Crafting is one of the most rewarding and immersive activities players of Ashes of Creation can participate in. Crafting drives the game’s player-run economy and allows the players who fuel the economy to experience meaningful progression. Crafting in most other MMOs is boring and a meaningless side activity that most players try to avoid.
While exploring the dynamic world of Verra, players will interact with the crafting system, the Ashes of Creation boost, and advanced resources. Crafting is both a strategy, and system, and a skill. Players will collect and refine materials to create meaningful items that will enhance their combat, housing, commerce, and political powers. The system is complex and overwhelming at first, but with the right guidance, crafting will help players flourish.
What is crafting in Ashes of Creation?
Crafting in Ashes of Creation is more complicated than in most other MMORPGs due to the economic and crafting nodes that are present within the game world. Other MMORPGs often have crafting as a small, gamified mechanic that entries a player can do frequently, but in Ashes of Creation, each player has to pick a crafting discipline and then do things like combat and resource-gathering to make the range of things that can be made, from health potions to armor to siege engines.
Crafting is one of the most important things that a player can do, and is needed whether a player is participating in PvE or PvP. Players will find that they must progress to the end of the game, as a defense to do more than PvE kill of the end game bosses, and a player must progress, forcing them to spec their skills. Your choice to craft weapons or consumables for your guild changes the whole experience of the game for you and those around you.
Choosing a crafting discipline
There are several crafting disciplines, so you will want to choose the one that aligns with your playstyle the most.
| Crafting Discipline | What It Produces | Best For |
| Blacksmithing | Armor, weapons, tools | PvE / PvP fighters |
| Alchemy | Potions, elixirs | Support and utility |
| Engineering | Gadgets, siege, mining tools | Siege and resource control |
| Tailoring | Cloth armor, backpacks | Support or hybrid builds |
| Cooking | Food buffs and consumables | Group support |
| Furnishing | Housing items | Social and economic play |
Understand the Nodes and Their Importance
Nodes are the focus of the crafting experience. Each node type varies in resource, value, and resource tiers: Forest, Mountain, Grassland, Swamp, etc. Nodes containing a resource type or tier desired by a user are to be harvested based on the node’s level. When player interactions increase, nodes level up.
Nodes have different stages: Hamlet, Village, Town, City, and Metropolis. Each stage has different crafting schematics, and the resource nodes also improve. As you interact with a node, the node grows, and you unlock better rewards for everyone involved.
Start making connections with the nodes that give you materials related to your trade. For example, if you are a Blacksmith, target Mountain and Forest nodes in the early game. If you need herbs for Alchemy, check out the Swamp and Grassland nodes for valuable herbs.
1. Gathering: The Heart and Soul of Crafting
Gathering is a separate skill that impacts your ability to obtain the raw materials. New players should prioritize investing early points into gathering. More efficient tool usage means resource gathering will be more efficient. Your gathering tools will need to be repaired often to prevent slower yields and breakages mid-harvest. As a new player, be careful when accessing some valuable resources where stronger enemies might be hanging around.
2. Crafting Stations: How and Where to Craft
Crafting stations are found in multiple places around the world, and to craft anything, you must visit the appropriate stations. Certain crafting stations are only obtainable in player-built structures or higher stage nodes, as some of the more advanced stations are only found in higher stage nodes.
3. Crafting skill progression and mastery
Progression for these crafting skills goes beyond just making the items. You’ll spend skill points on different research trees that enhance yield, speed, durability, and whichever other parameters that add to your overall efficiency. Decide if you want a specialized tree for rare items or a more versatile option that can craft a lot of different items.
4. Crafting Economy: Trade and Market Strategy
Most of the items crafted in the game have to be purchased from the game’s economy. To be successful in the crafting game, one must study and understand the trends in the market and the overall demands of the market.
Keep a close eye on the value of items at the major trade hubs in the game. Items like potions, kits for repairing, and simple sets of armor have a steady sales record. Sell these items to the merchants to whom you have access. Players also sell transport, city trade access, so you can make a decent profit.
Some players are dedicated to crafting for profit, while others avoid this practice to sell for guild support and friend support. There are no right or wrong answers to this, but being educated on the value of the items in the market streamlines your crafting goals.
Advanced Crafting Concepts
After completing the basic level of crafting, the following classes lead to more advanced mechanics. These are more complex systems of the game.
- Item quality tiers: Higher quality items offer better stats but require more rare and often more time-intensive materials.
- Soulbound components: A recipe, or some crafting materials, will soulbind to your character. This will significantly reduce your ability to actually trade the materials.
- Research trees: These create more in-depth specializations within crafting, giving some unique abilities and efficiencies.
Rich systems like these are designed to reward the player for long-term investment and strategic player choice. This is to ensure that crafting remains engaging at high levels of play.
Example Crafting Workflow
Each game is more unique than the last, and the way you play will also be unique. Still, the following example is a routine that a beginner Blacksmith may want to try to develop.
- Go to a Forest or Mountain node with a lot of players.
- Collect a variety of base materials like ore and wood.
- Go to a crafting station and queue some basic weapons and tools that you will craft.
- Make your items until you gain some skill points.
Go back to harvesting to gain more materials, or move to a different node that has a different variety of materials 6. Trade with other players or sell extra goods at a market in a closeby town.
Noding, resource gathering, and economic integration are the crux of crafting success.
Common Errors
Here are the common errors new players make:
- Neglecting node resource integration with resource tiers.
- Crafting high-level items and not understanding the station requirements.
- Crafting items and lacking the gatherer skill.
- Overpricing items.
- Tool upgrades are not a consideration.
Accelerating mastery and crafting success involves avoiding these problems.
Final Thoughts
It’s both a rewarding and strategic system of crafting in Ashes of Creation. It is not a side system. It’s a vital and central system to the economy and survival of these worlds. Excellent node system utilization, gathering and crafting systems, and discipline selection are the foundational systems to start with. Recipe planning, market system utilization, and teamwork are major systems of crafting. Your skills will progress, and the potential of your entire server will be a result of your skills.
FAQs
Do I need to pick only one crafting discipline?
No. You can learn multiple crafting skills; however, specializing in one will offer better progress sooner.
How important are gathering skills?
Very important. You will need gathering skills to be able to collect the right materials needed for high-level crafting.
Can crafted items be traded with other players?
Yes, crafted items can almost always be traded, allowing for a player-driven economy.
Do crafting nodes regenerate resources?
Yes. Nodes will refresh after a certain amount of time. However, higher-tier nodes will offer better materials and will regenerate more often.
Is crafting necessary for end-game?
Yes, crafting is important for end-game gear, end-game consumables, and for the economy.
