Diablo 3 crafting

The Diablo 3 crafting system appeals to the dedicated collector in players. While the series’ bread and butter lies in its swords-and-sorcery-type action, seasoned gamers will tell you that amassing treasures and trinkets is just as entertaining, though in a different way. Just as people go after the best car or the best gadget in real life, so do series fans pursue the virtual equipment and accessories of their dreams.

The Diablo series provides various means for players to collect unique items. They may divest fallen foes of their loot or win treasures as rewards for accomplished quests. Besides selling them, what else can be done with all the loot they’ve been hoarding? The answer is simple: they can take them to someone who can improve on them.

Chances are, players aren’t satisfied with their initial gear. The kind of equipment you can get from slain monsters is random at best, so another option is to breathe new life into old, outdated gear. That’s where the artisans come in.

Think of artisans as a caravan of specialists who will gladly lend you their services—provided you earn them, that is. Since this is an action RPG, the artisans will have you do noble and heroic things (read: quests) before they deem you worthy of their trust. The interesting thing to note is that their personalities and goals are as varied as their reasons for wanting to assist you, and there’s a lot of fun to be had in finding out what makes each artisan tick.

Each specialist is precisely that- a craftsman with a specialty that no other craftsman can emulate exactly. For instance, the blacksmith acts as your weapons and armor supplier and repair service, and he also adds sockets to his wares that leave them open for further enhancements down the road. The jeweler helps you upgrade and recycle your gemstones. The mystic is the NPC to go to for charms, runes, potions and scrolls.

Note that Diablo 3 crafting results aren’t 100% predictable. This means that you can get slightly different stats every time you have the same kind of item crafted. You don’t have to worry about totally random results, though, as the stats are divided into two property types in your unique item list: the set properties and the random properties.

Besides relieving you of unwanted items and the burden of trial-and-error crafting in MMORPGs, they provide you with ways to get some of the best gear in the game. Of course, the artisans need raw materials to work with, and that’s where the chicken-or-the-egg situation comes into play.

The idea behind the specialists is that they’re supposed to save you the trouble of hunting for specific, high-level items until your eyes bleed. The irony is that players will need to hunt monsters for crafting items and recipes, anyway. The good news is that you can recycle items by breaking current items down into more useful components. Besides, you’ll find that the items that they can provide will be well worth the trouble it takes to acquire the necessary materials.

A word of advice: set aside a budget of gold and materials just for training your artisans. Your specialists will level up, expand their shops and improve their craftsmanship as you do so. This can lead to a lot of interesting Diablo 3 crafting opportunities down the road. Who knows? You may even need to consult a crafting guide just try out the sheer number of options available.