I just started playing probably a month or so ago, and i got into the 'weaponmaker' profession. On the woodworking craft tab, it says i need planks of wood to be able to practice that craft. Where do I find these wood planks? Also, I've seen in the AH that I can buy bows and other items I can buy bows made by other players that are tons better than what I can make that are the same level requirements. What else is there that I haven't figured out about the crafting panel?
Hello, Armsman is kind of frustrating in that you cannot gather your own wood. You can ore, but that's relatively cheaper. You can buy it in the AH, but I started a second character with the profession explorer to gather wood and make armor. So long as neither character wears heavy armor, you may find the two professions quite complimentary.
To get new recipes, you can talk to the woodworker NPC's in the crafting hall and purchase them. Recipes are also available in the AH, usually single use recipes that are more powerful per level than repeatables. However, single use also require expensive components and may not be "worth it" at lower levels. Another possible reason for others getting more powerful crafted items than you are making is critical results. Crits produce more powerful versions of craft items.
If you notice in the crafting panel, your experience is split in two bars; Proficiency and Mastery. Proficiency allows execution of basic recipes. When you complete the Proficiency and acheive Mastery you can add optional compenents to increase the likelyhood of criticals on your crafting. Resins will increase the possibility of woodworking crits, whetstones are for weaponsmithing.
You will most likely be able to find another player whom is a Forester that would be willing to provide you with the planks of wood you require. Undoubtedly, they will ask for a bit of coin for the task. But it could end up cheaper this way than purchasing wood from the AH. And as for the player crafted items that better what you can make...Coruven is correct. The recipes you start with are the most basic of what is ultimately available for you to craft. There are many recipes found throughout Middle-earth that are better. And once you've achieved mastery over the various tiers of crafting, the recipes you have will have the opportunity to crit and become better than they generally are. So you will soon be able to craft decent weapons of your own, do not worry.
I wish you luck as you undertake the task of mastering your profession.
So long as neither character wears heavy armor, you may find the two professions quite complimentary.
While true, even if one of them is a heavy armor class, explorer is still a good option because it allows you to gather ore and wood to help support your armsman character. Both characters collect leather, which can support the explorers Tailoring crafting. The tailoring allows for crafting of light & medium armor along with cloaks, which can be very good.
And just like the other replies were mentioning, once you fill up the skill bar the first time for a specific crafting level, you master that level. This allows you to obtain critical crafting, which can create vastly superior equiptment.