Crafting and Gathering — EverQuest Guide

Master EverQuest's crafting by learning about Ore, Wood, and other gathering basics. Create powerful items and equip your party with top-tier gear.

EverQuest offers a rich and rewarding crafting system that allows players to create powerful items, useful consumables, and valuable trade goods. Mastering a trade skill can be a significant source of income and a way to equip yourself and your friends with top-tier gear. This section will guide you through the basics of gathering and crafting, providing actionable steps to get you started on your journey to becoming a master artisan.

Getting Started with Trade Skills

To begin crafting, you first need to choose a trade skill. Most major cities have trainers for various professions. Common starting locations include:

• Freeport: Head to the East Freeport area for access to numerous trainers and vendors.
• Qeynos: The North Qeynos and South Qeynos districts house several crafting halls.
• Neriak: Dark Elves can find trainers within the city's various tiers.

Speak to a Trade Skill Trainer to learn the basics of a profession. You'll typically start with a skill of 0 and need to purchase a basic crafting tool and some starting components.

Gathering Resources

Many crafting professions rely heavily on gathered resources. While some materials can be purchased from vendors, the most valuable and rare components often come from the world itself. Here’s how to get started:

Foraging

Foraging is a passive skill available to certain classes (e.g., Rangers, Druids, Bards). To forage, simply use the "Forage" ability while in an outdoor zone. You'll automatically attempt to find a random item from that zone's loot table every few minutes. Useful zones for early foraging include:

• Commonlands: Look for Roots, Berries, and other basic components.
• Greater Faydark: Similar to Commonlands, good for early alchemist and baker ingredients.

Harvesting (Specific to Trades)

Some trades have active harvesting components:

• Mining (Smithing): Requires a Pickaxe. Look for ore veins in mountainous or underground zones like Mines of Nurga or Crushbone. Early on, you can find small deposits in zones like Steamfont Mountains.
• Skinning (Tailoring/Tanning): Requires a Skinning Knife. Loot animal corpses for hides and pelts. Low-level animals in Lesser Faydark or Kithicor Forest are good starting points.

Crafting Walkthrough: Basic Smithing (Plate Armor)

Smithing is a popular and profitable trade skill. This walkthrough focuses on creating basic plate armor.

1. Learning the Skill

• Travel to a city with a Smithing trainer, such as Freeport.
• Locate the Smithing trainer (e.g., "A Smithing Trainer" in East Freeport).
• Hail the trainer and select the "Train" option to learn Smithing.

2. Acquiring Tools and Components

• Smithy Hammer: Purchase from a Smithing Supplies vendor (often near the trainer).
• Forge: Locate a public forge. Most crafting areas have one.
• Metal Bits: Start by crafting Metal Bits. You'll need Small Bricks of Ore. These can be purchased from vendors or mined in zones like Steamfont Mountains. Combine 2 Small Bricks of Ore in a forge with your Smithy Hammer to create 2 Metal Bits. Repeat until your skill is around 21.
• Sheet Metal: Once your skill is higher, combine 2 Metal Bits in a forge to create Sheet Metal. This will raise your skill further.

3. Crafting Small Plate Armor

To craft a piece of Small Plate Armor (e.g., Small Plate Bracer), you'll need:

• Small Plate Mold: Purchase from a Smithing Molds vendor.
• Sheet Metal: Crafted as described above.
• Water Flask: Purchase from a vendor.

Combine the Small Plate Mold, Sheet Metal, and Water Flask in a forge. This will be your primary method of skilling up Smithing into the higher levels. As your skill increases, you'll move on to Medium and Large Plate Molds, requiring more Sheet Metal per combine.

Advanced Crafting Tips

• Research Recipes: Many recipes are not taught by trainers. Consult online databases or other players for advanced recipes.
• Trophy Quests: Some trade skills have associated trophy quests that grant significant skill bonuses or unique items upon completion.
• Component Management: Keep your inventory organized. Create bank alts if necessary to store large quantities of crafting materials.
• Patience is Key: Crafting in EverQuest is a time-consuming endeavor. Don't get discouraged by failures; they are a natural part of the process.
• Guild Support: Join a guild! Many guilds have dedicated crafters who can offer advice, share resources, or even craft items for you.