Skilling-up 221 to 250

[Sefa]

Are there any *affordable* recipes for this that do not take weeks of farming to gain just one or two points?

Several hundred plat per combine is not "affordable" for me.

[Aleksandros]

Short answer - no

Almost any tradeskill after 200 will require either extensive farming, or disgusting amounts of platinum. The higher you go, the greater the likelihood that BOTH will be involved.

Yours in perpetual poverty,

[Clamford]

From skill 220-227 you can make Cleansed Breastplates:
http://www.eqtraders.com/items/show_...=8130&menustr=

from the Aid grimel quest:
http://www.eqtraders.com//articles/a...r=120055000000

EDIT: You must have Grummus, Carprin cycle, and Bertoxx flags to get the item from Aid Grimel.

Cost per attempt is under 10pp. In case you haven't already read about this one, there is one tricky part. The Filthy Breastplate you get from Aid Grimel to combine is Lore. And, Aid Grimel is in the top of the PoK library, so it's a long run to the forge.

I borrowed two mages to CoH me back and forth (don't forget to give them each stacks of pearls), and 80 combines later (335 wis, pre-skillup nerf patch), I was a 227 smith. The hardest part is dealing with a pair of giggling mages.

When was the last time you actually had fun working smithing?

[YurienStonebow]

From skill 220-227 you can make Cleansed Breastplates:
http://www.eqtraders.com/items/show_...=8130&menustr=

from the Aid grimel quest:
http://www.eqtraders.com//articles/a...r=120055000000

Cost per attempt is under 10pp. In case you haven't already read about this one, there is one tricky part. The Filthy Breastplate you get from Aid Grimel to combine is Lore. And, Aid Grimel is in the top of the PoK library, so it's a long run to the forge.

I borrowed two mages to CoH me back and forth (don't forget to give them each stacks of pearls), and 80 combines later (335 wis, pre-skillup nerf patch), I was a 227 smith. The hardest part is dealing with a pair of giggling mages.

When was the last time you actually had fun working smithing?

the problem now is getting flagged to do it. i've been looking for 2 months and can't get a group to do PoP flags for any zone :<

[Voltai Ausra]

Check Cultural

Check you cultural armor, DE armor for instance is a good way 250+ Without farming for very long

[Kibber]

Shadowscream

Do the Vah Shir Shadowsceam up to around 262.

It is the cheapest way to get there.

Drawback is that you need to loot two different no drop items, as well as swirling shadows (which can be bought to minimize farming) for each combine. But as these are farmable the rest in the combine is just stuff like molds, metal rings and flasks of water...

You also need to do the short prequest to get the hammer and anvil needed for these combines.

Getting a hang of the how the war works in Hollowshade Moor will take a bit of time. Just make the race that you need to farm win and then farm 10 stacks in the south camp before resetting and letting the other race win in order to farm them.

Though it does require extensive farming it won't take weeks. As a paladin I had run around and kill every Owlbear and Sonic wolf by melee (which is probably the slowest way of doing it at all...) Which, hmm, did take weeks

If you have any AE caster friends (willing to help) then it gets alot easier.

I think it took around 600 shadowscream combines from around 220 to 250 mixed in with a some other stuff.

But as other people have answered: There is no cheap AND easy way to skillup in smithing. At least we do have a cheap option which the tailors don't have as far as I know.

Kibber

[Benin]

Quote:"Check you cultural armor, DE armor for instance is a good way 250+ Without farming for very long"

Really? Where is the best place to farm Midnight Stones? I have tried to farm them all over PoN and have not seen one drop. They are rarely for sale in the bazaar and when they are they go for about 1k each.

[Aavar]

Smithing takes one of two commodities either Time or Money and as you get to a higher level BOTH time and money.

[Ladieni]

I think they may have nerfed the drop rate of the Shadowscream drops. I spent 2 weeks straight AE farming and received maybe 6 of each item to make the humming orbs. Sux hard.

[Twistagain]

That drop rate sounds like you were AEing the NW and NE camps in Hollowshade, but not the southern islands. Is that correct?

In one clearing of the southern island, you would get over 6 easily of one of the substances (depending on which group controls islands at the time.) In 2 weeks, you would have backpacks full easily. I can farm there for a couple of hours and have 100 or so.

[Dvinn]

They didn't nerf it, you can only get the drops during the war events, and only from the owlbears or wolves that walk the islands in the south part of the zone, where the grimlings normally are.

[Twistagain]

Well, you *CAN* get them from the other bears/wolves in the zone...but they are VERY VERY VERY rare.

[Phantron]

You can make Expert smithing symbols, uses 1 Fire Opal and 1 Lambent Stone for all races.

[Clamford]

You can make Expert smithing symbols, uses 1 Fire Opal and 1 Lambent Stone for all races.

I got all excited, thinking I had overlooked this. But, expert symbols max out at 222 triv for the chest/legging symbol.

[Phantron]

Oops, I thought they trivialed a bit higher. But it's at least 1 point!