Is it necessary to be an chemist as Swashbuckler?

[orgchem]

This is basically my first character, and I'm really enjoying him.  I started leveling up my tradeskill in chemistry so I could make poisons, but is this really necessary?  I don't really enjoy it at all, so is it possible to just buy the poisons off the broker or is it too expensive?

 It's not necessary to do a tradeskill is it?

 Thanks!

[TheFitz]

With my lvl 38 Brigand I have been leveling up Jewelcrafting. As long as you keep it equal or higher than your adventure level you can make all your Adept 3's when you level. I buy my poisons off the broker. So far I've saved alot of money on Adept 3's and have only spent a comparitvely negligible amount on poisons.

[adamflanagan]

its not necessary at all but it can be a nice way to reduce your costs

[Ookami-san]

Alchemist is THE best choice for swashy.  While it's nice to make your own CAs... that's really a one time expense.  Poisons will cost you a TON in the long run... especially if you go down the potency line.  Not only that, but you can also make/sell fighter CAs... potions... etc. to make extra money.

I have one of each TSer... and if I didn't have my alchemist... I'd be spending a TON on money on poisons, potions, etc.

[Sugaru]

The more platinum that I invest into Alchemy the less sure I become of this statement.  Even at artisan level 53 materials are becoming quite costly, which is exacerbated by the fact that I skilled my gathering long ago and have no intentions of grinding low level harvestables.  Expect to pay substantial platinum, and time, in making your way to 80.  A more responsible approach, and one more in line with the spirit (IMHO) of tradeskills, is to find a maxxed artisan friend or guildmate and employ their skill: you will get your poison at a substantial discount, and they will make money while helping a friend.

[adamflanagan]

Sugaruss wrote:

The more platinum that I invest into Alchemy the less sure I become of this statement.  Even at artisan level 53 materials are becoming quite costly, which is exacerbated by the fact that I skilled my gathering long ago and have no intentions of grinding low level harvestables.  Expect to pay substantial platinum, and time, in making your way to 80.  A more responsible approach, and one more in line with the spirit (IMHO) of tradeskills, is to find a maxxed artisan friend or guildmate and employ their skill: you will get your poison at a substantial discount, and they will make money while helping a friend.

I don't know what its like on other servers but on Splitpaw T6 raws are rediculously expensive, especially roots. T7 and T8 are fairly cheap as there are a lot of people still harvesting in these zones so you'll just need to push through.

[liveja]

I could save a lot of money if I were to take up Alchemy.

However, I loathe crafting. Always have, always will.

Sooooo, I ask myself: is the amount of money I'll save, equal to or greater than the sheer boredom of crafting? & so far, the answer has always been an emphatic NO.

YMMV.

[RingleToo]

You might give thought to Swashy/Jeweler combo. Not only are you able to make your own adepts, but you also get the rare powders. Since I make my own adept III's as well as make them for others, I'm able to get the powder which I then give to the alchemist in our guild to make poisons for me. You have to find rares for your own adepts, obviously, but otherwise the rares are brought to you.

It helps if you're in a good guild where you have the opportunity to make a lot of adept III's but certainly not necessary. I've accumulated a fair amount of T7 scintillating powder, because I charge very little (cost of fuel) to make adept III's.

[TheSpin]

Just for a little perspective...

In T8 I spend about 40-50 gold for a full stack of 20 potions.  These potions can last me anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or so depending on how much pure attacking I'm doing versus questing etc.  This is as a brigand and not a swash so it might be even faster on a swash.

When raiding I keep 3 poisons going at a time and have to reapply quite a bit.  I'd guess it comes out to at least a plat's worth of poisons for a week of raiding.

That all being said....the average quest reward is 20-30 gold or more and I can easily make 3-4 plat during a day of questing.  So ultimately you won't go broke from poison but it is a real expense to consider.

[Ookami-san]

Having one of each crafter, I can tell you... the only crafter that exceeds my alchemist in making money is my provisioner.  The money to grind will definately be EASILY made up.  Rare poisons and rare potions bring in ALOT of cash... especially on Fridays and Saturdays where everyone is stocking up on potions for raids.

Once T8 raiding starts en mass, the money will flow.  Keep in mind, the BEST way to level up a crafter at this time is by doing writs.  With high level T8 rush writs I make 12gp in 6-7 minutes.... and get status.

[b0nehead]

Ookami-san wrote:

Having one of each crafter, I can tell you... the only crafter that exceeds my alchemist in making money is my provisioner.  The money to grind will definately be EASILY made up.  Rare poisons and rare potions bring in ALOT of cash... especially on Fridays and Saturdays where everyone is stocking up on potions for raids.

Once T8 raiding starts en mass, the money will flow.  Keep in mind, the BEST way to level up a crafter at this time is by doing writs.  With high level T8 rush writs I make 12gp in 6-7 minutes.... and get status.

I agree. The money saved by choosing jeweler, for example (for your own A3's), is nothing compared to what you will make as an alchy - T9 is a loooooong way away and master's may drop in that time but poisons and potions will remain the same. Not only are you freeing yourself from random prices for the potions you want but whenever you need to you can make nice money for whatever you need.

 Levelling is very, very easy (along with jeweler and sage) compared to most other classes and, as the guy above pointed out, you are making consumables, so there is always a market. kinda like dentists and undertakers, people will always need them

If you hate crafting (and I'm not really in to it either) it's one of the easier options. The only warning I would give is that it's a very competitive market - you'll need to keep your eye on prices quite often.

[Ookami-san]

And if you REALLY, REALLY hate crafting... there are a few options... and their downsides...

1) Find a bot

Positive - set it up and let it craft while you watch re-runs of Futurama

Negative - will get you banned

2) Have children and make them craft

Positive - nothing beats cheap child labor, plus... they're learning a skill

Negative - VERY expensive option, plus... it takes 3-4 years to get them to the point where they can do it

3) Get a Russian Bride and have her craft

Positive - not only can she craft, but she might be able to clean the house and make you food and provide...um... other services

Negative - Just remember to have a prenump and divorce her before the 4 year mark so she gets deported

Bonus - If you time it right, you can end option #3 and start option #2 if you don't use birth control...

4) Train your pet

Positive - There's nothing like having the dog or cat earn its keep by crafting in EQ2

Negative - Once they learn how to use the computer, nothing's to stop them from figuring out how to order pet treats, new toys or a pizza while you're at work

5) Use Illegal Immigrant Labor

Positive - They're generally hard workers and work cheap

Negative - With all the new immigration laws, you're on shaky ground by using illegal labor - and if they end up sending that money to some sort of terror organization, you've just bought a one way ticket to guantanamo bay - where they've replaced water boarding with having to play WoW.... NOOOOO!!!

[Stabbath]

I started, stopped, then picked it back up again. Poison is expensive, plus there are handy potions that help, especially in pvp, so I picked alch back up again. I'm 75 though. Jewelcrafting is great for leveling. If only they made our runes part of alch.

[ShadowSoul22]

Ookami-san wrote:

And if you REALLY, REALLY hate crafting... there are a few options... and their downsides...

1) Find a bot

Positive - set it up and let it craft while you watch re-runs of Futurama

Negative - will get you banned

2) Have children and make them craft

Positive - nothing beats cheap child labor, plus... they're learning a skill

Negative - VERY expensive option, plus... it takes 3-4 years to get them to the point where they can do it

3) Get a Russian Bride and have her craft

Positive - not only can she craft, but she might be able to clean the house and make you food and provide...um... other services

Negative - Just remember to have a prenump and divorce her before the 4 year mark so she gets deported

Bonus - If you time it right, you can end option #3 and start option #2 if you don't use birth control...

4) Train your pet

Positive - There's nothing like having the dog or cat earn its keep by crafting in EQ2

Negative - Once they learn how to use the computer, nothing's to stop them from figuring out how to order pet treats, new toys or a pizza while you're at work

5) Use Illegal Immigrant Labor

Positive - They're generally hard workers and work cheap

Negative - With all the new immigration laws, you're on shaky ground by using illegal labor - and if they end up sending that money to some sort of terror organization, you've just bought a one way ticket to guantanamo bay - where they've replaced water boarding with having to play WoW.... NOOOOO!!!

you just made my day, hehehehe!!!ontopic: if anything you should start alchemist.. as said, you'll spend tons of plat on poisons n stuff (unless you have a raidforce alchemist who does it for fuelcost only ^^ )

[Ujina]

My swash is carpenter but one of my toon is a high level alchemist Alchemist is really nice, you get poisons for cheap, you can also get the nice critic or stat potions, etc...If you want cheap ad3, get a jeweler friend or level a jeweler toon, i get my ad3 from guildmates and they only ask the fuel cost for T8.