So, when I first started playing, crafting made about zero sense to me, but through trial and error, I've more or less figured it out, which I now realize, was actually the whole point. The system is designed to be explored through trial and error to discover how to craft different items. However, I'm putting this together to take out some of the initial confusion about how the fuck the system works. Please forgive I forgot to take some pictures that would probably be more useful to see, but I think I have enough that it should make sense.
The DisciplinesThere are eight crafting disciplines: armorsmith, artificer, chef, huntsman, jeweler, leatherworker, tailor, and weaponsmith. Each focuses on different broad categories of items, so each is more useful to different classes. For instance, my guardian, who wears heavy armor, is an armorsmith and can craft some pretty good armor for herself, whereas my ranger, who wears medium armor, is a leatherworker, so she can craft herself armor as well. A character can learn two disciplines at a time and can switch between crafting disciplines for a cost, but the more experience you have in a discipline, the more expensive it is to switch.
MaterialsAll disciplines require crafting materials, which can be acquired in the world through drops, salvages, or gathering nodes, or through trade.
Most of your materials will come through gathering, so I'll start with that. To gather, you first need gathering tools: a mining pick for ores, a logging axe for lumber, and a gathering sickle for various foods. There are also different qualities of tools for different qualities of materials - for instance, you need a stronger pick to mine silver ore than to mine copper ore, but all higher level tools are backwards compatible and can still gather from lesser material nodes.
So, first you equip the appropriate tool:
Then you find yourself a node. This is relatively easy because they show up on your mini-map, so whenever you're adventuring you're aware of what resources are nearby:
In this case I found an Ekku sappling:
And began to chop it down:
In the process I acquired green wood logs. Most trees and ores will yield three of the material, unless it's a rich ore vein, in which case I've collected as much as 20 pieces of ore, plus gems. For foods, it's a bit of a toss up how much you get depending on what food you're harvesting. I don't have a chef yet, so I'm not really sure how it works.
Alternatively, you can trade for materials. Some materials, such as thread and smelting materials (tin, coal, etc), can be purchased from vendors:
In this case, I needed to purchase jute thread. This image also shows the tier system for crafting materials. Many crafting materials come as part of a hierarchy of materials used for similar things. In this case, you can see all six tiers of thread. The better the item, the better the materials needed to craft it. To start, you'll only be able to craft with the first tier, and you unlock the other tiers when you hit certain crafting levels. I think wool thread unlocks at either level 50 or level 75 in the crafting discipline (to add perspective, crafting levels max out at 400). It's also important to note that different materials may require different levels in different disciplines. For instance, a pile of glittering dust can be used from level 0 as an artificer, level 25 as an armorsmith, and level 50 as a jeweler.
There is also a huge trade for materials on the trading post, and often times when I'm in the middle of crafting and fall short of a certain item (particularly if it's a harder to acquire item) I will turn to the trading post to acquire what I need. The trading post is pretty easy to use for buying items. You can search for what you want, it gives you the lowest price available by default, and you hit buy:
You will have to actually got to a Black Lion Trading Post vendor to pick up any materials you have purchased, as well as to collect money from items you've sold.
The Crafting PanelTo learn a crafting discipline, you have to speak to a Master Crafter for the discipline you want to learn.
And voila, you've learned the discipline.
Then you go the crafting station, and the crafting panel will open up.
On the left hand column, you'll see the four panes available. The first is the discovery pane, which I will talk about later. The second, shown, is the production pane. This is where you will make any materials you already know how to craft. As you can see, I already have a default list of items that I know how to craft. If you notice the numbers next to some of the items, those indicate items I already have the materials ready for in my crafting storage.
The third is the bank pane, so I have access to anything in my storage. The fourth is my collectibles storage pane. This pane is where all of the crafting materials you've collected in the game are stored.
Back on the production pane, if you click on a recipe, it will tell you what materials you need to craft it. This particular one is one of the default recipes, and it shows the basic recipe for any piece of armor: two base components for the item, and an upgrade. Most recipes follow a similar structure.
If you look at the recipe for one of the components, you'll see we need raw materials, in this case a stretched rawhide leather square and jute thread.
So those materials are the ones you need first, some of which, like the stretched rawhide leather square need to be refined from your base crafting materials. I don't have a picture of this, but if you look at the production pane, you will see a category called "Refinement". To start, my leatherworker could craft bolts of jute and stretched rawhide leather squares.
The next item you need is an upgrade component, which in my case, was an insignia. Each upgrade component will require a special crafting material, such as a vial of thin blood or a tiny scale (like the one I purchased through the trading post). These are typically the most expensive materials to acquire if you need to purchase them, so it's wise to stock up on them as much as possible when you get them while adventuring.
DiscoveryTo learn new recipes, you have to discover them through the crafting pane. You will have access to all of the materials in your inventory and collectible storage that there are still recipes to learn for. If you place an item in the discovery pane, it will tell you how many more items you need to make something. If you get the right combination, as shown here, it will let you craft it.
And we've created something new!
This will give you a small chunk of experience, and the recipe will become available in your production pane. While crafting from your production pane grants experience, you will get the most experience discovering new recipes, so this is the most effective way to raise your crafting level.
Every 25 levels, new base crafting recipes and materials will become available for use. 5 levels prior to that, the new recipes will show up in your production pane in red.
The other colors indicate how much experience you will get from crafting that item. Gold recipes will give the most experience, whereas white or gray recipes will give no experience.
When you actually reach that 25th level, you will be able to craft the new recipe, which will open up new recipes to discover and continue gaining experience.
ResultsThe cool thing is that you can actually craft some fairly useful items. I was caught by surprise on my guardian when I realized the armor she was crafting was actually better than the armor she was using, and there are a bunch of other odd recipes that can come in handy, such as equipment bags. What's even better is that you can then sell the useful items on the trading post, sometimes for a nice chunk of change. Earlier today I sold some larger equipment boxes for about 20 silver each, and I've raked in as much as 40 silver selling masterwork armor pieces. Granted, some of them have inherent costs - I think I only netted about 6 silver on the boxes (the runes required can only be purchased and cost 14 silver), and because I purchased some of the materials for the masterwork armors, I think I only netted 16 silver. Of course, this just gives more impetus to gathering materials on your own. If I'd acquired all of the materials on my own, I would have netted the entire 40 silver for that masterwork armor. A point of caution on the trading post though, the trading post collects 15% of whatever you sell your items at for itself, so when selling items close to their merchant value, be aware that you might not be getting as much as you think.
As for my ranger, she now has a full set of armor. Unfortunately, she is level 3 and won't be able to wear it until she's level 10. In the mean time, it can sit in her inventory and wait. On top of the new equipment, she also gained an actual level in experience while crafting, so that's a nice bonus too. My mesmer actually gained two levels when I went on crafting spree earlier today - he finally was able to start using silver in his jewelry, which I've been stockpiling for the past month since my guardian doesn't use it.
Anyway, I hope this might be helpful to anyone who wants to start crafting. Overall I like the system a lot. It's definitely got rewards, and I always feel inclined to craft when I have the materials. The recipes get more complex as you advance, and there are recipes that you actually have the purchase with karma to learn. The other cool thing, though, is that your character level doesn't have to match your crafting level. My level 7 mesmer is crafting jewelry suitable for my level 45 guardian. Granted, my guardian collected most of the materials, but it's still pretty cool.
