Crafting armor early level?

[BUckENbooz]

Is it worth it? Or should I just wear armor I find and worry about crafting later. I'm level 8. I'm playing on death march (have to play any game on highest difficulty otherwise doesn't feel right) so I make sure to do all side quests/undiscovered areas as I can. Find quite a bit of stuff, but wondering if its worth crafting early level or if I should just wait later level.

Thanks.

[tonypa]

In general, only witcher gear is worth crafting. And once you upgrade those, they are only items worth wearing too. You can get Griffin set at level 11.

[BUckENbooz]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

The smartest course of action early in the game is to swap out gear and weapons with those you find by looting. Don't buy diagrams for gear or weapons nor pay for repairs. If you loot regularly, you'll find plenty of repair kits which would allow you to make repairs yourself for free. And you can sell most of what you loot for cash.

Early in the game, you can upgrade your starter Kaer Morhen gear to a Warrior armor. And you should find the two Viper swords diagrams early too. Those will carry you quite a few levels. The two DLC gear sets, Temerian and Nilfgaardian, should also carry you quite a while.

Save crafting for the witcher gear sets. Buy the maps and when you can find the diagrams and craft them. As you progress through the game, be sure to do the two related quests, one in Velen and the other in Novigrad, so you can unlock the master blacksmith and master armorer for the highest level witcher gear sets.

Can you explain to me exactly how diagrams work? I kept my starting fear and loot regularly. Are diagrams like pieces of a puzzle you put together?

[tonypa]

Originally posted by BUckENbooz:

Can you explain to me exactly how diagrams work? I kept my starting fear and loot regularly. Are diagrams like pieces of a puzzle you put together?

No. You just need to find diagram to craft a specific item.

For witcher gear sets there are 6 pieces - 4 armors and 2 swords (for some, even crossbow). You do not HAVE TO find and craft all 6 pieces, you could just find 1 diagram from that gear, lets suppose just the trousers diagram,craft it and wear it. But the witcher gear has good stats and commonly it is good idea to get all 6 pieces.

[BUckENbooz]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

Originally posted by BUckENbooz:

Can you explain to me exactly how diagrams work? I kept my starting fear and loot regularly. Are diagrams like pieces of a puzzle you put together?

They're just the instructions for the craftsman to follow to create a specific item. So once you have the diagram and you find a craftsman with the proper level/training to make it for you, then you can pay him to do so. You can never craft weapons and armor yourself. You can either use what you've looted, buy it at a craftsman or hire him to make it for you. That's the nature of the game.

You can find or buy diagrams for nearly all gear and weapons that you can find by looting. But the only way to get Witcher gear from each of the Witcher Schools, is by buying maps from specific vendors and then reading them. By reading them, you will enter the information into your Journal under Scavenger Hunts and once you make one of them your active quest, it will lead you to the location of one or more of the diagrams. Once you have the diagrams and the materials needed, you can go to a craftsman and he can make it for you.

Kind of the same thing happens with alchemy in that you either find the recipe of a bomb, potion, oil or decoction by looting or buy it from an herbalist or alchemist. Only difference there is once you have the recipe and the materials needed, you can make those yourself. You don't need to hire someone else to make them for you.

Plus once an alchemical item has been crafted, you never need to make it again. It will replenish so long as you have strong alcohol in your inventory. The additional materials are not necessary. But you shouldn't do away with them as several items may require the same ingredients. And you will often find higher level recipes before the base ones. This is normal and meant to keep you exploring to find other recipes. But you must first make the base item, then it can be enhanced and finally turned into a superior version.

Same for the gear and weapons. You must make the base item first and then it can be used to create an enhanced version, then a superior one and finally a mastercrafted.

Thanks a bunch for your response!