisdom?

Valcare Goodfellow
65th level Paladin
Troublemaker Extraordinaire

[jugador]

around 300 combines

[Ariene]

Am I the only 250 baker that has never made a picnic? It seems that everyone uses them but I never did. I'm just starting to wonder if I'm the only one...

[Ravenstorm]

I hate doing MTP they take so long, to gather and prepare and have room. Usually I do MTP once a month...180 attemps. I dont sell my baked goods, it all go to guildies/friends for free. Do keep a stack for other tradeskills. Last night I tried Blood Raven Stew with 12 attemps. Only made one yet last week when I did 8 attemps made 5 success. Think it was not my night to bake. And how do you make those collaspable oven? Hate going to PoK all the time so crowded and laggy. Just when you thought you have made the best baked goods in the game, expansion comes out... :?
This is my two copper.
Ravenstorm
Stormraven (FV)
...just when you nearing GM in tradeskills expansion comes out!!!

[Calabar]

The Collapsed Spit is made by gnome tinkers and trivials at 222. So if you know someone with a high-level tinker character you could gather up the supplies needed and ask him or her to tinker one together for you. Or you could simply shop for one in the bazaar. I love the tinkered containers. I have a spit, a bowl and a mortar and pestle. I keep the summoned spit in an empty slot and use it as a 6-slot container. Any time I need to use the bowl or mortar and pestle I simply destroy the spit and summon the new container. It works out extremely well. No baker should be without them.

[Sanna]

I was so excited when i finally got all the stuff together for Picnics.... I failed 6 combines (at low 180s skill) and decided I'd had my picnic fill for a bit. No bitterness, I wanted to do just a little, just because, so i did just a little, just because, and now i'm finally breaking some kind of even with Halas 10.

Without trying to sound overly-authoritative, I will offer up what passes for My Piece of Advice:

Don't do it for the points. Do it for the results. If you only look at the points, you will get discouraged. Keep an eye on your points, but don't live and breathe by them. If you do, you will only die by them.
Tradeskilling should be fun. When it's not fun, stop until it is fun again. Don't get to where you can't smile.

my 2c.

you know, i think i'll revamp my sig file....

[Ravenstorm]

Baking for me is just for role play and fun. Not doing it for the money. All that I make goes to guildies and friends for free. But I make up for it by asking the Ice Giants nicely... Yes MTP is great and I do agree if your doing MTP do it for the fun of making it and using it rather then making profit and skilling up. Almost all of what you need to make MTP is bought. Only thing again i mention is, the time it takes to prepare the final results and do the combining. As for the collaspable pit, thanks for the info, will find a gnome (if I dont eat him/her :P ) and see if they can make me some collaspable stuff. hate carrying around a spit, sewing kit, motar and pestle, mixing bowl, a fletching kit. Will they ever make portable brew barrels or portable smithing forges.
Ravenstorm
Stormraven (FV)

[Cigarskunk]

Took my troll around 400 MTP combines to pull those last 12 points.

Personally, I don't see the anoyance over MTPs that everyone else does - sure, they take a boatload of components, span four tradeskills and are the mothers of all space eaters, but if you're even semi-organised, they're not too bad.

Here's the trick -

I bang them out in batches of 200 combines most of the time, so this is what I need.

1) 10 stacks of jumjum beer
2) 2 stacks of cakes
3) one mixing bowl
4) one stack of boning
5) one stack of woven mandrake root
6) enough stacks of all other raw materials to do the subcombines to make final combine
7) one sewing kit

I combine all mixing bowl combines as I need them to produce a single stack for my final combine - bang that out and rinse and repeat. Baskets are also made on demand, although since I'll usually start eating into the sewing kit for space, I'll replace a stack of jumjum beer with a stack of baskets - once I've got 5 stacks of beer and 5 stacks of baskets I'm set.

This method takes up very little space and lets you opperate very efficiently - especially nice if a raid suddenly comes up in mid bakeing - you aren't screwed with 5 full containers of raw materials.

[halinar]

Am I the only 250 baker that has never made a picnic? It seems that everyone uses them but I never did. I'm just starting to wonder if I'm the only one...

I was going to attempt that but it's not looking pretty at the moment. When I hit 202 I had almost 700 anaconda/griffon meats and plant shoots. I've torn though a good portion of it and am only 217 at the moment. I had a couple really bad points that ate a ton of supplies.

[kiatek]

re

To answer the poster's originial question, i have been averaging about 3 points per 100 combine sessions. so probably 300-400 picnic combines will get you 238-250.

I agree with cigar-I dont hate picnics at all.

Similar method to cigar:
I do combines in sessions of 100 and i first used the house ogre's guide to picnics to help me get started. If you haven't read that, it's wonderful!
1. Go to Rivervale/shadowhaven and acquire jumjum stalks ( i usually make sure i hve 40 for failures and i always have extra left over)
2. Go to POknowledge (stay here for entire rest of time although you can use shadowhave for entire time as well)
3. Go to the alchemy vendor area-buy all the stuff i need.
4. Go next door and buy stuff for boning.
5. Go next door and make boning.
6. Go around the corner and make mandrake and picnic baskets. I premake these and keep them in the same backpack as the premade beers.
7. Run to other side, buy baking ingredients and brewing ingredients.
8. Make all jumjum beer, put in backpack with picnic baskets.
9. make cakes
10. one backpack holds final combines, make subcombines as needed in 20 combine increments while at oven.

Takes less than an hour *with* interruptions /shrug compared to tailoring this is a breeze =)
I know alot of people like shadowhaven but i really dislike that city for some reason. As long as i get jumjum to start with, i can do everything else in pok.

I do love doing hero sandwich combines however and if i had a steady supply of meat, i would be overjoyed but picnics don't tax me =)

[shinreineko]

it all depends on RNG luck

How many combines of picnics it will take you to GM is very variable, it all depends on how the RNG is feeling that day ). I always do picnics in sets of 100 combines and i've had a very wide range of results, just last night I did 100 combines and got 4 skillups to 244 baking, very good IMO. However I have done 190 before getting a skillup before.

I've always liked picnics because they are a good money maker hehe, my combines last night yielded 192 picnics witch is around 2700pp on vazaelle, not bad.

[Valcare]

Thanks

Thanks for all the nice responses and advice. I should have time in the next couple of days to make the final push from 238-250. I will let the community know how it turned out.

[zandorian]

GM Baker with spoon

I too found MTP very easy to do I used this guide all item that are vendor bought are available in Shadow haven. In an hour on lunch at work I can get all the supplies to make and do 120 combines. 300 combines seems about right made 250 skill and my spoon on Sunday.




http//groups.yahoo.com/group/Ancient_Adventurers/files/--%20Trade%20Skill%20Corner%20--/Shopping%20List%20for%2060%20Misty%20Thicket%20Pic nics.doc

[Ianthe]

Never made a MTP either... Tons of griffon melts, anaconda melts, cheesy vegetable casseroles, blood raven stew, jord meat pies, tae ew pies... Dinged 250 on a Tormenter Stir Fry.

[Ravenstorm]

Guess its just me then, MTP is hard for me to make. I do all my baking in SH, rest in Halas (cept Jewlery). Yes MTP is easy to make once you have ALL the supplies needed for finaly combine. However evertime i make it, i have to find someone who has veggies and find someone who has brownie parts. Then I have to make a mixing bowl and resell my spit. (my inventory has a container in every slot :P ) After i make/buy mixing bowl have to go find loom. then i have to go make jum jum drink.
i do agree with everyone that MTP is easy to make, if you have everything ready to be made. but some folks like me who do all the tradeskills and have only room for 36-30 slots in containers its lil difficult. bank is full of supplies things for smithing, tailoring and cooking. my personal inventory is pretty much full. always have two bags full of racial parts and meats, bag full of baking items...pot, skewer, pie tin, round cake, non fry stick pan, smoker, fillet knives, dairy spoon, muffin tin, casarole dish. just saying for me its seems hard or maybe i am making it hard for myself. SH for me is really a great place to do tradeskills. PoK is too but lag is bad for me there. Halas is good also. If a person has everything ready for doing a tradeskill(s), then yeah its easy as hell, just click away on the mouse. Its the getting all the supplies of making MTP that drives me nuts. )mostly due to not having room :P )
this is for FV server thou. any other server i wouldnt have mentioned my problem.
Ravenstorm
Stormraven (FV)
/em looks around for recipe to make 20 slot bag... :P