Weaponsmith Archive

Hello all.

After alot of hard work, I finally managed to reach Master Weaponsmith a couple of days ago. After securing some of the important resources, I went about trying to build up a stock of weapons and get my vendor going.

I dont know if I've ever been quite so overwhelmed in a game before.

There are so many different weapons for each profession that I found myself having a hard time figuring out what I should be making. I started making a few of the weapons that I hear about alot, Fwg5s and republic blasters and T21s. But then I had several people sending tells for things I wouldnt have thought about stocking like Gaffi sticks and Lances.

So which weapons and in what quantities should a new Weaponsmith keep in stock to keep the customers coming?

Keep in mind I have somewhat limited resources (when is that **edit** Diatium Copper going to spawn?) but have enough to make a few of everything.

Also, what type of pricing range on the more popular selling weapons? I've seen T21s for anywhere from 8k to 30k. I'm currently using medium range resources (till better ones spawn), so know I'm not going to be able to charge top credit, but a range on the popular weapons would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance to the Masters.

Pyrrhus

That's a really hard question to answer because it is so dependant on the other master weaponsmiths around you. I recommend you take a day or two to visit every major weapons dealer on all the major planets. Catalog what they have in stock, damage, price, excetera. Compare them to what you can make and price accordingly. Also, look for holes in the market. Not many melee items around? Jump in the niche and advertise you're a melee specialist. Munitions is also a good niche market. Continue to build up your other stock and watch sales trends.

I try to keep a bit of everything on my vendors. I listened to my customers and tried to make whatever they needed and added them to my vendors. I can barely keep up with the Vibro Knuckler market! Adding a sliced vendor and advertising on the planetary map also caused quite a jump in business.

Basically what DarthLueder said. Check out the competition to get an idea of the quality they offer and the prices they sell at. Also, focusing on a niche market will help you compete better against established master weaponsmiths. It can also reduce the time crunch on you because instead of worrying about 3-4 dozen resources and stocking dozens of weapons, you only need to track 12-20 or so resources and maybe a dozen or sotypes of weapons(depending on what you specialize in).

Slim Vargo, Corbantis

My strategy is to make weapons that people ask for, and then charge 10 credits per unit used in the construction. If they don't sell, drop the price until you can get rid of them, and then don't make any more of that thing. If they sell out, make another crate and raise the price a little. Repeat.

What i do is make a list of all the weapons that i can make. I cater to all players and keep stock of every weapon. It has been the best thing i could have done.

Then i keep track of sales for the week.

Example: 7-dx2, 4-flames, 7-laser rifles, 1-spray

Now i know what the hot trend is...also advertisingand selling items (powerups) on the bazaar can help bring in more customers.

Its nice to cater to the new players, that way they know where to go once they get their next certification

The previous messages have great advise. The only thing I would as is do an assessment of the resources you have on hand. Ask yourself, what are these resources most suited for? What are the very best quality weapons I can make. Once you know that, make those weapons while you continue the search for better resources and different types of required resources.

Just a few tips:

1. If the resources have high cond and OQ, try some guns. If they have high unit toughness, go for melee weapons.

2. Build relationships with good customers that don't ask jackass questions like "Can you do better on damage?". Ask them what they want.

3. never stop searching for better resources

4. Don't forget to stock up on good gas and chemicals. sounds funny but these things have a quick way of becoming a bottle neck to your whole operation.

I'll offer counter to those that say cater to everyone. I find it easier to keep my weapons up amoungst the best on my server by specialising..

I do melee only for sale, I keep my vendor adequately stocked so that I almost never run out of an item I carry.

I dont carry all melee items, I tried that but many never sold way-back-when so I just stick to things like curved swords, gaderiffi sticks, lances, powehammers, lva's, 2h curved, 2h cleaver, vibroblades, knucklers, vibro lances, ryyk's, stun batons..

Most of the vibro based units I carry several models in, due to the different dynamics of the normal vs advanced vibro units.. those models also vary in that I do a 100% ham mod on some knucklers from woah-to-go since many master TKA's want them.

The sword core or reinforcement core based weapons I keep just the 'advanced' versions in stock, since their clearly superior items for all levels of skill.

Following this paradigm I keep the metals I -need- to have down to a minimum though like most masters I have a more resource units than you can shake a stick at, its a never ending quest to keep stocked with the -best-.

Most of all develop a reputation, your going to get one either way, so work on it being the right one.

I also set my customers expectations by having an email I copy myself in on when I change it, to send to those who ask for my details. In it I clearly state that all I offer (due to times online and other commitments) is a well stocked melee vending machine. I put only my 'best' up for sale and I run them through machines like woah to keep stocks up. I price them so that they move reliably in number over the weeks and I find this keeps me rather well off (though not the richest out there by a vast means, I am not hurting for credits to cover costs).

I also cover things like AFK etiquite (since I do get a few tells, I need to use the afk to let people know when I can and can't offer a reply etc. And also to respect my private time, which will be clearly spelt out in the AFK message for the day). Worst case, just put people on ignore, most likely those that dont respect your needs vs your ability are not worth the effort to sell to in the first place.

As for quantities to keep in stock that depends on how many you sell, my vendor has between 500-800 individual sales on it at most times, with some of those sales being crates of 5 and 10 of an item as well, to assist those who want to bulk buy and go see their favorite dealer of clandestine weapon modifications.

What works for you though, will be whatever lets you play the character you want to play, make the credits that you need to make and have the fun you -need- to get, cause after all this is a game not a job.. (yes, sometimes I work harder as Andover than I do as me ) . o O (sometimes????) /bonks his id..

Great advice from everyone here. As far as pricing goes, this varies so widely from server to server it's hard to give a definite answer. Most the of theoriginal weaponsmiths were grossly overpricedbut newcomershave slowlybrought prices down to what I consider acceptable levels. Personally, I sell just about everythingwith the exception of T21'sbetween 8k to 10k. Iratchet up prices on my sliced weaponsbecause if the results are good it saves players time. What's acceptable to you will most likely depend on your time. Personally, I can't manage RL and gamelife if I start selling more than 400 weapons a week. It's just too much so I had to find a middle ground. You'll find yours too.

The section from Metalrat on letting your customers know when and where you can talk is a great suggestion. I try to respond to as many tells as possible and most people on my server consider me to be one of the "nicer" weaponsmiths. Being nice has it's disadvantages though because many ppl are pushy. Stand your ground. If you think you have a fair price for something, don't cave and sell cheaper or you'll have to go through that until the end of time. Put your foot down and ignore if necessary.

Hi just wanted to add in to some of the other advice and maybe clarify a line that you've already deduced exists in the servers.

First of all, the thing that helped me the most when starting was communication. If someone asks you for a gun and you know that the one you make is really bad quality compared to the current 'galactic standard' then tell them so, because if they feel burned later that bad advertising won't be any good... whereas a lot of people seem to be of a mind to form a relationship with a starting smith as the quality of weapons WILL improve as resource spawns come. This also means that having a stock 'ad' email with the waypoint to your shops is a great tool for when people ask for your location. Because if they like your stuff and keep the email? Your waypoint and your ad will be right there for them to pass on.

Secondly, and this I've found is HUGELY helpful, /friend all of your customers to a group called 'customers'. Because when you do this you have a pretty easy conduit for sending out 'HEY NEW TOY!' emails to people that you know have bought your stuff before. Don't do it too often, but if say you start stocking T21s and haven't before? Then maybe you should send an email out. When I added my Sliced/Krayt vendor I sent out this email, and had 65 sales in the course of a day and a half. Cleaned out the new vendor .

Thirdly, make friends with other crafters... particularly with those people who are small-time resource harvesters. Give them free/cheap stuff, and know that the cost of resources from them will be much lower when you need their help. I'd also suggest finding some Novice Smugglers and offering to help them up the slicing tree. You can create factory loads of cruddy weapons and WUKs from scrap materials, and that'll make their path MUCH cheaper... which is good because when they get Slicing 4/Master Smuggler it makes it easier to:

Fourthly, consider having a sliced weapons vendor. Alot of people will buy multiple weapons trying for just the right slice. If they can get that slice for the price of 1.5 of that weapon then it's a bargain for them, and a good profit for you.

Now the dividing line, as it's pretty clearly stated above is the Walmart vs. Payless Shoes debate. Do you want to try to carry everything, or do you want to specialize in a certain line of weapons? There are arguments for either side, and I faced the same choice... let me break down how I saw it.. maybe that will help you:

Walmart: One stop shopping. This is undoubtably the hardest approach, you need a MUCH bigger resource pool, you need to plan out your manufacturing, and in general you need to spend a LOT more time crafting and stocking your vendor than if you specialize. The advantage is, obviously, a larger customer pool and in theory more money. But you'll also use up a lot of some resource types so running out of oneor two resources will have a large effect on your other weapons, and running out of it is more likely. I'm a Walmart... but I actually don't stock much in the way of grenades at the moment. I had a commando buy every one of my grenade except a small handful and redoing the runs for them is going to be a pain.

Payless Shoes: This is a little easier, you've got a smaller pool of resources to pull from (in MOST cases), and you'll have a more focused clientelle. This is a great way to start in the WS business, and if you do choose this approach, my suggestion is that you focus on melee weapons. Why? Because a lot of WS's don't, because unlike guns you need only 1 of three subcomps (sword cords, reinforced cores, or Fivro blade units), and because the subcomps focus on specific traits like UT and SR. Plus a really good iron will last you a very long time.

Either way you play it though, the most important thing to remember is that your choice must depend on how well you can keep your vendor stocked. If people go to your vendor and find it empty, they'll almost never come back. One of the reasons I've not opened my second store fully yet is that I'm not convinced I can keep them both stocked from base so I'm doing a new run of items specifically for that vendor.

Good luck with the field...

Great tips everyone! Thanks for all the input.

Pricing is something I'm still struggling with, but I suppose I will get better at it over time.

I've checked several established weaponsmith shops on Corellia, and boy, are the prices varied. Some selling Laser Carbines for 5k, some selling them for 15k.

I guess I'll keep adjusting things until it feels just right.

Thanks again for all the input.