Thread: Best vocation for a Captain.

I've always just gone with explorer on my other classes (although, my highest is only level 40). I'm leveling up a captain, and wondering what the best vocation is. I don't want to do Explorer again. I guess I was thinking Armorer or Weaponsmith, but wasn't really sure.

All the posts about this are really old, so I wasn't sure if the info was still valid. Thanks!

Heh. All explorers means you should be swimming in wood and ores - with more guilded tailors than you can shake a stick at. Under those circumstances, I would definitely lean more towards weaponsmith than armourer. Normally, I would prefer armourer(for the tools), but you need another off-tailor like you need a hole in the head. The off-woodworker the weaponsmith gives you will be a better deal for you, although you will find you stilll need a pukkah, guilded, woodsman, for bows and LM staves.

Yeah, the problem is, I never really leveled tailoring or forestry on them. I'd basically just mine ore and sell the ingots for money. I didn't really know what I was doing.

im very happy with my prospector/jeweller/cook profession

Went Armourer, and like it cause I can make Emblem LIs, banners, armaments, and (occasionally) something useful from metalsmithing.

Originally Posted by Almagnus1

Went Armourer, and like it cause I can make Emblem LIs, banners, armaments, and (occasionally) something useful from metalsmithing.

I agree 100%. But I also have an alt with maxed out weaponsmithing too. I haven't collected any data, but I think you'll find more people to manufacture a weapon for you than you will to make legendary emblems.

If you stay on top of crafting while you level, you can even make yourself some good pre-endgame armour.

I made my Captain an Armourer, with the Metalsmith Guild. I mostly solo, unless I can convince a few friends for small group content. That said, I have access to all sorts of armour, specifically the heavy type to help give me an advantage when entering a new region. Shields can be made as well, if you decide to go 1H+shield, and there is the ability to make cloaks, armaments, and banners (Just be sure to have your alt ready to convert hides to leather). As far as LIs go, you can make emblems, and for the guild-specific relic, you can make the one that gives +20 to might, which is a very important stat for us.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I decided to go with Armorsmith.

If its not too late let me also throw Scholar and Tinker into the mix:

While levelling you will find enough Armour, Weapons and Jewellery from quests and drops. Good jewellery will last longer than good weapons though due to dps ratings. Pots are readily available as drops but its also nice to be able to make your own. Also Scrolls will, generally, not be available to you while you level.

At end-game your Weapons are legendary which will be very easy to come by (If you're in a kin it will be very simple to ask someone to make you Main hand or Emblem). Armour comes from bartering seals and medallions rather than crafting. Getting those currencies is fairly simple and happens naturally.

For those two reasons I would suggest either a Tinker:

jewellery
Hope tokens.
food

or a Scholar
Scrolls
potions
Battle Tonics

most of these are consumables which you could go through fairly quickly and have to replenish. Armour and Weapons are generally one-offs.

Originally Posted by Markovnikov

I've always just gone with explorer on my other classes (although, my highest is only level 40). I'm leveling up a captain, and wondering what the best vocation is. I don't want to do Explorer again. I guess I was thinking Armorer or Weaponsmith, but wasn't really sure.

All the posts about this are really old, so I wasn't sure if the info was still valid. Thanks!

I like Historian. Find you a tinkerer friend, and you will be all set.

Scholar/Cook are the most useful crafts endgame if you ask me.

I went with the Weaponsmith so I can craft my own weapons. I have to agree, you can find adequate armor through questing. I have a few alts that I craft with to round out my crafting abilities. Burg - Tailor. LM - Scholar. RK - Jeweler/Cook. I am almost capped out for each tier and now that I have a couple of toons capped or near the cap, all their crafting abilities have become important.

I have alts leveled in every craft, and I've most often needed my Armourer to make things for my Captain. Heavy armour, banners, herald armaments, tools, cloaks, +might relics, and emblems come to mind. Some of those are more useful while leveling, some are more useful at end game, but I'd choose an Armourer for either.

Originally Posted by Evenprimes

I have alts leveled in every craft, and I've most often needed my Armourer to make things for my Captain. Heavy armour, banners, herald armaments, tools, cloaks, +might relics, and emblems come to mind. Some of those are more useful while leveling, some are more useful at end game, but I'd choose an Armourer for either.

While leveling you are probably right. Armorsmith is probably the most useful - because it can be difficult to find good armor for lower levels on the auction house sometimes.

But the problem is once you reach endgame most of that armor you will eventually replace with Armor you get from doing instances. Banners, Herald Armaments, tools.... those are good of course, but once you make the final versions of them you wont' be needing them - and anyone can pick them up at the auction for a reasonable investment of gold. And as far as might relics go - I don't really think they compare to the new crafted relics available to all guilds after you cap out your rep with them. Unless maybe if you are a tank since they lack a defensive-style version. But even in that case, vitality would probably be the preferred choice, not might.

So IMHO, if you are looking for craft that will serve you most endgame (which isn't a bad idea considering how most of your time on this game is spent at the level cap) you can't go wrong with one that has either Scholar or Cook as part of it. Buying consumables like potions and food can cost you a fortune in the long run - and it's something you can always use, unlike what the other crafts produce.

I might agree with you Jeremi, but you assume that people are able to group enough to earn the medallions and seals to buy the end game gear. For many players, that gear doesn't look cheap. From the sounds of it, Markovnikov doesn't have a whole lot of support, so collecting the loot to barter for end game gear could be quite the grind. And besides - there's a whole lot of game before end game!

Originally Posted by SirBeegus

I might agree with you Jeremi, but you assume that people are able to group enough to earn the medallions and seals to buy the end game gear. For many players, that gear doesn't look cheap. From the sounds of it, Markovnikov doesn't have a whole lot of support, so collecting the loot to barter for end game gear could be quite the grind. And besides - there's a whole lot of game before end game!

SirBeegus, if you reread my post again (at the very beginning) you will see that I said Armorsmith is very useful while "leveling up". I specificially pointed to the context of "endgame" for my latter comments. So I'm aware there is more to this game than the "endgame". In fact I went out of my way to say that, and pointed out armorsmith is very useful up to that point.

But for players who ARE interested in the endgame, Armorsmith just isn't very appealing in my opinion. Almost all of the high-ended crafted Armor can be bought from the Auction House for a single investment of gold, not to mention a lot of it will end up being replaced anyways. It just offers very little at the endgame long-term.

So yes, I agree with you that Armorsmith can be very valuable as a craft for players who want to focus on leveling up and want easy access to quality armor while they do it. But if a player is looking for a craft that will serve over the long-term after they reach max level, I would suggest either Scholar or Cook. You will get more benefit from those two than the others IMHO.

Originally Posted by Jeremi

So IMHO, if you are looking for craft that will serve you most endgame (which isn't a bad idea considering how most of your time on this game is spent at the level cap) you can't go wrong with one that has either Scholar or Cook as part of it.

I'll concede that. The convenience of being able to craft one-time things like legendary emblems and your own dragon cloak is probably outweighed by all the consumables scholar and cook (or even jeweler if you burn through tokens) can craft.

Originally Posted by Evenprimes

I'll concede that. The convenience of being able to craft one-time things like legendary emblems and your own dragon cloak is probably outweighed by all the consumables scholar and cook (or even jeweler if you burn through tokens) can craft.

There's still other reasons to choose a craft than endgame options.

I chose armourer because it felt like a natural decision for a captain that can craft stuff, especially one that's a long way from home.

Edit:
The only real reason to have a profession is to have access to the good crafted relics by having your Craft XP maxed out in your guild profession and the guild rep maxed.

Everything else can be obtained off of the AH (or using barter items for the good morale and power pots), so it's all just personal preference, really.

Originally Posted by Evenprimes

I'll concede that. The convenience of being able to craft one-time things like legendary emblems and your own dragon cloak is probably outweighed by all the consumables scholar and cook (or even jeweler if you burn through tokens) can craft.

It is. For example: I'm a Historian in the Weapon Smith guild and a lot of times I feel that my Weapon Smith is almost a complete waste. Rarely do I ever use it. I can go weeks without ever even touching it.

It had its uses in the past of course, crafting my second ages and relics. But I just get so much more use out of my scholar these days - which I use frequently almost on a daily basis crafting useful scrolls and potions which would otherwise cost me a fortune to buy off the AH. Same can be said of Cook - cause I borrow my friend's character (who's a tinkerer) and that saves me huge on buying food. Not to mention a lot of times I can't even find the food I want on the AH to begin with, and ususally when it is up they want unreasonable prices for it.

Choice in vocation is dependent on whether one raids or solos, is endgame-focused or casual. I almost always solo, and consider myself casual in my approach to playing. I have never had to use scrolls (they don't affect our herald/archer) or eat food to do those types of skirmishes and landscape quests, so I didn't have a necessity to craft said consumables. On the other hand, crafting armour that is superior to most quest rewards put me at an advantage when adventuring into a new region. I could walk in with a full teal set of armour and cloak, and be well protected for any challenge there.

However, when I turn to raiding after I get a new rig, I'll definitely see the advantage of having a scholar or cook available. Armour will eventually come from rewards from raiding, as may jewellery at the next level cap. If memory serves, I remember some people mentioning the ability to create a Yeoman alt guilded as a Cook, with the ability to level out all tiers without having to leave the starter areas. I'd still plan to keep my Captain as an Armourer, as I've already maxed reputation with the Metalsmith guild, so I'd turn to the AH, friends, and kinship for help with things I can't craft myself.