Buying, selling and crafting

Dwarves are the only race with a crafting development path, and higher-level Dwarves (Artisans and Warsmiths) can craft unique items that are never dropped by enemies.

To craft something, you need both the recipe and the ingredients. Failure to craft something destroys the ingredients (but failure is possible with just a few recipes).

Item drops commonly differ by region (e.g., Stems are fairly common on Talking Island). It might make sense to run characters in different towns to collect the various materials that you need, or team up with other players and trade supplies via private stores.

It's usually more lucrative, but slower, to sell item drops to players than local merchants.

If you're really into crafting, join a clan or solicit group help. Nobody wants to spend the time and energy to gather 70 steel, and many clans will collectively gather items to craft something in particular.

If the store sells an item cheap, or if that item is easily available through a quick quest, it's probably not worth selling in a private store. Go ahead and dump it off to a trader, or clanmate.

Player stores are most valuable for high-end items, crystallized items (crafted by dwarves), enchanted items, and for remote, high-profile combat locations where players don't want to travel back to town.

Buying from a player at a discount is not always better than buying from a trader. For instance, say you earn 5K adena per hour at Level 15 and spend 30 minutes looking for 2000 in savings by buying from a player. In the end, you've actually lost 500 adena by spending your time shopping instead of hunting. Worse yet, even if you saved 4000, you still missed out on all the XP you could have earned in the mean-time. (Of course, everyone needs a break from time to time, and shopping around might make for a good break).

You can make a load of adena by setting up a "convenience store" at a popular fighting site. Buy items in town, and transport them to the dungeon. Desperate players will pay a nice mark-up for a convenient supply of Soulshots, Heal Potions, Escape Scrolls and other necessary combat items.

If you want to get rid of an item but can't sell it, open your inventory. Then, drag the item's icon on top of the Recycle Bin icon in your inventory window to permanently destroy it. You can get rid of your starting equipment that way, as well as any quest items you don't want any longer.

When buying items off of another player, always check the item in the trade window to make sure it's what you think it is. (You can click the item slot to view its stats.) Some players may try to fool you into buying a junk item.

You can determine what a store will pay for an item you've found while out in the field, even if you're foolishly playing without this guide by your side. Private Store cautions you if the price you've set is far from store price. Set up a Private Store, and then try out different prices for the item. If you ask 40% (or less) for it, or if you ask 1000% (or more) for it in the Private Store, you'll get the caution. Find the price point where the message changes, then do the math — divide by 10 (if your price has been high) or multiply by 2.5 (if your price has been low) to find out what a store would pay for it.