Artisan Archive
Thread: Newbie Q: Resources & Starting Out.
After finishing my FS stuff to unlock my second character, I hope to create a crafter ( haven't decided if I'll convert the current FS character or use the new one ). A few questions:
1) Is the extra 2 points of experimentation that humans get just helpful, or is it "practically necessary" for a crafter? ( main char is a Mon Calamari, so if it needs to be a human, that limits my choices to making the new character the artisan ).
2) Are HQ resources typically available for sale, or do artisans usually hoard them for a rainy day, and what resources you may find on the open market so expensive you can't cut a profit buying them and using them in product?
3) Is Power Brokering profitable enough to make it worth while? And, related, will Novice Surveying be enough to be worth the hassle? ( e.g. no vendors, extremely limited survey range ). I'm thinking about keeping Novice until I have my second character, but I'm going to have to sacrifice my Surveying branch ( already gave up the others ) to finish the FS stuff. I noticed a good-sized drop in range from Survey 4 to Survey 3, was wondering if at Novice the range is so limited that the hassle of finding a good radioactive spawn spot was more trouble than it was worth.
After5CST wrote:
OK, new-ish to the Artisan profession. My spouse took up ( and later gave up ) DE, and I had started on Master Artisan to provide support. While she didn't like crafting, I found some odd enjoyment in surveying. Kind of like treasure hunting, or something.
After finishing my FS stuff to unlock my second character, I hope to create a crafter ( haven't decided if I'll convert the current FS character or use the new one ). A few questions:
1) Is the extra 2 points of experimentation that humans get just helpful, or is it "practically necessary" for a crafter? ( main char is a Mon Calamari, so if it needs to be a human, that limits my choices to making the new character the artisan ).
I am a wookie, so I am not positive about this. But it seems to me that most things can be maxed out with just the 10 points you have to start with (at least most things that I make). If you are making powerups or foods, I could see where the extra points would be beneficial since there are several experimentation lines to choose from. As a weaponsmith, though, most of what I make is components (of which the quality makes no difference in weapons) and vehicles (which I can max out with 10 points. I guess it really depends on what you want to make.
2) Are HQ resources typically available for sale, or do artisans usually hoard them for a rainy day, and what resources you may find on the open market so expensive you can't cut a profit buying them and using them in product?
I tend to hoard the high quality resources that I use as a weaponsmith. When there is a high quality resource that I don't use out there, and if I have any open lots, then I will gather that up for selling. Of course, the fact that I have been an artisan/WS almost since launch really helps
3) Is Power Brokering profitable enough to make it worth while? And, related, will Novice Surveying be enough to be worth the hassle? ( e.g. no vendors, extremely limited survey range ). I'm thinking about keeping Novice until I have my second character, but I'm going to have to sacrifice my Surveying branch ( already gave up the others ) to finish the FS stuff. I noticed a good-sized drop in range from Survey 4 to Survey 3, was wondering if at Novice the range is so limited that the hassle of finding a good radioactive spawn spot was more trouble than it was worth.
I wouldn't want to try to survey for anything with just survey 1. The range is really horrible (something like 64x64). If you are in a guild, or have a friend who still has a high survey skill, you can ask them to let you know when they find a good spot. But if you can get some 14BER fusion generators on some good spawns, you can make good money on power, even selling it at 1cpu. If you are going to do that, I would recommend sticking to the JTL radioactive, as the spawn lasts for 18-21 days, instead of the 7-8 days of other radioactives.
Hope this helps
2) Most people hoard. I've made about a billion credits by knowing which resources to hoard, and selling them appropriately. But you can find some very good resources for sale. Your trade forum is a great place to keep an eye on. Some legendary resources pop up there, sometimes for a very good price. Now that you can look on the bazaar and find every item for sale on every vendor in the galaxy, fewer people look for resources on the trade forum. So you can find some good deals from time to time. But the bazaar vendor search also means that you can find good resources when you need them. The price for legendary stuff usually makes it pretty cost prohibitive, but not always.
Note: there's currently a major bug that prevents resource names and quantity from showing up in the item name. This prevents you from searching for resources. You may have to manually hover over every resource for sale in the galaxy to find what you want. Takes hours. This has been bugged since patch 17, and SOE seems unwilling to do anything about it. They really gave resource merchants the shaft.
3) I think power brokering is a great business. Plenty of money to be made there. Now that you can see every item on every vendor, the only way you have to compete with other power brokers on your server is price. SOE really screwed up the other competition factors with that one - merchant skill, shop location, shop upkeep, etc. But if you mine high PE fusion, you'll make plenty of money.