In every MMO I have played I have been a crafter. Starting with Ultima Online (smith, scribe, tailor, alchemist) to my current time in LOTRO (Cook, Metalsmith, Weaponsmith, Tailor, Woodworker). I have spent hours upon hours in every game crafting items and maxing out any craft I started. I like the idea of making items for myself and my friends, and occasionally I’ll even sell them.
However, what if you wanted to rely upon yourself with a limited number of characters? Well, LOTRO-Wiki has a suggested layout utilizing only four characters.
| Profession | Vocations |
| Historian | Scholar, Farmer, Weaponsmith |
| Tinker | Prospector, Jeweler, Cook |
| Armourer | Prospector, Metalsmith, Tailor |
| Woodsman | Forester, Woodworker, Farmer |
Image by Murdywd
The benefit of this setup is that you are instantly self-reliant as long as you keep your characters’ vocations at a similar level. The downside of this setup is that it will limit what crafting guilds your Historian, Tinker, and Armourer will be able to join; which in turn limits your access to some of the best crafting recipes within the game including re-forged second (and soon first) age Legendary Items. That being said, this approach will ensure that you are never without the components you need from other crafting vocations.
Personally, I think that minus the crafting guild limitations, this setup is pretty slick. But ultimately not being in those guilds would eat away at me slowly so I know if I ever delve into the two vocations I currently am not working on (Scholar, and Jeweler) they would have to be on characters that currently do not belong to a guild. Thankfully though, my wife already has Supreme Master crafting maxed out in both of those vocations and is Kindred with their related guilds. So I don’t have to worry about focusing on those any time soon, if at all.
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March 10, 2011 at 8:08 am
I have 4 characters and this is exactly how I have their Professions set up. The only one who is not Supreme Master is the Woodworker. He will be soon and the way they have the crafting guild limit to 1 per character is a bummer. I really did think I was slick until I had to choose between Weaponsmith’s Guild and Scholar’s Guild.
Tough choice since one of my character’s is a Minstrel and my wife’s main is a Loremaster. I chose Weaponsmith’s Guild and now I am going to have to go back and level up another Scholar to make those legendary items. Maybe they will eventually let you level up 2 guilds per character… No probably not
March 10, 2011 at 8:40 am
Yeah, I feel your pain. I was pretty disappointed when I discovered that my Metalsmith couldn’t be in the Tailoring guild. I would love it if they’d let you be in as many guilds as you wanted, but oh well.
March 10, 2011 at 8:29 am
This is exactly how I had my characters set up until the guilds came about and I decided to seperate out my crafting skills to be in all the guilds. I’m currently supreme master/ kindred everything. Makes me laugh everytime I say it because I remember from that old UO comic imanewbie where he ran into the guy that was “GM Everything”
March 10, 2011 at 9:44 am
This is great, but its the Guilds I look for then choose the craft, although its got to the point that both Adam and myself have an alt with SGM and Kindred in every guild, we are working on seconds…..
My advice to anyone who hasn’t started crafting and is unsure what to do, get exploring!You can use all your mats to level up a Tailor, Weaponsmith, Woodworker, Jeweller and Armourer should you need to, or If you want to get rich Auction the mats which go for a premium (especially silver and gold ore)and just buy the shinies that you want!
March 10, 2011 at 9:44 am
One crafting guild is more than enough.
Why would I need other players/kinmates for if I could basically make every item myself?
March 10, 2011 at 11:38 am
I used to think that to until a kinship I was in absolutely refused to make me anything. I started creating alts just so I could have armour, hunter items, etc. Now I’m in a kinship that makes sure everyone has everything they need. Having those extra alts (who are all SM/guild kindred in every profression) means I can now meet anyone’s need in the kin as well as know I can take care of my own needs too.
I have noticed that certain professions fit better with certain races depending on where the superior ovens/tables are. It takes a long time for an Elven cook to travel to M. Delving to use a Superior Oven. I wish they’d plop one of those in Esteldin. It would make life so much easier.
March 10, 2011 at 10:17 am
maybe i need professional help, but i have kindred supreme masters in all crafts…and even duplicates of some :p
i absolutely love to craft, but i do so more for kinmates than for myself.
being part of this game community since beta, i have seen the good and the bad, many changes…some i liked, some i didn’t…and hope to remain a crafter til the end of my days
March 10, 2011 at 11:14 am
be awesome.. play Rift.
March 10, 2011 at 11:28 am
I am already awesome.
I haven’t checked out the game yet, but I’ve heard good things. Maybe if there’s a trial I’ll check it out, but right now I can’t rationalize plunking down $60 for a game I “might” play in the future. That’s just my personal perspective.
However, you might want to check out RiftReporter if you’re into the game. Also Typefrag has a cool Rift give-a-way. They’re giving away a Doghouse Systems PC! http://typefrag.com/rift/
March 10, 2011 at 11:45 am
I played Rift. It is visually stunning, but it is NOT LOTRO. As a female player I’m not really thrilled with having my hunter’s armour widdled down to not much more than dental floss.
No housing – no places to RP because the whole game is non-stop fighting – and the story was pretty bleh. I never understood why my character was fighting in the first place. I quit it after a week.
March 10, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Ann and I are in the same boat.
Rift does sound interesting, but the price of admission to LOTRO was $0, and $100 is a lot of money to plunk down for something we may or may not enjoy.
I think we’ll stick with our Warden/Historian and Hunter/Tinker for now. =)
March 10, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Oh noes! I’m F2P… I already purchased a 3rd character slot by grinding TP, and about the unlock my currency cap and auction house slots… but it looks like I’m going to have to buy a 4th slot eventually
Nice info though, I’ve been rolling this around in the back of my head for a while…
March 10, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Just went back and re-read and saw the bit about Ultima… Valorite hammers were the bomb!
March 10, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Great post! I like the idea of self efficiency, even though I’m in a kin with a lot of helpful crafters.
February 26, 2012 at 4:47 pm
It may be self reliant, but it limits your crafting capabilities. Your character may be apart of only one crafting guild. If you do not care about having each of the crafting guilds covered by yourself to have access to the absolute best of everything craftable, then this guide is okay. Otherwise, you’ll need 1 character for each of the 7 crafting guilds: Cook, Jeweler, Metalworking, Scholar, Tailor, Weaponsmithing, and Woodworking.
It is totally up to your crafting style. However, if you are reading this guide, then you are most likely a person who loves crafting and strives to be the best you possibly can be at it. If that is the case, you’ll need 7 characters as stated above.