Loremaster, Blacksmith, and crafting.

[Locke]

This might be a silly question, but how exactly do each of these skills work? For example, would I need a certain number of points to craft specific items? Would I need a certain amount in loremaster to identify certain items? And how useful are these three skills anyway? I hear loremaster can be ignored, but I'd like to be sure.

[Phero]

Well Loremaster can be ignored if you're willing to pay for getting your items identified and if you're ok with not getting full stat informations off your enemies when pressing CTRL. (such as being able to see what damage type is good or bad against them)

Seriously though, get 5 in Loremaster with one of your chars.

About crafting and blacksmithing, yes, if you have 5 in each you can craft whatever is possible in the game, if you don't you can craft less.

Get maybe 2 or 3 in each with one of your chars and use items for the rest of the points.

[Locke]

Thanks Phero! And when you say 2-3 in each do you mean crafting and blacksmith, or is loremaster included in that too? Or is loremaster the only one I should bring up to 5?

[Phero]

If you can, use items to boost those stats but prioritize loremaster, cause you don't want to be travelling back and forth to traders each time you find something new and you really need that extended information on monsters as sometimes they're only vulnerable to one damage type.

With crafting and blacksmithing find some +1 equipment and make a crafting base and leave it there. Then go back to that base whenever you need to craft / enhance something. (early on use the abandoned warehouse northwest of the harbor, later on you get your own smithy at the end of time)

Remember you only need loremaster on one char, same with crafting / blacksmithing.

[Locke]

Thanks for all the tips. I do have one more unrelated question regarding party members though. I'm aware you can get two in Cyseal, but are there more you can meet later on in the game? I'd like to know without any spoilers

[Actionhanz]

at some point in the game you can totally respec your characters, so just try to find items with craftingpoints on it and stuff. Only vertain items can have crafting stats, like rings, amulett, bracers...and thats it i guess?

to explain the whole craftingsystem you may look into these

http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=511613&page=1

best and updated guide so far

[Actionhanz]

nope there are only 2 "real" companions

[Phero]

Yes, only 2 fleshed out companions but you can replace them with "henchmen" later on if you so desire.

[Locke]

Okay, and just to be clear only one of my characters should have blacksmith, crafting and loremaster right?

[Phero]

Originally posted by Giggles:

Okay, and just to be clear only one of my characters should have blacksmith, crafting and loremaster right?

Doesn't have to be the same char but yes.

In my case my female archer had the loremaster and bartering skills for trading while my firemage had all the crafting abilities.

[raubrey]

Loremaster 5 has saved me in some battles. I too put it on my archer with high Initiative. Sure you can do trial and error on enemies, but I personally find it worthwhile -- not to mention for identification. More than once I've gotten a great weapon before a boss fight.

[raubrey]

Just so you know too, if you respec you have to buy (and find or make) whatever abilities/spells you want. That's a chunk of change and hassle though if you're saving books and getting drops, it's not as bad...esp. if you have crafting 5. In my game though I rarely see Markman drops...

[Locke]

So just to clarify again, I should only put about 2-3 points into blacksmith and crafting and then allow my equipment bonuses to add in the rest while I should put five base points into loremaster without any equipment boosts and all?

[Tessienne]

Loremaster is extremely common on gear. Even with no pts in it, you can get L3 in it easily. I wouldn't bother putting any in it until later in the game if necessary. You shouldn't have to put more than 1-2 pts in at most, I wouldn't put any pts in it until you need to.

[Phero]

Depends on your RNG luck. If you get a lot of +1 loremaster equipment, you can get by almost without putting points in it at all, but you "lock yourself down" for when you want to change that gear for something better. As in you being level 14 and still running around with a level 5 item for its loremaster bonus.

Also, on normal you will get pretty much everything you want by the end of the game. You don't have to be extremely careful or anything of the sorts but that's no reason to waste points you don't need to.

Example: my firemage Jahan didn't even come with fire abilites but he was a fully fleshed out fire and air mage by the end of the game AND he had 5+ in crafting and blacksmithing.

[Alvin the Elf]

Originally posted by Phero:

Example: my firemage Jahan didn't even come with fire abilites but he was a fully fleshed out fire and air mage by the end of the game AND he had 5+ in crafting and blacksmithing.

Good to know. I also wanted to level him as a Pyro.