MCS vs. Shadowscream vs. Velium Gemmed?

[Cruento]

I know Smithing is supposed to be "looked at" soon, and especially with the new expansion coming out, something will probably happen.

so basically, there are two casually viable routes from 222 smithing to progress onward.

Shadowscream boots and cloaks, which, besides time spent farming Humming Orbs and Swirling Shadows, cost less than 2pp per attempt. (1p6g8s9c for boots, 1p2g6s9c for cloaks). the only things being store bought being boot/cloak molds and water flasks.

then we have the dreaded and infamous MCS.
15p2g9s1c celestial essence (9)
0p2g0s4c elven wine (3)
0p0g3s0c mistletoe (3)
0p4g5s0c jar of acid (3)
3p1g5s0c sheet metal (3)
54p5g9s6c emerald (4) (3 imbued)
131p2g4s9c ruby
104p9g9s9c sapphire
4p2g0s0c curved blade mold
0p5g2s5c pommel mold
0p5g2s5c hilt mold

assuming you imbue your own emeralds and and fail no combines on the subs, like celestial essences and the blessed molds and stuff, that's 315p2g1s9c right there.


am i right so far? less than 2pp per combine for shadowscream, and over 315 for MCS? I am at 233 modified skill right now (222+5%), and there are no froglok smiths capable of GM armor on Stromm.

I am capable of raising 1000pp in a few hours by clearing Crypt of Nadox (66 shadowknight), but that is only enough for 3 combines of MCS per day of play. I suppose in this instance, I should work on doing the Shadowscream armor quest and farm a crapload of combines to do?

Another question, then. I could do the journeyman smith test quest, but that qould require farming or buying acrylia, but more importantly, doing the raw nihilite quest thing, for GoD. I hadn't planned on doing the GoD quests... Would i be better off doing the journeyman smith test, and then making Pale Velium weapons, and then Velium Gemmed weapons to 262? Is the raw nihilite and shimmering aligned ore a common enough drop to make up for the swirling shadows/humming orbs required by shadowscream? I'm guessing no.

Also, does the journeyman smith award (8% mod) stack with geerlok to make a total of 13% mod?

[Lillanu]

I know Smithing is supposed to be "looked at" soon, and especially with the new expansion coming out, something will probably happen.

so basically, there are two casually viable routes from 222 smithing to progress onward.

Shadowscream boots and cloaks, which, besides time spent farming Humming Orbs and Swirling Shadows, cost less than 2pp per attempt. (1p6g8s9c for boots, 1p2g6s9c for cloaks). the only things being store bought being boot/cloak molds and water flasks.

then we have the dreaded and infamous MCS.
15p2g9s1c celestial essence (9)
0p2g0s4c elven wine (3)
0p0g3s0c mistletoe (3)
0p4g5s0c jar of acid (3)
3p1g5s0c sheet metal (3)
54p5g9s6c emerald (4) (3 imbued)
131p2g4s9c ruby
104p9g9s9c sapphire
4p2g0s0c curved blade mold
0p5g2s5c pommel mold
0p5g2s5c hilt mold

assuming you imbue your own emeralds and and fail no combines on the subs, like celestial essences and the blessed molds and stuff, that's 315p2g1s9c right there.


am i right so far? less than 2pp per combine for shadowscream, and over 315 for MCS? I am at 233 modified skill right now (222+5%), and there are no froglok smiths capable of GM armor on Stromm.

I am capable of raising 1000pp in a few hours by clearing Crypt of Nadox (66 shadowknight), but that is only enough for 3 combines of MCS per day of play. I suppose in this instance, I should work on doing the Shadowscream armor quest and farm a crapload of combines to do?

Another question, then. I could do the journeyman smith test quest, but that qould require farming or buying acrylia, but more importantly, doing the raw nihilite quest thing, for GoD. I hadn't planned on doing the GoD quests... Would i be better off doing the journeyman smith test, and then making Pale Velium weapons, and then Velium Gemmed weapons to 262? Is the raw nihilite and shimmering aligned ore a common enough drop to make up for the swirling shadows/humming orbs required by shadowscream? I'm guessing no.

Also, does the journeyman smith award (8% mod) stack with geerlok to make a total of 13% mod?

If you don't have tons of money to waste, Shadowscream is always a good option till 267. The good thing though, is that you don't need to get to 267, only to around 250, and then you need to get Smithing Master 3. 250+5%+Mastery 3 gives you max chances for GM Armor. To answer you last question, skill mods don't stack (atleast for Tradeskils, don't know about other skills). If you have the 8% PoR trophy, and the 5% Geerlok, you'll get 8%+ to smithing.

[tuis]

I can't tell you the fastest route for your skill...with your finances it seems doomed to be slow regardless. I would keep both routes open. You might get the GoD drops you need as you level/farm, you might also find them on vendors on in bazaar. Shadowscream stuff is a lot of No Trade hassle.

This I can tell you, though. Mods don't stack. The highest one wins.

[Cruento]

I guess i'll get BSM3/Salvage3, get to 267 with shadowscream as soon as possible, keep my geerlok, then try to make GM armor for all the froglok clerics/warriors/paladins/shadowknights on the server.

then, maybe i can afford doing MCS to 300, hahaha. thanks guys!

[Tiroon]

I am capable of raising 1000pp in a few hours by clearing Crypt of Nadox (66 shadowknight), but that is only enough for 3 combines of MCS per day of play. I suppose in this instance, I should work on doing the Shadowscream armor quest and farm a crapload of combines to do?

Your assumption that the cost of MCS is a complete write-off is, fortunately, wrong.

MCS sell reasonably well because of their tribute value, sometimes up to their component value.

Just to give you some base line: A couple of months ago i found 40 MCS on a trader in PoK and bought them for next to nothing. I priced them around 250p to get rid of them fast since i needed those 40 inventory slots back quickly. They sold within 2 hours in bazaar (I play on Stromm as well).

Another question, then. I could do the journeyman smith test quest, but that qould require farming or buying acrylia, but more importantly, doing the raw nihilite quest thing, for GoD. I hadn't planned on doing the GoD quests... Would i be better off doing the journeyman smith test, and then making Pale Velium weapons, and then Velium Gemmed weapons to 262? Is the raw nihilite and shimmering aligned ore a common enough drop to make up for the swirling shadows/humming orbs required by shadowscream? I'm guessing no.

You don't need do the quest to convert GoD drops. NPC's will give you 2 refined versions for one raw material. You'd need to convert many stacks yourself to start to get ahead in conversions overall.

That's where the good news end though. The shimmering version of the nihilite and aligned ore comes from keyed zones and if you had those you still might be better off to sell them in bazaar and use the money to do MCS to get skill-ups as fast as possible.

Still there are some recipes above 222 trivial that just require the normal version but then the question is do you have a chanter to do the velium enchanting.

[Zolina]

Take a look at your cultural armor, see if Master's armor is a viable alternate route for your race. I think gloves trivial around 268, sleeves at 290, legs/chest at 300+.

Shadowscream will be your best skillups-per-hour path. MCS and velium gemmed weapons can provide you with a modest cashflow on the side, but they cost so much per combine that you won't get many skillups with them until you have a lot of plat stashed away.

[Cruento]

well, i dont have any keys to any zones, but i do have a pocket enchanter for velium and emerald enchantments. he used to be my main... i know almost nothing about the GoD smithing quests, the only GoD zone i have ever set foot in is Crypt of Nadox and the zone to get there.

I was thinking about Master's armor to 290 or 300, but I don't know the frequency of the droprate of Great Reptile Teeth, or if i could get them solo.

[Twistagain]

well, i dont have any keys to any zones, but i do have a pocket enchanter for velium and emerald enchantments. he used to be my main... i know almost nothing about the GoD smithing quests, the only GoD zone i have ever set foot in is Crypt of Nadox and the zone to get there.

I was thinking about Master's armor to 290 or 300, but I don't know the frequency of the droprate of Great Reptile Teeth, or if i could get them solo.

Nadox is LoY, not GoD. GoD is Abysmal Sea, Barindu, etc. The quests aren't needed at all, and unless you are planning on doing LOTS and LOTS of these for fun (read: thousands), then you just need to hand in the raw items to the appropriate NPC in Abysmal and he/she will give you 2 refined back. If you DO do the quests, you start out refining 1 item...then, you'll sometimes get 2 back, then always 2, then sometimes 3, then (I think) always 3. But that is after many, many combines. So, if you aren't planning on supplying your server with weapons for quite a while...and are just interested in skilling up...just do the handins.

As far as the Great Reptile Teeth...I'd say forget them as a skillup route. Check the boards for horror stories.

[mewkus]

If you have the full bertox flag (grummus + carprin + bertox) you can do the first part of Aid Grimmel I. It trivials at either 227 or 228 and costs something like 5gp per attempt. The only drawback is you do a lot of running between the forge and the top of the library in PoK which is hard for a non gater.

[Qaladar Bragollach]

Its not so hard now that you don't take falling damage in PoK.

You can leap down the elevator shaft

[Lillanu]

Its not so hard now that you don't take falling damage in PoK.

You can leap down the elevator shaft

Ooh! Really? Thanks for the info!

[Cruento]

so... wailing and shrieking substances are no-drop.

humming orbs are droppable? so i can recruit a friend of mine who is trying to get his smithing skill up to make me a bunch of humming orbs (since he can kill much faster in that zone and farm more stuff)?

[mewkus]

Yes, that will work. The only problem is that the humming orbs do not stack.

[Tellis Stormchaser]

You're friend could make humming orbs but..

to make shadow scream you will still need to finish the Shal Vah smithing quest to get the hammer and anvil.

[Cruento]

yeah, that took me about an hour. that was easy.

i've managed to farm a fair bit of wailing and shrieking substances (not quite enough yet), and i have friends helping me farm them, along with getting me tons of swirling shadows.

as we speak, i am at work, and two of my good guildies are swarming hollowshade, getting the substances, and together they're going to raise their smithing skill making me humming orbs (i have about 160 free slots in my bank, to hold them, haha)