Templates

[Frango Mint]

Any smith or tailor can make the templates for you to use. You do not have to personally get your skill up. Even if you want to, the new cultural recipes will make it MUCH easier to do so.

No, only those looking to do a grind step and try and sell the results that match with the items I am trying to build. I dont know about you, but I am not about to harass my 300 smith or 300 tailor friends asking them for a couple hundred combines just because I don't have a matching skill of my own. As of the writing of this post, on The Nameless, there is a grand total of 1 vendor selling 1 specific type of template.

Maybe I am going daffy, but old school tinkering cultural that went out the window with this change required 1 specific drop (at 290-300, Yttrium), now, unless I am reading the receipies wrong, I have at least 2 specific drops to farm. I know these changes were needed to clean the trade skills up, I don't question the intention of the changes, but the LAST THING I would call tinkering cultural is EASIER then it was before.

The spread of the AAAA into multiple objects? I guess you are referring to the yet introduced changes to the way Chronal and Discordant augs no longer require an AAAA. These are not going in until the SoF expansion launches.

Yep, I realize this change is not in yet, just saying that with the market already hosed for AAAAs, this (as far as I can tell, again, one gnomes opinion) will not make the life of the "for profit" tinkerer any easier. The old 1 AAAA system, while not good for those needing them for the Chronal and Discordant augs, was far easier to produce for. In it's own, this is not a large complaint, but as a vendor, I would much rather have 1 universal item to sell to try to manage my supply to the demand for then, what 4 of them? More items to try and make sure I always have a competitive yet not too low price on... More complicated.

[Bobaten]

Tinkering cultural is certainly not easier than before, but smithing and tailoring skill ups are MUCH easier. Especially if you are working in conjuction with tinkering skill ups. Between sunshard (high trivial tinkering subcombines for a final smithing/tailoring combine) and cultural (high trivial smithing or tailoring sub for a final tinkering combine) you can essentially skill up either (but not both) smithing or tailoring for free while skilling up tinkering.
And one final point to consider about the revamped cultural.
Is skilling up tinkering easier now than it was a month ago? Certainly not.
Is skilling up tinkering easier now than it was 8 months ago? Most definitely.
You really have to consider the total revamp to include both new cultural AND sunshard. Sure we had 7.5 months to benefit from both sunshard and old cultural, but only because coding issues caused the cultural revamp to go live 6 months after it was initially announced (as 90% complete).

[Ngreth Thergn]

And for a long time... Smithing has been an important skill to have with tinkering. Almost since the beginning.

[Frango Mint]

Although I eyed Sunshard as a way to skill up in tinkering, I never utilized that path. I was using, and had planned on using, the most recent cultural as my road to 300 (298 as of now). (But now, I expect I will suck up a weekend, build 20 AAAAs, and hope to get 2 skill ups. Then, evolving my trophy will be all I have left for tinkering, and then I will have to look back at the new cultural if I want the 15% modifier.)

I was able to accomplish that with my 216 (219 as of yesterday with some indium ore) smithing skill. Now, I don't know if it's feasable to tinker at 300 with such a low smithing skill. It seems to me like the reliance on smithing, while it already existed, has grown. Could I be wrong? Maybe so - I for one am still having a heck of a time finding the information needed to know what I really need for skill ups.

[Gaell Stormracer]

If you DON'T have someone to feed you pre-made silk, chain or plate templates, IMO the only viable route to 300 is using the Cultural Symbols - these use 1 ore drop and 1 loam per combine and SHOULD have a skill-up chance bonus of 5% on the Sacred symbols and 10% on the Eminent symbols.

[Kemie Dreamshadow]

Whether you are happy with the new cultural changes with regard to tinkering is entirely related to your personal circumstances.

Before the changes, my little gnome was at 298 tinkering, 2 tailoring, and 100 something or other smithing. I really couldn't make high end cultural with her without a lot of work, and since it's my main (a wood elf) who is my tradeskill genius, I really didn't have the time to work up her smithing yet since the biggest demand for her skill was 4A's, and between the two characters they could manage.

Now, though, the tinker doesn't HAVE to smith or tailor or find another gnome who can make cultural bars or swatches. It's a huge boon for her.

Kemie

[Ngreth Thergn]

I still readily admit this made things harder on the tinker, I have not denied this, and yes, perhaps increased reliance on smithing, but I still don't have an issue with that extra reliance. If you really think about tinkering, a lot of it should rely on "metalworking knowledge" which is smithing in this game.

plus, now many more people will be making the base items for "skillups' so you should be able to find reasonably priced (and some outrageously priced of course) base templates, especially once the path really sinks in for folks. Heck you will probably be able to vendor mine for templates.

[Gaell Stormracer]

Actually, either Smithing or Tailoring will do for the skill-up bit - and the metalofiber route is now at least plausible, whereas previously the yttrium smithing route was a no-brainer given the relative availabilty of that vs nightmare arachnid silks.

[Rawckett]

IMO the only viable route to 300 is using the Cultural Symbols - these use 1 ore drop and 1 loam per combine and SHOULD have a skill-up chance bonus of 5% on the Sacred symbols and 10% on the Eminent symbols.

Do you have to scribe a book to see the receipes as well? I don't remember seeing a book, but maybe because I was just looking for Tinkering/Tailoring/Smithing, and not symbols.

[Aldier]

It may be a scroll icon, but the symbol recipe "books" were sold by the smithing/tailoring/tinkering historians.

[Xislaben]

plus, now many more people will be making the base items for "skillups' so you should be able to find reasonably priced (and some outrageously priced of course) base templates, especially once the path really sinks in for folks. Heck you will probably be able to vendor mine for templates.

None if they're doing the symbols?

[Aldier]

Symbols require the Loam, Marrow, or Spinneret Fluid.

I have heard of more people just making templates for skilling up than making symbols based on the rarity/cost of the armor drops.

Correct though, if people just make symbols to get the skill up bonus, they will not be making any templates that tinkerers can purchase to use for tinkering.

[Xislaben]

Symbols require the Loam, Marrow, or Spinneret Fluid.

I have heard of more people just making templates for skilling up than making symbols based on the rarity/cost of the armor drops.

Correct though, if people just make symbols to get the skill up bonus, they will not be making any templates that tinkerers can purchase to use for tinkering.

Yeah that's true, rarity may well drive it. Maybe that's what the ogre meant when he said "especially once the path really sinks in for folks". Maybe the symbol drops are just much more rare than the template drops.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Maybe the symbol drops are just much more rare than the template drops.

Yes. The symbol drops are much more rare than the template drops.

[Elyssanda]

Am I correct in my observation that I now need a Smith, myself or other, to make the Templates needed for the Servolink and Autoactuated armors?

My Tinkering is 297 and the triv for this combine is 306, I am hoping that my meager smithing of 187 will be sufficient, should I actually need smithing to create the template in order to follow this skillup path. Anyone have info on this they care to share? Thanks!

Check your baz for templates. I know I'm using the silk templates to level my trophy, I bet there's a smith out there doing the same thing. I just stick my extra templates on my baz chickie at about cost for what it took to make them.