I very much enjoy crafting in GW2. I don't know that any game will ever approach the economy that Pirates of the Burning Sea had in place, but Guild Wars 2 at least makes the crafting process interesting and worth your time.
1. Gathering nodes are unique to the character. All players see wood, vegetables/herbs, and ore but the items are unique spawns so that you cannot "steal" another player's node. During the beta weekends, nodes respawned every 24 hours. It remains to be seen if this timer will hold true in the live game, (UPDATE: nodes respawn at varying times depending on world bonuses) but given the size of the world available for exploration, I don't see that as a problem.
2. Every player can "gather". There are three gathering tools which take up slots on your character inventory ( meaning they don't have to stay in your bags and thus don't take up bag space) All players can carry each of the three tools simultaneously. You do not even have to have a crafting skill learned to gather. Players also earn exp for gathering, so I highly recommend spending a few copper on gathering tools, equipping them, and gathering every node you see. Even if you will not use the materials yourself, you can sell them or send to guildies who are crafting AND you'll be making exp in the process.
3. Basic crafting recipes can be a bit costly for a player who is below level 5, but crafting merchants also supply materials which you can buy with "karma" points that are earned out in the world doing public events.
4. You can "discover" new recipes by adding different combinations of materials to the "discovery" pane. For those who like puzzles, like me, this is a fun distraction.
5. Crafting materials you gather can be automatically transported to your bank via the "deposit collectibles" function. Basically, you right click on an item and chose the "deposit collectible" option. The item zips through the ether into your bank and is ready to be withdrawn next time you are at the bank OR a crafting station. The collectibles tab of your bank is separate from your general bank space, so, again, you don't have to worry about crafting mats sucking up inventory or bank space.
6. I toyed with leatherworking during BW1 (beta weekend 1) but my main crafting focus through all three beta weekends and the stress tests was cooking. I discovered many recipes with unique little bonuses like "+10% downed health" or "+5 health on killing blow of an enemy player"
7. During BW2 I leveled from 11-19 doing nothing but gathering and crafting. That exp rate will probably not hold true in the live game, but even if it is half of what it was during that weekend, you're still talking about a chunk of levels in less than 3 continuous hours of game play.
I STRONGLY recommend players pick up gathering tools from the low level merchants they will encounter in their starting areas. Gather the materials you come across, reap the benefits of the easy exp, and send the materials to guildies you know are crafting.
UPDATE: Here's a link to my guide for Cooking in Guild Wars 2 and here is a link to my Recipe Book: Novice
No comments:
Post a Comment