Crafting

[LordCove]

I just need to check.

Is there an easier way to learn and gain Craft XP in smelting.
I am trying fletching, and of course, I have to get the Copper ore, which is hard enough from the Goblin Caves. Then I have to smelt it. And at the percentage of success, and difficulty of getting more ore, its going to take me ages. And I cant seem to find a easier way to practice Smelting other than grabbing the Copper ore from the caves.

I just need to check, is that the base of training for smelting? Getting copper ore and making ingots?

Thanks

[Stranzini]

Its the only way I know - if you have failures at your arrowheads and recycle your mangled copper, that also gets you a little progress when you are successful.

So, get copper ore, try to smelt it, try to make arrowheads from what you succeed in smelting, recycle your failures from arrowhead making until your out of copper, and then go get more ore.

And have fun... Whistle while you work!

[Faldred]

Smelting and metal crafting takes a lot of early work to get anything useful.  Once it starts, though, it gets better rapidly, I'm noticing.  Make sure you recycle failures... not only will it get you (a small amount of) extra smelting XP, it can increase your crafting attempts.

The only other way to gain smelting experience, as far as I know, is to try to make charcoal from hickory branches, but you actually need a fair amount of smelting experience to be able to do that, so I don't think it helps you.

On a slightly unrelated note... why don't jewelry crafting failures produce mangled metal?    

[Faldred]

Of course, your other option is to not bother with mining/smelting/tinkering at all, but making friends (or at least a business relationship) with someone who does do that sort of thing.  Such a friend will likely want to use your wood crafting expertise to get shafts for weapon making...