Armorsmith Archive
Thread: What does 12 point Armour Smith Really mean??
pykescylla wrote:
The only place 12 points is really useful now is in crafting PSGs where there are THREE (count 'em, three!) lines of experimentation that all mean something. Having 12 points also means that you get many fewer "good" successes, getting mostly all greats and amazings, which is just a tremendous convenience when you have to do a ton of handcrafting.
Which, after having "good" or lesser successes six times in a row tonight on a bracer, is why I'm thinking I might try to get those extra 2 points after all!
It means that the armor I make has, on average, an extra 3k of condition. That's not quite "nothing", though I'll agree it's not very important either.
But going on about condition, it does mean that armor that has 48k condition instead of 45k should last you about 6.7% longer - which means that people should get a little extra buying from a 12 pointer.
Basically it means that the person has bought ca's for armor experimentation that add up to 2 extra points to put in during the crafting process. However, since most armor components only have one line to experiment on, (and those that have two, the second line does absolutely nothing) it no longer means that that crafter is by any means better than anyone else. However, it is still used slightly as a status symbol, denoting a veteran smith who has put the time and money into attaining that goal.
Damn you for making me write! 
It means you spent a lot of creditsa long time ago on something that isn't worth a dime today.
Or you just got lucky and looted a +20 armor experimentation belt.
Or both.
Like me.