It’s been bugging me for awhile that my Woodworker, Eraindiel, never mastered apprentice woodworking. She just leveled out of the area too soon, and needed to get making journeyman and now expert weapons — without mastery, so not as good as they could be, but good enough.
Last night, Windfola was acting up and moving around was difficult, so largely we stayed in the Bree crafting hall. I felt that would be the perfect opportunity to finish off master apprentice woodworking so that at least the journeyman-level weapons I was making for kinsfolk would count.
But what to make to gain the skill the fastest with the least use of resources? The opportunity cost of gathering resources is immense, way more than the cost of crafting an item, so I didn’t mind making more things if they took fewer resources.
I scoured the web looking for a good crafting guide that would answer this question, and also cover the topic for all my other crafters as well, and also take advantage of synergies between specialties, for instance in the case of a Weaponsmith, looking for opportunities to level Prospecting and Woodworking as well as Weaponcrafting if points in all three were needed.
I couldn’t find such a program. Now the smart thing to do would have just been to pick a recipe and grind it until done. And I would have been done last night before bed.
But instead, I wrote a program. Here’s the output. The following four recipes are the most efficient way to level apprentice woodworking, when you don’t need points in prospecting or weaponcrafting (but do have a forester handy to gather and treat the wood, as I do).
goal is 90 points in woodworking
Rowan Staff
9 Rough Leather Wrapping
18 Rowan Wood
9 Wax
Rowan Great Club
9 Rough Leather Wrapping
18 Rowan Wood
9 Wax
Rowan Bow
9 Spool of Rough Thread
18 Rowan Wood
9 Wax
Rowan Club
9 Rough Leather Wrapping
18 Rowan Wood
9 Wax
I actually needed 140 points in apprentice woodworking, but I ran out of wood last night.
Next job: Typing in the Expert Tailoring recipes so I can find the quickest path to Artisan. Or maybe get my Metalsmith, Dera, up to Artisan because Eraindiel will need a new suit soon…
But she already looks pretty cool! Using junk armor to stamp appearance slots, plus some cosmetic items and recipes, makes her look like one bad elf.
LOVE the outfits (especially of the hobbit), and the breastplate looks great!
I had fun even though we stuck close to Bree and didn’t do a whole lot of experiencing. Need some wood at all by the way? I’m an explorer only leveling my tailoring, been trying to save up for a house (impossible task) but I can start sending some your way too!
Someone pointed out in the comments to another post that the best way to earn money is to mine ore and sell it on the AH. Crafting like you and I are doing is just another way to stay poor 🙁
That said, any ash or yew wood you come across and don’t need would be very appreciated!
Ah you’re on Windfalla? Too bad… I never roll on servers that people I know are on. If I wasn’t already entrenched, I’d come on over.
All I’m doing on my LM is mining ore to sell… I hate being poor in these games.
Another thing to look at is resale value… assuming you’re just selling items back to the vendor, there’s a huge variance in what items made from the same materials are worth. So if you’re short on cash be sure to keep an eye on that. (I’m sure you know this, Tipa, I’m just making the comment for your other readers in case they’re new to LOTRO crafting.)
@Syp Yeah, I’ll likely be forced to do that to get a horse.
@Pete Actually, I never considered that! Thanks!
I appreciate that the two handed weapons sell for twice as much, even though they use the same amount of materials. I felt so smug when I discovered that.