Which Craft?

[Kidzukai]

So with the drastic change in the market over the past year or so I'm halfway tempted to level a craft. I've been sitting here debating it for a few days now and am right on the line before deciding to do so.

A couple things to consider:
-I've never levelled a craft past 40 before so I don't really know much about it, like HQs and skilling up (especially levelling the last few painstaking levels).
-My only craft on this toon is 22 clothcraft.
-If I levelled anything, chances are I would be buying most of the mats from the AH because I'm lazy.
-My main jobs are WHM and NIN, but I don't really need any crafted items per se.

Now, assuming money is "no object", I'm curious as to which crafts you'd suggest and why. I asked around to a few friends, one of them said Leatherworking or Smithing, the other said Goldsmithing, and apparently all the other crafts "aren't worth doing". From what I was told, Smithing and LW would be the most profitable, but also the most troublesome to level, which is partially why she thought they were the most worthwhile in the end. She's a 100 Bonecrafter/100 Clothcrafter, so I'm assuming she's pretty much right in saying this. Also take into consideration that I'd have to level subs, but that's not really a huge deal.

Thanks for any feedback.

[Sanoske]

Imo, no craft is worth leveling up these days unless you're doing it so you can craft an item for yourself(i.e lvl up LC so you can make a Cerb Mantle +1 for your NIN). Along with the change in market, most profit has also dropped off the map.

I suppose it depends on your luck, server, height, and how many cats you owned at the age of 6, but it's still a huge risk. I started lvling LC and BC mules a few months ago, and just stopped... simply because in the end, they really aren't worth the trouble. I can't even sell what I make on CC.

[Kidzukai]

So only the real thing I'd be looking for is luxury items for myself then, I guess?

Like for WHM with CC, Aristocrat's, Blessed +1; NIN would be Cerb Mantle+1, Sniper's+1, etc? Meh, I didn't really think about it like that. :/

I guess I kind of neglected to mention that I have a good number of friends with high level crafts, I don't know if that really makes a difference.

[Skeetaru]

Thanks for any feedback.

Dont craft
go away

[Byrd]

If you're still trying to decide if you like it or not, level a cheap craft to 60 (I'm thinking Alchemy or Wood). Between 50 & 60, skillups become less common and it's a decent gauge for the frustration levels you're going to experience from 60 on. If you don't like getting a cheap, easy craft to 60, you'll hate levelling anything past 60 guaranteed. And I suggest Alchemy or Wood over Cooking as they are both decent subs for other crafts, if you decide you want something else. There are very few cross-synths involving Cooking.

[Amele]

crafting is not worth it for gil making purposes; really. until you can make luxury items that never sell and find a lucky buyer.

you can make gil doing it, but the overall effort:reward ratio is off the scale (in the bad direction) when you consider how much input it takes to get to even the first 'big money' synth in many crafts. (smithing's is 80. for instance)


if you're just looking for gil. farm materials to sell to those poor souls who are still crafting.

[Kidzukai]

Based on your feedback and a few more people I've talked to it seems like the general consensus is don't bother crafting.

That said, do you think it'd be best to wait until the expansion and see if anything changes then? Maybe I could level everything to 60 in the meantime... but I don't know if that would even be worthwhile. x_x

[Sanoske]

Having everything at 60 isn't a horrible idea. Will give you a better sense of things, plus if things get real bad, you could always make mats for other people.

[detlef]

if you're just looking for gil. farm materials to sell to those poor souls who are still crafting.

This is a surprisingly effective way to make money in today's economy.

[Mizunos]

Kidzukai, I was told the same thing a few months ago about how lame crafting is. My advice is to do your research on ffxiah.com and estimate how much it'd take you to level a craft, and the profits from getting to certain tiers. Despite being told I'd never make money in today's economy, I find crafting to be a very easy and steady form of income. It cost me about 750k to get Leathercraft from 0-95, and I've been able to make way more than that in return. Your craft will take patience, and earning 10k here, and 20k there is the reality for most profit synths. Look on ffxiah.com for synths that sell Fast or Very Fast, with a good marginal revenue, and you can make gil. Whether or not it's worth more to farm synth materials and sell them, or enjoy the game's crafting system, is up to you.

[Zarath]

if you're just looking for gil. farm materials to sell to those poor souls who are still crafting.

This is a surprisingly effective way to make money in today's economy.

Farming said craftable items and then selling HQ counterparts is even more effective, since NQ's now a days aren't just desynth sell offs anymore

[Ambir]

It's pretty pointless to say "money is no object" when it comes to crafting, particularly when you say you don't need the items.

In crafting, money is almost always both the end and the means, and it's almost always the major consideration (ie how much can I make, and how much is it going to cost).

If you really have no issues with money, then use your current methods to continue to make money, and don't bother with crafting.

[Kidzukai]

I was mainly just saying that if I was able to at minimum fund one craft to 100 and level subs, which would be the best choice. I guess it was kind of unclear, my bad. D:!

[vegetaa]

The only way you can profit from crafting, is by not being lazy.

[Amele]

if you're looking for the cheapest craft to 100; it's cooking hands down.

of course, money in -> money out; so if you're looking for the craft with the least number of big synths, it's smithing. (zing!)

cooking has alot of good stuff but it's small margin; it's also the easiest to flood.

[spooky]

Fishing is much cheaper to level than cooking. :P
It also has and always will be the only craft to be profit from 0-100.

[Amele]

Fishing is much cheaper to level than cooking.
It also has and always will be the only craft to be profit from 0-100.

that's because it's not a craft it's just a helm activity with a ranking system.I kid, I kid.

[Tomiko]

Dont craft
go away

qft

Or just level them all/most to 60 so you can make ninja tools.

[Zura]

A mid level Leatherworking skill is a good place to start. You can synth leathers at almost every rank and a lot of them are easy to farm. Plus, if you ever have a hankering to farm stuff that drops skins, you can turn non-stacking items into stacking ones that possibly sell quickly.

Almost every craft has consumables you can rely on. Many of them though face bleak profit ratios and a single break can mean going into the red. If you really don't give a damn about the gil, level something that you can make sign to roll around in.

[epigram]

I only craft items that enhance the amount of gil I make farming. I actually enjoy farming for some strange reason, and I enjoy crafting what I farm. Unfortuantely GS and the glut of new bsts since '04 have killed most of my profit though :/ And now I see GS beasts too...

Generally, level a craft to 60. If you can't make gil on it at that level just stop. To give you an idea, SH+1's with max tier net you about 20-40k per 12 synths lol. In fact, most high level synths are net loss regardless.