Gameforge (EU) released a preview of the upcoming patch 77 for TERA where the games crafting and gathering system will be receiving an update (including a new fishing system as well as updated cooking). In the past, both (crafting and gathering) systems were considered core to the game since end game gear could be previously crafted. The entire system revolved around several proficiencies (alchemy, armor crafting, weapon crafting, etching, gathering, and the previously mentioned cooking) where gathered items could be crafted into other material that would be utilized in the creation of gear. The more mundane crafting of potions remained but was obsoleted by better potions being acquired in sufficient quantities via questing or other reward systems.
The crafting of food and drink (for various buffs) was and still remains relevant except that some materials can only be acquired during their seasonal events (like Rootstock, Festival of the Sun, or the Castanica Beach Party) since that is the only times the NPC’s are at those locations (and for Rootstock recipes, they need to be prepared at the festival grounds where the salad bowl, grill, and open fire pan are located).
The problem is that while the crafting became obsolete over the years, the game has built up an archive of now outdated crafting recipes and materials. As noted, many of those are being removed. Furthermore, the core systems (alchemy, armor crafting, and weapon crafting) had their own progression system where you could get to artisan and then mastery (at which point, you had access to crafting better recipes). With both of those levels, you needed to take a “test” which required crafting a bunch things (most which are no longer relevant and only performed to reach the required points).
It’s why I never did even hit artisan for any of those professions because it seemed meaningless to have to waste a lot of time and effort crafting a lot of stuff that would need to be chucked. Still though, being able to get artisan in alchemy makes sense since you can then craft your own gems in order to use for enchanting (from Frostmetal tier onwards). I’m presuming this system isn’t being changed.
As per Gameforge’s preview, the new fishing system is also coming with an overhaul of the existing crafting and gathering system. Part of the structure for it is used in cooking (for buffs) and for higher grade catches, as a method for getting gold.
K-TERA has had this new system in place for awhile now (I believe their patch number is now in the 80’s) but I don’t really keep up on those details. The biggest change is the renaming of both armor and weapon crafting (since neither of them have been relevant since the Arsenal Update). Weapon crafting is being renamed to Refining while Armor crafting is being renamed to Processing. While Cooking is mentioned as being a new profession, it is new in the sense that it will now be a part of the actual crafting system (and not like how there was cooking at only the Rootstock Fairgrounds; and that will likely stay the way it is for the Rootstock food and drink similar to how the Sarberry Ice can only be created at the Festival of the Sun).
What’s not specified is if there are any changes being made to the Production Point system (currently, this is 4000 points across an account and any crafting/gathering uses up a predetermined amount). This replenishes (logged in or logged out) at 5 points per 5 minutes up to 1440 points per day which means it is like a fatigue/stamina system (and you can’t recover the full 4000 if used in a day in just 24 hours). There is a consumable known as Crafter’s Cure that restores 1000 points (you get these as guarantees in the daily box for being an Elite subscriber for EME; not sure how this works with Gameforge). The game does drop these as rewards but are on the rare side.
Until this system drops (Gameforge will see the update this week and EME next week), I’m not certain how much better the changes will be for the existing (renamed) systems. To be honest, I’m not expecting much since Bluehole has not been managing the progression systems well at all with the newer gear item XP system where it is an insane grind for materials, item XP, and gold for enchanting. It would be nice if there were still actually weapon/armor crafting for those of us who like to engage in activities that aren’t just constantly about running dungeons, raids, or other such end game activities (unfortunately, that goes against current game play where players are in a rush to hit max level to finish the end game yesterday). It’s another reason why I play TERA casually (love the combat, the flight missions, and the game world but not the current gear progression system). If the fishing system turns out to at least be fun/rewarding, it’s an activity that might keep me in-game longer. It’s sad they never got around to the actual housing system (lot of it will show up in A:IR though) in this game (all of that empty land in the outskirts of major hubs is there for a reason).
UPDATE: En Masse Entertainment has posted their information regarding this patch.
