Woodworking Guide by Ctownwoody

Woodworking Guide 1.0 0-60+ By Ctownwoody

Woodworking Tips
1. Logging sucks. Don’t do it. The logging points are either well-camped, like in Ghelsba Outpost, or are spread far apart and are a bitch to run between, like pretty much everywhere else. Either buy your logs at AH or at guild in Sandy. 2. Lumberjack, Lumberjack, Lumberjack. Unlike other Guild Point skills you can buy, this one is worth the effort, especially during the 39-69 stage of arrows and bolts. Nothing saves time when synthing hundreds of Arrowwood logs into lumber than the ability to do lots of them at once, especially when you start getting HQs 1-3. 3. Some regional vendors sell logs, like Norvallen, that are a little more expensive than the base price for the guildshop but have a larger supply and won’t make you wait between purchases. 4. Always, always, always research the Jeuno and Sandy AHs before starting on lumber projects. The market for various lumbers varies greatly by where other people are in their Woodworking skills, even more so than other crafts. 5. You’ll be buying almost everything from the Guildshop in Northern Sandy or an AH. 6. For arrowheads or fletchings, try Jeuno or Windy for fletchings and bone-related arrowheads, and Jeuno or Bastok for smithing and alchemy-related arrowheads and boltheads. You’ll sometimes find them cheaper there, sometimes. 7. Pay attention to which Nation is in First for Conquest Rankings. That one will have the NPC for bundling arrows in quivers. With any luck the same Nation will control Norvallen, for a limitless supply of Arrowwood and Ash Logs. 8. It's all about the sub-crafts. Smithing allows you to do some weapons and furniture, as well as being vital to making some arrowheads and all bolt heads. Alchemy gets you Bast Parchment (ninja-tools) and bolt heads and some miscellaneous stuff. Bonecraft covers arrowheads for recipies from 0-91 in skill. Goldsmithing and Clothcraft get you Noble's Bed, one of the best sources for profit in higher-level woodworking. Fishing lets you break rods easily (for repair). Not much with Leathercraft or Cooking directly, but you see that having the sub-skills leveled can help a lot. 9. Recharge your profits. Woodworking has some gaps where you can't make anything for profit, at least in quantities above 2-3 synths at a time. Learn to keep a large supply of items made for profit on hand to help supplement your income during these gaps, or to recharge your bank-roll if you decide to power on through the gaps.

Guide Itself
Key: Item (cap)-Crystal, Items (where to get materials)--What to do with the products and how much to make.

Arrowwood Lumber (2)-Wind Crystal, Arrowwood Log (Norvallen RV or Guild)—Make these up to cap and save them; you’ll use them later.

Maple Lumber (5)-Wind Crystal, Maple Log (Fauregandi RV or Guild)—Make up to 5, it’s cheap. Sell some at AH for profit if you can, but you may want to save them for later.

Ash Lumber (8)-Wind Crystal, Ash Log (Norvallen RV or Guild)—Make these to 8, it’s cheap as well. Sell at AH for profit if you can, but you’ll be using these later anyway.

TEST-Workbench (8)-Earth Crystal, Lauan Lumber x4

Holly Lumber (12)-Wind, Holly Log

Willow Lumber (13)-Wind, Willow Log—Whichever makes the more money and/or sells faster is the one you want to chose, but you’ll be taking these up 9-10

Bolts (16)-Earth, Bolthead, Ash Lumber—Pick a type. There are a lot of them. If you have sufficient alchemy and can level up by making one of them, then that’s probably you’re best shot. Otherwise, find the one that sells the best (fastest/most profitable) and make them up to 16, or beyond. You can Quiver these, to increase the amount you can sell at one time.

Walnut Lumber (19)-Wind, Walnut Log—This can sell, depending. If they are, make some; if not, skip ahead.

TEST-Maple Table (18)-Earth, Maple Lumberx4—These are the best furniture for Gardening around. They are smaller and more powerful than Workbenches and infinitely more cheap than Oak tables. As an alternative to Walnut Lumber or just as a good synth for 16-18, make a ton for your friends, your mules and maybe yourself. They don’t sell, since the market is flooded, but they are nice to have when growing Elemental Ores and such.

Maple Sugarx3 (21)-Lightning, Maple Log—Usually profitable at AHs, you want to take this to 21. It is pretty profitable when Sandy is in last place (or else Raimbroy’s Grocery sells them) and even more so when no one controls Norvallen, limiting the supply of maple logs.

Yew Lumber (22)-Wind, Yew Log—If these sell at a profit, make a stack or 2, if not, skip ahead.

Iron Arrow (27)-Earth, Iron Arrowhead, Chocobo Fletchings, Arrowwood Lumber—In a pinch, if none are available, the fletchings are a level 1 cap from Wind + Chocobo feathersx2. Make these up to 27 if profitable; if not, skip them.

Chestnut Lumber (28)-Wind, Chestnut Log (don’t buy these at Airship shops)—If profitable, make them; if not, skip them. You’ll notice that these are pretty demand sensitive in price, and the lumber is sometimes as cheap (2k each, though) as the logs.

Shihei (29)-Wind, Black Ink, Bast Parchmentx2—These are the ninja tools for Utsusemi, so they are in huge demand, but also are made in huge quantities. People make Woodworking 100+6 mules to HQ this synth and sell them. You won't be able to make a profit on making these, but you'll want the extra level or two when you start Oak Lumber.

TEST-Harp (28)-Earth, Coeurl Whisker, Chestnut Lumberx2.

Oak Lumber (35)-Wind, Oak Log—Oak is where lumber starts getting expensive per synth really quickly. Never buy for more than 5k a log and be careful about selling. Make sure it is profitable first AND will sell. Nothing stinks worse than having 60k worth of lumber you can’t sell. You just want to bridge these until you can start Beetle Arrows (39)

Caisson (38)-Earth, Chestnut Lumberx2, Bronze Sheetx2—This takes an unknown degree of smithing as well, reported at 30. Buy the sheets at the smithing guildshop for ultra-cheap. These puppies are my storage of choice, and should be yours too. They are Earth elemental and have the Gardening Moghancement. They are weaker in effect than Maple Tables, but the extra storage should be a great asset. These don’t sell well, only being introduced in the last patch but cost less than 6k to make and sell slowly for around 7k.

Beetle Arrow (39)-Earth, Beetle Arrowhead, Arrowwood Lumber, Chocobo Fletching—Make these bad boys up to 39, sell for profit at AH. These are quiverable arrows as well, which is why they sell well, especially to RNG and SAM. Get used to the feeling of making 99 or 198 synths worth of arrows; they are several more stages just like this one.

Fang Arrows (42)-Earth, Fang Arrowhead, Yag Fletching, Arrowwood Lumber—These are superior in stats to Beetle Arrows in every way except they don’t quiver. This is an optional bridge because it will take a long time to use up 33 stacks of them. However, bring along the ingredients if you have a RNG or SAM leveling in Valkrum or Qufim.

Rosewood Lumber (45)-Wind, Rosewood Log—This is also a bridge. Only do these if they are profitable and only to the extent that they are profitable. Each log should run you 2k, mostly at the AH, or did when I was at this stage.

Horn Arrows (49)-Earth, Arrowwood Lumber, Horn Arrowheads, Bird Fletchings—Only use for bird fletchings, so if you can find someone making them, they’ll be ecstatic to get rid of them for cheap. Make these until you hit 49. They quiver, they sell well, and they are relatively cheap, because they are the best arrows from level 29 until level 40. You can try these right out of Beetle Arrows and level 39, but only under optimal circumstances (Earthsday with advanced Support).

Mahogany Lumber (52)-Wind, Mahogany Log—After you hit 50, skill-ups slow down greatly. I suggest research these and maybe making them to 50 or 51 at most (50 to 51 might take 3-4 stax). Ultimately, though, this is just a bridge.

Scorpion Arrows (59)-Earth, Scorpion Arrowheads, Arrowwood Lumber, Insect Fletchings—These are your best friend. Make these until 59. That will take up to 4 stacks of Arrowwheads, which is 396 synths. This is why Key Item: Lumberjack is so vital after you hit 50. Quiver and sell as you go along.

Chest (61)-Earth, Rattan Lumberx3 (Elshimo Uplands and rarely at Guild), Lauan Lumberx2-This is a great synth for power-leveling at 61; it is dirt cheap relative to level. If you are not taking Woodworking beyond 60, this is the last synth you will want to do, to allow you to stop on a dime, so to speak.

Darksteel Bolts (62)-Earth, Darksteel Boltheads, Yew Lumber—These are expensive, relatively, to get the boltheads and you can’t sell those back singly, so only do this if you are headed beyond 60 in Woodworking, like I am. You really do want to hit 62 with these, because the next synth is very expensive and takes time to sell.

Demon Arrows (69)-Earth, Demon Arrowheads, Black Chocobo Fletchings, Arrowwood Lumber—As the BC Fletchings are a dump synth for high level Clothcrafters, you should be able to get them easy. The arrowheads recently crashed in price so this is now both relatively cheap to make for the level, and extremely profitable. As such, cap these arrows out, which might take 4-5 stacks of arrowheads.

Hume Fishing Rod (74)-Light, Broken Hume Fishing Rod--Break-fishing can be tedious and hard to find the right fish that you can hook and drain of stamina. Only then can they break the rod and not just the line. If you are lvl 34+, the waterfall (aim at the waterfall itself, not just the stream) in North Gustaberg, or if you are 45+, the ponds at the bottom of Gusgen Mine are great places to take a few stacks of Meatballs and break rods (either crafting there or just bring 2-3 dozen rods if possible). The fish will break the line or rod every time but gives !!! and takes around a 30-40 fishing to be able to pull up. Bring extra gear. You can break the rods on some rusty items in Gusgen, but place either Commodes or Rusty Buckets in your MH first to help.

Commode (77)-Earth, Rosewood Lumberx5--These sell about even but rapidly, especially for this level. If you even think about touching Elemental Staves, I'll slap you--only the very rare HQs make a profit on these incredibly expensive synths.

Noble's Bed (78)-Earth, Gold Ingot, Gold Thread, Velvet Cloth, Mahogany Lumber, Silk Cloth, Rosewood Lumberx3--This also takes Clothcraft of 56 and Goldsmithing of 50, both of which I am getting before I do this synth. Only about 2 sell per day (not bad, actually) and the total cost is just over 40k, but they sell for at least 70k each. Make a dozen or two and sell them or give them to your LS/friends.

Mithran Rod (83)-Light, Broken Mithran Rod--Same location as Hume Rod, only you might catch a few. If salt-water fishing wasn't much more difficult/catch, I would try the ferry with Sliced Bluetail or Meatballs as an alternative (plus to raise my Fishing Skill). DON'T buy Broken Rods at the AH, break them yourself if you can, and sell 1-2 per trip back to the AH for profit.

Numinous Shield (85)-Earth, Ancient Lumberx2, Round Shield--Profitable and they sell at 1-2 per day, so not bad at this level. Your next big synth is at 91, so this is a bridge.

Eremite's Wand (86)-Earth, Willow Lumber, Hermit's Wand--Another bridge, this one sells at a profit too. Farmed from a NM Orc (lottery pop, not timed) in Yughott Grotto.

Mithran Rod (87)-Wind, Rainbow Thread, Rattan Lumber--Make these, break these, sell the broken rods. That's the only use. Lather, rinse, repeat until you can hit the next item safely. The broken rods sell at around 1-2/day, so it'll take some time unless you plan to break a ton at once.

Kabura Arrows (91)-Earth, Bamboo, Ram Horn, Giant Bird Fletchings, Karimata Arrowheads--They require Bonecraft 53(!) as a subskill. These bad boys sell at a profit, you can always get the bamboo from Tenshodo Merchants, there's always a stack or two of the high-end arrowheads in the AH and they quiver! The only limiting factor is the Ram Horn supply. Farm them (bring along a few stacks of leathermaking-items) or just suck it up and buy a ton at the AH. Needless to say, this is the last hurrah, so take this to cap!

Bloodwood Lumber (92)-Wind, Bloodwood Log--These sell at 1k more than the logs do, so I'd make a stack or two of these to help yourself along. Don't count on major sales though. Most people at this level are synthing the logs for themselves. The addition of Cartonniers in the August 2007 patch means there is a decent furniture item that uses these as part of it, so watch for sales of that...

Eight-sided Pole (94)-Wind, Walnut Lumberx2, Mythril Ingot--This has a Smithing sub of 31. All things considered, these sell quickly for some reason, but at a loss. Still, cheap compared to alternatives...

Lacquer Tree Sap (96)-Water, Lacquer Tree Log--Sales have been dropping in these items, but they are still profitable, especially if you find an Alchemist working on Urushi, which uses this by the stack. Judge for yourself when you get to this stage.

96-100: Well, the following items look promising, in a "nothing's better" sort of way. Primate Staff/Kinobo (99), Cursed Togi (99), Staurobow (100), Iron-Splitter/Steel-Splitter (100-Make the former then the latter and junk it-only 20k per level 100 synth), and Mezraq (101-Ultimate crafted Dragoon weapon). The Kinobo and Steel-Splitter staves require Key Items: Enscrollment in Alchemy and Woodworking respectively, so Animas will be necessary. Frankly, this, Shade gear, Warp Cudgels and Reraise Earrings convinced me to make an Alchemy mule just for access to cheap Animas.

Good luck!