Class Analysis for Tradeskills

[steel]

= Anarchy Online Tradeskills Skill Analysis =

* Warning: This is LONG. As in, VERY long. VERY VERY VERY Long. Don't say I didn't let you know *

*IMPORTANT NOTE* I have not conducted the in-game research for this guide personally. Information has been sourced from fan-sites for Anarchy Online and I have referenced the main URL for the sites I obtained the information from. No credit for that work can be mine, rather I have used the work of talented and dedicated players to build this guide and I strongly recommend you visit the referenced sites for any of the crafts youu are interested in as they are fantastic tools for everyone's use.

The format I have used is as follows: title grouping, site URL, skills required for ALL steps required to make the item (not to use it).

Tradeskill Craft: Gems and Jewelery (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Mechanical Engineering

Mainstream Craft: Nanocrystals (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Nanoprogramming
- Computer Literacy
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Field Quantum Physics

Armorcraft: Bureaucrat Suit (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering

Armorcraft: Bronto Hide (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Chemistry

Armorcraft: Carbonum (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Chemistry
- Mechanical Engineering

Armorcraft: Dragonflesh (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Chemistry

Armorcraft: Overtuning Tank Armor (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering
- Field Quantum Physics

Gadget Craft: Adventurer Shield (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Field Quantum Physics

Gadget Craft: Aggression Trimmer (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Chemistry
- Mechanical Engineering

Gadget Craft: Aggression Multiplier, Jealousy Augmented (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Mechanical Engineering
- Weapon Smithing

Gadget Craft: Augmented Bow Tie (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering
- Psychology

Gadget Craft: Coffee Machines (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Bomb/Disarm
- Breaking and Entering

Gadget Craft: Implant Disassembly Clinic (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering

Gadget Craft: Personalized Robot Brain (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Electrical Engineering

Gadget Craft: Treatment Library (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering
- Electrical Engineering

Gadget craft: Virral Egg (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering

Weapon Craft: Upgrading Maussers to Mausser Chemical Streamers (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering
- Weapon Smithing
- Mechanical Engineering

Weapon Craft: Sealed Recepticles (http://www.anarchyarcanum.com)
- Breaking and Entering
- Weapon Smithing

Mainstream Craft: Implant Creation (http://virral.clansupport.com)
- Nano Programming

Mainstream Craft: Weapon Smithing (http://virral.clansupport.com)
- Weapoon Smithing
- *varies

Mainstream Craft: Emergency Treatment Laboratories (http://virral.clansupport.com)
*also includes making blood plasma, a surefire profit on monster parts, tied exclusively to Pharmaceutical Technology
- Pharma Tech

Final Analysis: Skill rankings obtained from http://aovault.ign.com
- Item Groupings = 21
(- Skill: Name = #of hits [best prof at this skill])
- Skill: Mechanical Engineering = 7 [Engineer]
- Skill: Electrical Engineering = 4 [Engineer/Trader]
- Skill: Field Quantum Physics = 3 [Engineer]
- Skill: Weapon Smithing = 4 [Engineer/Trader]
- Skill: Pharma Tech = 1 [Trader/Doctor]
- Skill: Nanoprogramming = 2 [Metaphysicist/Nanotechnician]
- Skill: Computer Literacy = 1 [Metaphysicist/Nanotechnician/Fixer/Bureaucrat/Doctor]
- Skill: Psychology = 1 [Enforcer/Trader/Bureaucrat/Agent]
- Skill: Chemistry = 4 [Enforcer] *(why doesn't this look right?)
- Skill: Breaking and Entering = 8 [Fixer]
- Skill: Bomb Disarm = 1 [Fixer]

Total Class Hits:
- Bureaucrat (2)
- Doctor (2)
- Enforcer (2)
- Engineer (4)
- Fixer (3)
- Metaphysicist (2)
- Nanotechnician (2)
- Trader (3)
- Agent (1)

My Colour Ranking System: Best --> Worst
- Green
- Turqouise
- Light Blue (more of a mid in actuality)
- Dark Blue

This data doesn't take into account each supporting tradeskills for each class. If we include those, we find the best tradeskill classes are as follows:
- Trader (4 Green, 5 Turquoise)
- Engineer (4 Green, 4 Turquoise, 1 Dark Blue)
- Fixer (1 Green, 6 Turquoise, 2 Light Blue)

If we further expand this data to include Breaking and Entering, we end up with the following:
- Trader (4 Green, 5 Turquoise, 1 Light Blue)
- Engineer (4 Green, 4 Turquoise, 1 Light Blue, 1 Dark Blue)
- Fixer (2 Green, 6 Turquoise, 2 Light Blue)

Since there are now 10 skills involved, let's assign each an arbitrary number, representing their part of the total percentage. Since there are four groupings of skills, each colour ranking shall represent a 2.5% increase in efficiency for comparative purposes. Dark Blue will begin at 2.5% instead of 0% since it is theoretically possible to raise this skill 4 points/level (1 from stats), albeit at a very high cost. This also explains why it hasn't been assigned a 6.67% rating, as the added IP cost diminishes the probabaility of said skill being raised this high.
* Green = 10%
* Turquoise = 7.5%
* Light Blue = 5%
* Dark Blue = 2.5%

- Trader: 40% + 37.5% + 5% = 82.5%
- Engineer: 40% + 30% + 5% + 2.5% = 77.5%
- Fixer: 20% + 45% + 10% = 75%

I'll include other classes for the sake of completeness.

- Doctor: 20% + 7.5% + 30% + 2.5% = 60%
- Enforcer: 20% + 7.5% + 25% + 5% = 57.5%
- Agent: 10% + 22.5% + 20% + 5% = 57.5%
- Metaphysicist: 20% + 25% + 7.5% = 52.5%
- Nanotechnician: 20% + 20% + 10% = 50%
- Adventurer: 15% + 30% + 5% = 50%
- Bureaucrat: 20% + 15% + 12.5% = 47.5%
- Soldier: 15% + 25% + 7.5% = 47.5%
- Martial Artist: 15% + 17.5% = 32.5%

OK, now lets add in a % for each time a class has a green skill equal to the number of times that skill got a hit in the item matrix above. We'll halve that for a Turquoise skill and halve it again for a Light Blue skill, with no bonus or penalty for a Dark Blue. This should increase the results with variables based on the more popular tradeskills. Integers under half a percent will be rounded up to the next half a percent (to avoid a 0.25 score for the Engineer, Agent and Adventurer for Trap Disarm)

- Trader: 82.5 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3.5 + 1.5 + 1 + 0.5 + 2 = 103%
- Engineer: 77.5 + 7 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 0.5 + 1 + 0.5 + 2 + 2 + 0.5 = 102%
- Fixer: 75 + 3.5 + 2 + 1.5 + 2 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 1 + 8 + 1 = 96%
- Doctor: 60 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 70.5%
- Enforcer: 57.5 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 1 + 4 + 2 = 70.5%
- Agent: 57.5 + 3.5 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 1 + 2 + 0.5 = 67.5%
- Adventurer: 50 + 3.5 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 1 + 2 + 0.5 = 61%
- Metaphysicist: 52.5 + 2 + 1 + 0.5 + 2 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 = 60.5%
- Nanotechnician: 50 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 58%
- Soldier: 47.5 + 2 + 2 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 2 = 54.5%
- Bureaucrat: 47.5 + 2 + 0.5 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 54%
- Martial Artist: 32.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 2 = 35.5%

So my final verdict is that the Trader only slightly outclasses the Engineer in overall tradeskills, but the Engineer tends to have an edge on the Trader in terms of how useful her trade skills will be, even though the Trader has a slight overall bonus in terms of IP cost. The fixer is a surprisingly close third, with their Breaking and Entering skills and Turquoise tradeskills proving useful throughout.

Unsurprisingly, the Martial Artist is the poorest character type for a trade skill character and the Enforcer is a surprise show in the rankings, occupying the fourth slot alongside the Doctor. The Enforcer could be a good choice to send down the direction of Armour Construction, with the added bonus of Jewelery work using Mechanical Engineering.

Ultimately, I am very surprised with the outcomes. There is a hefty margin for error in these equations, yet it seems to me that the Trader is every bit as viable as an Engineer when it comes to tradeskills and yet is superior in combat and speed skills, with nano skills having a more even spread between Turquoise and Light Blue, without the polarised extremes the Engineer experiences with Green and Dark Blue skills. I have read that the Trader rules PvP and their buffs can make other classes green with envy. Are Engineer pets really that good, or should I reroll my Engineer into a Trader?

Also it seems to me that Fixers are certainly highly viable as tradeskill characters - but I imagine this would be an IP reallocation job as the rest of their skills seem to support the general consensus that they're IP heavy to build.

I hope you enjoyed this dissection, I apologise in advance for any errors made during it's construction and while I have attempted to give all credit where it is due, if I have omitted any source of information, it was not by design!

[Kzak]

Well, Traders have tradeskill buffs giving them up to +125 extra points in all major tradeskills,, effectively meaning they'll outdo an Engineer any day of the week, as Engineers don't have any such buffs with the exception of expertises and +60 to Chemistry/Pharma-tech.

The subject of tradeskills between these two classes have basically been discussed to death and beyond, so I won't bring that up here.

[Slyyk]

This thread deserves to be sticky.

[____________Zedtrion]

bump. MAKE THIS STICKY!

[___________SUPERSLAG]

I vote for sticky

[Kzak]

I vote for this thread to become sticky. But in a pleasant way.

[Quamander]

When taking into acount buffs, traders have an edge since we do not need to hunt down buffs. BUT there is ALOT more utlities/armor that increases an engy's skills, giving them the over possibility of getting higher in ANY skill bar comp lit compared to the trader.

[Rugger807]

Are you kidding me? there are only 11, thats right, 11 engie only items. and most of those are useless weapons. Do a search on Antiguardians for engineer only reqs it's quite sad.

[____________Intrepid]

Originally posted by b33rgut
Final Analysis: Skill rankings obtained from http://aovault.ign.com
- Item Groupings = 21
(- Skill: Name = #of hits [best prof at this skill])
- Skill: Mechanical Engineering = 7 [Engineer]
- Skill: Electrical Engineering = 4 [Engineer/Trader]
- Skill: Field Quantum Physics = 3 [Engineer]
- Skill: Weapon Smithing = 4 [Engineer/Trader]
- Skill: Pharma Tech = 1 [Trader/Doctor]
- Skill: Nanoprogramming = 2 [Metaphysicist/Nanotechnician]
- Skill: Computer Literacy = 1 [Metaphysicist/Nanotechnician/Fixer/Bureaucrat/Doctor]
- Skill: Psychology = 1 [Enforcer/Trader/Bureaucrat/Agent]
- Skill: Chemistry = 4 [Enforcer] *(why doesn't this look right?)
- Skill: Breaking and Entering = 8 [Fixer]
- Skill: Bomb Disarm = 1 [Fixer]

It doesn't seem right like you say probably because it isn't. Can you link to the exact spot where you found this info because i wanna see how they came about it.

I found the page i believe you got those stats from but you seem to have forgot that the differene between Aqua and Green is only in IP costs and not in how far you can raise a certain skill. Thus all green and aqua skills should be counted in your list but they aren't. Using that method gives a better overall view of the tradeskill classes particulairily engineers who get 8 hits and traders who get 9 hits and fixers who get 9 hits as well.(i didn't know fixers were so good in tradeskills) though why bomb disarm is included i don't really know so its really only 8 for fixers.

And none of your calculations here take into account who can buff what by how much. Maybe not a problem on Rk1 but quite a serious problem on RK2 and extremely severe on RK3

AS for your question as to whether you should reroll your engie to be a trader. As a engie who has done just that i would say if your under level 100 hell yes you should do it. If over 100 though Its hard to make the decision because of all the time you have put into your character it mean to much lost work to start over.

[Kzak]

The only -real- Engi-only items that add any considerable amount to tradeskills would be the HUD Upgrade: Personal S.T.M. and the A-4000 NCU Sheet.

+35 and +40, respectively. And these items have to be camped for; the NCU Sheet is at an 18-hour mob, while T.I.M. is merely camped by a lot of people wanting the regular scopes.

Not a lot when compared to the +80 and +125 for Journeyman and Maestro buffs. If an Engineer is superior to a Trader by wearing the two items mentioned above, the Trader is -definetly- doing something wrong.

[____________Intrepid]

the new engie only armour is nice. Adds 20 to main tradeskills 10 to secondairy ones. If your willing to take the hit in ACs/HP/NCU/nano init or whatever armour you are using.

If those custom rings of tinkering ever came out then those would be a must for any engie tradeskiller to have a pair of.

[Mercatura]

You don't need AC when you're using tradeskills.

Besides, for any highend work you have to implant swap.

FC seems to want people to have to do things together, and doesn't care how rare an item is as long as its out there.

FYI

Skill: Easiest, Best ("highest possible")
ME: Trd, Engy
EE: Trd, Engy
QT: Trd, Engy
WS: Trd, Engy
PT: Trd, Doc
NP: MP, Engy
CL: Trd, Trd
PSY: n/a (Crat but nothing to make at high end)
CH: Engy, Engy
B&E: Fix, Fix

Tutor is same for everyone.

Its never easy being the best

I never charge for maestros and I don't have to drain anymore. If you have problems finding them, too bad.

Down with the eng v trader whining, up with the new things tradeskills need. Engys need bots improved more than anything.

[steel]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the feedback - especially the constructive comments a couple of you have made to query my original post.

The reason that post came about is that I decided I wanted a character to do tradeskills. Why? Well, in other games I've enjoyed the satisfaction of a job well done, and I felt it could add an extra dimension to my game

So I accumlated all of that data and wrote it into notepad. (Slow day at work, one of the horror/benefits of having a reactive job is that every now and then... like Sunday nights... there's no work to be done). After I'd finalised it, I thought maybe others could benefit from it, so I added in the links.

As to the question, where did I get the skill matrix? Here is the full URL: http://aovault.ign.com/thegame/skills/

Also, I didn't realise that a green or turquoise skill can both be raised an equal number of points per level (albeit at differing IP costs), so my results have to be taken with a hefty grain of salt from there.

I deliberately left out the possibility of buffs for two reasons.
1) I don't know the end-game buffs for high levels
2) You cannot rely on them - you may not always be able to get said buff unless you can cast it yourself.

With regards to Bomb/Disarm as a tradeskill, I got my information from Anarchyarcanum for their coffee machine. Apparently a skill of 200 is required to reshape the container. Maybe this is a typographical error and should be Breaking and Entering?

With reference to a sticky... I don't think this post deserves one (but thanks for the vote of confidence). For one, I'm not an established and experienced tradesperson, secondly all I did was collate some data and throw in some variables of my own. I didn't even build the variables in a consistent manner, I simply picked ones that seemed plausible and ran with the ball.

Ultimately, I have decided to start a fixer and see how they work with Tradeskills. I realise they'll be heavily dependent on buffs from other players, but I think I can live with that. The speed demon in me is just itching to try it out. So I have made a solitus fixer, who works for Omni. Why Solitus? Why Omni? Because I *love* the look of omni-pol armour (and all my other characters are neutral so no hope of wearing it for them) and as far as I'm aware, that armour is based on Str/Sta (the mere thought of Dark Blue nano skills combined with Dark blue nano-controlling attributes for an Atrox made me quiver with fear, so I went for the next best thing ). This should be interesting...

[____________Intrepid]

Originally posted by Mercatura
Skill: Easiest, Best ("highest possible")
ME: Trd, Engy
EE: Trd, Engy
QT: Trd, Engy
WS: Trd, Engy
PT: Trd, Doc
NP: MP, Engy
CL: Trd, Trd
PSY: n/a (Crat but nothing to make at high end)
CH: Engy, Engy
B&E: Fix, Fix

Explain to me how you come about those, this is what i see

ME: Trd, Engy/trader
EE: Trd, Engy
QT: Trd, Engy
WS: Trd, Engy/trader
PT: Trd, Doc
NP: MP, Engy
CL: Trd, Trd
PSY: n/a (Crat but nothing to make at high end)
CH: Engy/trader/agent/enf, Engy
B&E: Fix, Fix

If you are part of a uber org who has the luxury of being able to put 3 full team together to go kill "the one" 2 or more times for you then yes i guess your would be correct. But thats like saying all NTs should have gaily hood and stuff like that. Yes possible not probable. Not to mention as soon as 14.6 comes out traders have the exact same buffs on a set of armour themselves.

and at what point does being able to get that extra 10 skill outweigh the ability to get 125 instantly or have to slum around for it?

[locomdenom]

For what it's worth, as a fixer you probably won't have the extra IP for tradeskilling until 150+.

[____________Intrepid]

Originally posted by Kiryat-Dharin
For what it's worth, as a fixer you probably won't have the extra IP for tradeskilling until 150+.

neither do traders really. and if a engie choose to carry a weapon they don't either.

[Mercatura]

If you can't get the buffs, thats your problem.

You are reading more than I said.

FC doesn't care if something is rare, just if its there or not. I walk by a particular engy in the new armor at trade bank all the time. Its there. At least its not on some lame 18 hour mob you have to KS for, its something you assemble a team to get.

Then again, if you can't find a buff you probably have trouble finding people to help you.

The point when it outweighs it is when a title capped trader can't make it but a title capped engy can.

I could care less if engineers get a buff, as long as it is not self-only. Anything else is a long, clever little way to get traders nerfed and appease another set of whiners.

Engys are still ahead with the new items.

BTW, it doesn't take an uber org to do everything.