Dumb newbie tradeskill question

[Heatmiser]

Sorry, but couldn't find an answer in any of the FAQs or searches...

OK, what does the message "you have fashioned items to make an alternate item"...or something to theat effect.

Specifically, I will combine a block of velium with chisel and get a large brick of velium, I combine the large brick with chisel to get a small brick. However, when I now combine the small brick with chisel (which normally should return 2 velium pieces), I get the above message, and only my chisel back -- every time.

So nothing, like I failed the combination, but I don't get the message of failure.."you lacked the skills to.......etc". This combo is also trivial to me atm.

The combination of a small brick of velium and chisel works if the small brick is a dropped item. My problem comes from when the small brick is fashioned from a block/large brick.

What does it mean when you do not get the results of the combination, and yet get the message..."you have fashioned items together to form an alternate item.."

Thanks for the help

[eniamn]

that shouldn't be acting that way. not sure why made bricks are buggy for you. :boggeled:

the message just means it gives you back your tool on a failure. all the components of a combine are destroyed so the tool is actually remade every combine on success or failure. thats what the message means.

[Krazick]

"you have fashioned items to make an alternate item"

What this means is three things:

1. You attempted a valid recipe
2. You failed to suceed in the recipe
3. The Recipe also returns an "alternate item", which in this case is the Smithing Chisel.

Now the fact that it happens "Every time" for the small brick created from the large brick... could be EITHER:

1. You are just having bad luck on the combine.

OR

2. The small brick created from the large brick is not the same identical item as the dropped small brick.

I tend to think the first, rather than the second, because you are getting a "valid recipe" message back, rather than "These items does not combine..." message.

Sorry... all I can say is this is just bad luck of the rolls.

[eniamn]

sure word it more clearly. yeah krazick is obviously correct and also beeter stated.

[Heatmiser]

So, on a failure I can get two possible messages back? Either:

1) You lack the skills to make this item....
-- I get this on a failure when I combine chisel and dropped small brick.

2) You have fasioned the items together to make an alternate item.
-- I get this on a failure when I combine chisel and a "made" small brick.

A failure either way just gives me the chisel back and, so why would there be two different messages, for essentially the same outcome?

I'm not clear on this.

Thanks for the replies...maybe it is just a real long coincidental streak of luck. /shrug I'll keep trying.

[Krazick]

For a recipe that returns one, and ONLY one item ... and you FAIL, you will get the message:

"You lack the skills to make this item...."

And get nothing back.

-----------------

For a recipe that has an "alternate" item (or items), generally those that have a "tool" required (chisel, hammer, pie tin, cake round, file, needle, shears, etc) .... and you FAIL, you will get the message:

"You have fasioned the items together to make an alternate item."

And receive back the tool (or tools) put into the recipe.

For your example recipe (Small Block of Velium + Smithing Chisel) this falls into the second category with the 'Smithing Chisel' as the tool that will ALWAYS be returned.

....

Also please note, that on a FAILURE, you CAN get a Skill Increase... but you will NEVER get any sort of 'Trivial' message.

[Heatmiser]

OK, I hear ya. Thanks for the info...however:

I do get the "you lack the skills " message on a failure when I combine a chisel and a DROPPED small brick -- and I get the chisel back on this too.

I guess there is some sort of quirk in the code that there is a different failure message given, depending if the small brick is dropped or made variety -- its the only thing I can assume.

Actually, the failure messages wouldn't even concern me at all, except that I was really trying to finid out a cause as to why I kept failing when trying to do the combine when the small brick was a "fashioned" type. Hopefully, like someone said, its just a big streak of bad luck.

Danke,
~Heat