Crafting
Crafting is the process of gathering and refining resources in order to create a variety of useful items such as armour, class items, essences, jewellery, potions, and weapons depending on the crafting profession the player has chosen.
Getting Started
To start crafting, the player must complete the introduction and move out into the wider world. In various towns throughout Middle-earth, Masters or Mistresses of Apprentices will teach players crafting professions. The crafting system offers 10 professions, and each character can learn up to three of these. It is possible to purchase an additional craft slot from the LOTRO store for 995 LP per character. A profession determines the types of items the player can create, the recipes it can learn, the resources it can collect, and the crafting guild it can join.
Players may change a profession at any time by speaking to a Master or Mistress of Apprentices, however, they will lose all progress and recipes memorized in that profession and start the new profession from the beginning.
Suppliers, Novice-level Crafting Vendors and crafting facilities are usually near Masters and Mistresses of Apprentices. Suppliers and crafting vendors sell most of the items needed to begin crafting. All crafts require the correct tools, raw materials, and a workplace to execute a recipe. For instance, woodworking requires a set of woodworking tools, a supply of wood, and a workbench. Crafting facilities are found in many locations in most towns and can also be purchased and placed in player housing.
Professions
Main article: Profession
Professions are divided in two groups: gathering and crafting. Gathering professions harvest materials from the landscape and refine them into ingredients used by the other professions. For example, a Prospector harvests skarn from resource nodes and smelts it into ingots, which are then used by Jewellers, Metalsmiths and Weaponsmiths. Scholar is both a gathering and crafting profession as it harvests and processes its own ingredients into finished products.
Choosing a profession can benefit the player's class. The following tables show which classes benefit from the different professions.
Profession vs. Item Class
Profession | Armour | Weapon | Class-specific Items |
---|---|---|---|
Cook | N/A | N/A | Lore-master • Minstrel |
Jeweller | N/A | Rune-keeper | Brawler • Champion • Lore-master |
Metalsmith | Beorning • Brawler • Captain • Champion • Guardian • (Minstrel and Warden for shields) | N/A | Guardian • Rune-keeper |
Scholar | N/A | N/A | Captain • Champion • Hunter • Lore-master • Minstrel • Rune-keeper • Warden |
Tailor | Burglar • Hunter • Lore-master • Mariner • Minstrel • Rune-keeper • Warden | N/A | Burglar • Captain • Rune-keeper |
Weaponsmith | N/A | all except Lore-master and Rune-keeper | Burglar • Guardian • Warden |
Woodworker | N/A | all except Brawler, Mariner and Rune-keeper | Captain • Champion • Mariner • Minstrel • Rune-keeper • Warden |
Class vs. Item Class
Profession vs. Class
Profession | Beorning | Brawler | Burglar | Captain | Champion | Guardian | Hunter | Lore-master | Mariner | Minstrel | Rune-keeper | Warden |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cook | Food | Food | Food | Food | Food | Food | Food | Food | Food, CSI | Food, CSI | Food | Food |
Jeweller | Jewellery | Jewellery, CSI | Jewellery | Jewellery | Jewellery, CSI | Jewellery | Jewellery | Jewellery, CSI | Jewellery | Jewellery | Jewellery, Weapon | Jewellery |
Metalsmith | Armour | Armour | Armour | Armour | Armour, CSI | Shield | CSI | Shield | ||||
Scholar | Scrolls | Scrolls | Scrolls | Scrolls, CSI | Scrolls, CSI | Scrolls | Scrolls, CSI | Scrolls | Scrolls, CSI | Scrolls, CSI | Scrolls, CSI | Scrolls, CSI |
Tailor | Cloak | Cloak | Armour, Cloak, CSI | Cloak, CSI | Cloak | Cloak | Armour, Cloak | Armour, Cloak | Armour, Cloak | Armour, Cloak | Armour, Cloak, CSI | Armour, Cloak |
Weaponsmith | Weapon | Weapon | Weapon, CSI | Weapon | Weapon | Weapon, CSI | Weapon | Weapon | Weapon | Weapon, CSI | ||
Woodworker | Weapon, CSI | Weapon | Weapon, CSI | Weapon, CSI | Weapon | Weapon | Weapon | Weapon, CSI | CSI | Weapon, CSI |
CSI: Class-specific Item
Gathering resources
Main article: Resources
Crafting materials are found throughout Middle-earth from vendors, as loot drops, as resource nodes, in the assorted chests and crates around the world, and, later, in special Crafting Instances. Raw materials consist of ore, wood, hides, gems, seeds, cooking ingredients, dye components, and lore items.
Resource nodes
- Artifact nodes produce raw materials for Scholars and sometimes critical ingredients.
- Crop nodes that are found in the wild produce ingredients for Cook.
- Crop nodes planted by a Farmer in a Farmland produce crops and sometimes dye ingredients for Scholars and critical ingredients.
- Ore nodes produce raw ore and sometimes gems for Jewellers, dye ingredients for Scholars and critical ingredients.
- Wood nodes produce raw wood and sometimes critical ingredients.
Tracking skills
Upon learning a gathering profession, the player will learn a skill to track nearby resource nodes on the mini-map.
Other resource locations
- Hides are found as loot drops from many creatures.
- Seeds and cooking components can be purchased from Suppliers or tradesmen.
- Lore items are found as loot drops on humanoid enemies or in and around ruins inside ancient Artifacts.
- Rare items for high level crafting and single use recipes may be found in Farming fields as well as any appropriate level resource node. They may also drop from "Rare Elite" or "Rare Signature" creatures. See Crafting Rare Components
- Most crafting materials can also be found in chests on the landscape and in instances.
- Missions and delvings are another source of crafting materials. On a Mission (Weekly), On a Continuing Mission (Weekly), and Delve Deepest (Weekly) offer a selectable reward of a Bonus Crafting Materials Box, one of the subcomponents of which is a Crate of Crafting Materials, which provide a crafting resource of any type and any tier.
- Certain the Further Adventures of Bilbo Baggins missions contain Master (tier 5) resource nodes, regardless of the level of the player. Chapter 2 and Chapter 5 contain Lebethron branches and Dwarf-iron Ore nodes.
- Some boss chests for the Woe of the Willow and Agoroth, the Narrowdelve instances, drop a random crate of crafting materials, from which materials of any tier of the relevant crafting profession can be selected, even if the instance is set to minimum; level 20 for Woe of the Willow, or level 45 for Agoroth.
Crafting instances
Main article: Crafting Instances
Starting with Moria, crafting instances provide another way to gather resources. These instances feature a high concentration of resource nodes though usually accompanied by mobs. Additional crafting instances can be found in Hytbold, the Entwood, and Gundabad.
Some instances not designated as crafting instances may also be sources of crafting materials. For example, the wargs in the scalable instance Warg Pens drop hides for a crafting tier commensurate with the level at which the instance is set upon launch.
Recipes
The crafter must have learned the recipe for items it wants to craft. Recipes are either given automatically when achieving a crafting tier, purchased, dropped from mobs, or obtained as treasure.
Type of Recipe | Description |
---|---|
Basic | Each tier has a number of basic recipes that are provided for you once that tier is available. |
Vendor | Recipes can be purchased from a Novice or Expert profession NPC. |
Guild | Recipes can be purchased or bartered from the appropriate Guild Representative. |
Reputation | Recipes can be purchased from the certain faction representative. Recipe access and use is normally controlled by reputation Level. |
Dropped | Recipes can be obtained as loot from various creatures or from certain instance chests. |
Single use | Recipes that can only be crafted once and then it is removed from your recipe list. |
Quest | Certain quests require the use of a crafting recipe. If the player does not already have the recipe, the quest will usually bestow it. These are generally single-use and do not offer crafting XP. |
Processing | Processing recipes use a two-step-process to transform raw ingredients into an intermediate form and back again at the rate of half the input of the resource resulting primarily in Craft XP. |
Executing recipes
Executing a recipe requires the correct tools, raw materials, and a workplace. Completing a recipe can result in either a standard or critical success.
Ingredient Packs can take the place of a recipe's ingredients, however, items crafted with ingredient packs are Bound to Account. Ingredient packs are rewards for the crafting introduction quests, found in Hobbit Gifts, and purchased from the LOTRO Store.
Critical Successes
After gaining Proficiency in any tier of a crafting profession, each time you craft an item for that tier, you have the chance to receive a Critical success. This is commonly referred to as "to crit" or "critting"; the resulting product of such a success is often called a "crit item".
Types of Critical Success
There are two different outcomes when you critically succeed while crafting:
- Producing a larger number of items. Example: Normally Bronze Ingots produces two ingots at a time, but a critical success yields four ingots.
- Produce a better quality item with improved statistics. Example: A normal outcome is Leather Armour but a critical success gives Tough Leather Armour which has increased stats.
Notice that Weaponsmiths, Metalsmiths, Jewellers and Tailors also have a special feature attached to critical successes at Artisan level and above: they are given the option to Inscribe Item (allowing custom named items).
- Certain Guild Recipes are referred to as "Auto-Crits." These recipes can only generate the Critical Success outcome. They normally require a "Guild pattern" of some sort associated with that profession, as well as the same materials as required by the "normal" recipe, and are typically on Cool-down timers. They typically require a certain Guild Reputation level to acquire and execute. No "critical success bonus" is associated with these as the success rate is always 100%. Example: Item:Cloak of Théodred Recipe
- Similar to "Critical Successes" are Bulk Crafting Recipes available from Guild's "Improved Recipe" vendors and from the Skirmish Crafting Trader. These recipes allow the creation of multiple items at one time. Most are related to resource or component production. They typically require specific Mastery or Reputation levels. Examples: Item:Bulk Brushed Doomfold Leather Recipe, Bulk Tome of Wisdom Recipe
Achieving Critical Success
- Critical Success is governed by the laws of probability.
If a crafter is proficient in the crafting tier being used, and if the recipe allows critical success, the base chance of attaining a critical success is 5%. This base chance can be increased by using player-crafted Crafting Tools, special "mastery components", and Scholar-made crafting lore scrolls.
To see possible outcomes from critical successes, open a recipe in the crafting panel (at the page Critical success an example is included that illustrates this section). The lower area of the screen is commonly called the Mastery Component area. The special name of a critical success is displayed in this area, if one is possible. Hovering over the icon will display the improved stats and bonuses. Notice that if you have not yet attained proficiency for the tier of the recipe, the content of this area will be disabled.
The Mastery Component area of most recipes also displays a special ingredient slot for what is commonly called a "Mastery Component". If the crafter has the special ingredient available, he may select the "use" box and that way increase the likelihood for critical successes. In the example to the right Chunk of Crude Brimstone may be used. Single-use recipes usually require "crafting journals" crafted by scholars, e.g. Artisan Metalsmith's Journal rather than standard mastery components.
- One mastery components is used per craft attempt.
- Mastery components are optional; also crafting without them may yield a critical success.
- Standard Mastery components are random loot but Farmers may buy them from vendors.
- Not all recipes have an option for mastery components.
- The base chance stack with crit chance from crafting tool, mastery components, and scholar's lore.
- A critical success is never guaranteed as you may never reach 100% likelihood (except for Farmer fields).
- The percentage outcome of critical successes is generated per crafting attempt, not over a series of attempts, thus the mileage of a shorter crafting session may differ considerably. The average of longer sessions should be close to the expected likelihood. If a crafter, as in the example crafts 20 Items, that is 20 individual attempts!
At the page Critical success a hands-on example illustrates how the different improvements interact to a better likelihood for critical successes.
Crafting Facilities
Main article: Crafting Facility
Every profession has an appropriate place to actually do the work. The gathering professions, Scholars, Prospector and Forester, primarily harvest resource nodes, in the wild. Farmers grow resources in Farmlands, then process them at Workbenches. However once harvested, these resources must then be "refined" in the same Crafting Facility used to create crafted items.
The Cook and Scholar can craft certain items without a crafting facility.
Profession | Facility |
---|---|
Cook | Camp-fire • Oven |
Farmer | Farmlands • Workbench |
Jeweller | Workbench |
Metalsmith | Forge |
Scholar | Study |
Tailor | Workbench |
Weaponsmith | Forge |
Woodworker | Workbench |
Crafting Halls
Main article: Crafting Hall
There are many places found throughout Middle-earth where most crafting facilities are grouped up for convenience. These are often found within a Crafting Hall. Many of the larger cities and settlements have them.
Crafting Tools
Main article: Crafting Tools
Once you have spoken to a Master or Mistress of Apprentices and chosen your professions, they will give you a set set of inferior crafting tools. These can be immediately replaced with more durable tools from novice or expert crafting NPCs as well as suppliers.
Improved crafting tools and toolsets are crafted by Metalsmiths. For the gathering professions, these improved tools decrease the time necessary to gather a resource node". Higher ranked tools also provide an increase in the critical chance associated with their use.
Modifiable crafting tools were introduced with crafting events. These tools are upgraded with resources earned during the events. When upgrading, players first choose from a variety of appearances and the enhanced tools provide bonuses such as increased recipe critical chance, decreased gathering duration, and increased chance to find rare materials when gathering.
Crafting advancement
Tier Level | Proficiency | Points Needed | Mastery | Points Needed | Resources**(***) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Apprentice | 200 | Master Apprentice | 400 | 75(39) |
2 | Journeyman | 280 | Master Journeyman | 560 | 105(54) |
3 | Expert* | 360 | Master Expert | 720 | 135(69) |
4 | Artisan | 440 | Master Artisan | 880 | 165(84) |
5 | Master | 520 | Grand Master | 1,040 | 195(99) |
6 | Supreme | 600 | Supreme Master | 1,200 | 225(114) |
7 | Westfold | 680 | Westfold Master | 1,360 | 255(129) |
8 | Eastemnet | 760 | Eastemnet Master | 1,520 | 285(144) |
9 | Westemnet | 840 | Westemnet Master | 1,680 | 315(159) |
10 | Anórien | 840 | Anórien Master | 1,680 | 315(159) |
11 | Doomfold | 840 | Doomfold Master | 1,680 | 315(159) |
12 | Ironfold | 840 | Ironfold Master | 1,680 | 315(159) |
13 | Minas Ithil | 630 | Minas Ithil Master | 1,260 | ???(???) |
14 | <profession> of Gundabad | 630 | Master <profession> of Gundabad | 1,260 | ???(???) |
15 | <profession> of Umbar | 630 | Master <profession> of Umbar | 1,260 | ???(???) |
* Allows crafting guild access
** Resources refer to prepared resources needed to achieve mastery in a tier. For example: this would be ingots, not ore, boards, not wood, and leathers, not hides. Double this number if you are starting with ore/wood/hides/etc. It takes into account that most players want some resources left over after they have completed a crafting tier, therefore, with crafting XP scrolls and speed potions, this number can be considerably reduced, especially if leftovers are not desired. You would process half of this number into shavings (for example), and then return them to their intact state to complete a tier. You should expect considerable loss of resources whenever you use Processing.
|
Every time you complete a recipe, you gain Craft Experience Points (Craft XP) in the respective profession. You advance in a profession by gaining Craft XP.
Each profession is broken up into tiers, and each tier has two requirements furthering your progression towards the higher crafting tiers. See the table for requirement per tier. Each requirement you reach, you earn a new crafting title which provides new abilities.
Proficiency: Completing the Proficiency part of a tier (denoted with a bronze anvil) enables you to achieve critical successes while crafting items from that tier (see below), and, furthermore, it opens up the first part of the next tier, and for gathering professions it allows you to harvest nodes for the next tier.
Mastery: Completing the Mastery part of a tier (denoted with a gold anvil) enables you to begin earning mastery points of the next tier. Until Mastery is completed you can just earn crafting points to complete Proficiency of the next tier, but not any further. Once Master of a tier you do not earn any more crafting points from crafting items of that tier. Critical success on a tier requires Mastery of all previous tiers.
The following explains the four levels of crafting progress per tier:
Crafting Guilds
Main article: Crafting Guild
Crafting Guilds provide additional paths of advancement for the crafting professions. Crafters can join a guild after advancing to Expert (tier 3) in a profession. Farmer, Forester and Prospector do not have a crafting guild.
Crafting guilds offer improved recipes which produce slightly better items than most other recipes of the same tier with critical success. While levelling, this is typically the best armour, weapon, and jewellery available.
Players advance with crafting guilds by using crafted reputation items. At higher reputation levels, better recipes become available.
Guild Halls
Crafting Guild Halls can be found in the following locations around Middle-earth.
Guild Name | Location | Region |
---|---|---|
Cook's Guild | Michel Delving's Craft-fair | The Shire |
Weaponsmith's Guild | Thorin's Hall - The Forging Hall | Ered Luin |
Metalsmith's Guild | Thorin's Hall - The Forging Hall | Ered Luin |
Scholar's Guild | The Last Homely House in Rivendell | Trollshaws |
Tailor's Guild | Craft-hall of Esteldín | North Downs |
Jeweller's Guild | Craft-hall of Esteldín | North Downs |
Woodworker's Guild | Craft-hall of Esteldín | North Downs |
All crafting guilds | Galtrev | Dunland |
All crafting guilds | Snowbourn | Sutcrofts |
All crafting guilds | Aldburg | West Rohan |
All crafting guilds | Dol Amroth | Western Gondor |
All crafting guilds | Minas Tirith | Old Anórien |
All crafting guilds | Minas Tirith (After-battle) | Anórien (After Battle) |
All crafting guilds | Minas Tirith (Midsummer) | Anórien (After Battle) |
All crafting guilds | Dale | Eryn Lasgalen and the Dale-lands |
All crafting guilds | Estolad Lân | Morgul Vale |
All crafting guilds | Dol Amroth | King's Gondor |
All crafting guilds | Umbar Baharbêl | Cape of Umbar |
See also
Crafting pages
Guides to Crafting Masteries
| ||
---|---|---|
Cook • Farmer • Forester • Jeweller • Metalsmith • Prospector • Scholar • Tailor • Weaponsmith • Woodworker |
Crafting Guilds
Crafting Guilds
| ||
---|---|---|
Cook • Jeweller • Metalsmith • Scholar • Tailor • Weaponsmith • Woodworker
Umbar Crafting Guilds: Cook • Jeweller • Metalsmith • Scholar • Tailor • Weaponsmith • Woodworker |
Recipes
Cook Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Farmer Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Forester Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Jeweller Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Metalsmith Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Prospector Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Scholar Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Tailor Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Weaponsmith Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Woodworker Recipe Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Apprentice • Journeyman • Expert • Artisan • Master • Supreme • Westfold • Eastemnet • Westemnet • Anórien • Doomfold • Ironfold • Minas Ithil • Gundabad • Umbar |
Items
Master Item Index • Armour Index • Weapons Index • Jewellery Index
| ||
---|---|---|
Essences: | 41-50 • 51-60 • 61-70 • 71-80 • 81-90 • 91-100 • 101-110 • 111-120 • 121-130 • 131-140 • 141-150 • Class-specific • PvMP | |
Consumables: | Morale Potions • Power Potions • Curative Potions • Carnival Food • Cooked Food • Fortifying Food • Special Food • Trail Food • Hope Tokens • Battle Lore • Oils • Shield-spikes • Beverages • Fine Drinks • Strong Drinks • Pipe-weed • Camp-fire Kits | |
Class Items: | Beorning • Brawler • Burglar • Captain • Champion • Guardian • Hunter • Lore-master • Mariner • Minstrel • Rune-keeper • Warden | |
Legendary Items: | Legendary Items • Heraldric Traceries • Word of Craft Traceries • Word of Power Traceries Word of Mastery Traceries: Beorning • Brawler • Burglar • Captain • Champion • Guardian • Hunter • Lore-master • Mariner • Minstrel • Rune-keeper • Warden |
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Crafting Items: | Crafting Tools • Crafting Lore • Crafting Journals • Mastery Components |