by Larien (Lanys T'Vyl server)

Many months ago, I started on a jewelry career with a dark elf Enchanter. It turned out to be extremely expensive, so I decided to put all trading aside for a while and concentrate on hunting with my friends instead. Then I started a new character on the fairly new server Lanys T'Vyl, a troll shadowknight called Gorth. Before The Age Of Gorth, I mainly played spell casting characters, but as Gorth grew stronger and more potent, I got more and more aware of the potential for a blacksmith. Well, Gorth is as stupid as he is strong, and I wanted a totally different type of character for a smithing career. So, one late night around New Years Eve, Larien was born in the distant island of Odus.

Larien is a highly intelligent enchanter, which makes him learn quickly. His skill level increased rapidly, and has now reached 142. Another important factor for a smith is wisdom. The higher the wisdom, the less you fail. Larien uses enhancing items such as a Black Iron Medallion that improves his intelligence and wisdom by 3. (edit: this has been found to be inaccurate, as whichever is higher of INT, WIS,or STR affects skillups-only. They do NOT affect your fail rates in any way)

As an Erudite, Larien soon discovered that the worst place to be in for a smith is Erudin. So the first thing to do was to make the long journey to Freeport. In Freeport you can find all components you need to become a Master Smith. You find sharpening stones and ore in North Freeport, close to the Bard's Guild. You can buy rusty weapons in a shop in East Freeport, and another shop there has almost all the molds you need. To reach a skill level of 142, Larien used the following stategy:

1. Train in the Guild until 21. Easiest way. I often have a lot of unused skill points on my characters, because I usually practice my skills while I'm fishing. So I have a lot of skill points available for getting a head start on trades.
2. Sharpen rusty weapons until 31. I got sharpening stones from North Freeport and went to East Freeport to buy rusty weapons there. Rusty 2H swords will get you to skill level 31. To sharpen a rusty weapon, find a forge and left click on it. Put a sharpening stone and a rusty weapon in the container that shows up and click on 'Combine'. If you succeed, you will lose the stone and the weapon and get a tarnished weapon instead. If you fail, you will only lose the stone. Note that you can hold down the CTRL key while left clicking on a stack of sharpening stones to pick only one at a time.
3. Made scalers until 41. This is when you start making those millions of metal bits you've probably heard other people curse about. To make metal bits, you will need two small pieces of ore (which you find in North Freeport) and a flask of water. NEVER STACK ANYTHING in the forge; always put the two small pieces of ore in separate slots in the forge and the flask in the third slot. Hit Combine. When you have made about one million of metal bits, head over to East Freeport and buy scaler molds. Put one metal bit, one scaler mold, and one flask of water in the forge to make the scalers.
4. Made lanterns until 68. Same as for scalers, but the recipe is: metal bit, lantern mold, bottle, and a flask of water. You can find bottles in Trader's Holiday in East Freeport, the merchant next to the one who sells the molds.
5. Made skewers until 115. Metal bit, skewer mold, and a flask of water.
6. Made pots until 122. Metal bit, pot mold, standing legs mold, and a flask of water. When Larien reached a skill level around 120, he started making banded armor to get more money for the practicing. He quickly got back the 100pp (about) he first spent on practice.
7. Made small sewing kits until 135. Metal bit, needle mold, thimble mold, and a flask of water. You get the needle and thimble molds from North Ro, at the Inn.
8. Made banded armor to 142. No more metal bits! Instead, you buy metal sheets in East Freeport. At this time, most banded armor are trivial to make for you, except gauntlets, mantle, leggings and cloak. I have heard that cloaks will get you to 168. After that, there is nothing more that can increase your skill level. Because most items are trivial to you now, your intelligence aren't as important as your wisdom, so start maxing out wisdom with magic items! To make MEDIUM sized banded armor, you get the molds in East Freeport. To make SMALL armor, you can go to Neriak or Rivervale to get the molds. To make LARGE armor, you have to go to Feerott or the Karanas.

Gorget (AC5) - Sheet of metal, flask of water, gorget mold
Bracers (AC6) - Sheet of metal, flask of water, bracer mold
Boots (AC6) - Sheet of metal, flask of water, boot mold
Mask (AC4) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, mask mold
Sleeves (AC7) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, sleeves mold
Helm (AC8) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, helm mold
Belt (AC6) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, belt mold
Mantle (AC6) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, mantle mold
Gauntlets (AC7) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, gauntlet mold
Cloak (AC7) - Two sheets of metal, flask of water, cloak mold
Tunic (AC15) - Three sheets of metal, flask of water, tunic mold
Leggings (AC8) - Three sheets of metal, flask of water, leggings mold

You can also make three kinds of weapons:

Morning star - Flask of water, metal sheet, hilt mold, spiked ball mold.
Bastard sword - Flask of water, metal sheet, hilt mold, pommel mold, dual edge mold.
2H sword - Flask of water, metal sheet, hilt mold, pommel mold, heavy steel blade mold.

If you have any questions about smithing or maybe want to buy some banded armor, just look up Larien on the Lanys T'Vyl server!