Guides
Tradeskill Strategy
Which tradeskill to start, when, and how to sustain the grind economically.
Every EverQuest character eventually thinks about tradeskills. Some will rush one to the cap; most will skill up one or two to the 100-150 range to cover personal needs. This guide covers the economic and practical side: which skill to pick first, when to start it, and how to avoid the most expensive mistakes.
The single most important rule: pick one tradeskill at a time. Spreading materials across three skills wastes plat and slows all three. Cap one, then start the next.
At a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Era cap | Classic → Planes of Power |
| Skill cap | 251 base, 300 with select AAs |
| First-tradeskill cost | 100-500 plat to break even |
| Pre-req level | 30+ recommended |
| Key rule | Stay above trivial for skill-ups |
| Best self-funding skill | Smithing (mid-game), Brewing (early server) |
How tradeskill skill-ups actually work
Every recipe has a hidden trivial value. Combining at or above trivial yields the item but no skill-up. Combining below trivial yields a chance at skill-up scaled to how far below trivial you are. The biggest skill gains come from recipes whose trivial sits 5-15 above your current skill — trivial much higher than your skill means more failures and wasted ingredients; trivial below your skill means no progress at all.
This is why recipe selection at each skill band matters more than raw plat spent. A player who picks the right pre-trivial recipe at every tier hits 250 on a fraction of the materials a player who hammered the wrong recipes burned through.
Start a tradeskill if
- You have a stable city to operate from (Kaladim or Felwithe for smithing, Rivervale or Kelethin for baking, Ak'Anon for tinkering and research).
- You can afford 100-500 plat in ingredients before you break even.
- You plan to play your character for months, not weeks.
- You have inventory space and storage in a bank or shared bank for stacks.
Don't start a tradeskill if
- You're still leveling fast (below 30). Level first, skill later — you'll outlevel the zones where most low-tier ingredients drop.
- You plan to quit in a month. Tradeskills compound over months.
- You don't have a buyer base. Smithing without a Bazaar economy is hobby work.
Recommended first tradeskills
- Baking — cheapest entrance, fishing pairs with it for free ingredients, useful for feasts and the Coldain Shawl chain.
- Fishing — zero cost, supplements baking, can skill up while moving between camps.
- Brewing — early-server gold mine when nobody else has stocked the Bazaar.
- Blacksmithing — for Warriors and Paladins who want to equip themselves; self-funding via banded armor and weapon vendor sales.
- Research — Necromancer / Wizard / Magician / Enchanter only; combines spell pages into spells, valuable to other casters.
- Pottery — Coldain Shawl gating, also Velious-era gear molds.
Skills to avoid as first tradeskill
- Tinkering — expensive per combine, Gnome-only, slow to skill, narrow output.
- Jewelcraft — high material cost, small early margin, gem economy is volatile.
- Alchemy — Shaman-only, high material cost, late-game skill.
- Poison Making — Rogue-only, niche, low return until raid tiers.
Source materials before you combine
Sit down and stockpile. Stack 20-50 of each ingredient before you start combining. The skill-up curve is slow enough that running out of bone chips at skill 87 and zoning to East Karana for more breaks the rhythm and burns play time. Source first, combine second.
Money side
Smithing is the canonical self-funder. Banded armor sells reliably to leveling Warriors and Paladins, vendor-bought components are plentiful, and the cost-per-combine stays linear. Brewing self-funds aggressively early because most players ignore it. Baking plus fishing covers your own consumables and produces small Bazaar margin. Tradeskills outside this set tend to lose plat until cap.
Stay above trivial
Sub-trivial combines yield no skill-up. Don't grind a recipe whose trivial is 30 below your skill — you're spending plat to produce items you could buy. Switch to the next recipe band as soon as your current recipe drops out of skill-up range.
Specialization vs generalist
You can theoretically skill every tradeskill on one character. Almost nobody should. Specializing in one or two skills to cap, then leaving the rest at 50-100 for personal use, returns more plat per hour played than a generalist sweep. The exception is Coldain Shawl, which forces small skill-ups across multiple skills as a quest gate — accept it as a cost of the chain, not as the start of a generalist career.
Common mistakes
- Skilling up by combining far below trivial — pure waste.
- Two tradeskills at once — splits material budget, doubles the time, halves the focus.
- Buying trophies before cap — trophies grant skill cap bumps but only unlock at high skill; buying them at 100 wastes plat.
- Skipping the Coldain Shawl — multiple tradeskills feed into it and the rewards are era-defining.
- Selling raw ingredients to vendors instead of crafting up to mid-tier sell points.
- Crafting in the wrong city — distance to forge, oven, and the Bazaar matters.
- Ignoring the trivial chart — guessing recipe trivials wastes more plat than the chart costs to consult.