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chaolin wrote on 2011-04-10 02:50
First and foremost, I'm an alchemist so HP/stamina are pretty useful to me. Basically, I'm nearing the end of metal conversion (I consider it a lifeskill) and I'm wondering which lifeskill to tackle next. Ideally it'd be something with low AP costs and beneficial stat gains. Right now, I'm leaning towards weaving since I'm still trying to get a decent amount of dexterity for weapon balance (my only combat tool atm being windmill). Here's what I've done so far:
Refine - Mastered
Metallurgy - Mastered
Metal Conversion - Nearly mastery
Production Mastery - Rank 1
Weaving - Rank E
I hate handicraft because I have no means to buy the wood boards and blacksmith is out for the same reason: too costly. I know enchant isn't a lifeskill but I was thinking of maybe trying that out? I dunno. Input and suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks! :D
Not sure if this is relevant but I'm currently training life drain, water cannon, barrier spikes, party healing, chain cylinder, transmutation, and alchemy mastery. Party healing will be focused on the most though.
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truefire wrote on 2011-04-10 03:40
Not a life skill, but Fragmentation comes to mind. Since your basis for avoiding Handicraft is that your Weaving won't be up there for quite a while, Frag'll help you along with that and all future endeavors. Also, based on what you're currently training, it does have relevance. Alc Mastery and Transmute will make Frag even better.
Enchant... you're in for some major sanity loss. x_x
Of course, Herbalism might be a good venture until you start getting to white herbs. And you can never go wrong with Potion Making.
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chaolin wrote on 2011-04-10 05:33
Quote from truefire;403621:
Not a life skill, but Fragmentation comes to mind. Since your basis for avoiding Handicraft is that your Weaving won't be up there for quite a while, Frag'll help you along with that and all future endeavors. Also, based on what you're currently training, it does have relevance. Alc Mastery and Transmute will make Frag even better.
Enchant... you're in for some major sanity loss. x_x
Of course, Herbalism might be a good venture until you start getting to white herbs. And you can never go wrong with Potion Making.
Mmk, that sounds about right. I would like to couple fragmentation with another skill, ideally to save money in training it. I was thinking herbalism + potion making too since it provides a decent source of income and I do actually like exploring so that cave with the herbs comes to mind.
But yeah, fragmentation. It could actually go well with potion making/herbalism/golem summoning. That sounds promising AND relevant to what I'm trying to accomplish so thank you very much for the advice. :)
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chaolin wrote on 2011-05-03 16:26
Okay... Bumping this because I REALLY would like some input.
With the addition of the homestead, herbalism seems to be growing on me once again. I'm willing to invest in some herb pigs/clover gnus and I plan to spam farm herb patches. Weaving is pretty much out since the skill bores me to death and materials require a full time effort to obtain/gather.
Playing instrument also looks promising as well! I'd like to "cheat" and use music knowledge along with a single space scroll to train it. Dexterity is still valuable to me since I'm only 1/3 of the way to having the recommended 300 dexterity.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me some feedback. I'd love you forever if you did <3
Background:
Prospective alchemist (hybrid due to r1 widmill) raising water cannon and chain cylinder
Have r1 animal taming, refine, metallurgy, and metal conversion
Total level closing in on 400
Need to start a new life skill once I finish r1 production mastery
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truefire wrote on 2011-05-03 17:14
You could invest in Fishing. Seeing as you're an alchemist who values HP and seeing as how you can afk-fish in your homestead for training, training up Fishing to acquire more Mystic Pearls could only serve to benefit you if you do any serious dabbling in Life Drain. It doesn't provide much in the way of DEX, though, especially versus AP spent.
The problem with skipping Weaving is that it is the single-best Life Skill for DEX with the best DEX/AP ratio--in fact, it is leaps and bounds above any skill with a DEX/AP ratio, including Ranged Attack. Also, as tedious as it may seem, the only Life Skill easier than it with a decent DEX return is Refine. Everything else is harder or has a much worse AP/DEX ratio. Or both. You could always put off Handicraft until you have the appropriate ranks for the skills that provide the mats, which reminds me: r9 Blacksmithing shouldn't be too costly to reach, and becomes almost free once G14S3 comes out with the Edern PTJs in Bangor. If you can manage to get r5 Weaving and r9 Blacksmithing, Handicraft should become a lot easier for you. Playing Instrument (also made easier with homesteads) simply requires time and AP, but its DEX/AP ratio is pretty meh. First Aid requires much less time but some effort, with a similar DEX/AP ratio.
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chaolin wrote on 2011-05-03 18:00
Quote from truefire;433283:
You could invest in Fishing. Seeing as you're an alchemist who values HP and seeing as how you can afk-fish in your homestead for training, training up Fishing to acquire more Mystic Pearls could only serve to benefit you if you do any serious dabbling in Life Drain. It doesn't provide much in the way of DEX, though, especially versus AP spent.
The problem with skipping Weaving is that it is the single-best Life Skill for DEX with the best DEX/AP ratio--in fact, it is leaps and bounds above any skill with a DEX/AP ratio, including Ranged Attack. Also, as tedious as it may seem, the only Life Skill easier than it with a decent DEX return is Refine. Everything else is harder or has a much worse AP/DEX ratio. Or both. You could always put off Handicraft until you have the appropriate ranks for the skills that provide the mats, which reminds me: r9 Blacksmithing shouldn't be too costly to reach, and becomes almost free once G14S3 comes out with the Edern PTJs in Bangor. If you can manage to get r5 Weaving and r9 Blacksmithing, Handicraft should become a lot easier for you. Playing Instrument (also made easier with homesteads) simply requires time and AP, but its DEX/AP ratio is pretty meh. First Aid requires much less time but some effort, with a similar DEX/AP ratio.
I'm not really concerned with the AP/Dex ratio but rather that I find a lifeskill that I enjoy. Also, I honestly don't feel like I have the ability to raise enough funds to buy the materials for weaving nor do I enjoy running Math over and over again. I considered first aid for the HP although I dislike the fact there's there's no title to aim for. Granted, I am leaning heavily towards first aid versus herbalism solely based on the beneficial stat gains. Also, I've had a good experience with raising meditation via finding the books and I find the miniquesting fun :)
Fishing is more or less out because I don't want to fry my Macbook by leaving it on overnight. Once I save up enough money for a desktop though, I will pursue fishing pretty relentlessly.
MAYBE once I get some decent combat skills at rank 1 will I consider raising weaving but at the moment, it just seems inefficient. As for blacksmithing, I was definitely going to do your suggestion once S3 comes out (currently have rank D from my own ingots).
- First Aid
- Playing Instrument/Music Knowledge
- Potion Making
- Fishing
- Blacksmith
- Weaving
- Carpentry
Rest is also an option for the HP gains but I don't know anything about the skill. Based on what I know, it looks expensive but what would your input be? I was planning on raising it after first aid for the HP.
I will have to rank weaving eventually but I just feel like now is REALLY not a good time. I just finished my pre-game windmill-refine bs so I'm not looking forward to another undesired grindfest. I first need to establish myself by finding a way to 1) level and 2) earn money faster than 100k an hour... I do plan on ranking crash shot in the long long run so weaving will eventually be a hurdle to clear.
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truefire wrote on 2011-05-03 19:01
As an HP option, Rest is pretty much one of your best choices (Combat Mastery is a tough act to follow for any other HP-giving skill), but First Aid offers slightly less HP for considerably less AP. The problem with HP skills is that there are not as many as one would like, particularly if you aren't a giant. Rest also lacks a title due to the cap, but your only other choices for HP-awarding skills after CM and excluding the two life skills are Life Drain, Defense, and Sharp Mind (Windguard as well if you are a giant).
Herbalism, while there is a title, is a really long way away from you. Higher ranks demand a lot of white herb farming, and while you can get them from herb pets, that's an endeavor in and of itself that will take far longer than Weaving, I'd think, as the only place to really find white herbs is in Peaca. Frankly, I'd say it's going to be an even bigger pain than Weaving. While we're on that subject:
I know I keep bringing it up and you've expressed disdain for the skill, but hear me out. Math isn't really a necessity until r7 onward, and even then it's not much of one. The non-cheap leathers you need can easily be built up before you reach those ranks just by collecting them from the various Shadow Missions you do. As for cheap leathers, Walter's PTJ should tide you over. It even provides trace amounts of Common and Fine leathers when you reach the Intermediate Jobs, as well as Braids; Finest leathers can be obtained through the Advanced Jobs. Ranks F-8 can be done by patrolling the Tir Chonaill graveyard for cobwebs, which stack up pretty fast and make Weaving considerably easier. Also, considering that all production-based life skills are tedious, I'd say Weaving is a lot more enjoyable when you just focus on cobwebs and silk. :p It's the wool-related things that are facepalm-worthy, but if you devote yourself solely to cobwebs and silk you can avoid those even though it'll take somewhat longer. Personally, I just buckled down and saved my thin threads and did the wool work, which is only painful for ranks D, A and 9. D and A, if I recall, have also had their reqs altered in G14S2 making them even less reliant on wool.
I might change my tune when I reach Blacksmithing/Tailoring, but except for Refine, I have never bought my materials and simply dedicate Mondays to life skill work.
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chaolin wrote on 2011-05-03 19:19
Quote from truefire;433323:
As an HP option, Rest is pretty much one of your best choices (Combat Mastery is a tough act to follow for any other HP-giving skill), but First Aid offers slightly less HP for considerably less AP. The problem with HP skills is that there are not as many as one would like, particularly if you aren't a giant. Rest also lacks a title due to the cap, but your only other choices for HP-awarding skills after CM and excluding the two life skills are Life Drain, Defense, and Sharp Mind (Windguard as well if you are a giant).
Herbalism, while there is a title, is a really long way away from you. Higher ranks demand a lot of white herb farming, and while you can get them from herb pets, that's an endeavor in and of itself that will take far longer than Weaving, I'd think, as the only place to really find white herbs is in Peaca. Frankly, I'd say it's going to be an even bigger pain than Weaving. While we're on that subject:
I know I keep bringing it up and you've expressed disdain for the skill, but hear me out. Math isn't really a necessity until r7 onward, and even then it's not much of one. The non-cheap leathers you need can easily be built up before you reach those ranks just by collecting them from the various Shadow Missions you do. As for cheap leathers, Walter's PTJ should tide you over. It even provides trace amounts of Common and Fine leathers when you reach the Intermediate Jobs, as well as Braids; Finest leathers can be obtained through the Advanced Jobs. Ranks F-8 can be done by patrolling the Tir Chonaill graveyard for cobwebs, which stack up pretty fast and make Weaving considerably easier. Also, considering that all production-based life skills are tedious, I'd say Weaving is a lot more enjoyable when you just focus on cobwebs and silk. :p It's the wool-related things that are facepalm-worthy, but if you devote yourself solely to cobwebs and silk you can avoid those even though it'll take somewhat longer. Personally, I just buckled down and saved my thin threads and did the wool work, which is only painful for ranks D, A and 9. D and A, if I recall, have also had their reqs altered in G14S2 making them even less reliant on wool.
I might change my tune when I reach Blacksmithing/Tailoring, but except for Refine, I have never bought my materials and simply dedicate Mondays to life skill work.
Seriously!? Fine and finest leathers can be acquired from the part time jobs? Holy hell, I had no idea! Well, this changes things tremendously since my two deterrents were fallacies (you have to buy ALL your fine/finest leathers to even train the skill and that spamming math a billion and a half times is required to get anywhere in the skill).
My only concern is rank 8... That seems like a real monster. Like you said cheap leathers are well, easy to come by via shadow missions and Walter PTJs and I don't mind the cobweb farming (even without being able to make a spider farm). My final question then would be, is rank 1 achievable solely through the PTJ materials and cobwebs?
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truefire wrote on 2011-05-03 19:31
Quote from chaolin;433332:
Seriously!? Fine and finest leathers can be acquired from the part time jobs? Holy hell, I had no idea! Well, this changes things tremendously since my two deterrents were fallacies (you have to buy ALL your fine/finest leathers to even train the skill and that spamming math a billion and a half times is required to get anywhere in the skill).
My only concern is rank 8... That seems like a real monster. Like you said cheap leathers are well, easy to come by via shadow missions and Walter PTJs and I don't mind the cobweb farming (even without being able to make a spider farm). My final question then would be, is rank 1 achievable solely through the PTJ materials and cobwebs?
It will require careful manipulation of Walter's PTJ level (staying in intermediate until you're ready for advanced with finest leathers) for the common and fine leathers, but with the exception of r5, yes, every other rank can be approached with PTJs and cobwebs. Rank 5 requires only tough string, which is a wool material, but unlike with fabrics and silks, just think of it as a thick thread with a lower success rate. 5 wools are all you need per attempt, and there's no random quality associated with the them. After r5, you can get to r1 solely through cobwebs and PTJs.
r8's not as bad as people would make it seem, especially if you've been working on Fragmentation and saving up thin threads (the only reason I do any wool requirements is so that I can save my thin threads for r8). Since you only need 100 of the correct silks, you simply spam cobwebs for threads, turn them into silks, and then frag the silks you get for bonus threads. You can purchase finest silk gloves to accelerate the process. Personally, I'm just glad r8 isn't asking for 100 finest
fabrics. :p
Edit: A little more clarification on PTJs. The one downside to them is that Walter does not always offer the PTJ you require. For instance, Intermediate PTJs can offer Common
or Fine Leathers, but never both. You can occasionally bypass this by not accepting the job if it's not what you want and seeing what the other channels have to offer. Also, PTJ mats if you haven't worked with them before can only be used for PTJs, and as such cannot be fragmented. That being said, once you get the amount of successes you need for a specific material, there's nothing holding you back from spamming his PTJs to their next level.
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TropicalCat wrote on 2011-05-03 19:42
Production skills:
-Blacksmithing
-Tailoring
-Carpentry
-Weaving
-Refine
-Handiecraft
-Potion making
-Cooking
Life skills;
-First aid
-Fishing
-Rest
-Metallugry
-Herbalism
-Camp fire
-Taming wild animals
-Compusing
-Playing music
-Musical knowlage
-Enthralling performance
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chaolin wrote on 2011-05-03 19:46
Quote from truefire;433342:
It will require careful manipulation of Walter's PTJ level (staying in intermediate until you're ready for advanced with finest leathers) for the common and fine leathers, but with the exception of r5, yes, every other rank can be approached with PTJs and cobwebs. Rank 5 requires only tough string, which is a wool material, but unlike with fabrics and silks, just think of it as a thick thread with a lower success rate. 5 wools are all you need per attempt, and there's no random quality associated with the them. After r5, you can get to r1 solely through cobwebs and PTJs.
r8's not as bad as people would make it seem, especially if you've been working on Fragmentation and saving up thin threads (the only reason I do any wool requirements is so that I can save my thin threads for r8). Since you only need 100 of the correct silks, you simply spam cobwebs for threads, turn them into silks, and then frag the silks you get for bonus threads. You can purchase finest silk gloves to accelerate the process. Personally, I'm just glad r8 isn't asking for 100 finest fabrics. :p
Edit: A little more clarification on PTJs. The one downside to them is that Walter does not always offer the PTJ you require. For instance, Intermediate PTJs can offer Common or Fine Leathers, but never both. You can occasionally bypass this by not accepting the job if it's not what you want and seeing what the other channels have to offer. Also, PTJ mats if you haven't worked with them before can only be used for PTJs, and as such cannot be fragmented. That being said, once you get the amount of successes you need for a specific material, there's nothing holding you back from spamming his PTJs to their next level.
Wool reqs aren't bad since I have a friend that gets sheep stuck for the lols (really cool of them to do that) and I have two upgraded gathering knifes. So actually thick threads might be an easier option than silks for some ranks. My fragmentation is at rank C so that's somewhat helpful. Then again, I could just ask someone with a high rank to assist me :3
Quote from Tropacat;433359:
Production skills:
-Blacksmithing
-Tailoring
-Carpentry
-Weaving
-Refine
-Handicraft
-Potion making
-Cooking
Life skills;
-First aid
-Fishing
-Rest
-Metallurgy
-Herbalism
-Camp fire
-Taming wild animals
-Composing
-Playing music
-Musical knowledge
-Enthralling performance
Edit: They're all in the life tab so what's your point?