Money-making

[Szkol]

I've been really focusing on leveling up as fast as possible, and haven't had a ton of time to spend on crafting things to sell, since the Goldsmith is in Bastok and I train at the dunes. I don't really spend money on anything at the dunes, but as I'm still a pretty fresh newbie I've made some mistakes in equipment purchasing, which have cost me a few thousand gil here and there. My biggest worry is buying my next set of equipment, I'm still wearing scale mail at Lv 17 and I still have lots of research to do about equips and prices at the AH. I can sell stacks of copper ingots for 18-20K normally, but it seems alot of the other newbs like me around Bastok have gotten wise to the fact that the ingots are a good money maker, and I'm thinking prices are going to start falling soon, b/c my current profit is around 200% per stack, so it has lots of room to fall.

My big questions:

Which equips should I get to get the most bang for my buck? I currently have a Yew Wand for when I turn level 18, as well as Saintly Rings and Eremite's Rings, and a Justice Badge for INT/MND boosting. What should I get as far as shirt/legs/shoes/cap?

Am I going about making money the wrong way? Sometimes it takes a whole day for my ingots to sell, and it really slows things down, b/c I put all my money into making ingots every time I go to Bastok so I get as large a return as possible. Should I be farming items instead of synthing?

This may kind of tough: I think after I get the ability to sub-job, I won't be heading back to Bastok for awhile (where my mog-house is), b/c I think I'll be traveling around to Jeuno, San d'Oria, and Windurst, mostly to familiarize myself with the world but also to pick up a few quests here and there, and also to check out what the markets are like in those cities. After that, I think my next training destination is supposed to be Qufim Island... and my question, finally, is about how much cash should I raise to take on my little journey with me so that I don't find myself money-less when I need to upgrade equipment and stuff?

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: Money-making

Honestly, it sounds like you're right on the mark. You have found one of the best stable money makers at that level, and it has a good return. Most likely your profit margin won't change over night, though it may fluctuate some when school starts up again in the fall (less people playing as often affects prices).

Anyhow, keep doing what you're doing, seems good from what you've said. For RDM int + mnd = love, and MP secondary is always good.

[Hamlet]

Re: Money-making

You're next armor upgrade is lizard armor, but it's really not a big deal as you shouldn't be getting agro often. Not many armor pieces at that lvl offer mage bonuses, and the ones that do (besides accesories) are pretty expensive.

I'm pretty sure if you lvl up your goldsmithing just a little bit more, you can make silver ingots for profit. The ore sells for cheap from the guild, and I think you could make a stack or two of ingots before they sell out, and the profit should be much better because people need silver more than copper.

I think it's worth checking out to augment your copper ingots profit at least, and silver will sell alot faster.

[Mhurron]

Re: Money-making

I think my next training destination is supposed to be Qufim Island... and my question, finally, is about how much cash should I raise to take on my little journey with me so that I don't find myself money-less when I need to upgrade equipment and stuff?

You'll need some gil. Thats all I can say. If I had between 50-100k on me, usually closer to 50, I had no problems. RDM is pretty cheap to level, your first major purchase will be Dispel at level 32, which you will be expected to have the moment you hit 32. So use that as a guide. Selling a stack or two of Silk thread would keep me going for a while.

RDM has no really special must have gear for most body parts at low levels, so equip yourself as whatever roll your doing. If you're whipping out that sword, wear the light armor that you can. If you've moved back to being a dedicated caster then tunics or other magey gear is fine. After level 20 I was invited more as a BLM substitute instead of a main healer so I had more INT+ gear then MND+ but in reality you should have a bit of both.

[Bricklayer]

Re: Money-making

One other thing you may have already realized is that you're going to spend some time (hopefully) leveling a sub before going to Jueno. I've currently got RDM at 20+ after a couple of PT's in Qufim, and am now lvl'ing WHM and BLM (hopefully both to 37) before the push to RDM 75. Does this have any practical application to the discussion... Hmm... Not sure. I guess, if you plan on lvl'ing a mage sub, I'd suggest keeping your wands (i've got maple+1, willow+1, and yew+1, not terribly expensive). The wands are great for WHM and BLM. I played up to Small Sword, but will probably use a Yew Wand+1 for the 20's.

For gil, your strategy seems pretty good. If you ever get tired of ingots, fishing can be fairly profitable (you've probably heard everyone rave about Moat Carp). Fishing rods range in price, but you can catch Moat Carp with Little Worms (4 gil each, sold in S. Sand), then start buying Insect Balls for about 1k/stack (Ramuh, 1 stack = 12) at AH. You'll get slightly higher percentages of Moat Carp with Insect Balls. A stack of Moat Carp is currently selling for 10k on Ramuh, so that's fairly good profit as well.

I'm also cooking... It's a bit of a money drain (not too bad, though), but you can make some fairly useful drinks after you hit 20. Finally, remember to get Ginger Cookies (through AH or at the Fair, gives +5 MP per tick when resting). I carry a stack of 99 whenever I play now.

I'm a total noob, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Still, being in the midst of lvl'ing the low levels, I can give a limited perspective on what seems to work best for me. I'll edit if I think of more ideas.

[nazlfrag]

Re: Money-making

A yew +1 would be nice if its cheap, but by no means essential. It is better to get good all-round normal quality gear than to focus on +1 items at the moment.

For your travels around the world, you won't need a stack of cash, you should do fine with the cash from ingots for a while. You don't need to be at the guild to synth, but you can get assistance and recipies from the guild.

Other options are farming, some examples are Beehive chips from bees in Bastok, Fire Crystals from orcs in Sandoria and Silk Thread from crawlers in Windurst. There are many options here, you might like to try worms for ores for your craft.

Lastly I'll mention HELM, or Harvesting, Excavating, Logging and Mining. You need a stack of pickaxes for mining or excavating (plenty near Bastok), hatchets for logging (mainly near Sandoria) and sickles for harvesting(near Windurst). The places I mentioned are just a few areas and not exclusive, ie. there are mines close to Sandoria. Sometimes you will get a rare find that's worth quite a bit, some good items to sell, and the rest of the stuff you can craft.

A little guide to Sandoria: You are up to Lizard armour, which you can quest with some Sandoria fame. Details here. You can also quest a friar's rope, a good early mage belt. Details here. The magic shop stocks a fair collection of early spells, be sure to fill any gaps.

And for Windurst, you can quest your Justice Badge if you bought it to recoup the costs. Details here. You can start learning to make Orange juice (good for all early mage jobs, it refreshes MP) with support at the cooking guild, and can make it without support with ok results after cooking level 2. There are two magic shops here with dozens of spells between them. Spells from shops are almost always cheaper than the AH.

Lastly is Conquest point gear from Bastok, Legionnaire's Cap, +1 int is the best, and Legionnaire's Staff +6hp,+6mp is good for your whm or blm to whack things with, though I prefer a spoon(wand) in parties.

Well, good luck on your travels, and {Take care!}

[Szkol]

Re: Money-making

Gah!!~

I knew it! In the space of about a day the price of copper ingots at the AH has plummeted to about 1/2 of what it has been. I think its time for me move on out of Bastok, and maybe farm fire crystals by Sandy like someone mentioned, or I was thinking also of doing some HELM stuff.

Before that though, I think what I'm going to do is switch jobs and level up my WHM and BLM to level 8 or 9, taking out a LOT of time to farm crystals. I may also take WAR up a few levels as well, just for the fact that I could use the cash from crystals in my main job... and it would probably also help me get a lot of Conquest Points to get Legionnaire's equips with.

After all that I'll probably turn back to my RDM, give him a little nudge to get to level 18 and find myself a magicked skull and start doing RDM/subs.

Thanks for all the tips!

[Esoa]

Re: Money-making

Just by leveling up and doing subs you should have enough money from crystals and drops to buy RDM gear. RDM is seriously cheap to level.

[Altae]

Re: Money-making

For low levels before Sleep 2, your best bet is to do an assortment of things:

-Camp some easy NM.
-Fight low level elementals for clusters. (Though, that won't be possible until you're 35-40.)
-BCNMs. (You can aquire a decent amount of seals by level 30 for some low level cap BCNM. But knowing how to fight them is important so you don't waste those seals.)
-Quests.(Repeatable quests, quests that yield high gil rewards.)
-Missions (You get a large sum of gil everytime you advance a rank.)
-Crafting.(without a large source of money or materials, this may be difficult. But the option is certainly open to those who are truly determined.)

Some helpful repeatable quests:
-South San d'Oria: There's a female elvaan NPC near the Mithra tailor that'll take 3 tiger fangs and give you 2100 gil.
-North San d'Oria: An elderly looking male elvaan NPC near the scout tower gate (on the Port San d'Oria side), takes bat wings by the pair. You get 200 gil per 2 wings. 200 gil multiplied by a stack of 12 is 2400 gil. And since bats are easy to find and kill, you only need to find some time to gather wings.

And also be sure to visit these database sites to research quests and other activities for further aid:

-Mysterytour
-Allakhazam