Woot! Or maybe not.

I just bought 100 chunks of condensed shadow in bazaar for 3pp each.

So I spent 300pp... just because I wanted another three digit skill. Smithing is just for Tailoring for me.

If all goes well this should bring me from 91-116 in 100 easy combines.

I haven't done the combines because I bought them as I went to sleep last night.

So is 300pp for max 25 low level points worth it? Or did I just spend too much money?

Also as a wizard my strength is only 97, for skill-ups does that matter? Int 235?

Thanks for your responses

[Glatius2]

Given the time you save and the plat you would spend otherwise, I'd say you got a deal. And for smithing it is the highest of INT, WIS, or STR that matters. So since your INT is the highest, it is the one that will count for skill ups.

Ahh, so strength only matters if you got it eh?

Thats very good to know.

Kinda sucks for the warriors out there, because I'm sure getting 235 str. would have cost more pennies than 235 int... and no matter how smart you are, you're not going to bend that steel by sheer force of will, hehe.

[ArrakeenNaedShoj]

Well it depends on your perspective really. There are a lot of cheap strength items in the game. And many of them would be ones the Warrior would be wearing while adventuring as well. And there are ways to boost your strength like potions and spells and what-not on top of that to raise it even further. And if you still aren't breaking 255 you can drink some cheap wine to raise it even further.

Even as a Highelf cleric, I could easily get my strength up to there pretty easily. And if I really tried I could probably have both STR and WIS up there, not that it would do me any good.

[Uglokk]

Easy way to raise

Condensed arrowheads are a perfect and cheap way to raise smithing, mine went from 75 to 116 with only about 60 combines.. i already had about 20 chunks on me of shadow, fire, & ice. I was able to buy the rest fro the bazaar on CT server @1plat each. Almost every attempt resulted in a skill up and less then 5% failure rate for me. The trick was having Harness of Spirit, KEI, and other buffs, that pushed my Str to 255 and Int to 180. I am saving the arrowheads for when my fletching gets closer to 200 before I attempt to make arrows out of them.. Another fellow was selling his condensed arrowheads in the bazaar for 5plat each..

I am currently making Ornate Chain and will continue til about 150'ish. I farm HQ ore and finesteel weapons in Sol A. I then convert the FS back to HQ ore. Another way to improve the bottom line is to do the HQ ore restock quests, Large bricks of unrefined ore is a common drop there and you can prefrom the quest at any time. Just Hail the npc and u will be given the quest, he will hand you a lore nodrp container fill it with the unrefinned ore and collect 44plat and faction. I am currently making silver and electrum and selling back to the vendors at a profit (120 CHA makes a huge difference).

Not a bad racket for a dumb 'ol troll..

Guess my perspective is a bit different then....

Getting myself to 235 int. has taken 8 months of playing this game. Actually the guild gave me a Bracelett of Comprehension recently jumping it 12 points to get it to 235.

So a cleric getting to 255 strength just boggles the mind.

Though come to think of it, my Monk has a 155 strength, and a HOS gets him well over 200, if I tried for skilling I guess it isn't that hard, I just wasn't taking buffs into account.

I officially no longer feel sorry for you guys

Though I can solo things with a 42 wizard that eat my 52 monk for breakfast.

[Cavel]

For your Wiz before you start skilling try going to PoK or Nexus and looking for KEI... This will buy you some additional INT for what ever the caster is asking for donations. As a High elven Paladin I always look for Girdle of Karana, PE or HoS before I start smithing. I also will make some of the Str enhancing foods (Frost and Storm giant Steaks). This will normally max out my Str (255 as I am below 60).

For You if KEI does not get you to 255 then look on the baking page for the Int enhancing foods. You can get baking to 135 easy on Fishrolls (Also a good food to have, lasts a long time).

Last point, The high stat is only good for skill ups. So do things that are "within the range" if you want to succeed. Success is determined only by your skill level, everyone has between a 1 and 10 percent chance of making ANY item the higher your skill the greater the chance of making that item (i.e. Blue Diamond Cultural).

Good Luck
Cavel
206 High Elven Smith
Knights Of Twilight
Tunare

Thanks for the advice guys.

Just FYI, with int of 235 it took 53 condensed shadow blocks to go from 91-116, I made the 54th to ensure trivial.

Thats 1 for 2 almost, amazingly good.

Sold the arrowheads, and the rest of the condensed shadow back for approx 450.

Since this was the second time I did that, I went from approx 50-116 in some very easy combines, and actually came out a few pp ahead in the game.

Call me a happy newly Master Blacksmith, though I have no immediate plans to improve the skill further.