Tradeskill in EQ , are they related to your level ?

[shehab aldean]

my friend keep on buggin me to join them in EQII , i know i can't play like i used to play in EQI , not much of free time like i used to have , can't play 6 hours none stop ,,etc , so it would be hard to play the leveling game ( i don't think you can solo much in EQII ) so i was going to skip EQII

but one of my friend told me that you could carry on in tradeskill , and i could rake in skills , while others would be playing the leveling game

my question is

* can you increase your tradeskill without leveling much ? is skill in tradeskill realted to level ? ( as in can't get over A points unless you pass level B )

* are tradeskill items no drop ? i don't want to start tradeskill and get stuck because an item need a force of 500 people to camp a dragon for 20 days for a 1/1000 change drop

* are they usefull ? would people want a tradeskill master in a guild ?or they aren't that important or play any role

[Slyy Daugg]

Funny you ask, Shehab, because if you ask me right now is the perfect time to get ahead in tradeskills, imo, and that's exactly what I've been doing. I have a lvl 21 carpenter (artisan lvl) who is also a lvl 16 rogue (adventure lvl), and a lvl 19 scholar/lvl 15 sorceress. The last character is actually my wife's. Both of these characters are ranked #1 in their tradeskill societies as their main source of income is running tradeskill tasks for their societies. It seems not many have caught on to the fact that the 36 silver handed out for tier 2 tasks is more than enough to move on to a new task.

My reasoning behind artisan lvl over adventure lvl right now is this:

Right now it is possible to lvl up artisan lvls free of charge, and even at a slight profit, without even having to spend time trading to other players. I do not expect this advantage will continue indefinitely. If you can get to tier 2 gathering fast enough (right now there does seem to be a mad rush on tier 1 resources as people begin to realize the present advantage in artisan lvling, so pick a low population server), you will have plenty of resources to gather in teir two zones. There are areas in Antonica right now in which I am able to gather mass resources at will without any trouble, and in little time. An hour's worth of gathering will feed my tradeskilling for a long hardcore session of tradeskilling.

There are also certain player advantages in tradeskilling which *will* be fixed sometime in the future. I realize some of these advantages may be considered exploits, but it seems unlikely, given the widespread use of these *exploits* becoming pretty much the norm, that Sony intends to do anything but fix them as they can and forget about it.
I think of these advantages as a perk for getting in on the game early and making the most I can of what's not completely fleshed out.

SD

[Bayler]

In theory, tradeskill level is completely independent of adventurer level. However, the skills to gather raw materials from the wild are tied to your adventurer level, so you'll be relying on buying those from other players if you go full-tradeskiller. Also, the advanced recipe books are mob drops, so again, you'll need to buy them. Most materials seem to be plentiful, though.

The basic tradeskill recipes are built from bountiful materials. But there are some very rare ingredients that can be used to make better stuff. All of these rares come from harvesting - not fighting - as far as I know. But I'd bet that higher up there are some mob-dropped materials. For example, the basic tier-2 (levels 10-19) metal is iron; the rare is blackened iron. You can make nicer swords out of the latter, but they're not a huge seller. The basic gem is turqoise, and the rare is coral. You can make a better ring out of coral than turqoise, but you'd be stupid to do that, since you could instead use it for the ink for a super-improved spell or combat art. Those are in huge demand.

Tradeskills are useful, for sure. But right now the economy is young and its hard to find everything that you might want. This is especially true for the 3rd tier artisans who need goods from other artisans. It doesn't help that there's not enough stability to stay in trader mode overnight. =/

One final comment: you *can* solo in EQ2. In theory, any class can solo to 50. It's not as efficient or fun as in a group, and you probably won't get the best stuff. But coming from a EQ1 rogue perspective, soloing is very viable in EQ2.

[Axterix]

I believe the gathering skills is based on the highest of your adventuring or trade levels...or maybe just on what you choose when you talk to the banker after becoming a citizen. Of course, having a few adventure levels makes life easier with the gathering, especially in the early levels. Means less mobs attack you. Harvesting inside the newbie areas is much easier when you can run around freely, especially when you try to up trapping.

.