Returning player: what tradeskill to pick?

[FuriCuri]

<p>Hello everyone.</p><p>I've just returned to playing EQ2 and decided to give Troubadour a shot.</p><p>I don't know much about recent tradeskill changes and so I've decided to ask community to help me choose the tradeskill profession that will suits my troubadour the best. Back from 2007 I've managed to save about 19 plat so I can buy some parts of equipment if needed. Also I have good collection T1-T4 mats of all kind (including rares).</p><p>I'm mostly solo but I picked up this class with expectation to be invited in group/raids later on.</p>

[Mytilma]

Depends a bit what support you want from the crafting. If you want to make your own spells, choose Jeweler. However, after a while you will notice, that to level up you need nothing better than Adept I, which you can buy off the broker. At the level cap it's a nice thing to be able to make your Adept III base before you go for Masters, but then, it's really not worth to drag a crafter through 80 levels just for that, might as well tip an established crafter. Armorer and weaponsmith aren't that good IMO, there's no lack of good equipment in the high level expansions. If you want to make money, consumables and adornments are a much better choice. Nobody at the level cap cares about mastercrafted armor, weapons or jewelry. Food and drink you'll always need, as well as do others, so Provisioner might be a good choice. Not only thinking of the basic food here, but also about making short duration tank and dps snacks for raiders, which you can use yourself and/or sell to others, there seems to be always a market. Alchemist is another good choice, especially if you want to raid (which probably is the only reason to roll a troub; groups prefer dirges). TSO is a curefest and cure potions for everyone are a must, as well as heals and power regeneration. If you love crafting and are ready to put some resources into it, choosing Transmuter or Tinkerer as second profession might be for you. Every group loves to have a muter to deal with the crap loot. It's really up to you, what you want.

[FuriCuri]

<p>Thanks for advice.</p><p>You said about armorer/weaponsmith/jeweler is not worth for hi-end. But are they good for leveling? If I remember correctly it can cost a lot of money to be in all MC gear to level faster, right?</p><p>PS: and that "groups prefer dirges" sadden me.  I thought I pick rare support class and I will be in demand in groups... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Mytilma]

<p><cite>FuriCuri wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Thanks for advice.</p><p>You said about armorer/weaponsmith/jeweler is not worth for hi-end. But are they good for leveling? If I remember correctly it can cost a lot of money to be in all MC gear to level faster, right?</p></blockquote><p>MC gear while leveling is mainly for people who want to take on heroic content solo, which is out of question for you anyway. And "normal" solo leveling goes fast enough without MC gear. When I leveled up my brand new troubie 1.5 years ago, no tier lasted longer than a week, at most 10 days, up to level 62 (where I bought my first set of MC gear). It would have been a gigantic waste of time and resources to level up a crafter just to provide me with gear which I, realistically, don't even really need.</p><p>Besides, money is easy to come by in this game, and rares drop significantly more often than they used on release. Just harvest the rares yourself if you really want MC stuff. Coughing up a 1-2pp as tip for established crafters for a full set of everything (armor, weapons, jewelry) is possible at every tier.</p><p><cite>FuriCuri wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>PS: and that "groups prefer dirges" sadden me.  I thought I pick rare support class and I will be in demand in groups... <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>Troubs excel as caster buffers, Dirges buff melee and healers. Every group has meleers and healers. Not every group has casters, at least enough of them to justify a troubie. That simple.</p><p>I'm getting invites for PUGs only if there is no dirge available, and since they're a dime a dozen, that reduces my chances to odd times. If you want groups, join a group friendly guild. I group 90% with guildies.</p><p>Troubies, as it stands, are mostly a raiding class. Every raid wants one, or even two.</p>

[Mytilma]

By the way, I am not trying to talk you into choosing another class. Please keep that in mind. If you consider yourself a good player, by all means stick with troubador. Good, raid worthy troubie mains are a rare asset, and as mentioned, raiding guilds need them and will do everything to keep them happy. Most of the other troubies running around are alts. You will find PUGs too if you are looking hard enough. It's just not as easy as for our class counterparts. I remember I was invited (even without /lfg which I rarely bother to do) into a PUG lately. Pally, defiler, illu, wiz, lock, troub, from 6 different guilds. This group was simply the bomb.

[FuriCuri]

<p>Thank you <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Inggy]

<p><cite>Jhandiira@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>You will find PUGs too if you are looking hard enough. It's just not as easy as for our class counterparts. I remember I was invited (even without /lfg which I rarely bother to do) into a PUG lately. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Pally, defiler, illu, wiz, lock, troub</span>, from 6 different guilds. This group was simply the bomb. </blockquote><p>Yep Troubs are a good match for Crusaders, not so good for Warriors.  When I'm LFG my preference is towards Crusaders.  Troubs can get them to push some good numbers providing they know how to play.</p><p>Personally I usually find LFG a hit or miss most evenings when I'm not raiding.  Some nights not an issue others I log to an alt.  I'm leveling a Dirge now as a play toon we'll see who get more invites....I'm betting on the Dirge.</p><p>Either way I find the Troub an interesting and fun class to play even if Bards in general are not going to solo ^^^ routinely, unlike some of my other toons.</p>

[Pendant]

<p><cite>FuriCuri wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>PS: and that "groups prefer dirges" sadden me.  I thought I pick rare support class and I will be in demand in groups... <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></blockquote><p>The common wisdom is that dirges are 'better at melee than troubs.'</p><p>If you look at the numbers, this may be so.</p><p>I don't look at numbers, I'm more interested in who's driving the toon.</p><p>I think that a group of six troubadours would be a lot of fun <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Getting back to your original question; my advice FWIW is to pick the tradeskill class/sub-class you think you'll have fun with. These days, it's possible to change to another class if you think you've 'made a mistake' (however you may personally define that).</p>