Armor for the MassesFollow

Well, not quite for the masses, really only for the tanks, and there lies the question.

I have managed to struggle up to lvl63 as an armorer, and until recently, I have had a difficult time making a profit. Lately I have been having great success selling full suits of cobalt vanguard, and I'm slightly confused on one point.

Why is Vanguard the only line of armor that sells? Shouldn't the Devoute line be selling for all of the plate wearing healers, what about the chain for the scouts?

I have, in the past, crafted full sets of the the Devoute line, and the Chain, but that stuff sells really slowly and the profit margin is so small that it's really not worth the time.

I'm curious what others have experienced on other servers. Do you have a hard time making profit? What is your profit margin (I can see close to 110% at times)? Do you invest in armor types other than Vanguard?

I realize that the "bots" do a good job of ******** up the price of hard metals (well every rare harvest really) but I have been careful to purchase only when the pricing is to my advantage. So at times, I just wait and wait and wait until I see a break in the market and then buy everything I can. Mind you, I used to harvest everything myself, but that was extremely time consuming and the rares were few and far between. Now-a-days I use my savings to invest, what do you do?

I have a 58 armorer myself. I find I make a decent profit, though nothing to brag about. I never ever put armor up on the broker anymore, rare or otherwise. I have put up rare steel armor in the past, both chain and vanguard and it sits for a long time. Eventually, like Cal said, it will all sell at the same time. Go figure. I usually broadcast in the level 20-29 and 30-39 channels to make non-mastercrafted armor for the up coming tier (feyiron and fulginate, respectively). I imbue for free and only accept donations. I usually make between 15 and 30g depending on the player.

As for your question regarding the different suits, I have never ever had a request for them. I have even suggested suits for the player when I see their class and they politely decline. I believe it has something to do with the fact that the "new" armor cannot be imbued. People really like that imbue for some reason. Furthermore, the "new" armor, aside from a select few pieces, looks exactly like the already existing stuff. Now, if the devs would throw up some kind of set bonus on the "new" armor, that would make it more enticing. Until those changes are made, it's vanguard and chain all the way.

Edited, May 1st 2007 4:48pm by Mearyk

I guess that explains it, although it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

The Devoute Line has +STA +WIS +INT (I think) and it's meant for the plate wearing healer, much the same way the Melodic Line is meant for Scouts(?). The Imbue only works for a small percentage of hits that you receive, and to me, it should be more interesting to have the wis/int bonus to boost the DPS. I mean really, shouldn't the MT be taking all the hits (other than the AoE's) and thereby nullifying the imbue that the plate wearing healer has on the Vanguard line? I guess the solo healer would be drawn to the Vanguard...but my guess is that the wis/int bonus would actually be more effective for DPS in the long run.

Calthine, I have been trying to ride the wave as it were, and my profits increased once I was in a position to use excess income for armor futures (rare hard metals). I am dreading T7 profit margins, as I have been informed that nobody wants that stuff since Raids require Uber gear.

It's not really a problem, I make enough money to buy what I need/want, but I have been wondering why folks don't buy the armor that was designed for their class.

I can't speak for the Xegonite, but I can tell you that the fulginate reverent and melodic looks exactly like the fulginate chain. The only difference in that Tier is the brigandine.

All that said, I love my armorer. I wouldn't change for the world.

A lot of the negativity I have seen surrounding tradeskilling doesn't concern the process. It's the people manning the keyboard. Too many folks think that tradeskilling should be the road to quick riches. This mentality seeps into the masses and people start complaining that their tradeskilling class is worthless. I hate that thought process. Oh well. I am not going to go on a rant here.

Noooo, please don't rant. We've been having such a nice conversation!)

I agree, I wouldn't trade my armorer for anything at this point or any point along the way. I started with an armorer basically so I wouldn't have to buy all of that expensive armor...sheesh the prices these guys charge for armor! hehe

I think I'm gonna try the alternate suits of armor again and see what happens. I bought the rares at a good price so even if I have to cut the pricing down, it'll still be worth it. Additionally, I need to get out and adventure more anyway, so waiting for the stuff to sell should be a nice distraction from crafting.

I never intended to make a zillion gp, but that would be nice..."Hey where's my billion plat...I've been doing this for like...weeks now, and I still haven't become Uber rich, WTH". lol

I don't have any problems with selling armor for huge prices. It's how I make my money, which I then turn aroung and spend on items that I want from the broker. I do try to keep in mind resonable prices...for example...50gp for steel armor is, IMO, way to expensive for the average player.

However, when it comes to being hired to make armor, if I get enough to cover my investment...fuel, componants, and 10 minutes of my time, it's all good. A few gold over cost, has always been fair in my mind. Sometime I can even trade services, have them make me something in return. I figure if they spent the time to seek out an armorer...and I have the time...meh, it's more xp's for me.

I suspect you're not as different as you think. I make good money because I keep my special order rates affordable. I give good service at decent prices and I get a lot of referrals and return business.

I keep stuff on the broker and make better margins per item there, but I really think most my profits come from having affordable, friendly service!