Need help with smith and jewler please

[Androxine Vortex]

I just beat Diablo on Normal (Hooray!) with my lv 30 Witch Doctor. I want to get a better understanding of smithing/jewling (don't know the proper term)

I found a bunch of papers that I suppose are going to help lv up Haedrig (who is at lv1 right now) I see there are options to train and option to salvage. I have tried reading different guides on this but don't really understand it, same with the jewel cutter guy. Can anyone please give me a comprehensive yet newbie friendly guide to this please? Thanks



EDIT : I am playing on the ps3 if that matters

 

[InteNuIgen]

I can't speak for any differences between PC and PS3, but on PC it is as follows:

You need "Pages of Blacksmithing" and some gold to level up Haedrig.
When you have levelled him you get access to more crafting recipes.

Look here: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/item/page-of-training/

The concept is the same for the Jeweler, but you need "Pages of Jewelcrafting" instead.

The pages drop in Nightmare difficulty.

The Tomes of Blacksmithing/Jewelcrafting drop in Hell difficulty.

The "Tome of Secrets" drop in Inferno difficulty.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

I can't speak for any differences between PC and PS3, but on PC it is as follows:

You need "Pages of Blacksmithing" and some gold to level up Haedrig.
When you have levelled him you get access to more crafting recipes.

Look here: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/item/page-of-training/

The concept is the same for the Jeweler, but you need "Pages of Jewelcrafting" instead.

The pages drop in Nightmare difficulty.

The Tomes of Blacksmithing/Jewelcrafting drop in Hell difficulty.

The "Tome of Secrets" drop in Inferno difficulty.

1) Okay so I guess you give these pages to level them up but when I would go to the train option it just had 2 pictures of bracers and a cost to make them. I don't see an option to give him the pages.

2) And I suppose that salvaging goes like this : When you break down magic, rare, and legend items it gives you something that you need for him to use to craft new things? My question is when you have him craft things does it matter what magical properties were broken down or is it randomly generated?

3) Also, don't you need to find plans/blueprints for an item if you want him to make it?


I'm just trying to see if its worth it to train the smith or would I be better off just looting...

 

[HardRock]

Okay so I guess you give these pages to level them up but when I would go to the train option it just had 2 pictures of bracers and a cost to make them. I don't see an option to give him the pages.

I couldn't find a picture of the console crafting interface, but if you can then just press Train. Initially training only costs money. Pages and Tomes will be removed from you inventory automatically.

When you break down magic, rare, and legend items it gives you something that you need for him to use to craft new things?

Yep.

My question is when you have him craft things does it matter what magical properties were broken down or is it randomly generated?

Crafted items have completely random stats, with the exception of the Archon items. It doesn't matter what stats salvaged items had.

Also, don't you need to find plans/blueprints for an item if you want him to make it?

Artisans get many recipes during leveling. You only need plans for Legendary items, the 5 and 6 affix level 60 Rares and for the higher level Gems.

I'm just trying to see if its worth it to train the smith or would I be better off just looting...

It's worth leveling your artisans. The Jewelcrafter will be able upgrade your Gems and although the vast majority of your items will come from drops, the level 60 Archon recipes for the Blacksmith can be used to create the best items for certain slots.

 

[Apendecto]

The only thing worth crafting is the archon bracers, armor and shoulders, and razor spikes. Amulets can be worth crafting but as a self found pc player, it's very expensive. Your mileage may vary with the console.

 

[yovargas]

While leveling up self-found, crafting is extremely useful. It's much easier to get good mainstat+vit items from crafting than drops and pre-Hell, at least, those are about the only stats that ever mattered to me.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

I hear that a lot of players who use WD wear a full Zuni set rather than archon. How do you get a zuni set? Is it random drop or do you need to smith it?

I'm trying to figure out which dude I want to lv up right now! Apparently Shen can't add jewels to an item unless it already has a Socket which is really, really inconvenient. And the smith has some really nice stuff but it is going to cost a mountain of money and its not guaranteeing you will even get "good" gear due to randomized stats.

I'm again wondering if I really need to smith/craft/bedazzle my gear in order to survive inferno or would I be alright just finding random loot?

 

[InteNuIgen]

Zunimassa is a set and cannot be crafted.

There are some recipes to be found that allow you to craft legendary items though, but they are super-rare to find.
I have found a grand total of one (1) legendary recipe during my 1200 hours of play.

You don't NEED to level your artisans, but it will serve you very well.
For example, crafting a high level emerald will put a lot of extra dps in your (socketed) weapon.

(By the way, a ruby in the weapon gives you the most dps, but when you hit inferno and you find (or craft)
items with enough crit chance and crit damage, an emerald will outtower the ruby)

And as was stated, you can craft archon gear that is BiS.

Don't worry about the gold, you will find enough to level them, in time.

EDIT: To directly answer your question: No, you don't need to level them and yes, you can survive using regular drops but it will be more time-comsuming

 

[HardRock]

There are some recipes to be found that allow you to craft legendary items though, but they are super-rare to find. I have found a grand total of one (1) legendary recipe during my 1200 hours of play.

Keep in mind that Androxine is playing on the PS3, where the drops are very different compared to the PC. I don't know specifically about the drop rate of Legendary plans though.

a ruby in the weapon gives you the most dps, but when you hit inferno and you find (or craft) items with enough crit chance and crit damage, an emerald will outtower the ruby

Weapon type is a consideration as well. One-handed weapons (or more generally faster weapons) need more Critical chance for the Emerald to become the better choice. When in doubt, it's worth to do a direct comparison by socketing both and checking which one gives you more DPS.

To be sure, I'd like to mention here that you can unsocket gems with the Jeweler, but doing this is unnecessary when you want to salvage an item with a gem in it, because the salvage process will return the gem to your inventory.

 

[Elly]

http://www.diablowiki.net/Page_of_Blacksmithing

http://www.diablowiki.net/Page_of_Jewelcrafting

 

[Androxine Vortex]

Okay thanks for the help. A friend of mine donated a ton of gold to help me out so even just being on nightmare I have over 400,000 gold ive just been selling everything im not using so I might as well try to put something to use.

Does anyone have any suggestions for training them? Meaning which do you consider I should focus on most or should I train them both around same level?

Thanks again for the help I appreciate it!

 

[yovargas]

With that extra cash, you should have no problem leveling them both to max as you go along.

 

[HardRock]

Focus on the Blacksmith first. If you keep him trained you can supplement your drops with crafted gear of similar level. The Jewelcrafter is not very useful during leveling, because even though he allows you to improve your gems in my experience the benefit is pretty small. Usually by the time you'll craft 4-5 higher level gems that you can't find otherwise that level will start to drop anyway.

As Yovargas said though, with that money you can probably level them simultaneously without a worry.

 

[yovargas]

Yes, HR is right, if for reason you're short on cash, do the Blacksmith first. I'm leveling up a Barb right now and last night I more than doubled my DPS by crafting a couple nice swords.