The Complete and Finished Guide to DoN Cultural Armor (lol, probably not)

[tairne]

This post was originally made by Xulan, but I have modified it for use by tailors as well as smiths, and included information about the cultural sewing kits and needles.

***
Also, I have still need information about the cultural metals needed by Half-Elf, Froglok, Vah Shir, and Halflings. Please feel free to correct me
Thanks to Yilda for your input =)
***

Thanks to all who contributed to the information here. Thanks to Ngreth, people online in beta, and especially Tatsukaze whose ore-modifying drop post info I reprinted here.

Most of this info can be found in the 5 books called "The Resurgence of History," sold by one of the dwarven smithing vendors in PoK. The rest of the information is found in the Ancestral book as well as the 4 Culture books which are quested, which are discussed below.

General Notes:
- The 4 <levels_of_mastery> are (from the bottom up): Journeyman, Expert, Master and Grandmaster.
- The GM level armor and symbols require quite a bit of metallic drake scales. The drop rate and availability (meaning the ease of the zones and the mobs from which they drop) will be the determining factor on the rate of how much GM armor and symbols enter the game.
- The result of the mold combines take up 8 inventory slots, as well as the result of the symbol pattern combines (for each level of mastery) take up 8 inventory slots. If you make a set of molds and a set of symbol patterns for each level of mastery, you will have 40 inventory slots of stuff you have to fit somewhere. They are all no drop btw, so gl on your inventory & bank management.
- If special note is not given for a component, it is presumed to be vendor sold or readily available through some means.

CONTENTS
I. The Books (that you must have)
II. Material Preparations for the Armor
III. The Sewing Kits and Needles
IV. The Armor Combines
V. The Symbols (the type 11 augments)
VI. Cultural Ores (needed for sewing kits and metal bar combines)
VII. The Ore-Modifying Drops (to make the ore into the different levels of mastery)
VIII. The Silk / Pelt / Hide Drops (for the different levels of mastery)
IX. Trivials


I. The Books (that you must have)


These books are said to only have a certain amount of uses before you have to get new ones. It is unconfirmed if they actually have "charges."

Quest for "Ancestral <race> Armor" (book)
This is a very simple quest which involves gathering 4 items from "newbie" area mobs. The quest is given by an npc in the home city for your race, and there is a different set of things which needs to be collected for each race.

This book and the 4 books below are from a single npc in each city with the description of (Tradeskill Quests) under their name.

Tasks for the 4 symbol books: “<level_of_mastery> Book of <race> Culture” (journeyman's through grandmaster's) (books)
The first 3, for journeyman through master, take place mostly in dungeons which go up by level for each level of book. The tasks are different for each race. The master's level books are places like chardok and sebilis. The lesser books are in easier places. The tasks have no time limit, and I was able to get all 3 at once. The tasks were very simple, like kill 50 of X mob and bring back 4 of Y items. The last task for the GM book seems to be in the broodlands regardless of the race (starting zone for the DoN expansion).
You must be level 55(?) to get the Master task.
You must be level 65 to get the GM task.

Book Binding & a Quill
Book Binding is a container used for making patterns (both for armor and symbols). These are a sold item as well as a Quill, which is the same "a quill," used in spell research, Ink, and Roll of Parchment and various Vellums. The book binding, ink, parchment, and vellum are used up in combines, but a quill is not.


II. Material Preparations for the Armor


Molds & Patterns
(These combines make an 8 slot backpack full with 20 stacked molds/patterns for each visible slot, 2x for wrists)

Molds (used for smithing: chain & plate):
+ Ancestral <race> Armor (quested book)
+ huge block of clay
+ compacted backpack
+ sculpting tools
+ h.q. firing sheet
in a kiln

Patterns (used for tailoring: silk & leather, I added this just so people don't associate "patterns" with chain armor, and because it is in the Ancestral Book):
+ Ancestral <race> Armor (quested book)
+ roll of parchment
+ large bottle of ink
+ quill (special quill, not the "a quill" used in spell research)
+ compacted backpack
in a book binding (book binding is not returned)

<level_of_mastery> <bar_metal_name> Bar (4 types, one for each level of mastery)
+ <a droped item dependant upon tier and race> (j. through mastery level is race specific, but GM bar uses metallic drake scales for everyone. See section V. of this post for the drops.)
+ small brick of <culture_metal>
+ <culture> smithy hammer
in <culture> forge

OR

+ 3<droped item dependant upon tier and race>
+ large brick of <culture_metal>
+ <culture> smithy hammer
in <culture> forge
yield 3

OR

+ 6<droped item dependant upon tier and race>
+ block of <culture_metal>
+ <culture> smithy hammer
in <culture> forge
yield 6

<culture_metal> is like adamantite for dark elves, brellium for dwarves, etc.

<level_of_mastery> <sheet_metal_name> Sheet (4 types, one for each level of mastery)
+ <level_of_mastery> <bar_metal_name> Bar
+ water
+ <culture> smithy hammer
in <culture> forge

<level_of_mastery> <silk_name> Swatch (4 types, one for each level of mastery)
+ <silk swatch dependant upon tier and race>
+ small spool of <culture> thread
+ <culture> needle
in <culture> sewing kit
yield 1

<level_of_mastery> <hide_name> Hide (4 types, one for each level of mastery)
+ <hide/pelt dependant upon tier and race>
+ small spool of <culture> thread
+ <culture> needle
in <culture> sewing kit
yield 1


III. The Sewing Kits and Needles


The sewing kits and needles needed to make the cultural silk and leather armor are similar to the ones that were in game prior to Dragons of Norrath, but not all races had these (ie. Half-elves).

Additional sewing kit and needle recipes have been put in game. All races need to make them for them to work with DoN Cultural Tailoring. In the future, no racial sewing kits will be vendor sold.

<culture> Sewing Kit (10 slot capacity, holds giant sized items)
+ <cultural> metal (dependant upon race)
+ needle mold
+ thimble mold
in <culture> forge

<culture> Needle
+ <culture> Essence (brewing combine, racial dependant drop + water, trivial 186)
+ embroidering needle


IV. The Armor Combines


The number of sheets/bars/swatches/hides are as follows:
3: chest, legs
2: feet, helm
1: arms, hands, wrists

Plate & Chain Armor
+ X number of <level_of_mastery> <sheet_metal_name> Sheet (for plate)
OR
+ X number of <level_of_mastery> <bar_metal_name> Bar (for chain)

+ 1 large brick of <culture_metal>
+ armor mold
+ <culture> smithy hammer
in <culture> forge

Silk & Leather Armor
+ X number of <level_of_mastery> <silk_name> Swatch (for silk)
OR
+ X number of <level_of_mastery> <hide_name> Hide (for leather)

+ 1 large spool of <culture> thread
+ armor pattern
+ <culture> needle
in <culture> sewing kit


V. The Symbols


These combines have no cultural restrictions, and may be done by anyone with enough skill in a regular forge (and JC kit for the JC portion).

<level_of_mastery> <armor_slot> Symbol Pattern
(These combines result in an 8 slot backpack filled with symbol patterns, 20 of each visible slot (2x's wrists), just like the mold/pattern combines listed above.)
+ <level_of_mastery> Book of <race> Culture
+ quill
+ large bottle of ink
+ compacted backpack
+ roll of <vellum_quality> (from journey. to gm: vellum, good quality vellum, high quality vellum, superb vellum)
in a book binding (book binding is not returned)

<level_of_mastery> Water of <diety_descriptor>
+ <dropped item> (from j to gm: jade shard, lambent stone, crushed diamond dust, purescale ore)
+ (Blessed) Water of <diety>
in Jewelers kit (jewelry combine)

Note: The (Blessed) Water of <diety> is sold in npc guild halls. The guild hall will sell water for all of the dieties which can be chosen for the race/class combo in that guild hall. This includes Water of the Skeptic, where a race/class combo can choose agnostic. It is often found on spell vendors when the class uses spells. If not, it is found on a general purpose vendor for the pure melee classes.

Chain and plate Symbols: <level_of_mastery> <armor_piece> Symbol of <diety>
(these are the type 11 augs that give the armor the rest of its stats)
+ Dropped/bought item (from journey. to gm: warbone chips, fire opal, shissar scales, metallic drake scales)
+ <level_of_mastery> Water of <diety_descriptor>
+ <level_of_mastery> <armor_slot> Symbol Pattern
in ANY forge

Silk and Leather Symbols: <level_of_mastery> <armor_piece> Symbol of <diety>
(these are the type 11 augs that give the armor the rest of its stats)
+ <swatch/hide/pelt> (dependant upon tier and race)
+ <level_of_mastery> Water of <diety_descriptor>
+ <level_of_mastery> <armor_slot> Symbol Pattern
in ANY sewing kit


VI. Cultural Ores


Humans, Barbarians: High Quality Ore
Trolls: Iron
Iksar: Skyiron
Erudite: Titanium
Gnomes: Fortified Bronze
High Elves: Mithril Ore
Dwarves: Brellium Ore
Dark Elves, Ogres: Adamantite Ore
Half Elves, Halflings, Frogloks, Vah Shir: ???


VII. The Ore-Modifying Drops


Humans: Tusk of a small mammoth, horn of a woolly rhino, pile of gravel, metallic dragon scales
Barbarians: Permafrost crystals, chunk of condensed ice, pile of gravel, metallic dragon scales
Wood Elves: Mistletoe powder, polished serpent scale, small brick of Yttrium ore, metallic dragon scales
High Elves: Mistletoe powder, fungus sap, small brick of Yttrium ore, metallic dragon scales
Dwarves: Warbone chips, lava rock, pile of gravel, metallic dragon scales
Dark Elves: Russet oxide, small piece of Acrylia, midnight stone, metallic dragon scales
Half Elves: Permafrost crystals, fungus sap, basilisk tooth, metallic dragon scales
Ogres: Barbed bone chips, dark ore, pile of gravel, metallic dragon scales
Trolls: Barbed bone chips, globe of fear, basilisk tooth, metallic dragon scales
Halflings: Ivory, drop of mercury, small brick of Yttrium ore, metallic dragon scales
Gnomes: Warbone chips, chunk of condensed flame, small brick of Yttrium ore, metallic dragon scales
Erudites: Shark bones, drop of mercury, midnight stone, metallic dragon scales
Iksar: Loose scale, small piece of Velium, basilisk tooth, metallic dragon scales
Vah Shir: Porous mineral block, brick of black acrylia, small brick of Yttrium ore, metallic dragon scales
Frogloks: Barbed bone chips, gargoyle eye, basilisk tooth, metallic dragon scales


VIII. Swatch/Hide/Pelt Drops


Silk
High Elves, Humans, Wood Elves: Silk Swatch, Drachnid Silk, Stormweave Swatch, Coarse Silk Swatch
Frogloks , Iksar: Silk Swatch, Drachnid Silk Swatch, Ice Silk Swatch, Coarse Silk Swatch
Dark Elves: Silk Swatch, Drachnid Silk Swatch, Nightmare Silk Swatch, Coarse Silk Swatch
Gnomes: Silk Swatch, Crystalline Silk Swatch, Nightmare Silk Swatch, Coarse Silk Swatch
Erudin: Silk Swatch, Terrorantula Silk Swatch, Nightmare Silk Swatch, Coarse Silk Swatch

Leather
Humans, Wood Elves: Medium Quality Cat, High Quality Cat, Shissar Scales, Glossy Drake Hide
Ogres, Trolls, Barbarians: Medium Quality Bear, High Quality Bear, Shimm Ukun, Glossy Drake Hide
Half Elves, Halflings: Medium Quality Wolf, High Quality Wolf, Racnar, Glossy Drake Hide
Iksar: Sabretooth, Ex Sabretooth, Racnar, Glossy Drake Hide
Vah Shir: Medium Quality Rockhopper, High Quality Rockhopper, Shissar Scales, Glossy Drake Hide


IX. Trivials


The combines that make the molds and patterns appear to be no-fail.

The <culture> sewing kits are 162.

The <culture> needles are 122.

Water combines (jewelcraft) are (journey. to gm) 56, 68, 82, 95.

Making Bars from <culture> metal trivials are (journey. to gm): 62, ???, 182, 242.

Turning Bars into Sheets is trivial at 15.

Armor & symbol trivials (wrist to chest):
Journeyman: 115 - 139
Expert: 182 -222
Master: 248 - 304
Grandmaster: 316 - 386

[hk2001]

Froglok Sewing kit is small block Valorite, water flask, needle mold, thimble mold. in Guktan forge.. no hammer required.

Keep ya posted on the needle.. what you have listed here is a DNC as well.

Rickrahl -65 Froglok shaman, Zeb server

[Makola]

Are the symbols(augs), of a given tier/race, created by either smithing or tailoring the same? They carry the identical name (and possibly graphic). Can a tailored armor be infused with a smithed symbol or vice versa?

If not, there may be some confusion issues in buying/selling the appropriate symbol for the armor.

If so, a tradeskiller can choose to create a symbol via smithing or tailoring depending on material availablity.

Frankly, I'm banking on the later.

[Cerpicio]

<culture> Sewing Kit (10 slot capacity, holds giant sized items)
+ <cultural> metal (dependant upon race)
+ needle mold
+ thimble mold
+ <culture> hammer
in <culture> forge

<culture> Needle
+ <culture> Essence (brewing combine, racial dependant drop + water, trivial 186)
+ embroidering needle
+ flask of water

I don't think these are correct. I don't think you need the cultural hammer to make the sewing kit just:
<culture> metal
needle mold
thimble mold
water flask

And I don't think you need a water flask for the needle, just the Essense and the embroidering needle, in a forge.

Thanks for summing all of that up into one post, though!
-- C.

[Raedwolf]

This part here:

<level_of_mastery> <hide_name> Hide (4 types, one for each level of mastery)

is the part I have YET to see anyone post a successful combine of, for doing leatherwork. Has anyone yet succeeded?

[Yilda]

Here are some fixes to the racial ores. I believe all of them are found in 1 of the 5 new smithing books that are available in PoK from a dwarf vendor, but I dont have access to my books atm.

Human, Barbarian - HQ Ore (only these 2 races use it for cultural)
Troll - Iron
Iksar - Skyiron
Erudite - Titanium
Gnomes - Fortified Bronze


Mistress Yilda Bodacious
70 Gnome Warlordess

[Maevenniia]

Quested books and Bank space nightmare

Ok WHOA - wait a second.....

you HAVE to have the books (no drop, quested), and there is one book per level, 4 levels of mastery (Journeyman, Expert, Master and Grandmaster)

So thats
4 books for Tailoring (Silk)
4 books for Tailoring (Leather)
4 books for Smithing (Plate)

is there also Smithing (Chain) for another 4 books?


So, depending on your race, you will have a LOT of bank slots taken up by these books...because tradeskillers are packrats and almost never destroy anything....

While theoretically a Grandmaster doesn't need the Journeyman, Expert and Master books....that's not entirely accurate - We will keep the previous level books to make things for lowbie alts/friends/guildies, and also possibly to make the lower-levelled armors for sale in the bazaar (or, if not to keep in stock, to make on-demand.)

OUCH!

More bank space, pronto! (please? pwetty please with Marr Cherries on top?)

This rumor abbout the books wearing out....so you'd have to re-quest them, then?

[Yilda]

I think there is a lot of confusion on the books. From what I have seen and worked with, this is what I have seen:

Quest Book - This is the one that is used to make the molds for smithing and the patterns for tailoring. Each time the book is used it is aged and will eventually need to be replaced (basically charges). It also appears that these molds and patterns can be used to make any tier of the cultural armor.

Task Books - 1 per level (4 total) - These are used to create the "patterns" for the augments. Using this book did not seem to age it. These tasks are level based and you must be lvl 70 to get the highest level task.

So only 5 books needed for the armor sets.

Now, because I was having a hard time deciphering all the data here and elsewhere, I ran to PoK and bought the 5 new cultural smithing books off the dwarf there. They are just useful for figuring out the recipes. I have also heard there are 3 other books to explain the cultural tailoring recipes.

The smithing books explain the crafting of both the armor pieces and augments, whereas the tailoring books only discussed the process of creating the armor. I am not sure where the recipe for tailoring an augment came from, but I will post the smithing texts if they would be helpful for anyone, as well as hunt down the tailoring books.

[Brickhaus]

Hi,

Thanks for the attempt of summarization, but I think you might be confusing people about the new tradeskill cultural armor.

In a nut shell, there is a Tradeskill quest giver in each home city for a particular race. Hailing this person gives two lines of quests.

BASE ARMOR PATTERNS
The quest for the base armor is a simple quest, requiring 4 items (some can be no drop, some are common). The NPC will direct you to the right zones to get the drops. Once you get all 4 drops, turning them into the NPC will give you a book Ancestral <RACE> Armor.

This book is used in two combines...one for a backpack of molds for plate & chain armor and one for a backpack of patterns for silk & leather armor. THIS ONE BOOK CAN MAKE BOTH COMBINES. There is a warning that the book only has a limited number of uses before it wears out, but we don't know what that limit is yet.

The molds and patterns are no drop and race specific. You do use the same mold/pattern for either of the 4 levels of base armor (Journeyman, Expert, Master, Grandmaster).

There is no level requirement for this quest and you can get it at level 5 at least (lowest I have tested).

SYMBOL PATTERNS
The second line of quest are for the symbol patterns. There is a quest associated with each level of patterns. Each quest requires kills and loots from a specific zone. So far, they have taken the form of:

Journeyman Symbol Patterns:
Kill 20 of x
Loot 4 of x
Give NPC 4 of x
Kill 10 of y
Loot 1 of y
Give NPC 1 of y

Expert Symbol Patterns:
Kill 50 of x
Loot 20 of x
Give NPC 4 of x
Kill 5 of y
Loot 1 of y
Give NPC 1 of y

Master Symbol Patterns:
Kill 80 of x
Loot 40 of x
Give NPC 4 of x
Kill 5 of y
Loot 1 of y
Give NPC 1 of y

and I'm not level 70 so I haven't seen the Grandmaster quest yet, but others have posted the info for those.

NOTE: These quests require a certain level for each one...master is level 60, grandmaster is level 70...don't know about the others.

You do not get the second half of the quests until the first half is done, so you cannot do both parts at once. The code for the quests is very specific so you must kill exactly the mobs it looks for AND you must be the toon that loots to have your counters increment. A group of wood elves can't get together and short cut the process for example...you would get credit for the kills...but the loots, only the person looted does. So watch it.

Once you have completed the quests, you get A BOOK! The book tells you what level of symbol patterns you get when combining with it. Just like the base armor book, you need to combine the book with other things to get a backpack full of armor piece specific symbol patterns.

Here is the confusing part...the armor is race specific and can only be made by the race of the toon making it. The symbols are deity specific (nor none if agnostic) but CAN BE MADE BY ANY PLAYER REGARDLESS OF RACE OR RELIGION. The type of deity for the symbol depends upon the blessed water you use in the beginning. For example, I am a tunare woof elf druid. If I have the right water, I can make a master symbol for legs for tunare, karana, bristlebane, etc. using the same pattern, but different blessed water.

The symbols created can be placed in any version (Journeyman, Expert, Master, GM) of the armor type of any variety (Plate, Chain, Leather, Silk). Since the armor is race based and symbols are diety based, you can create combinations that have no game use so be careful.

Does this make more sense now?

Brickhaus

[Brickhaus]

Original Post Correction:
Cultural needles do not require water...just embroidery needle and the essence.

Brickhaus

[Maevenniia]

My brain hurts

[hk2001]

Original Post Correction:
Cultural needles do not require water...just embroidery needle and the essence.

Brickhaus

the needle and Gukta essense DNC in any forge that I have found.. any ideas?

[tairne]

III. The Sewing Kits and Needles


The sewing kits and needles needed to make the cultural silk and leather armor are similar to the ones that were in game prior to Dragons of Norrath, but not all races had these (ie. Half-elves).

Additional sewing kit and needle recipes have been put in game. All races need to make them for them to work with DoN Cultural Tailoring. In the future, no racial sewing kits will be vendor sold.

<culture> Sewing Kit (10 slot capacity, holds giant sized items)
+ <cultural> metal (dependant upon race)
+ needle mold
+ thimble mold
in <culture> forge

<culture> Needle
+ <culture> Essence (brewing combine, racial dependant drop + water, trivial 186)
+ embroidering needle

Appearently, Some of these combines use <culture> metal bits, while others use sm brick of <culture> metal -- confusing

more to come, I'm sure...

Tairne

[Xulan]

Ok WHOA - wait a second.....

you HAVE to have the books (no drop, quested), and there is one book per level, 4 levels of mastery (Journeyman, Expert, Master and Grandmaster)

So thats
4 books for Tailoring (Silk)
4 books for Tailoring (Leather)
4 books for Smithing (Plate)

is there also Smithing (Chain) for another 4 books?


So, depending on your race, you will have a LOT of bank slots taken up by these books...because tradeskillers are packrats and almost never destroy anything....

While theoretically a Grandmaster doesn't need the Journeyman, Expert and Master books....that's not entirely accurate - We will keep the previous level books to make things for lowbie alts/friends/guildies, and also possibly to make the lower-levelled armors for sale in the bazaar (or, if not to keep in stock, to make on-demand.)

OUCH!

More bank space, pronto! (please? pwetty please with Marr Cherries on top?)

This rumor abbout the books wearing out....so you'd have to re-quest them, then?

Actually there are just 5 total books you can have for your race, even if you do everything. Each book is used for all types:

Ancestral book is used to make both molds (the kiln combine) for smithing (plate & chain) AND used to make patterns (the book binding combine) for tailoring (leather & silk).

The other 4 books are only for the symbols, one for each level of mastery. Symbols, though diety restricted in their usage, are not armor specific (meaning silk, plate, etc), only mastery level specific. Anyone can make any diety and it is not a cultural combine. As a DE, I can make tunare symbols.

bah this has been sitting here unsent for a few hours now, bleh sorry =)

[waldora]

Yes,
BUT you get an ENTIRE backpack FULL of molds or patterns AND an ENTIRE backpack of symbols. (NO DROP)

So, there goes 2 bank container spots.