Should I upgrade tools/weapons each time crafting quality increases?

[Chef]

I have Q1 iron tools and can craft Q2 tools. Should I scrap my current tools and upgrade, or skip Q2 and wait for extra mod slots? Is there any reason to use Q2 tools that would make them worth the extra crafting costs?

[Corsin]

It depends on your personal preference and play style.

I rarely upgrade tools because I find them in higher tiers than I have before I am able to upgrade them. Iron tools also take more stamina to use so until you have higher stamina they could actually slow you down.

You can use a stone shovel and eventually 1 hit blocks with insignificant stamina loss vs higher stamina loss with an iron or steel shovel. So I personally dont see the point in upgrading the shovel in this example.

Some will say upgrade which is 100% fine too. One of the great things about this game is that it can be played in a style that suits each of us.

Same principal with weapons for me. I generally find better than I have or get better in trader rewards so pretty rare I craft weapons.

Early game I upgrade the bow/club and make pipe weapons to help me get started, with a few upgrades, but pretty soon start to find "real" weapons and switch to them.

[Randomcarrot]

It's going to depend heavily on the block damage % you have chosen for when upgrading a tool actually saves you time. For instance if going from say Q1 to Q3 on a tool doesn't let you clear the blocks you most use it for in 4 hits instead of 5, then you are throwing away valuable resources (especially in the early game) if you upgrade before having at the very least spent the full durability bar on the Q1 tool.
At least in my experience in alpha 21, duct tape seems to be main gate keeping resource in the mid game as it's used for almost every tool and weapon when crafting and the repair kits used to maintain them.
On top of that, there is also the issue of as you upgrade tools specifically, their stamina cost usually goes up with it which can bring about annoying downtime when mining or making short cuts in PoIs.

[Crater Creator]

Good question.

My key considerations would be one, are the tools you have working for you at a speed that’s tolerable. This could mean how many resources your tools can yield in a reasonable amount of time, or how fast you’re destroying blocks, depending on what you’ve been doing most. Those tools can be used for digging, mining, logging, harvesting, and destroying obstacles. And since it’s a sandbox game, you probably do some of these activities more than others. So it’s not easy to generalize.

Secondly, I would take stock of where you are with the resources needed to make new tools. For instance, the forged iron required could be a non-issue if you already have a forge full of iron, or it could be hard to come by if you don’t. Obviously if you only have 10 forged iron in reserve and can’t make more, wait until you’re farther along in the metal acquisition part of the game. Iron tools scrap to iron (not forged iron). Between the loss from scrapping them, and having to smelt the scrapped iron in the forge and re-forge the iron, you’re still going to need a significant amount of new iron.

I kind of wing it. I wait until a weapon or tool seems underpowered compared to my level and the rest of my gear. And I assess when I’m actually going to use a new tool a lot. E.g. I want to mine 4,000 lead for the next horde night, so I’ll see if I can make a better pickaxe before starting that project.

[Jonnson]

Another thing to consider is experience. Mining/lumberjacking is a lot of steady experience. Its an experience grind second only to building and upgrading.

I agree with what they say above. I would not upgrade from say stone to iron unless I was actively putting points into the related perk, in this case tools (miner69er perk). Otherwise your stamina drain will actually slow you down, and leave you vulnerable to attack.

That being said, each time you upgrade the quality of your tool, you will not only get more resources, but you'll get more experience per hit. I would recommend upgrading your tool when you are planning to use it. Like say, tonight you plan to chop down 6000 wood, thats when you upgrade to your highest quality tool, keeping in mind your stamina drain in regards to your placement of skill points.

I personally, upgrade to q5 stone axe as soon as possible. Then I will skip iron and steel, preferring the auger. As far as tools go, the stone ax just acts like a jack of all trades, and using it reduces how many slots I need on my tool belt. It works nice breaking down poi doors, harvesting up leather couches, curtains, etc, while doubling as a hammer (tossing down a frame and upgrading it), and a pick (bashing through walls). Its a descent weapon too, at lowbie levels, as it uses almost no stamina. You just need to master headshots, in order to utilize zombie recoil.

Edit; I just did another test on tools last night. A steel axe, steel mining pick, fireaxe, sledge hammer, auger and stone ax. Even with maxed miner69er, and all tools filled with all their mods, I prefer the q6 stone axe for everything except mining ores, in which case, the auger trumps all. In fact, when considering tool belt capacity, using a wrench/ratchet or impact driver is equivalent to the mining tools in door and structure damage, while being far more useful on your toolbelt when running poi's, or just out and about.

Also, a stone axe only requires a rock to maintain.

[James]

Originally posted by Jonnson:

I prefer the q6 stone axe for everything except mining ores, in which case, the auger trumps all. In fact, when considering tool belt capacity, using a wrench/ratchet or impact driver is equivalent to the mining tools in door and structure damage, while being far more useful on your toolbelt when running poi's, or just out and about.

I understand that this your personal opinion but I don't get your line of thinking here. You seem to be focused more on mining here than the bigger picture.

A stone axe is not a jack of all trades and it can't replace the wrench/ratchet/impact driver either for many reasons. The most notable reason being that harvesting certain objects require the right tool to be used in order to get the most items in return. You can't harvest same object with a stone axe and get the same return as you do with a wrench. Tier 6 or not.

Harvest a car (for example) with a stone axe and all you will get in return is Iron and it will take you forever. If I want iron then I'll harvest an iron ore.

Now harvest the same car with a wrench and not only will you get more useful items in return, but it will take much less time to do so.

[James]

To the OP. It's all personal preference. I tend to find higher tiered items well before I'm able to craft them and so I don't even bother. Even at tier 5. You could unlock T5, but you will more than likely have already found a tier 6 in loot or a trader. The only decision you need to make at that point is to compare the stats between both items. Is the T5 stats better than the T6 you found or bought? Is the extra mod slot worth it?

Which brings me to my next point. The stats overlap on tiered items and higher tiers don't automatically make certain weapons better either. Each item in the game has a range of low and high in stats that change randomly ---this goes for loot, crafting and traders. So think before you craft.

Just because you already found a T6, it doesn't mean that the T5 you craft is going to be worse. Or it could be.

[Namaride]

I only craft uneven numbers. 1, 3 and 5. Otherwise it cost me too much duct tape and/or other parts.

[The_Pastmaster]

I personally only upgrade them when I feel like I need to. Like if I have a pick that is just shy of two or one shotting blocks, I will upgrade to save that extra swing. The upgrading tools (Stone axe, hammer, and nailgun.) I never upgrade unless I loot a higher quality one. I only upgrade if I can craft a higher tier one and haven't found one yet.

[Jonnson]

Originally posted by James:

Originally posted by Jonnson:

I prefer the q6 stone axe for everything except mining ores, in which case, the auger trumps all. In fact, when considering tool belt capacity, using a wrench/ratchet or impact driver is equivalent to the mining tools in door and structure damage, while being far more useful on your toolbelt when running poi's, or just out and about.

I understand that this your personal opinion but I don't get your line of thinking here. You seem to be focused more on mining here than the bigger picture.

A stone axe is not a jack of all trades and it can't replace the wrench/ratchet/impact driver either for many reasons. The most notable reason being that harvesting certain objects require the right tool to be used in order to get the most items in return. You can't harvest same object with a stone axe and get the same return as you do with a wrench. Tier 6 or not.

Harvest a car (for example) with a stone axe and all you will get in return is Iron and it will take you forever. If I want iron then I'll harvest an iron ore.

Now harvest the same car with a wrench and not only will you get more useful items in return, but it will take much less time to do so.

Sigh, I recommend you read what people write a few times before you respond, as your reading comprehension is lacking. (probably due to skimming through)

I said, "using a wrench/ratchet or impact driver is equivalent to the mining tools in door and structure damage, while being far more useful on your toolbelt when running poi's, or just out and about."

While scratching my head...

I will highlight this part,
"in door and structure damage"

and this part,
"far more useful on your toolbelt,"
..is in reference to wrenching things like cars, heaters, and air conditioners, for things like brass radiators.

My point being that instead of having a pick, an axe, and a hammer on your toolbelt you can accomplish the tasks you need "when in poi's and out and about." with a stone axe, including harvesting couches and curtains (or upgrading frames)....without draining your stamina down when there are threats in the area.

In addition, you should have a wrench on your belt, and it can be used to break down doors ("in door and structure damage"), meaning you dont need another tool in order to do this. There is very little difference in smashing down a steel door with a wrench or say a fire axe.

Also, as I stated, I will skip iron and steel tools, preferring the auger for mining.

So, I am saying to have an upgraded stone axe, which is easily maintained via a rock, no resources required, on your toolbelt and a wrench, rather than a wrench, axe, hammer, and pick, and then to use an auger for mining.

My focus was to inform the OP that upgrading his tools would also increase his experience gain, when using them. As a side note, I recommended that he refrain from upgrading to iron and steel tools unless he was actively putting skill points into miner69er, or else he would drain his stamina to fast, thus negating the upgrade. As another side note, I suggested using a stone axe and a wrench when in poi's or out and about, rather than a wrench, axe, pick, and hammer, as its 2 less toolbelt slots. In this way, a stone axe IS a jack of all trades.

=)

[J-96]

In my case I asked the same question. I wanted a tier 2 wrench. I really don't know where to find mechanical parts. The trader does not sell them for me, and I am not doing questing until I empty towns. I need 2 more mechanical parts for tier 1, and tier 2 requires about 6. I need a wrench ASAP so I can stop skipping over items to salvage. I decided that tier 1 over tier 2 works in this case. If I level up before the I get a tier 2 wrench, I may make the tier 1 wrench better with salvage operations. If I do find a wrench before making it, all the better. More parts for the future tier wrench at level 3+.

[Jonnson]

Originally posted by RIFF TRAIN:

In my case I asked the same question. I wanted a tier 2 wrench. I really don't know where to find mechanical parts. The trader does not sell them for me, and I am not doing questing until I empty towns. I need 2 more mechanical parts for tier 1, and tier 2 requires about 6. I need a wrench ASAP so I can stop skipping over items to salvage. I decided that tier 1 over tier 2 works in this case. If I level up before the I get a tier 2 wrench, I may make the tier 1 wrench better with salvage operations. If I do find a wrench before making it, all the better. More parts for the future tier wrench at level 3+.

First, I think you mean quality 1, the items go tier 0, 1, 2, 3. Each tier goes, quality 1-6.

You get mechanical parts primarily from using the wrench on vehicles. Left click takes it apart, right click smashes it. ofc, you need a wrench to do that, so you should be able to find the few mechanical parts you need for the quality 1 wrench, then you can very rapidly get many hundreds more from vehicles (not those tractors, though). They drop occasionally in tool boxes, store shelves, mo power crates, working stiff crates, and destroyed workbenches.

Edit; Wrench (quality 1-6), then ratchet (quality 1-6), then impact driver (quality 1-6).

Increasing the quality of your wrench will slightly increase what you gather with it and the exp you get. Raising the rank of salvage operations will significantly increase what you gather with it, and also increase how often you find the magazine which allows you to craft higher quality wrenches, and then into the next tier; ratchet, impact driver.

[The_Pastmaster]

Originally posted by RIFF TRAIN:

In my case I asked the same question. I wanted a tier 2 wrench. I really don't know where to find mechanical parts. The trader does not sell them for me, and I am not doing questing until I empty towns. I need 2 more mechanical parts for tier 1, and tier 2 requires about 6. I need a wrench ASAP so I can stop skipping over items to salvage. I decided that tier 1 over tier 2 works in this case. If I level up before the I get a tier 2 wrench, I may make the tier 1 wrench better with salvage operations. If I do find a wrench before making it, all the better. More parts for the future tier wrench at level 3+.

Vehicles is a good source. Scrapping an Engine (The item.) will get you 30 or something. Break down items that have moving parts basically. Like a pipe with a vale should giver you a Mechanical Part.

[Ripflex]

I honestly never upgrade anything (weapon/armour/tools) until I have learned the Quality 5 version of them. It's just a waste of resources to do so, except the primitive versions which is resource cheap, like simple club or cloth armor or stone tool. When you do trader quests the rewards of quality 2 - 3 stuff is good enough early game.

[Riitoken]

My time is the most valuable resource in the game, and in life.

When I do any action X, I want to know that I did everything needed to minimize the amount of life-time I sacrificed to the game.

All games are essentially altars that continually sacrifice the personal life and time of the player.

[Chef]

Originally posted by Riitoken:

My time is the most valuable resource in the game, and in life.

When I do any action X, I want to know that I did everything needed to minimize the amount of life-time I sacrificed to the game.

All games are essentially altars that continually sacrifice the personal life and time of the player.

We speak like this, believing our time is finite and it is, if you believe it so... The amount of time focused on gaming is minuscule compared to the rest of our lives and beyond. I prefer not to rush through games, for they are part of my experience, whether it is "real" or not. I don't see time as spent or wasted, just shifted and focused. Time will continue moving, regardless of how quickly I, you, or we move through it.