The Differences Between Crafting and Refining
How Does Crafting Work
Azoth Pumping
How Does Yield Chances Work
Crafting GS Level Chart
The Differences Between Crafting and Refining
It's important to note the differences between Crafting and Refining as there are certain benefits that will affect only crafting and others for refining. For example a reduction of crafting taxes will not decrease the cost of refining materials even though you use what seems like a crafting station to refine materials.
The best way to think about these two Trade Skill sets is that the crafting is generally used to craft items that the players will directly use; such as gear, weapons, and consumables. Then refining is taking the raw/gathered materials and refining the resource into material that then can be used in a craft. Stonecutting is a little bit of an outsider as you can refine Tuning Orbs for expeditions.
Crafting stations and refining stations can be viewed at each settlement by clicking on the settlement in question. You can also see the crafting tax and refining tax on the right hand side. (3rd one down is crafting and the last one, 4th one down, is refining tax.) For some reason all the refining stations visuals show 1 tier lower than they actually are when looking at them on the map while the crafting stations show the proper tier.
Both Refining and Crafting have a filter that you can make use of to help you find items. At the top of the crafting list you can filter by name, have items, tier, your skill, and craftability at the station. In addition the filter you can sort the items by name, level, tier, gear score, and the amount of experience from the craft.
How Does Crafting Work
Crafting is set up in 5 tiers that are split every 50 levels each making it easy to keep track. Each tier also has a starting gear score assigned to it.
- Tier 1 [GS 100] Recipe level 0
- Tier 2 [GS 200] Recipe levels 1-49
- Tier 3 [GS 300] Recipe levels 50-99
- Tier 4 [GS 400] Recipe levels 100-149
- Tier 5 [GS 500] Recipe levels 150-200
These tiers are the item tiers and the required station tier needed to craft it. So if you want to craft a Tier 5 item you will need to craft it at the appropriate Tier 5 station.
There are 3 major types of crafts; the first kind are recipes that have a defined list of items you must use to craft, the second is artifact crafting which requires you to have a specific item in your bags to see the craft, the final kinds of recipes are ones that have a set list of items you can use to craft. The items that require specific items are ones that have set values to them. Things like named weapons, potions, and ammo. Items that are more dynamic and have a variety of options will generally have multiple different crafting options to them:
The gear score impact of the secondary item will depend on what tier you are crafting. When crafting an item of tier 5 rank and you use all tier 5 materials then the gear score should be at the default 500, however if you use lower tiered materials for the secondary items the base gear score value will drop. The same applies the other direction; if you are crafting a tier 2 item and use a tier 5 material the gear score will increase.
The breakdown:
- Every tier decrease with secondary material, the minimum gear score will decrease by 5
- Every tier increase with secondary material, the minimum gear score will increase by 5
- Using rare raw materials will increase the min/max gear score by 5
- Using rare refined materials will increase the min/max gear score by 15
- Above rules can stack; meaning a rare material 1 tier lower will provide 0 min / 5 max gear score and 1 tier higher would give 10 min / 5 max gear score
General item rules:
- Uncommon (Green) items reduce level requirements by 2
- Rare (Blue) items reduce the level requirements by 3
- Epic (Purple) items reduce the level requirements by 4
- Legendary (Orange) items reduce the level requirements by 5
In addition to all of that your min/max gear score value for each tier gradually increases as you level up the respective trade skill. (See chart at bottom for the exact breakdown) The reason all of this matters is so you can craft either some really high gear score items or some low level gear to be used. For example the Starmetal Tools are targeted to be level 40 items for their tier, however you have the ability to lower the required level to 32 by lowering the gear score and making it rare; however you can only do this between the Engineering levels of 100-140.
Azoth Pumping
Azoth is the blue resource that you can use in crafting or fast traveling. When you use this in crafting it basically guarantees the item will roll the possible Attributes/Perks/Gem Slots onto the item when possible. When adding Azoth you can’t go above what is needed to max it all out so you don’t have to worry about over spending.
When using a crafting mod alongside Azoth, the maxim required azoth will decrease as you guarantee a perk slot using the mod. This is helpful in fine tuning any crafts and saves you azoth over the course of trying to craft a certain item with a set of perks.
This option is only available on items that have dynamics / variances to the possible outcomes in the craft. Static items do not have this option as you are always guaranteed to get the same thing out of those crafts.
How Does Yield Chances Work
Yield chances are the probability of an item duplicating while crafting/refining. Yield chances mostly affect the refining trade skill, but you can see the effects in crafting stations as well. It is very similar to crafting in that if you use a higher tiered item you will get an increased amount chance over the default amount.
If you are crafting a Steel Ingot (Tier 3) and you want to increase your yield on the refining then you can select a tier 4/5 refining material to increase the odds. This also means there is no material that you can use to increase yield for refining Orichalcum Ingots as it is tier 5 and there are not tier 6 materials.
Refining Materials only exist in tier 3, 4, and 5. The amount of increase/decrease for using a non-equal tier varies based on what you are crafting. There is no ‘simple chart’ as the game breaks it down per item craft. Things like Steel Ingots can get a 50% increase to yield chances; while food will get a 10% increase. You can see anywhere from a 10% - 100% increase to yield chances when crafting/refining items that have an increased yield chance.
Your Trade Skill level in the respective skill also affects your yield chances. [Trade Skill Level / 10 = % Yield Chance] Meaning if you are Smelting level 200 your yield default chance is 20%. You will see this when refining a tier 2 item while at a crafting station. When above tier 2 there is a decrease in the yield chance per tier.
Tier Decreases:
- Tier 2: 0% Reduced Yield Chances
- Tier 3: 2% Reduced Yield Chances
- Tier 4: 5% Reduced Yield Chances
- Tier 5: 7% Reduced Yield Chances
- Special Items:100% Reduced Yield Chances
Special Items include Tuning Orbs, refining material changing, T5.1 items and a few others.
Gems do not make use of the tiered system and the yield chance is only connected to your stonecutting level. This includes the decreases from higher tier meaning you will have a 20% chance to craft an extra tier 5 gem when cutting.
The user interface likes to round up your chances. When looking at the above screen shot you can see the stonecutting level is 86 and the chance to craft an additional item is 9%. Using the previously mentioned formula the chance to gain an increased yield is actually 8.6% chance in this example.
Crafting GS Level Chart
Below is the Min/Max addition to gear score based upon your Trade Skill level in that profession.
For example if your level 14 in Armoring you will have add +15 to your Max Gear Score value for Tier 2 crafts.
lvl | Min T2 | Max T2 | Min T3 | Max T3 | Min T4 | Max T4 | Min T5 | Max T5 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 15 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 101 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 107 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 113 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 114 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 117 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 121 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 122 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 126 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 130 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 131 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 133 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 134 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 136 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 141 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 148 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 149 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 151 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 152 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 153 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 154 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 5 | 155 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 5 | 156 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 5 | 157 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 5 | 158 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 5 | 159 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 60 | 0 | 5 | 160 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 161 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 162 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 163 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 164 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 165 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 10 | 166 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 10 | 167 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 10 | 168 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 10 | 169 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 15 | 70 | 0 | 10 | 170 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 171 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 172 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 173 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 174 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 175 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 176 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 177 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 178 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 179 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 10 | 180 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 181 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 182 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 183 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 184 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 185 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 186 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 187 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 188 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 189 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 15 | 190 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 191 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 192 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 193 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 194 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 195 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 196 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 197 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 198 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 199 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 200 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 20 | 75 | 0 | 25 |
