Once you are comfortable with using +durability buffs in this way you can deviate from this
pattern somewhat and still get good results. It takes time to learn the rhythm of crafting
and find out how far you can push your luck but once you do it’s this as much as anything
else that will speed up your crafting rate.
Apart from all of this, another way of increasing your efficiency is to take a close look at
the buffs you’re using. At the start of each tier you’ll get a new set of buffs, but it’s not
always a good idea to use the highest level buff of each type that you have. Of course
you want to make sure you always have easy access to one full set each of +progress
and +durability buffs, but at level 20 and for each subsequent tier you’ll be given a new
buff set. In general the replacement buffs will have more powerful effects than their lowerlevel
counterparts, but they have a higher cost when used (although this isn’t always the
case).
For example, compare the +durability/-progress buffs you’ll end up with at level 50 –
Conceptualize (level 10) decrease progress by 20
increase durability by 10
Conjecture (level 30) decrease progress by 10
Increase durability by 5
Right away you should be able to see that conceptualize is much more appropriate for
most crafting situations – when you’re trying to hold back progress to increase durability
for example, or at the start of a craft when you’re trying to build up your durability
reserves. I don’t have Conjecture hotkeyed and in fact I’ve rarely used it, as there are no
situations where Conceptualize won’t do as good as or a better job. It is so much easier
to increase progress than it is to increase durability that the extra progress loss you get
when using Conceptualize isn’t really a problem.
A comparison of +progress/-durability buffs shows a different story –
Theory (level 1) decrease durability by 6
increase progress by 18
Assumption (level 20) decrease durability by 9
increase progress by 27
Clearly there are times when you’d want to use one over the other. Assumption is ideal to
use when you’re doing low level combines that are easy to get pristine on, but Theory is
the better choice when you need to have tight control of your durability level.

Believe it or not, the best thing you can wear while crafting is nothing at all. Being able to
craft efficiently and keep your pristine rate consistently high is very much dependant on
how quickly you regenerate power. And funnily enough, the size of your power pool isn’t
important at all.
You may have noticed that your power-consuming crafting buff doesn’t use a set amount
of power, but instead uses a percentage of your total power pool. This is one of the keys
to maximizing the number of times you can cast it before running out of power. The
second is to make sure you always use good quality crafted drink that is appropriate for
your level.
Drink regenerates power not as a percentage but by a fixed amount. This means that the
smaller your power pool is, the more benefit you get from the regeneration provided by
drink. Because the power-usage of crafting buffs is percentage-based you’re not
disadvantaged by having a small power pool – in fact it’s completely the opposite.
So when you’re crafting, make sure you always use crafted drink, and remove any items
of clothing that give you big power bonuses. If you do this you’ll find you’re able to
counter and buff much more efficiently, increasing your pristine rate and reducing the time
it takes you to craft a single item. Because the buff that costs power is the only one
without any negative side effects (such as lowering success chance, or durability or
progress) being able to use it as often as it refreshes is a big advantage when you’re
crafting.

Now that you’re an Alchemist, it’s a good time to go over some of the technical issues that
are going to become more and more important to you as you level up. These are some of
the tips and tricks that will make leveling easier, more efficient, and more profitable.

The most efficient way of leveling is to make items that are at or higher than your level,
and to make as many first-time pristine-quality items as you can. Alchemy is one of the
easiest tradeskills to level in, because with lots of combat arts, potions, and poisons, there
are a lot of different recipes. In addition, pristine combines always yield more experience
than crude, even without the first-time pristine bonus. While you are leveling pristine
quality should always be your goal for every combine simply because you will get more
experience for the money and time you spend on fuel and resources.
It is very easy to fly through the Scholar levels quickly if you’re not concerned about how
much money you make or spend. With Alchemy, Jeweler, and Sage recipes and with
your new durability buffs available to you, making pristine versions of recipes will get you
on the way to becoming an Alchemist in no time.

The Scholar levels are the last levels where you’ll be able to make items from other
crafting class recipe sets. As a Scholar you’re able to make spells and combat arts for all
classes, as well as jewellery.
If you’re a new player you can save money by making your own spells, combat arts, or
jewellery as part of your leveling plan. Using as many different recipes as you can is also
a great way of increasing your rate of XP gain.
Unless you’re planning to push to the Alchemy level cap as quickly as possible, these
levels are a good time to start looking at how the market works, and maybe try to sell a
few things as well. If the level cap ASAP is your goal this probably won’t be something
you’ll bother about too much; however if you want to try and make a profit along the way,
it’s never too early to start thinking about what your customers want and need (see
section 7.3 for advice on making money selling your goods to other players).

One of the best things about becoming a Scholar is getting your new buff set. At level 10
you are finally able to buff your durability, making it much easier to achieve pristine quality
items. Getting pristine quality consistently is still quite difficult until the 30s, though, so
again don’t worry too much if you find you are still having some trouble with it.
Your new durability-boosting buff set is very similar to the one that you already had. You
have a buff that increases durability at the expense of progress, one that increases
durability and uses power, and one that increases durability but decreases your success
chance.
Working out when to use the various types of buffs is an art in itself. There are a number
of different ways in which you can manipulate your buff sets to achieve specific results.
See sections 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 for tips on using your buffs to maximize your pristine rate
and experience gain.

At the end of level nine, you’ll stop gaining experience, as it’s time to choose your subclass
and get on with the business of being a Scholar. If you wish you can continue to
store experience (until the maximum of level nine and 220% stored experience) but you
are not able to become level 10 and scribe level 10 recipes until you complete a short
dialogue to choose your sub-class. To become a Scholar you must talk to Alethea
Augustine in West Freeport or Alfred Ironforge in Qeynos Harbor.
If you wait until you have the maximum amount of experience at level nine before
choosing your sub-class, then you’ll find that you don’t become level 10 immediately upon
making your choice, even if your experience bar is completely full and you have stored
experience as well. To get to level 10 you will need to head back to your instance and
make one more combine.

In the new-look Commonlands rocks and roots seem to be most plentiful along the coastal
cliffs and near the druid rings. When you’re harvesting in this zone be on the lookout for ?
nodes as these will sometimes yield Commonlands leaves which are used in a collection
quest for a 12 slot bag.
My favorite harvesting area in Antonica is the area outside Valen’s Tower. It’s quite safe
and there’s a very large area to harvest in. This area also has a ? node that usually yields
cracked bones (which sell quite well, often for several gold coins depending on the type of
bone). Antonica also has a leaf collection quest which yields a 12 slot backpack, for
which you must collect Antonican Ficus Leaves.

When you press the Create button, the crafting process begins. The time spent crafting
an item is divided into segments of time called ticks or rounds (roughly four seconds long).
At the start of each tick, a crafting event may occur, which you will need to counter using
the appropriate buff. After you have countered the event you can also use your other
buffs to affect the outcome of the crafting round. At the end of the tick, one of four things
will happen, listed as follows.
Critical Failure
-100 Durability and -50 Progress
Failure
-50 Durability and 0 Progress
Success (normal tick)
-10 Durability and +50 Progress
Critical Success
+10 Durability and + 100 Progress
Whichever buffs you decide to use in the tick will also influence the amount of durability
and progress you gain or lose or your chance of having a successful crafting round.

When you are crafting, your crafting window will display five green bars, each with an
empty bar below it. The green bars represent the durability of your item, and the empty
bars that fill up with blue as you make your item represent your progress.
You are able to make four different quality levels of an item, as represented by the four
smaller green bars in your crafting window. These quality levels are referred to as crude,
shaped, normal, and pristine. Normally you are going to want to make pristine as much
as possible, as you get more experience for a pristine combine than for the other quality
levels.
When you are making an item, your objective is usually to keep your durability as high as
you can while increasing your progress at the same time. This is somewhat difficult to do
as an Artisan, because you do not yet have any buffs for durability. In general do not
worry if you find you have a very hard time making pristine items – until you reach level 10
there isn’t much you can do about it unfortunately. However, these first few levels will race
by, and you’ll reach level ten and get your first durability buffs quite quickly.
For the moment, your best option is to use the buff called Experiment as often as you can,
and use the other two only when you need to counter an event.