This was posted in the SWG beta forums, so some of the information may be dated.
Rorr�s Guide to Crafting v0.2
Rorrlancca
Proprietor, �Rorr�s Ore and More�
So you want to be an artisan, eh? Well, let�s be honest with ourselves, you probably don�t want to be an -Artisan- per se, you probably want to be a Droid Engineer, Architect, Weaponsmith, etc. The fact is, almost nothing you can make as an artisan (with the possible exception of some clothing and harvesters) is valuable to other players. The Devs have dictated, however, that everyone must �pay their dues�, so you must work your way through the ranks to get to where you can make things that people might actually want to use. If you enjoy making the general items in the Artisan trees, more power to you � some of them, like fireworks, are quite fun! They will also contribute (slowly) to your advancement as an Artisan, so the time spent is certainly not wasted. This guide, however, assumes you are not terribly interested in the Artisan profession itself, but instead want to get to the advanced professions as quickly as possible so that you can start playing the character you -really- want to play.
The Overall Secret to Crafting
The first and most important thing you must always keep in mind is that crafting is about resources. Everything hinges on your ability to obtain resources by some means (and we will discuss a number of different artisan �archetypes� based on different resource strategies). Here are some important truths:
* You will get approximately 2 General Crafting XP (GCXP) for each resource used in the schematic, regardless of what that resource is.
* You will always be able to craft faster than you can gather resources, no matter what strategy you employ (particularly if you use the �double-barrel technique� described below).
* The most efficient schematics to create will be those that use the most resources, but the least number of different -types- of resources.
We will explore the ramifications of these truths in the sections to follow.
Character Creation
The type of character you create depends on the �archetype� of artisan you want to be. Consider the following archetypes:
*THE MINER: This artisan wants to go out in the wild and gather her resources on her own. Here is the key fact to consider: IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE THE CITIES AND NEARBY SURROUNDINGS, YOU MUST HAVE COMBAT SKILLS! In spite of what people think, the game is not unbalanced against crafters. SWG is not intended to be a �class-based� game, even though many people insist on playing it as such. If you want to go out in the wild, you MUST raise your health (using Stat Migration at character creation) at least equal to your action. A health of 1000 is fairly reasonable. Keep in mind that you can (and should) buff this with food and medicines, so it is not necessary that your base health be1000 � you should just be able to buff it to this level. You must also, as you first priority � before you even start crafting in earnest � reach specialist (fourth tier) level in at least one weapon, preferably a ranged weapon. If you have a ranged weapon at IV and have 1000 health, you will be able to defend yourself in most situations out in the wild. You will NOT be an uber combat specialist, but that�s not your primary goal � the goal is to be able to stay alive long enough to get out of trouble (either by running or killing single creatures that might jump you in the wild). Your primary objective (after you get your combat skill) is to get to Engineering III so you can make a harvester. You MUST have access to a large supply of resources in order to be a crafter in SWG. Remember, resources directly equal XP and, later, profits. If you do not wish to buy resources from someone else, getting to the level where you can make a harvester is your top priority (after getting your combat skill), regardless of the advanced profession you are interested in pursuing.
* THE SURVEYOR: This is a variant of the above archetype. This person enjoys the hunt for the sweetest mining spot, but isn�t really interested in the mining itself. This person would be strongly advised to earn enough credits to purchase a harvester made by someone else. This will supply you with the large number of resources you will need, and you will not have to spend any time at all mining. This character also needs to have a ranged weapon combat skill at fourth tier (remember, if you leave the city, you MUST have a combat skill), or be willing to hire a combat party to clear the creatures that inevitably gather around your harvester. The character should also have at least 1000 Health, as above.
* THE CITY CRAFTER: This artisan has no desire to fight, whatsoever. Instead, he is perfectly happy to sit in a cantina and craft his goods for sale. In spite of what you may have heard, this is a perfectly viable strategy in SWG. The key is that the artisan must purchase all his resources from other players (or from your local �Rorr�s Ore & More�, of course). The advantage to this archetype is that the character can be a �pure� crafter. Health can be lowered to a minimum in favor of action and mind. The artisan does not need a combat skill and so can start working on advancing as a crafter much faster than the other two archetypes. The disadvantage to this archetype is that he will have to run many, many delivery missions (using the shuttles to avoid the wilderness) to pay for those resources. Also, the artisan will not get to experience the deep wilderness areas of SWG. That is not really a disadvantage if you are not an explorer, however � and a wealthy artisan can always hire a combat party to guide him on a tour of anything he might want to see!
You should choose the style that you enjoy playing. All three will take quite a bit of time, so make sure it�s something you enjoy � the differences between the archetypes are not sufficient to be worth the extra grind playing an archetype you don�t enjoy. It�s true that the City Crafter will (theoretically) advance in crafting faster than the other types, but he pays a price in his inability to protect himself sufficiently to go out in the world. Many players will not see that as a problem, however.
To Master or Not to Master
You must also decide if you want to master the Artisan profession, or just go straight for your advanced profession. The cold truth is that Master Artisan is just a title. It does very little else for you. This is by design, the Devs have been very clear about this. Any of the archetypes above can become a Master Artisan, but they will do it in different ways. The difference centers around how the artisan advances through the Surveying tree. The Miner and the Surveyor will advance naturally in the course of their duties � Surveying skill (which really should be called the Mining skill, since you do not get XP for surveying itself) is balanced just about perfectly, so they really won�t have to pay much attention to it, though the Surveyor will have to pay more attention that the Miner. The City Crafter, who has not been doing his own mining, will have to spend some time grinding the Survey XP at some point. While this can be done (very slowly!) in the cities, it will go FAR faster if you hire a combat party to guard you will you mine a particularly rich spot.
In general, you find it to your advantage NOT to attempt to Master Artisan until you are well established (and profitable) in your chosen advanced profession. Concentrate on your chosen branch (Engineering, Domestic Arts, or Business) as soon as you can and pick up the other skills as a hobby later You�ll find that adding these skills later is FAR easier once you have a steady income coming in.
The Technique
Now we will discuss the basic technique for getting to the advanced professions as quickly as possible. We will discuss from the Miner archetype�s point of view, but the adaptations to the other two archetypes will be obvious.
1. Create an artisan character with at least as much health as action and buffable to at least 1000 health.
2. Visit an NPC trainer and acquire Novice Marksman.
3. Purchase a player-made CDEF weapon of your choice (pistol, carbine, or rifle) � �Rorr�s Ore & More� keeps a ready supply of these to sell at cost to help the beginning artisan.
4. Begin hunting and working towards fourth tier in your chosen weapon. Run combat missions to get XP and credits. You might consider taking scout so you can harvest organics, which along with 3 cereal, can be used to make Travel Biscuits that give 20 GCXP each (plus 5 more if your friend eats them). This is optional, but generally worthwhile � you can always sell back the Novice Scout skill later. Craft and survey as you like, but this is primarily for entertainment, not advancement at this stage.
5. Boot up your Mineral Survey Device and survey for all the �metal� types of resources you find listed. Find the metal with the highest concentration in the spot where you are standing. The device will set a temporary waypoint to the highest concentration of that resource in your range.
6. Hit the ALT key to switch to mouse mode (the survey screen will be hidden) and run to the waypoint (if you are good at estimating gradients from the survey device�s output, run a bit beyond the waypoint to save time surveying).
7. Hit the ALT key and your survey screen will re-appear. Survey again. Repeat these steps until you have reached the highest concentration in the local area of the chosen resource. If the concentration is not at least 70% try a different area (such as another town).
8. Open your datapad and add a new waypoint. Use the �Set Name� option on the radial menu for that waypoint to set the name to �XX% �. Trust me, you will thank me later when you have a dozen different survey waypoints. Note that your �Resource Survey� waypoint will vanish the next time you use the survey device, so you MUST create a new waypoint.
9. Once you have found your mining point, wait until you don�t feel playing SWG to do this next step. Click �Gather Resources�. You will start to gather the chosen metal. If you are in a reasonably safe area, walk away from the computer and do something else, coming back to check every 15-20 minutes and make sure you do not go auto-AFK and get logged out. You will stop gathering resources when your action pool runs out, but you will start resting automatically. You will just need to restart the resource gathering when you are rested. You also need to watch for creatures nearby, but since you have fourth tier in your weapon skill, you should be able to handle anything that molests you � just be careful. You should be able to gather approximately 300-500 units of resources in an hour, depending on the percentage of the site. Remember, each resource is worth 2 GCXP, so this is a significant fraction of the XP needed to advance.
10. At some point, gather (or purchase) 4 units of any chemical using the Chemical Survey Device. Use this with 16 metal (stacks of 12 and 4) to create a second Generic Crafting Tool. You are now ready to begin crafting in earnest. Your best bet is to make survey devices, which require 27 units of metal and give 55 GCXP each. Specialized crafting tools give 65 GCXP, but because they require10 units of chemical, so they aren�t efficient to make. The Generic Crafting Tool gives the best return for a single type of resource.
11. Make certain you are still gathering resources at your chosen spot � you can both craft and survey at the same time. If you are a scout and are in a buildable zone, put up a camp so that you can get some Wilderness Survival XP at the same time.
12. Use the �double-barrel� approach to crafting. While one Generic Crafting Tool is tied up moving the finished item from the output hopper to your inventory, use the other Generic Crafting Tool to start on the next item. By the time that item is complete and fabricating, your first tool will be cleared out and ready to go. Periodically destroy or give away the Generic Crafting Tools you have made (anathema, I know, but keep in mind this is only until you get to your �real� advanced profession).
13. The problem is that even with Surveying III (and much more so with Surveying I), you will burn through your resources slightly faster than you can gather them. This is why harvesters are essential and why you should focus all your efforts on getting to Engineering III as soon as possible.
14. You will need approximately 6000 units of metal (allowing for critical failures) to get to fourth tier in each of the Artisan branches. Approximately 20,000 units of metal are needed to reach Master Artisan. �Rorr�s Ore & More� sells all types of resources at a flat rate of 2 credits per unit. This amount of cash can easily be obtained from missions if you do not wish to gather resources yourself. Note that you do NOT need steel, which is popular and sometimes hard to find � any kind of metal will work.
A Cautious Note
I should point out as well that if you can buy a harvester from someone and could also buy a factory from someone (these can only be obtained from Architects, while harvesters can be obtained from any Artisan with Engineering III). You can then completely automate the entire process. Once you create a factory prototype for your Generic Crafting Tool, the factory can be filled with resources from the harvester and it will happily grind out GCXP for you while you sleep. Sound easy? It is! The problem is that the Devs (rightly) feel it is -too- easy, so the XP from this technique is going to be greatly reduced. The only real danger in using this method is that you haven�t taken the time to learn the techniques you will need when you start your advanced profession, but in theory you can pick these up at your own pace. Just be aware that 1) this technique is about to be dramatically changed, and 2) it requires a pretty serious initial outlay of cash or some good friends to twink you. Nevertheless, if your goal is to get through the Artisan profession as quickly as possible, it�s hard to beat this method at this point (though I predict that you may not enjoy your advanced profession as much since you didn't have to do much "work" to get there -- that may be okay for you though!). Look for serious changes in the near future to this method, however.
Conclusion
Crafting can be a very rewarding profession. What is important that you keep in mind, however, is that it is a very layered profession with niches for all types of interests. Want to make some cash while exploring, but have no desire to craft? Become a surveyor, selling the location of rich resources (or build a harvester and sell the resources yourself). Many medics have no desire to craft at all. Why not set up a pharmaceutical company and fill that niche? The possibilities are endless, but they all hinge on breaking out of the �traditional MMO� mold of the artisan. Good luck, and be sure to stop by �Rorr�s Ore & More� and say hello!
Best regards,
Rorr
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