Need a bit of advice (Baking AND Brewing)

[Zyrtryx Conjureblade]

I've been doing Baking since I was around lvl 12, but I recently started doing Brewing. My Baking skill is stuck at 193 (I've done about 40 to 50 combines since hitting 193 with no skill-ups), but my Brewing is at 120 thanks to the fishing grub vendor in PoK and the Cyclops Skull I have in the bank. (I switched from doing Fetid Essence to doing Skull Ale at 116)

The thing is, I enjoy doing both tradeskills, but Brewing is far easier since it can be Grandmastered, or almost GMed, anyway, using store bought components.

Then again, advanced Brewing (and the GM trophy) requires a Corking Device, while advanced Baking doesn't require anything that expensive....

I want to take whichever one of the two skills will be more profitable * to 250, and just take the other to 200. (I may do the New Tanaan AA eventually, but there are other AAs I want more, so the New Tanaan is low priority)

Would I be better off toughing it out with Baking, or just going to someplace with the necessary supplies and taking Brewing to 201?

*By `profitable', I'm taking into account which skill makes items that sell out faster, as much as financial profit. I can only stay on as a trader for about 3 hours at a time, instead of staying on all day or all night like a lot of traders do.

[Delfontes]

Well... 3 hours at a time trading is very hit or miss. If you are there advertising the whole time you may be able to get some sales, otherwise you may just get unlucky and no one who needs what you have will be on.

That being said, I'd suggest brewing, as you can not forage and brewing is much easier on non-foraging classes.

I am biased however.

Baking you have a much larger variety of foods, but quite a few require a lot of sub combines, and the ability to forage.

[Quinner Sparrowhawk]

I haven't pushed my brewing to the point of making saleable goods yet but I've found that fish rolls and patty melts are slow but steady sellers. Both of those triv under 200 so it really boils down to with which one do you want to make money. Brewing might be the better of the 2 to GM since the saleable items require a higher skill. Baking 200+ appears to be a RPITA from all accounts on this board.

[Quesci]

Brewing can be done with storebought ingredients, true. But the end result of GM brewing is basically two saleable products. Qeynos Afternoon Tea and Kaladim Constitutionals.

QAT requires either forging tea leaves or buying them from players. If you buy them, you cut into your profit margin and with only a few hours to sell things, you need all the margin you can get.

KC requires no foraged items. You do have to spend some time in Kaladim collecting ground spawns (I do it on a second computer--it is really boring). They don't sell very fast, mainly because most people only drink them during raids and so they don't use many.

Many planar recipes require brewed tannins and tempers, but you won't be able to sell them in the bazaar unless you have a way to get the supplies. Most of them are done on a commission basis. There are so many brewers around that it isn't very hard for people to find one, and it really isn't a valid way to make money.

Brewing will get you your trophy faster than baking, and that is some nice stats and a free 100% weight reducing bag. By free, that doesn't include the cost of making the trophy. As the brewing trophy requires a corking device to attempt, it is the most expensive. Roughly 3k plus the cost of the corking device. And then you'll need to buy a second corking device to use in your brewing, as the trophy doesn't work as one.

Baking from 200-250 is a long slow process of farming ingredients. If you can do that without much trouble, baking has the potential for more sales and more interesting combinations. It also has a cheaper trophy. But nothing above 191 is store-bought and there is a LOT of farming to do. As a magician, you can farm things pretty fast, and you can get some good experience killing in Jaggedpine. But it will be much, much slower than brewing.

[ChaseFV]

But, but...

The thing is, though, while you can get your skill up more easily with brewing as a non-forager, most of the stat beverages (where the bulk of your profit as a GM brewer will come from) require forages. You also have a fairly limited menu of offerings : KC's, QAT's, GLM's, SRTJ's, FOJ, and Demi-Sec Champagne. There are also tempers, but unless you have scads of smiths on your server, your profit mileage may vary (though I understand Coldain Velium Temper is a hot seller on just about all servers). I would also argue that brewing is just as painful as baking when it comes to subcombines (at least for marketable items).

With Baking, unlike Brewing, you will be skilling up on marketable items, so you can begin realizing financial benefits a little sooner. You may have a more difficult time capping out, but you can be selling popular stat foods shortly after 200. You have a much wider menu of offerings to choose from, especially at/near 250, not all of which require forages (you're more likely to need a drop than a forage).

Whichever you decide to pursue first, you'll find that there are items with instant name recognition which will sell well and quickly (fish rolls, patty melts, Qeynos Afternoon Tea, Grobb Liquidised Meat), and items that are just as good or better that won't sell for weeks (Ohabah Truffles, Fizzy Odus Juice). As is inevitable with one of these "What should I do" posts, I will recommend that you do what you enjoy, and worry about profit later.

[Laliana Silverfangs]

Baking or brewing? Well, it's not an easy choice. I did baking first with my brewing following closely behind. It may have been a little slower, but having the choice to sell both sellable food and drink will bring you more "profit". I found both enjoyable. Baking may not be as bad as all the horror stories you hear. If you max you int, and equip a geerlock, you may, and I repeat *may* have a non-disheartening time of it. This goes the same for brewing. Although, it may not be recommended to take two skills up at the same time; it might be more "profitable". Then when you have one or the other hit 201, you can keep doing the other to help fund the skill you take to 250 for the trophy.

Hmmmmm... just noticed that your baking is already at 193. In this case, I would just keep going on baking. I did ohabah truffles to 202, then switch to halas meat pie to 226, and did misty thicket picnics to max. However, throughout all this time, I was also doing a stack here and a stack there of jaggedpine recipes. This is of course what I did. I also had the benefit of being a forager. You need to find your comfort zone and go for it. With determination, you will hit your goal.

[Hibashira]

I want to take whichever one of the two skills will be more profitable * to 250

There is no real profit in either. Nothing you made will ever make you rich. You might make enough to buy some peridots here and there but nothing more.

[Delfontes]

. Nothing you made will ever make you rich. You might make enough to buy some peridots here and there but nothing more.

I guess that really depends on your definition of rich.

Currently I have 20k in the bank, a modest sum, but it looks decent. I also have paid cash for 20k worth of stuff that I wear.

I'm no millionair, and maybe never will be, but I've sold 4000+ GLM at 5pp profit or so each, a few hundred Kali's at 15pp profit each and some QAT, only 100 or so of them because I am not a forager.

That is just brewing.

I've also sold a few hundred fish rolls/patty melts, and various other odd tradeskilled items, no 1 item worth more than 100pp.

If I need 5k, I know how to get it without risk or camping, in 1 days worth of combining, and a weeks worth of leaving myself up all night and while at work selling. Most of the time I am not even there, so I look at it as 4-5 hours of work, for 5k all but guaranteed cash.

How many camps offer that type of guarantee and the ability to watch t.v. talk to your wife while doing it?

[Lorthien]

There is no real profit in either. Nothing you made will ever make you rich. You might make enough to buy some peridots here and there but nothing more.

You need to search for your markets. There is indeed profit to be made here. My entire tradeskilling career was based off of one product, heady kiolas. I can almost guarantee an easy 2K a nigth just for spending an hour of combing and making 10 stacks (200p a stack). There are even times when I sell out just as I place them on my mule. You have to just know your market. There will always be a need for those people who are insane, as I am, who will do the tedious sub combines and sell and an increased profit to those who 1) have the money and 2) don't have the time. Pick your posion wisely.

[Hibashira]

I guess you two (Def and Lor) are right. I define profitability based on pp/time. So most of what I consider profitable is at the 1 or 2 or 10 or 30K profit per final combine. Baking and Brewing are definitely not that. I've always been a potter, tailor, and smith. Now that you two put it that way, I'll have to re-evaluate my angle.

[Lilosh]

I guess that really depends on your definition of rich.

Currently I have 20k in the bank, a modest sum, but it looks decent. I also have paid cash for 20k worth of stuff that I wear.

STOP THAT!!!!!

Everytime someone says "I got my horse from Baking!" or "Profits from brewing just let me buy an Obulous Death Shroud!" , then we get more and more people crammed into already cuthroat markets.

*grin*

Let people think that we are stupid, impoverished N00bs. Please. Then we won't have people selling hero parts for 100p, and I won't have people taking all the good baking drops off of vendors.

-Lilosh

[Delfontes]

hehe

I'm not the one bragging about having 140k in the bank, I don't think I'll see 6 digits this yead... and possibly not next.

I haven't been as busy as I was a month ago, letting the cut throats have the market for a while.

P.S. Got that Epic yet btw? We killed VS last night in KC, it was funny as heck, only had time for 2 nukes before he was dead, way way overkill there with 11 people. All we now need is Fae and our friendly druid has his epic .

[Lilosh]

hehe

I'm not the one bragging about having 140k in the bank, I don't think I'll see 6 digits this yead... and possibly not next.

I haven't been as busy as I was a month ago, letting the cut throats have the market for a while.

P.S. Got that Epic yet btw? We killed VS last night in KC, it was funny as heck, only had time for 2 nukes before he was dead, way way overkill there with 11 people. All we now need is Fae and our friendly druid has his epic .

Hey, I *NEVER* brag about my money. People just always ask how much I am up to.

And I took down one of my Epic MoBs last night. I just need VSR, Fay, and 3 other kills.


-Lilosh

[Tweedledea]

There's money in them there tempers.

People love you to sell Coldain tempers. They're a pita, but you can double your money and they sell like nothing else.

[Lilosh]

There's money in them there tempers.

People love you to sell Coldain tempers. They're a pita, but you can double your money and they sell like nothing else.

I always buy CVT that I see in the bazaar for 15-20p or less. Thats a huge profit for the makers.

The only thing they really cost is the 4 CE, right? The rest is all measured in gold pieces or silver.

-Lilosh