Armorsmith Archive
Thread: Getting into Armorsmith hard?
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TyfoE
Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:35 am
#1
Hi all.
I have thought a little about becoming an Armorsmith.
But,
1. is it hard?
2. is a lot of factory time required?
3. is it near possible for a non-master/new master to sell midquality armor?
4. does it depend on a lot of looted components? If yes, is these the "only" ones that sell?
I have thought a little about becoming an Armorsmith.
But,
1. is it hard?
2. is a lot of factory time required?
3. is it near possible for a non-master/new master to sell midquality armor?
4. does it depend on a lot of looted components? If yes, is these the "only" ones that sell?
ZionHalcyon
Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:52 am
#2
Well, let me put it to you like this....
You WILL go broke grinding armorsmith.
If you can accept that, then just remember, Armorsmith is a grind, and will take time.
Once you hit master, you will be so broke from buying grind resources, that you won't have a penny to your name.
And then the REAL fun begins, as you will be stretched even further trying to pick up quality resources to compete with other smiths already established on your server.
Only once you have done that, and can begin putting out a competing product, will you begin to earn cash. And if you make time to keep your vendors stocked, you will do alright for yourself.
Just remember - this is NOT a "get rich quick" profession. I began my Armorsmith grind last August, finished in September, and wasn't able to really compete with the other smiths until LAST MONTH. Now that I have the materials for some good ubese, I have been able to slowly make sales, and begin an income, even though my Armor store isn't officially open and stocked yet.
Of course, there is also nothing like the thrill of getting some good components, and using them to craft some mighty fine armor - let me tell you, the satisfaction is immense.
So ultimately, you have to decide - what is worth it? Are you looking for quick cash? This isn't for you. Are you looking to make money, and willing to go broke to do it, and patient enough to wait it out? Then you might actually have a chance at becoming a decent armorsmith...
TyfoE
Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:55 am
#3
I'll not go broke in the grind, that I can tell you 
But getting the good resources might be a problem.
But getting the good resources might be a problem.
Okram2k
Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:57 am
#4
if you find a good niche will do alright. And remember your starting products might be the best, so price it accordingly. Sell low enough so that young players will pick your armor over the high quality stuff and you will make enough income to start aquiring better resoruces.
greenrebellion
Thu Feb 24, 2005 2:48 pm
#5
The new factory times are a big bite in the ass. Making comp is just one big pain in the butt... there's almost no gratification for me after more than a year, and the money isn't as good as it was back in the heyday of armor-making.
On the other hand I'm a bitter old armorsmith, and I do remember it being fun in the earlier days. The hunt for better resources and crafting a new armor with the stats you wanted was fun. All in all if you are looking to make money fast try something else.
On the other hand I'm a bitter old armorsmith, and I do remember it being fun in the earlier days. The hunt for better resources and crafting a new armor with the stats you wanted was fun. All in all if you are looking to make money fast try something else.
ZionHalcyon
Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:02 pm
#6
Well, if you won't go broke, then you'd be a rarity - I've spent over 100M overall in my quest to be a good armorsmith. If your pockets are deeper than that, then my hat's off to ya.
Zabava
Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:31 pm
#7
That's how I did it: first I started to collect resources, and other AS stuff; and make my12 point set. After 2-3 months I decided I'm ready , and only then I mastered AS. But I think the best way to start is focus on ubese or padded first, as you can sell this stuff even at non-master level. Sell your armor for the new players. Belive me, they will remember you, and will come later for you best composite armor. As for padded, many people want it only for display, so you can make it unlayered,and even black padded sells good.
Ma-ma
TyfoE
Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:35 pm
#8
I said in the grind I know I'll go broke in the resource-collecting.
I know I'll go broke in the resource-collecting.
DoWei
Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:18 am
#9
Good information from everyone. If you can handle holding off on the actual crafting in armorsmith it would probably benefit you to run down the list of armors and protection layers you'd like to be able to make when you start out and work on gathering the necessary resources. As several of the other guys mentioned, it can take months to get your hands on the better spawns of each resource you'll need (especially organics).
Also, with the increased spawning of static NPCs (while still dropping their same loot) a lot of the skill tapes are becoming more readily available and reducing the prices on the boards (at least on Naritus) so if you can find a good deal on a nice experimentation tape it wouldn't be a bad investment.
There is also the possibility that the CURB will change a lot of things with armor so patience may pay off.
Good Luck!
/salute
Also, with the increased spawning of static NPCs (while still dropping their same loot) a lot of the skill tapes are becoming more readily available and reducing the prices on the boards (at least on Naritus) so if you can find a good deal on a nice experimentation tape it wouldn't be a bad investment.
There is also the possibility that the CURB will change a lot of things with armor so patience may pay off.
Good Luck!
/salute
AndJusticeForAll
Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:11 am
#10
Location location location!
If find a good place to sell your armor and you can basicallypush JUNK and it will sell. As the cash moves in, improve your armor and raise prices according to what the market will bare and what you feel your time is worth. This is not static value, if you spend freaking 2 hours grinding stun layers for a run of stun comp the price ofyour armor should darned well reflect that! (this is my policy and I follow it to the letter)
Make cheap kinetic composite. Sell it cheap. This doesnt take alot of experience to make and you can cobble it together with pretty junky materials. Dont try anything fancy until you get the best resources. I often see newer smiths trying to compete with me by making 80 kin 77 energy 6x base comp... they dont stand a chance. My stockpiles are so large now that I can bury any newer smith in quality, price and quantity if I so choose. I generally leave the cheaper armors for the newer smiths, this is the entrance niche Dowei was refering to. Exploit it.
I will second the custom armor. I HATE making cash comp, the real joy of the profession is in making custom armor for personal use and for friends. I made my zebrak (or however its spelled) friend who was complaining about mind encumbrance a NS comp helm with uber shards and layers... it got a 44% encum slice and has 77% base resists and 124 mind encumbrance! he uses it with ubese and can actually hunt without excessive foods/mind buffs. THAT is what armorsmithing is about.
JMHO
TurboSith
Fri Feb 25, 2005 11:43 am
#11
AndJusticeForAll wrote:
Location location location!
If find a good place to sell your armor and you can basicallypush JUNK and it will sell. As the cash moves in, improve your armor and raise prices according to what the market will bare and what you feel your time is worth. This is not static value, if you spend freaking 2 hours grinding stun layers for a run of stun comp the price ofyour armor should darned well reflect that! (this is my policy and I follow it to the letter)
Make cheap kinetic composite. Sell it cheap. This doesnt take alot of experience to make and you can cobble it together with pretty junky materials. Dont try anything fancy until you get the best resources. I often see newer smiths trying to compete with me by making 80 kin 77 energy 6x base comp... they dont stand a chance. My stockpiles are so large now that I can bury any newer smith in quality, price and quantity if I so choose. I generally leave the cheaper armors for the newer smiths, this is the entrance niche Dowei was refering to. Exploit it.
I will second the custom armor. I HATE making cash comp, the real joy of the profession is in making custom armor for personal use and for friends. I made my zebrak (or however its spelled) friend who was complaining about mind encumbrance a NS comp helm with uber shards and layers... it got a 44% encum slice and has 77% base resists and 124 mind encumbrance! he uses it with ubese and can actually hunt without excessive foods/mind buffs. THAT is what armorsmithing is about.
JMHO
you should tell him to use a anti-decay kit on it... he can destroy it after the CURB if it becomes sub-par..
Songgg
Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:15 pm
#12
It's not exactly hard to get into Armorsmith, just takes a lot of time and credits. I spent 3 months harvesting any decent spawns using swgcraft.com, and then when I decided to grind AS eventually, I paid around 10 million for the rest of the resources that I was missing.
If you do decide to go for it, if you have the credits then just buy any decent resources youcan find (don't always look for the best spawn on your server, since those resources always cost the most - even the second/third best spawns will do, which will be a lot cheaper as the top AS's don't use them). Get all of the resources first, don't bother with a 12pt suit unless you can afford it, as a 10pt can make competitive armour.
When you are all set to go, make Kinetic Composite as that is the best seller for 10pt smiths, and just make sure that you price it cheap enough so people actually notice you (I sold mine for 210k per suit, when 12pt Kinetic stuff was going for around 400k). Location is also important. My best selling places at the moment seem to be in the player cities, as well as Bestine where I first started out as AS.
Loot components don't really make that much of a difference in armour, definately not as much as they do in WS/Doc, so I wouldn't bother with any custom work unless its for friends.
Hope this helps 
Law421
Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:32 pm
#13
I can personally say that it only took me about2-3 weeksto master AS.
I don't think it cost me much more than 5 million (mainly because I had some resources stockpiled).
The hard part right now is getting all the really good resources for quality stuff and figuring out the best way
to experiment on the layers and whatnot. Just my $0.02
Message Edited by Law421 on 02-25-2005 05:33 PM
Rebel Scumbag/Dirty Imp
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