Can a non-forager be a good baker?

[Custard]

I'm a froglok cleric and saved up enough money to start baking skill but was wondering if it will be fun since I can't forage alot of the items? Alot of the fun stuff I want to make like chocolate cakes or cookies require foraged stuff. Any bakers here without forage skill that know how to get around this? Not sure if foragers sell their ingredients in the bazaar. Thanks in advance for any info

[Evrhiel]

I'm a high elf cleric whose fave non-hunting pastime is baking. Foraged components are sold in the bazaar but mostly I relied upon friends and guildmates to stock me up. I did try making my own forage mule but I got bored waiting for that forage button to pop up only to fail to forage something again.

Make forager friends and go for it!

[Nhin Impious]

Foraged items are easier to come by on a non-PvP server.

As a Dark Elf cleric, member of a team containing only Iksar foragers, I bought a LOT of vegetables in bazaar.

Still made it to 250, though, BEFORE moving to Tarew.

Nhinx Aphsion
GM Baker...even if it does make me feel too girly sometimes

[Calabar]

I must admit that most of my baking experience comes from playing my wood elf druid; so foraging was never a problem. And while its true that a foraging class character will have it much easier than a non-foraging class character, I certainly wouldn’t quit a trade skill I liked because of it. In fact, as far as skill gains are concerned, your lack of foraging skill won’t even come into play until after you’ve reached 191 skill.

If you do need foraged items, the three options that come to mind first are the bazaar, friends or making a character just for foraging. When I was actively playing my druid, and my ranger, I’d often put foraged items on my vendor. My foraging key was linked to my turn arrow, so I was constantly foraging and that stuff can really pile up. Prices obviously vary, but I usually priced my veggies and such from 1 to 5 gold depending on how quickly I wanted to get rid of it. If you have friends who forage, especially if they don’t bake, you can get a lot of items that way. And if you have an open character slot you can always create a druid or a ranger for foraging. I’d recommend a druid over a ranger because if you play the character for a while you’ll get port spells and that makes getting to different zones for foraging that much easier. However, rangers do get better tracking. So if that skill would also be of use to you a ranger might be the way to go.

And to be honest, the two items most often used for skill ups past 191 don’t require a lot of foraged items. The massive amounts of sub combines my drive you to drink, which is why I think I took up brewing, but Halas 10 lb Meat Pies and Misty Thicket Picnics will take you all the way to 250 skill.

If you enjoy baking I say go for it. After all, you’re here to have fun.

[Tiggera]

Baking and foraging

Since I was a wee lass on Povar, I have loved to bake. I was my guild's baker before there were stats on food. When guildmates found something they even thought was used in baking, they held it for me and asked if I needed it for anything. I had to become a tailor and make 10 slot handmade backpacks for several toons just to hold things they were passing on.

One day, I stumbled on this site. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. List upon list of recipes that I had only heard of or never tried because I couldnt figure out some of the books (this is back when the birthday/wedding cake recipes were still an unknown and very hot discussion.) I told my guildmates to come look at the site and see if there was anything they wanted me to make for them. Within weeks, my banked supplies emptied. My Half Elf warrior suddenly had a baking skill of 142 (for the time, that seemed almost unheard of; rat ear pies were the limit of skill for most players.) Stats were assigned to food... and baking things was in such a high demand that I could not keep up with orders. My guildmates would go hunting for everything they needed for a recipe, wait for me to log in, and ask me to do the combines. For months, I couldnt really go out and adventure becasue I was always attached to a baking device, and I loved it.

Eventually, I made a second toon to take a break from baking, a High Elf cleric. unfortunatly, I still felt the need to bake things... so I spent a whopping 30 plat on making fish rolls just to get my baking to an "acceptable" level. Eventually, my Troll SK, Human monk, Dwarven pally... every toon I ever made on the Povar server in fact, had a baking of 130+ with many approaching 200 (thanks to the Patty melts.) Guess what... not a one of them can or ever has been able to forage. Will a frog become a great baker? Unless you decide to invent a recipe for frog legs and try to sell them in your home town... I dont doubt it at all.

[Ymmi]

I hit 250 baking tonight, High Elf Mage.

Baking is still fun, just not making MTP's for a long time

[Diania]

I've got 2 chrs I'm doing baking with, Diania, my main, is a druid, and Wynterwynd is my froglok pally who's at like 193 or so (can't check until I get EQ access back.) Been doing alot of saving up on foraged stuff with the druid, and passing it to the pally.

[Iannyen]

See sig. Answer, yes.

[Clementine]

Yes of course If any of your alts or friends are foragers that's one way to get some of the foraged items, otherwise try the bazaar. You yourself might have to get the brownie parts to make those cookies and cakes, but if you hang around steamfont near the mino caves you can find some lower lvl brownies there. Happy baking

[Balkin]

I have 2 characters near 200 baking...

Erudite Wizard
Dwarven Cleric...

Short Answer, Yes it can be fun...

[Zeralenn]

If you need foraging, make yourself a foraging alt and take advantage of the shared bank slots.

If you make a wood elf or an Iksar, you get 50 forage skill right out of the blocks. You never even have to use the character.

Rangers or druids of any class can learn and develop forage skill, but wood elves start out with a skill of 50 right away.

...Zera

[Taushar]

You can be a GM baker without being a foraging class but it sure helps. I have an alt that I two-box, he is a 50 druid. When I am on a raid or in a group, I usually get him over to some place and forage. Just keep pushing the button when I need. Vegetables and root forages got me to about 150 range easily. I spent tons of time in EC foraging mushroom until Truffles were trivial at 202. I spent tons of time foraging plants shoots (used both in baking and LoY ribbons), justice fruit, cockroaches, bread crumbs etc. to get me to 250. It's possible to get to 250 without foraging but it's more difficult. Try to level just on HMP or MTP. They are just pain in the behind. Foraging really does help with baking, just get an alt who can forage if you can.

Taushar

[Quichon]

You do not need to be a forager to get 250 in baking.

1-135 = Fish Rolls. One batwing and One fresh fish, both found convienently in PoK right next to each other. Bring a spit with you and bake away! Due to it's popularity there are a large number of jokes about fish rolls. Just take every Spam joke you ever heard, cross out Spam and write in Fish Rolls and there ya go.

135-191 = Patty Melts. You need to go to Jagged Pine Forest to do this one. You'll need to purchase a nonstick frying pan mold, the ceramic lining skech, and cheese that can only be found in JaggedPine. One bear/lion meat plus one bread plus one cheese plus one nonstick frying pan (returned on success OR faliure). Go to thurgadin to purchase the meat and bread from vendors.
191+ is where it gets difficult. If you can find a large supply of griffon meat (again found ONLY in jaggedpines off of the griffons there), or anaconda meat (ditto) then you can do those casseroles until you hit 250, or you can do HMP, MTP, or whatever your choice of carpel-tunnel syndrome inducing method may be.

No foraging required.

[Britneyy]

You can be a great baker if your a non-forager. The only thing is it will be allot more combines for you to get to 250!

[Father Tim]

Troll Warrior, 60 WIS, 250 Baker with GM Spoon
"Me likes to eat!"

Fish Rolls to 135
Patty Melts to 191
Misty Thicket Picnics to 250

All the foraged/dropped ingredients required for 4000 MTP combines (20 stacks of veggies, 3 stacks of fruit, two stacks of Brownie parts, one stack of eggs) were picked up in a single, spur-of-the-moment trip to the Bazaar.