What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?Charabis scoured developer interviews and forum posts to bring you this handy guide to some of the crafting sphere's most frequently asked questions. If you have other questions, please post them in our forum and we'll try to come up with an official answer.General Crafing QuestionsHow complex is the crafting system?The system is very involved, and will require both the character and player to be actively involved in the process. Strategy will be required to consistently produce the best items. Additionally, many finished products will require multiple crafters. Recruit your friends!Can items be customized?To an extent. There will be maker's marks implemented, although further details aren't yet available. You can also substitute certain actions in the process to get a different look, such as going to Qalia and learning how to make scimitar blades.Can I make masterpieces?The concept of masterpieces will exist in some fashion. Exactly how is not yet known.Will my chosen class affect what tradeskills I can learn?No. Classes will in no way limit what tradeskills you can learn.Will I need to have a certain combat level to achieve certain crafting levels?No. Each sphere is treated separately. In fact, a crafter never even has to leave town if he's willing to buy his supplies!How hard will it be to get crafting supplies?It depends on how many players are harvesting while they're adventuring, and bringing the supplies back to town to sell. If few adventurers are doing this, it will be much harder to get what you need to make the really good stuff.How do crafted items compare with looted items?They will be similar, but it will also take a similar amount of work to craft them as it would to go out and get them.What can I make besides tools and adventuring gear?Players will also be able to make vehicles and entire cities!Are there going to be crafting titles?Yes! There will be multiple ways of gaining these titles too.Can I be a cook?At the present time, crafting of food and drink is not planned.What about engineering/tinkering?This is also not planned at the current time.Tailoring?Yes! Tailoring will be in, and will include non-adventuring clothes. Anyone want to play dress up? :)Fishing?No. Fishing will not be part of the harvesting mechanism.How do I get new recipes?Discovery, experimentation, drops, and NPC trainers. Note that many of these sources are the only way to get the recipe. For example, some recipes will be be dropped only, and others will only be found through experimentation.Do I have to choose to adventure or craft exclusively?No. You can do all the spheres on a single character. Of course the more you are working on, the slower you'll progress in any given sphere.How different will my recipe book be from that of someone else at my level?The odds are that they'll be more different than you might think! There are multiple points where people will take different paths to recipe acquistion.What's to stop me from taking an item apart and putting it back together to skill?IF deconstruction is put in, you wouldn't gain any skill from doing this.How reliant will I be on other crafters to reach higher levels?While crafting valuable items will require the help of others, you can skill up to the highest levels of your trade alone if you wish.Do I have to go out to harvest resources for my crafting?Nope! You can buy them from other players if you wish, and many adventurers will come to you with the supplies needed to craft an item. You can also charge a fee for doing custom orders. Can I just craft a bunch of items and sell them to NPCs for a profit?No. Selling to NPCs is not something Vanguard is aiming for.Do items degrade with use?No.Do some items require components from creatures?Yes.Can I create my own workstations?Yes, although you should expect it to take some time and a lot of resources.Do I automatically gain recipes as I level?No. You have to go get each recipe you want.Can I name my own items I make?No.Can I organize my recipe book however I want?To an extent. There should be plenty of filters to allow you to organize it and access what you need easily. Sigil is also working on adding a notes section added to the book for you to write your own info.Will certain races be better at crafting some things?No class or racial bonuses to crafting are planned.Can I share my recipe book with my friend?No. Recipe sharing isn't going to be implemented. Gotta do your own work What will it take for me to get the best items in the game?Participation from all 3 spheres: adventuring, crafting, and diplomacy. Better have some friends or a lot of money.Can I get all my recipes through solo adventuring?No. Groups will be able to do much more as some of the places you'll need access to aren't solo-friendly.Can I die crafting?Not from the crafting process, although if you're using a workstation in a dangerous place, the surrounding creatures aren't obligated to leave you alone.Can I make my own shipyard?No.How many craftable items will there be?40,000 is the best quess at the present time. Still plenty for me!The Crafting ProcessDo I need materials other than what I can harvest?For some recipes you will need expendables such as flux and charcoal. These will be available from NPC vendors.What are the steps needed to make an item?Refining, finishing, and assembly.How do I make components?Proceed to an appropriate crafting station with materials in hand. Begin crafting, possibly paying a fee to use the crafting station. Perform the actions in the given order. Note that these are PARENT actions, which will each contain groups of available actions to the crafter and recipe.How long do I have to decide which action I want to take?Crafting is turn-based. Take all the time you need. Of course, if your'e sitting there thinking, the process is obviously on hold. Can I fail when making items?When assembling an item, no. However, when making the items you can if you run out of action points.What the heck are action points?Each recipe has a certain number of actions that must be completed in a particular order. Each of these actions takes points from the action point pool.How do I get action points?Each recipe comes with a pool of them that can be used each time you craft the item.What is Inspiration?Inspiration is gained based on how well you do during crafting. Inspiration is a pool that you can build up and use during the process, or use it to enhance your chances of successfully experimenting on an item.Is it smooth sailing when crafting, or are there problems that can crop up?There are problems that can occurr. Up to 3 of them can crop up while you're crafting, and which ones do happen isn't completely random. The problems are based on the crafting station you're using, its quality, the recipe, and the materials.How important are my tools?Crafters' tools will be every bit as important to a crafter as a sword is to a warrior. There will be crafters' tools that come with mods. Tools can be enhanced, much like an adventurer's weapons. While some of these can be crafted, some will have to be aquired in other ways. Also, certain qualities of tools will be required to perform some of the actions to make an item.Tools will also have tool charges. Certain actions use a number of these available charges. You can still use the tool once the charges are depleted, but the penalties for doing so keep getting worse.If I use different grades of items to make my finished product, what do I end up with?If you use Grade A hilt, Grade B sword blade, and grade C pommel, you'll get a final version of the item that is different than if you'd used all Grade A parts. More than that, Sigil isn't saying.Does where I craft the components for my finished item matter?Yes! Each type of crafting station can have it's own issues, as well as limitations on what it can and can't craft.How long does it take to craft a component?If not focusing on quality, maybe a minute, although the exact time is still in development.How successful can I be without assistance from other crafters?It depends on how you define success. Through the work order system, you'll be able to not only skill up, but make some money. It's possible to be successfull through the work order system, but the big bucks are in cooperation.Work order system?Vanguard NPC cities all need things. Thus, they need crafters to make them. Work orders will be posted based on those needs. You perform the work, and get paid. The items themselves are handled abstractly. In other words, you get credit for the work, but the items never hit your inventory. This provides a way for crafters to level and not worry about having to give away a ton of stuff, thus ruining the market for those who are actually trying to make money on the items. As an added bonus, as work orders are completed, more will pop up based on which ones are being filled, so there should always be a wide variety to choose from. There will also be group work orders available that will be more involved.How do I get the materials needed for the work orders?You use their supplies. Again, totally abstract. Can the city run out of supplies?Absolutely. This is when you'll start seeing work orders to restock the supplies. Once the supplies are sufficient again, the NPCs will go back to wanting items made from them. Supply and demand will be the key to the work order system.If two people are making parts for an item, do both need to be there for assembly?No. Your chosen trade determines what you can assemble. For instance, A blacksmith can put primarily metal weapons together, but won't be able to do much with a longbow.Can I make more than 1 item at a time?Yes, but it will affect your ability to produce a quality product. As an example, putting 20 copper ore into the process. Because of the quantity, the cost of each action is increased by a percentage, but action points for the recipe are NOT increased.When do I conduct experimentation on an item to try for a new recipe?After completion of a finishing recipe, but before assembly. Experimentation is done on parts, not entire, assembled items.The Crafting SkillsWhat are the crafting trades?ArtificerBlacksmith OutfitterEach trade also has two speciality trades within it.How many crafting skills can I master?Two. One of these will be your primary and allow you access to the advanced recipes. The other is your secondary, and allows access to only the basic recipes. Better than nothing :PDo gathering skills count against my two tradeskill limit for crafting?No. Crafting and gathering are treated separately.How difficult will it be to master my crafting skills?Crafting in Vanguard is meant to be as involved as adventuring, and will take a similar amount of time. Alas, there are no good estimates yet as to exactly how long that is.Am I going to have to craft the same things over and over to skill my crafting?Nope! Vanguard cities will need certain things that a lone crafter, or an entire group of them, can complete. These Work Orders will change based on what orders are getting completed, and will be handled abstractly. This means that no actual items will be created for the orders.How different will my recipe book be from every other crafters'?Many choices will affect the recipes you end up with. Because of this, picking a random crafter of the same type of you at random and examining his recipe book will likely yield very different recipe combinations.What if I decide I don't like the path I chose?Vanguard will give you the option of opting out of a path. You will lose all skills from that path, but will retain your crafting levels.