Shipwright Archive
Thread: Shipwright Vs Armorsmith
I don't recommend doing either profession unless you really enjoy them. And shipwright is not the same as any of the other crafter professions. With only partial factory support, and the difference in supply/demand compared to ground based crafting professions, you'll find that being a shipwright iscompletely different from armorsmith.
I would recommend Shipwright myself, but only if you enjoy being a pilot, and working directly with your customers alot more than you would if you were an armorsmith. Pilots have alot more questions for shipwrights than ground combat professions have for armorsmiths, because in a way you're the weaponsmith/armorsmith/tailor/chef/doctor(maybe) for that persons ship. And most of the time you know better about how to put it all together than they do, so you'll find yourself getting asked alot of questions about how to make their ships the best they can be.
I love it myself, but I only practice my profession for my guild, and even then it can be alot of work to keep up with thier demand. You might find it favorable to team up with other shipwrights if you do become shipwright, so you can maximize your actual playing time and won't get board with crafting part after part.
Hope that helps a little bit.
I can't talk to Armorsmith, as I have never even so much as tried it. However, I have been a Master Shipwright since JTL went live and played with the profession for three months when it was in beta. Thus, I can provide you with some highlights:
- The schematics available to shipwrights are very resource intense. Unlike other professions, a 100K stack of a resource is not going to last very long (whereas I have friends that are weaponsmiths and what not tell me that a 100K stack of a resource will last them virtually forever). Thus, I don't see how you can survive as a shipwright buying resources.
- The only schematics available to shipwrights that call for named resources include component upgrades, and these include all the new "JTL resources". The nice thing about "JTL resources" is that they spawn for no less than 14 days at a time on a single planet before shifting.
- Unlike any other crafting profession, there is very little in way of manufacturing support, which largely rules out "AFK crafting".
- I personally enjoy catering to customers one-on-one. I sometimes spend hours talking to some customers learning their tactics, and in turn I buildout a ship for them custom to their preferences. There are so many ships, so many components, so many component upgrades, and so many stats per item that this can be an interesting puzzle.
Thunderbyte wrote:I would recommend Shipwright myself, but only if you enjoy being a pilot, and working directly with your customers alot more than you would if you were an armorsmith. Pilots have alot more questions for shipwrights than ground combat professions have for armorsmiths, because in a way you're the weaponsmith/armorsmith/tailor/chef/doctor(maybe) for that persons ship. And most of the time you know better about how to put it all together than they do, so you'll find yourself getting asked alot of questions about how to make their ships the best they can be.
QFE
Jagged-F3l wrote:
I can't talk to Armorsmith, as I have never even so much as tried it. However, I have been a Master Shipwright since JTL went live and played with the profession for three months when it was in beta. Thus, I can provide you with some highlights:
- The schematics available to shipwrights are very resource intense. Unlike other professions, a 100K stack of a resource is not going to last very long (whereas I have friends that are weaponsmiths and what not tell me that a 100K stack of a resource will last them virtually forever). Thus, I don't see how you can survive as a shipwright buying resources.
- The only schematics available to shipwrights that call for named resources include component upgrades, and these include all the new "JTL resources". The nice thing about "JTL resources" is that they spawn for no less than 14 days at a time on a single planet before shifting.
- Unlike any other crafting profession, there is very little in way of manufacturing support, which largely rules out "AFK crafting".
- I personally enjoy catering to customers one-on-one. I sometimes spend hours talking to some customers learning their tactics, and in turn I buildout a ship for them custom to their preferences. There are so many ships, so many components, so many component upgrades, and so many stats per item that this can be an interesting puzzle.
Tangle wrote:
Jagged-F3l wrote:
I can't talk to Armorsmith, as I have never even so much as tried it. However, I have been a Master Shipwright since JTL went live and played with the profession for three months when it was in beta. Thus, I can provide you with some highlights:
- The schematics available to shipwrights are very resource intense. Unlike other professions, a 100K stack of a resource is not going to last very long (whereas I have friends that are weaponsmiths and what not tell me that a 100K stack of a resource will last them virtually forever). Thus, I don't see how you can survive as a shipwright buying resources.
- The only schematics available to shipwrights that call for named resources include component upgrades, and these include all the new "JTL resources". The nice thing about "JTL resources" is that they spawn for no less than 14 days at a time on a single planet before shifting.
- Unlike any other crafting profession, there is very little in way of manufacturing support, which largely rules out "AFK crafting".
- I personally enjoy catering to customers one-on-one. I sometimes spend hours talking to some customers learning their tactics, and in turn I buildout a ship for them custom to their preferences. There are so many ships, so many components, so many component upgrades, and so many stats per item that this can be an interesting puzzle.
I don't see how you can survive as a shipwright WITHOUT buying resources. You can't possibly mine all you need by yourself. I would never ever be able to keep up with demand. I buy 500k of a resource minimum and steel gets purchased by the million. People in the resource business have the type of size a shipwright needs to consistantly use the good resources to put out a good product. If I only mined my own resources, I'd be out of product very fast. Then I'd be stuck mining some crap resource that seriously hurts the quality of my products. I mean, there is a trade-off to this. My prices are very high. However, my products are consistant. The stats usually never change, unless I find a better resource in which they will get better. Then I buy so much of that resource it should last me a long time.
I'm not saying every shipwright operates this way, but how on earth can you even exist without purchasing your resources? There's just too many you need in big quantities.
If this was pre-CU, I'd tell you to jump all over AS, but it's not. The profession does have the money if that's what you're after, but the fun just isn't there anymore, for me at least.
Now SW, i've really enjoyed my time with SW and very happy I picked it up. I had this profession before the CU as well, but rarely ever played it because AS held my intrest so well. Not anymore, I love the fact I have more than 1 line to experiment with through SW. So many factors can make your components the best. In AS, everyone can pretty much make the same exact armor every time. The caps are so easy to hit with ok resources before the 2% crafting buff hit.
Now, Ionly useAS to make money when I'm getting low. I can throw 5 pieces of faction armor up on the vendor for 1-1.5 mil each, depending if I feel like layering it, and it will sell within a couple days. With SW, it could take me a couple weeks to match that profit.
Both professions can be a lot of fun if you throw yourself into them, but SW has become my fav. Or maybe I'm just bitter because after the CU all my kiirium steel turned to crap.... good thing I can use it for missle packs though 
I've done both, and each is the same mega-headache in its own way.
Armorsmith is more complex, and you need much more start-up cash for extinct server rares and hides.
Shipwright also requires start up cash for the extinct server rares, though not to the extreme. It is not as complex, however you have to craft all final combines by hand and the time sink will drive you nuts.
Neither profession is for the weak of stomach, or someone looking for an easy, stress-free crafting profession.