I only mentioned a few aspects of the trade, hence the "etc."

Ships and furniture and houses are a major domain of the artificer, though other trades will probably be making furniture as well and their parts may be required for the larger projects.

The ship quest has not changed from the interview.

-- Jansan

The player will have to make choices along their paths and when dealing with factions. You won't be able to master everything and ally with every faction.


Absolutely. In fact, that is encouraged. There will be content, challenges, and rewards in Qalia and Kojan for your Thestran jeweler.

-- Jansan

One of the main reasons we combined some of the trades was to make sure they all were robust and had their own set of items and role to fill.

Blacksmith can't make light armor, can't make workclothes, can't make bags/packs or bows/crossbows. And so on.

Though blacksmith has a lot to offer, so do the other trades.

-- Jansan

Note on Jewelry:

That is the domain of the Artificer.

-- Jansan

The blacksmith and the alchemist have not been combined. The blacksmith is still the blacksmith (armor, weapons, other metal items). That specific quote in the article is not referring to the alchemist.

-- Jansan

This is a very good point. We are certainly considering all the trades when it comes to the "crafting adventures."

We don't intend on leaving any trade out in the cold.

-- Jansan

As an outfitter, some of the items you will be able to make include cloaks, light armor, and clothing.

Blacksmiths cannot make any of those things. However they can make items like axes, swords and heavy armor.

Elves will have access to recipes dwarves will not, and vice-versa.

Both race and trade matter.

And, to put it in a lore perspective: though their culture is definetly involved with blacksmithing (living in mountainous areas with mines around you will do that), the mountain dwarves of Telon do not gain automatic superiority over the other races. High elves have their own blacksmithing techniques. Balanced, extra-sharp elven blades and lighter-than-normal heavy armors, anyone? Sure, metalworking in the high elven society is not nearly as important as it is in the dwarven society, but do you reallly think the elves import all their metal weapons? Certainly not.

This introduces flavor and racial attributes that (in my opinion) are more interesting and defining than dwarves getting +100 blacksmithing and elves getting -38 blacksmithing.


Are you talking about adventuring or crafting?

As far as crafting is concerned, the main role race plays right now is racial recipes.

The stat adjustments, as I've mentioned above, are a potential new addition.

Those stats, if implemented, would fit in line with the ideas and lore behind the races and play on their natural strengths in each crafting trade.




-- Jansan

I agree.

Options are good. And there is no logical/lore reason why that elf can't make that axe; the dwarves just know how to do it best. Thus, he or she has to go study with them. Sure, very few elves will bother to learn the higher levels of axe-craft, but there is nothing stopping intrepid, dedicated elves from doing so.

There are some people who enjoy roleplaying (or just playing) the typical dwarven blacksmith. But not everyone. If someone comes up with a fun elven blacksmith character, why limit their choices? Why hinder (or punish them for) creativity?

When Silius designed this system, he wanted people to be able to choose what they wanted to play without feeling like the game was slighting them for doing it.

There are considerations for crafting-racial related bonuses, but they will be done in a way so that there is no "favorite" trade for the race. Every race would get a bonus to a certain skill or set of skills in every trade.


Sorry, I do try to keep an eye on this forum and address any questions or concerns I can. I also posted a few things on Vanguard Crafters to answer some questions there.

-- Jansan

Vanguard gnomes have their own lore, background, and culture.

If we do introduce engineering, it will be available to all races like the other trades. That said, certain recipes and training can only be obtained in certain areas. For example, an elven blacksmith may be able to learn a basic axe recipe in the home of the elves, but if you want to learn how to make more intricate axes you will have to visit the dwarves.

-- Jansan

Engineering is not planned for release, although Silius has expressed interest in possibly doing it later on. We are focusing on making the trades we have robust, content-filled, and useful right now. We're still not sure if we will do engineering, or when.

-- Jansan