As a newer player, I don't know about recent patches and changes to the game. I read things about how crafting changed over the years. I'm conflicted on what I should really be focusing on, simply earning credits or leveling up my crafting skills?

 

What's the real deal with crafting to use VS crafting to sell VS gathering to sell?

 

1. What is crafting mostly used for these days?

• Is it only useful for end-game players? (and so leveling up during early levels is required)
  
• Is it useful for lower level players? (<75)
  
• Why choose Synthweaving and craft armor if I'm swapping out my armor constantly as I level up? (same for artifice and lightsabers, for example)
  

 

2. In my crafting menu, I can choose in the drop-down box to show ALL schematics, including those that I haven't learned yet. Are these truly ALL of them? I'm not really impressed by many of them. I got the impression that there are more schematics I could learn that will be added to this list, but they're hidden? (even when showing All)

 

3. For earning credits, I keep reading that simply picking 3 gathering skills and selling mats is the way to go. I also hear that crafting Biochem stims and adrenals and selling those are profitable. Is this true and accurate? If so, which stims and which adrenals? What other items can I craft that sell well? (and actually earn profit)

 

4. For how long should I run Crew skill gathering missions? (Slicing for example, or Bioanalysis) I keep reading that, eventually, you lose money on it, and should just simply pick up the nodes on the map. Higher-grade missions cost more than they pay out...is this true?

As a newer player, I don't know about recent patches and changes to the game. I read things about how crafting changed over the years. I'm conflicted on what I should really be focusing on, simply earning credits or leveling up my crafting skills?

 

What's the real deal with crafting to use VS crafting to sell VS gathering to sell?

 

1. What is crafting mostly used for these days?

• Is it only useful for end-game players? (and so leveling up during early levels is required)
  
• Is it useful for lower level players? (<75)
  
• Why choose Synthweaving and craft armor if I'm swapping out my armor constantly as I level up? (same for artifice and lightsabers, for example)
  

 

2. In my crafting menu, I can choose in the drop-down box to show ALL schematics, including those that I haven't learned yet. Are these truly ALL of them? I'm not really impressed by many of them. I got the impression that there are more schematics I could learn that will be added to this list, but they're hidden? (even when showing All)

 

3. For earning credits, I keep reading that simply picking 3 gathering skills and selling mats is the way to go. I also hear that crafting Biochem stims and adrenals and selling those are profitable. Is this true and accurate? If so, which stims and which adrenals? What other items can I craft that sell well? (and actually earn profit)

 

4. For how long should I run Crew skill gathering missions? (Slicing for example, or Bioanalysis) I keep reading that, eventually, you lose money on it, and should just simply pick up the nodes on the map. Higher-grade missions cost more than they pay out...is this true?

 

I'm sorry to say this, but the answers to the questions you're asking tend to be very subjective, so you're going to get all sorts of different opinions. Also, the server you're on plays a role in determining how you can best make a profit. For myself, I earn a much greater profit crafting and selling certain items than I ever could simply selling the mats required to craft those items. However, there are other items that are less profitable and therefore selling the mats for those items becomes the better option. Ultimately, no one can tell you what's best for you. If you want to use the GTN to earn credits through either crafting or selling mats (or both) you need to learn the markets on your server, find areas that are underserved but still in demand, and craft and sell those items. I've seen posts that say this market segment or that market segment is a complete waste of time, yet those are the very market segments where I make millions of credits per day, so take some time and investigate your options and you might discover something that's being overlooked. Also, it comes down to what's most fun for you and how much time you have. Selling mats is quicker because you simply gather and post them. Crafting adds additional steps to the process, and there is an initial start-up cost involved in learning the schematics, especially if you are going to try for deconstructing items to learn higher quality schematics. Those two factors are big part of why you'll see people post that gathering and selling mats is the way to go. Again, it depends on which mats, and what else you can do with them, and how saturated the market already is with sellers of those mats, etc.

 

1. Crafting can be useful for all levels of players. Again it comes down to differing opinions, but there are players out there who utilize crafting at all levels for different reasons. As for synthweaving, it can be purely cosmetic, or it can be due to certain items being available only through synthweaving, such as versatile armorings and specific types of augments.

 

2. Not sure which crafting menu you're looking at that's showing you all, but if it's what's available from the trainer, that's still a substantial amount, and it's only for that one crafting skill. If you're not impressed, then perhaps a different crafting skill would suit you better? Not sure where you get the impression there are hidden schematics, unless the list doesn't display the advanced profession schematics prior to someone purchasing it (I haven't tried to look and don't have time to check right now so I can't speak on that).

 

3. I think I've already addressed this to the extent that the answer is subjective and dependent on various factors so you're likely to get different answers from different people.

 

4. I haven't tested this personally but I also don't run the grade 11 missions because I refuse to pay 500k per skill, per character to unlock them.

1. What is crafting mostly used for these days?

• Is it only useful for end-game players? (and so leveling up during early levels is required)
  
• Is it useful for lower level players? (<75)
  
• Why choose Synthweaving and craft armor if I'm swapping out my armor constantly as I level up? (same for artifice and lightsabers, for example)
  

 

• Mostly endgame augments,augment kits, reuables, and consumables.
  
• conquest crafting (just crafting a tion of cheap junk fast for conquest points is still viable at lower levels, as is cosmetic items (mostly armors from synth and armormech, and dyes from artifice)
  
• for yourself? no reason... for cosmetic items (and the augments) is pretty much the only real reason
  

 

2. In my crafting menu, I can choose in the drop-down box to show ALL schematics, including those that I haven't learned yet. Are these truly ALL of them? I'm not really impressed by many of them. I got the impression that there are more schematics I could learn that will be added to this list, but they're hidden? (even when showing All)

No,, just the base versions of MOST of them. syth and armormech have some different appearance one that you can learn from deconstruction, artifice has a bunch of dyes you can learn from reputation vendors... and for the most part that's all you'll care about

 

3. For earning credits, I keep reading that simply picking 3 gathering skills and selling mats is the way to go. I also hear that crafting Biochem stims and adrenals and selling those are profitable. Is this true and accurate? If so, which stims and which adrenals? What other items can I craft that sell well? (and actually earn profit)

crafting for profit is all the items listed in the beginning of this post, maybe throw in some grenades that stun (popular with the pvp crowd and level doesn't matter much). check GTN for what stims and adrenals are popular

 

4. For how long should I run Crew skill gathering missions? (Slicing for example, or Bioanalysis) I keep reading that, eventually, you lose money on it, and should just simply pick up the nodes on the map. Higher-grade missions cost more than they pay out...is this true?

complete BS. the one materials missions that cost more than they are worth are grade 1-4 vendor mats (in general).... all the reast are worth more than they sell for, at every single grade. mostly you never want to run anything but rich/wealthy missions for grade 1-10 (here's a spreadsheet that gives relative cost/values of missions) Obviously harvested mats are even cheaper, since you pay nothing but time... but it's not something you can do in the backgroud, or offline.

 

Lockbox missions are the exception here, since you're just vendoring what's left... I wouldn't bother with the treasure hunting ones at all, but if you have max comps, then the slicing ones can yield mission discoveries which people pay far more than they're worth for.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Void_Singer

Lockbox missions are the exception here, since you're just vendoring what's left... I wouldn't bother with the treasure hunting ones at all, but if you have max comps, then the slicing ones can yield mission discoveries which people pay far more than they're worth for.

I disagree slightly. There's a small window when your first character first reaches level 75 where TH lockbox missions at grades 10 and 11 are useful - they drop gear pieces rated 270 to 276, and very rarely 278. When you're first starting on the gear treadmill, and especially if you can't stomach spamming Hammer Station *again*, they can provide some gear that's good for raising your initial Item Rating.

 

After that, I agree totally.

there's a different use for TH Lockboxes, but it's it's a bit like fishing in a sewer... they dropped leveled loot for the area they're opened in, if the box level matches.... which can sometimes get you rare world drop items.... but the amount of them you have to go through to get one is obscene.... I've gone through hundreds to get only 1 item before.