Guild Wars 2 has eight crafting disciplines to choose between, and players can have two. They can also have all three of the gathering disciplines, which thankfully aren’t tied to any of the crafting trades. Players can choose to become a jeweler as one of their crafting disciplines, which allows the player to craft jewelry– amulets, rings, and earrings, as well as upgraded gemstones to use in equipment. Both will be undoubtedly useful in GW2, and hey– every profession benefits from shiny things, right?
Mining and logging are the two gathering trades essential to the jeweler discipline. Logging may not seem useful on the surface, but one of the gems needed– amber– is found while chopping down logs. Gemstones are randomly found while mining and logging all types of gathering nodes, and the chances of finding them can be raised by using special gathering tools. The appropriate gathering tool must be equipped while gathering (luckily all three– mining pick, logging axe, and harvesting sickle– can be equipped at once), but they do run out as you use them. For long gathering sessions, keep a few stacks handy.
One very awesome feature about gathering in GW2 is the fact that nodes appear uniquely for every player. This means that two players can both run up to an ore node, and both walk away with ore. This approach is similar to the entire game’s cooperative approach to combat and loot, and will make all our crafting lives easier. The other nice thing about gathering is that while mining or logging, players will get multiple whacks at each node, which equal multiple chances of receiving gems. Rich nodes also increase the chances of obtaining gems by increasing the number of whacks before the node is depleted.
As a general rule of thumb when considering which gems to prioritize, here are the stats acquainted with each type (in the same order as pictured above): Garnet – Power, Turquoise – Vitality, Amber – Condition Damage, Tiger’s Eye – Precision, Malachite – Toughness, and Pearl (not pictured) – Healing. Later on, when gems can be transmogrified, or combined into new types, these stats also combine as such.
Once gathered, gems can be used to place into gear, or used for crafting jeweler recipes. All jeweler recipes require the use of ore as well, which is obtained while mining and from metal scraps, which drop off mobs, can be found in bags, and can be sometimes found in interesting places around Tyria (ruined metal hunks in the environment, for example). Ore must be forged into bars at a rate of 2 ore per bar then crafted into jeweler ingredients like hooks and bands, which can all be done at the nearest jeweler station.
When just getting started with the jeweler profession, I first recommend running out and mining a fair chunk of copper nodes, which appear in areas for levels 1-15. Collect those gems, and try and have as much of a variety as possible. As a jeweler in GW2, you’ll be spending quite a bit of time discovering new recipes. In fact, once you learn the recipes for metal bars and ingredients, the rest of the jeweler recipes (at least in the early stages) come from discovering. Not that this is a bad thing. It’s quite fun, but it takes a bit of getting used to.
So what does discovering mean? Instead of automatically being given a list of recipes to flounder through or purchase, you’ll have to discover recipes yourself, using your own ingredients. The good news? Most of the discoveries follow a pretty basic pattern for jewelers– slap a gem with some metal ingredients, and there you go. As you work your way up, upgraded gem types and new gem types altogether will become available.
The discovery interface is easy to figure out. Tab over to it, plop your ingredients in, and see if something comes up. If so, craft it. You’ll learn the recipe and also craft the item. Discovering boosts crafting experience as well as crafting items that are orange, yellow, and green. Oh, did I mention that crafting experience not only boosts your crafting level, but your real level, too? That’s a pretty nice perk for players who enjoy crafting.
Here is a list of the basic copper-level discoveries. These recipes should get you to jeweler level 50 or so:
Rings:
Amber Solitaire of Festering [0 difficulty]
1 Copper Band, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Amber Pebble
Turquoise Solitaire of Vitality [0 difficulty]
1 Copper Band, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Turquoise Pebble
Garnet Solitaire of Might [0 difficulty]
1 Copper Band, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Garnet Pebble
Tiger’s Eye Solitaire of Precision [25 difficulty]
1 Copper Band, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Tiger’s Eye Pebble
Malachite Solitaire of Resilience [25 difficulty]
1 Copper Band, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Malachite Pebble
Earrings:
Amber Stud of Festering [0 difficulty]
1 Copper Hook, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Amber Pebble
Garnet Stud of Might [0 difficulty]
1 Copper Hook, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Garnet Pebble
Turquoise Stud of Vitality [0 difficulty]
1 Copper Hook, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Turquoise Pebble
Malachite Stud of Resilience [25 difficulty]
1 Copper Hook, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Malachite Pebble
Tiger’s Eye Stud of Precision [25 difficulty]
1 Copper Hook, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Tiger’s Eye Pebble
Amulets:
Malachite Amulet of Resilience [50 difficulty]
1 Copper Chain, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Malachite Pebble
Amber Amulet of Festering [50 difficulty]
1 Copper Chain, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Amber Pebble
Turquoise Amulet of Vitality [50 difficulty]
1 Copper Chain, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Turquoise Pebble
Garnet Amulet of Might [50 difficulty]
1 Copper Chain, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Garnet Pebble
Tiger’s Eye Amulet of Precision [50 difficulty]
1 Copper Chain, 1 Copper Setting, 1 Tiger’s Eye Pebble
In addition to these recipes, adorned gems can be made, which are upgraded gems discovered by combining a gem with a filigree. The adorned gems can then be combined with the same copper pieces as listed above to create upgraded jewelry. These recipes using the upgraded gems are known as masterwork recipes. After that point, at jeweler level 75, the recipes begin to repeat themselves utilizing the new gems and metal ore found in silver nodes.
At jeweler level 50, it’s also possible to begin creating new gem types, known as transmogrified gems, using two different types of gems and a pile of glittering dust. These feature the combined stats of the base gems. Some of the transmogrified gems can also be found in silver ore nodes.
While leveling my jeweler on the last BWE, I found the experience to be quite enjoyable. I love the idea of discovery in crafting, and I’m quite pleased with the gemstone system in GW2. Gemstones are used both for jewelry and inserting into equipment, which makes the trade quite useful. A good stock of gems is definitely needed for leveling, however, so for any aspiring jewelers out there– make sure and grab some mining picks and logging axes as soon as possible, and gather, gather, gather!
Stay tuned to Guild Wars 2 Junkies in the months to come, as I’ll be sure to update this guide with higher-level information in the future.
