The Guardians say Bahralt smiles at every toll of hammer on anvil, every cycle of the weaver's loom, every act of civilized craft. The Defiant could not care less about the Vigil, but each inventor and sage knows that the Eth Empire ruled most of the world through innovation and technology. Now, the Ascended turn their superhuman skill toward gathering rare components and crafting armaments to carry into war against the riftspawn.
Every Ascended can master up to three tradeskills. Whether smithing elemental power into a blade or weaving brilliance into a robe, these reborn heroes use tradeskills to arm themselves with the fruits of their own genius. They finance their adventures by selling materials and wares on the open market, every sale a step toward confronting the Blood Storm.
Trades teach a host of abilities, from the collection of ingredients to the manufacture of wondrous equipment. Tradeskills also allow you to process raw materials into workable forms, such as smelting ore into bars, and to dismantle useless gear for its component pieces.
Tradeskills can all be learned—for a fee—from the many trainers found throughout Telara. These masters and select merchants will sell you new recipes as your skill improves, but plans can also be earned through service to Telara's many factions and taken from the clutches of slain enemies. Never satisfied following rote directions, the Ascended can perform Augmentations of many recipes, experimenting with different materials to push their work to new heights.
Many crafting skills require materials that can only be obtained through certain gathering skills, but you are not obligated to learn harmonious trades. Most of Telara's gathering skills supplement more than one crafting skill, and some trades are entirely self-sufficient. This chart illustrates which gathering skills complement the crafting skills, so you can know what to learn, or who to make friends with.
Through your own skills or commerce with other Ascended, you must collect recipe materials and take them to the appropriate workstation (such as a Forge, Loom, Workbench, or Alchemy Lab) in your faction's capitol. There, you can make any number of wonders to arm yourself or your fellow Ascended. Whether you forge miracles with the reverence of Bahralt's chosen Dwarves, use sourcestone to power revolutionary machines, or simply gather materials to supply your fellow Ascended, tradeskills let you play a part in Telara's thriving economy.
