Which Cultural Smithing Makes Profits?

[Tejaye]

OK...I am willing to create a new character with a race/class/deity combo that will be able to do Cultural Smithing that makes the most profits.
I never did Smithing before.
Could anyone tell me what Race/Class/Deity combo I should create to be able to create Cultural Armor that will sell for the best profit in bazaar?
What will the name of the armor be as well.
Thanks

[Lilosh]

Whichever one DOESN'T have people selling it in the bazaar already.


Tradeskill rule #1 : Never start a tradeskill strictly for profit. You'll fail. This goes double for smithing and tailoring.

-Lilosh

[Jasmyn Spirittapper]

Hello,

Let me speak from personal experience on this "I am going to do smithing because I can make profits from it" idea.

I started the game late compared to others that were already playing for a couple years. I had similiar thoughts that you are having right now. I can take up smithing and make a ton of pp. Well, that isn't the case I fear, I have been working on smithing for about two years now, skill is only 227, I don't have the best gear in the game, and I am always broke because I am spending everything on cultural smithing. People in the game have been playing for years and they don't need another smith on my server, there is plenty of them around, however, I have had the chance to ask other smiths about there wares. They no longer make money from it. People are getting their armor from the planes (ornate) and from LDoN. Smithing is no longer as nice as it once was I fear, and to make profit? You would have to never fail on a combine.

I now do smithing because it is a personal goal to get to 250. After that, if I still play the game I will move on to tailoring, but, once again, it isn't to make profit, it is only to do another trade skill which I really prefer in the game.

Here is an example for you. The other morning I did smithing for just over three hours. I was making Mistletoe Cutting Sickles which are around 300pp per combine assuming you do all the work yourself. I did 78 combines (about 23400pp) with a 290 Wisdom. My skill went up by one point and I made 18 successes of the sickle. On The Rathe, there are a bunch of people trying to raise skill this way, so competition is large. The sickles have been selling for as low as 750pp (about 13500pp). Now if you look at that, that is just short of 10k thrown away, and if you consider that you could probably make 1kpp an hour soloing at my lvl assuming no names pop up, the three hours I spent smithing to raise one point in skill, I could have make 3kpp that morning. Instead I lost a ton of cash (about the equivalent of a minor ornate piece).

So, in conclusion, I assure you, as will anyone else in this age of the game, that you will most likely not make a profit on smithing.

However, I have been trying to get hold of a smith on my server that can make Crimson Darkscale armor that is willing to trade for barbarian cultural piece for piece, so, make a Ogre smith on The Rathe and get in touch with me when you are able to do that.

Sorry it sounds so bad about smithing, but, that is the reality of it.

Jasmyn Spirittapper
65 Barbarian Shaman
Order of the Black Rose

[Tejaye]

ouch

I am so used to skills goin up quick at low levels....i had no idea that you could go up 1 point in 78 combines.......geez those in the 1750 club must have put in tons of houurs and plat.
I am into Smithing for fun since Cultural Armor seems interesting, but I figured if I am gonna do it, I may try to make profit. But I see your point....I guess I will stick to Wood Elf Culturaing since my main is a Wood Elf Druid.

[Rijak]

one possible exception may be stromm or the other new server

i've made a profit selling de cultural stuff... bracers sell for 7.5k easy on stromm (many price them at 10-12k)... they cost about 800pp to make, or about 150-ish with some farming of BDs

my skill is only 214... so i'm about 1/4 to 1/5, with the occasional lucky run, but even then i can make a few k... not a fortune, but i've probably made enough to cover what it's taken me to get where i am (also 200-ish brewing and pottery)

if i wanted to dedicate my time to it... along with some shadowscream farming, i could probably do quite well

basically get to your 50s and farm everything, so at least you are not losing pp

[KletianTellah]

How to make money on a tradeskill:
1. Do it on a new server (or on an old server, corner an obscure market: I make 20-30k off a stack of Blessed Fishing Poles combines alone)
2. Sell "convience" items (leather padding, silk swatches, etc...) to powerskillers and items most people throw away (Words of Abrogation $$)
3. Be a GM before the next big shiny tradeskilled item comes out. (I made out decently on LDoN jewelry, but I GM'ed JC about a month before Luclin)
4. Do tradeskill combines from underutilized zones (Elemental, Cazic Thule, etc...)
5. Level a solo alt (assuming you're not a farming class) in areas where tradeskill items drop, not just where xp is best. (Ever get class envy? I do and 90% of my spiderling silk comes from the mound in FoB while I'm leveling "random twink of the month")
6. Cut down on overhead (I am an enchanter and have access to an account with a druid)

Moneymaking on tradeskills is possible, but it will never hold a candle to what certain class / gear / flag combos can farm. Most people seeking a profit off tradeskills come from one of two camps: The "oooo, free money by clicking" people and the "wow, soandso made all that money off tradeskills I can, too" people. The free money people fail to understand the logicstics of undertaking a major tradeskill, and Soandso happened to be one of the first GM fletchers who got elem access and sold loads of stonewood / obsidianwood bows. Most of time the people who profit from tradeskills are the ones who say "Hey, I got insert_time_consuming_skill to X to make myself something / for some quest / because I can. Is there any way I can make back the money I spent on it?" Tradeskill profiteering requires research, spend an hour each night searching your server's bazaar to find what's oversupplied and what's in demand. Get the skill as soon as possible you never know when a new popular recipe will surface (and GMing a tradeskill right before an expansion that may in fact create an easier skilling path is a risk you may have to take). Tradeskills leave no room for laziness if you're out for pp.

[Iannyen]

If you want to tradeskill for plat, do the subcombines.

Celestial essence - 100% proffit
Leather padding -free to farm, sells for about 20+ pp each.
Foraged dire wolf tufts - 30-50 pp each.
Silk Swatches 10-20 pp each
Farming Arctic Wyvren hides
Farming cobalt cod
Farming Gates Tradeskill drops (anything "raw")

the list goes on.

[Solarax_Manastorm]

on AB there is a shortage of rallos zek fierce heraldic armor atm because the only 3 people that make it are on another server since the new euro servers came up but on your server i would just take a look at what is auctionded for but not for sale in baz

[Daikoku Ashikaga]

Anything but Iksar.


Skyiron = Useless

Dai

[ZealSZ]

profitable armor

rz armor seems like the most demanded cultural out there, every day there are many warriors asking to buy some of it. none of my characters can make it, I have a quellious paladin and a rodcet nife enchanter, and I don't really want rz followers to have more hp anyway. the characters with enough skill to make the rz armor don't seem to care about pp enough to make the armor for selling so there usually isn't any up for sale in bazaar.

[Optimum1]

I do just fine

All this hooey about not doing tradeskill for profit is for people who dont have the time to invest imo. I made a human smith JUST for making Heraldic to sell and I did very very nicely. So a smidge of the profits went to make an Ogre smith who has done quite nicely. Im doing a Dwarven smith even though I know he wont make me so much cash and contemplating an Iksar as well. IMO Ogre is the most overlooked smith race. Between my two GM smiths and my ERU GM tailor i've easily easily made 2 or 3 million plat, net. Take it with a grain of salt when people say tradeskills are just a plat sink.
PS Im not uber-guilded nor have I ever smithed a piece of PoP armor for sale. Almost all my ingredients are bazaar-farmed, which sucks because I devour roughly a hundred blue diamonds a week...every week.

[Tingteng]

If you think an Ikkie cultural smith is going to make money on their cultural items you are highly misinformed. Take it from a Ikkie cultural smith....

[Optimum1]

No I am not pinning my hopes on any future Ikky smith lol. I know it will more than likely cost more than he'd ever make me but at this point I'm not hurting for capital so I'm mulling the idea. I'll most likely to my barb first. Mainly was just trying to note that there is money to be made if you're dedicated and devote a chunk of time to it.

[Tingteng]

Also the high level ikkie items are craptastic

Fearsome Skyiron Coat
MAGIC ITEM
Slot: CHEST
AC: 30
STR: +10 STA: +5 WIS: +5 HP: +40 MANA: +40
Recommended level of 45
WT: 3.0 Size: LARGE
Class: WAR SHD SHM
Race: IKS
Deity: Cazic Thule

Don't even look at the items that go into making this.


(unless you need a good chuckle)

Fearsome coat

[Dumpty]

to be broadly generic, cultural smithed armor is reaching junk status. post PoP/LDoN there is a plethora of superior armor items stocked in bazaar typically selling less than it would cost for you to buy the parts to make your own stuff. I am a troll and GM all trades, my cultural isnt in armor but it would be absolutely foolish to try and sell my crummy 12/22 weapons (one of the best items) when you get get similar for several hundred pp and mine cost several bd's and acrylia to make. just an example.