Understanding Crafting

Crafting in the Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is more then just a side-game. In many respects, it is one of the more important high level activities; the best items in-game come from crafters. Yet even before the high level game takes place, it is a viable alternative to fulfilling your characters needs. For instance, if your characters reaches level fifteen and is still equipped with [level] ten leggings, then you may want to upgrade. The NPC armour shop isn’t supplying what is needed nor are drops being kind; you will want to seek out a Metalsmith then: crafters of armour in Middle-earth. Yet there are many other uses of crafting, such as the primary source of food and drink. This guide will grant you an understanding of this complex system and ready any potential players into a crafting career.

What is crafting and why should I do it?

This is the most fundamental question that players have; for in some online games crafting has little use, while in others it has tremendous benefit. To address that point in particular, LOTRO has reached a middle ground: if players craft themselves, it is of benefit but far from mandatory; alternatively, if one does not craft – and simply seeks other crafters for their needs – that is a worthwhile endeavour as well. Yet this guide will encourage players to craft: it is a fun, stress free activity that can wield significant rewards later on; aside from the monetary benefits that naturally occur, if a Guardian takes up the Metalsmith profession, then he (or she) can update his (or her) armour as they progress through the game.

But what is crafting, though? In lamens terms, it is combining several materials to make a single useful item; creations include armour, weapons, bows, food and more. Certainly these items are useful for any adventurer, regardless of their view on the dynamic itself.

Choosing a vocation

Before any player can craft an item they must choose a vocation.Vocations, put simply, are a combination of crafting professions. They are designed in this way: gathering, primary manufacturing and unsupported. The gathering is obvious: this profession gathers necessary materials for the manufacturing [profession]; and the second profession – primary manufacturing – is rather obvious: it creates items for use or sale. The latter, unsupported, is a little more vague: this profession is not supported by the primary gathering – so you cannot gather materials for it – but is related to the primary manufacturing profession; often it is used to expand the crafters repertoire, but must rely on another vocation to supply the necessary materials: part of the interdependency of crafting (but this will be explored in more depth later).


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Profession Level	Points Needed
Apprentice	200
Master Apprentice	400
Journeyman	280
Master Journeyman	560
Expert	360
Master Expert	720
Artisan	440
Master Artisan	880
Master	520
Grand Master	1040

In order to train a vocation (which has no cost) one must visit a Master of Apprentices NPC: they are available in every starting area (Little Delving, Thorin’s Halls, Combe and Celobin. In addition, they are also available in indoor crafting areas in the major cities of Eriador (Bree-town, Rivendell)

Crafting preparation: what is needed to begin a crafting career

Once a player has chosen a vocation, they must make a couple of purchases before they can consider acquiring the necessary materials, nevermind crafting. They are crafting tools, and can be bought from either novices or the local provisioner: all of which can be found in crafting shops or centres throughout the world. Below is a list of what each crafting profession (not vocation) needs to either acquire materials or craft items:

• Woodworker: Bronze Woodworking Tools
• Tailor: Bronze Tailors Tools
• Metalsmith: Bronze Smithing Hammer
• Weaponsmith: Bronze Smithing Hammer
• Scholar: Bronze Scholar’s Glass
• Jeweler: Bronze Jeweler’s Tools
• Cook: Bronze Cooking Supplies
• Farmer: Bronze Farming Tools
• Forester: Bronze Forester’s Axe
• Prospector: Bronze Mining Pick

Once you have purchased the requisite tool, right click the icon in your inventory and it will be equipped to your crafting slot. In order to perform any crafting exercise – be it gathering or manufacturing – the tool must be equipped.

Acquiring crafting materials

Once you have trained a crafting vocation, you will earn a resource tracking skill for your requisite gathering profession: prospector, forester or farmer. Drag that skill to one of your hotbars and click the skill once to activate it. You will then be able to track resource nodes throughout the world – the means for which you acquire your materials.




As illustrated by the screenshot above, when you are tracking resources and you come near a node, a blue arrow will appear on your mini-map: run in the direction of the [arrow]. Once you have reached the location you will see the resource node before you; assuming you have the requisite tool equipped, double click on the node and your character will begin to gather it. Once the process is completed, a window will open up with the material you have gathered; right click it to put the materials in your inventory and the node will disappear: you may only use it once.

Inter-dependency materials

There are some materials that a given vocation cannot gather on its own; for example, an Armourer cannot treat leather hides to produce the leather bindings required to craft bronze armour. The Armourer must enlist the services of a forester for the boiled leather required to make leather bindings. The easiest way to do this is to either contact someone who has the forester profession or roll an alt with it trained. If neither option suits you, simply head to the Auction Hall and search for the treated leather.

Recipes

Recipes are the formulas used to create particular items: armour, weapons, food etc. When a player first chooses their vocation, they are given a number of starting recipes to work with. As you become more proficient with crafting and gain mastery, you can master a tier; once you do so and complete the subsequent quest, more powerful recipes will be granted to you. In addition, there are two other ways to obtain recipes: they can be purchased from novices and experts, other players, or loot drops from opponents in Eriador. If you obtain a recipe in this manner – and you have the necessary requirements to learn it – just right-click the [recipe] in your inventory to learn it.

Crafting locales / stations

Once a player has acquired a vocation, obtained the necessary materials and has a recipe to work with, they need to locate a crafting station in order to begin the [crafting] process. These differ based on the profession – forges for metalsmith and ovens for cooks – and they are located all over Eriador. Below is a listing of where to find each station for your crafting needs.

• Forges: Combe, Bree, Celondim, Gondomon, Duilond, Trestlebridge, Michel Delving and Thorin’s Halls.
• Ovens: Combe, Gondomon, Duilond, Thorin’s Gates, Brockenborings, Overhill and Michel Delving.
• Study: Combe, Celondim, Gondomon, Duillond, Estilden, Trestlebridge, Brockenborings, Hobbiton, Michel Delving and Rivendell.
• Workbench: Combe, Staddle, Gondomon, Duillond, Trestlebridge, Bywater, Michel Delving, Esteldin and Hobbiton.
• Farmland: Michel Delving, Combe and north of Hobbiton

In addition, if you need to know which profession uses what station, please consult the list below:

• Forges: Metalsmith, Weaponsmith and Prospector.
• Workbench: Farmer (utilizes farmland as well), Forester, Tailor and Woodworker.
• Study: Jeweler and Scholar.
• Ovens: Cook.

The Crafting Process

To engage in the crafting process, first equip the appropriate crafting tool, then target the specified crafting station. Once you have done that, either hit the ‘F’ key or click the crafting icon on the bottom left hand side of the UI. A window will be open with your three crafting professions; let us use Armourer as an example.



As seen in the above screenshot, the three professions are Prospector, Metalsmith and Tailor. In the effort of this example, let’s assume we will be creating bronze armour and the recipe for it can be found below.



The four components necessary for the construction of the armor is thus: one bronze plate, one bronze mail links, two bronze ingots and 1 leather binding. The bronze ingot is the easiest to produce; simply switch to the prospector profession and select the bronze ingot recipe and click the ‘make’ button on the bottom right hand side. You will then have created your first bronze ingot! The recipe calls for two, however, so create another one. Do the same for the rest of the components before you move on to the armour itself; once it’s all prepared, simply click on the make button again (with the bronze armour selected) to craft it.

There are two other things that should be made mention of in the crafting process: critical success and previous age items. If you click on the mastery tab (shown below) a sub-window will open that displays a percentage – that is your chance of obtaining a critical success. In addition, if you look beside the percentage, the icon will normally tell you what the possibility is – in this case it is increased bronze ingots.



The other item mentioned is previous age items; these are rare items that, if obtained, will give considerable bonuses and boons to the crafting process. So be on the lookout for such items as you adventure around Eriador, and stayed tuned to an advanced crafting guide later that will detail that very dynamic!

Storing unused materials and creations

Through the course of your experience as a crafter and an adventurer, there will be plenty of unused items that one wishes to save; and you may not want to throw them away either. In this case players will want to utilize vault storage located in many towns and villages all over Eriador. It is advisable to utilize this resource so your packs don’t get overflown with important, yet not immediately usable crafting materials and creations. The towns that have storage vaults are Michel Delving, Thorin’s Halls, Celondim, Combe, Bree-town, Estilden and Rivendell.

Selling your creations

Once a player has successfully created an item – and it’s not immediately usable to oneself or friends – the best idea is to sell it and gain some much valuable coin. There are two ways of doing this: secure trade with other players or the Auction Hall. Most players utilize the former – especially in regards to armour and weapons – as they can get the most return for their efforts. Auction Halls are located in Bree-town, Michel Delving, Thorin’s Halls and Rivendell.

That is the conclusion of the Understanding Crafting guide! You should now have a thorough understanding of how crafting works to start your own trade. Best of luck with your labours in Middle-earth!