Not at all really sure what's going on with crafting. I understand the general idea, but have a couple questions. (1) If I didn't take a crafting skill, should I bother with all the reagents, metals, and just general crafting stuff littered about? Is it just junk? Or can I craft things without having taken any skill? (2) Do the crafting recipes I find from bookshelves persist from game to game? Or do I have to find them again when I make a new character?
There are a few things you can craft with 0 points in a skill, e.g. potions of lively regeneration. Also, you can find enhancers that will give you a point while you're wearing them (tinker's goggles) or temporarily (potion of inspiration). You won't make it to the good stuff, though. Mostly just ignore, sell, or ’fisk the materials.
Right. Ok, then, I'll just have to make a crafter later on. If I put materials in the Pocket Dimension, can I save them for a crafting character later, or does the PD get cleared out each game, too?
Nothing carries over from character to character unfortunately. I've often groaned when I played a smithing character, died, then rolled a different character and found a sweet weapon recipe that I could have used an hour ago. The RNG is a cruel mistress.
Turning Plastic/Copper/Bronze/Iron/Steel ingots into a couple of Bolts can be helpful if you want to plink away a Corrupting enemy (need a good crossbow to make up for the low damage of the bolts though), or fisk the bolts since they give more pieces than the original ingot. Tinker skill improves the quantity *and* quality of the bolts, but level 0 can be enough for some things.
Good to know. The other problem I'm having is that I've no tools. Do I just have to hope I get lucky and find something lying about?
If you take a Craft skill you'll start with some of the tools; if you don't take the skill, they'll show up randomly; the Crafting vending machines will occassionally have them too. My current character is on floor 7 and has I think 4 anvils, 5 presses, 2 grinders, 1 alch, 2 stills, 4tinker, 2 cubes and zero Lathes; but I've seen several in vending machines.
Speaking of which - any item(s) which increases your Alchemy level, comparable to the Tinkerer's Goggles? OP - for question (1), unless you have all the recipes memorized, there's no telling what reagent will prove useful. Experience helps, or consulting a wiki (which is hopefully up to date). I haven't found any use for Mudwen save Grog (which is useless for a non-casting build), for example. Problem is that some alchemy ingredients are needed for "tinker"-d items, and visa-versa. Same for Smithing and Tinkering. I keep 1 of every kit I find, for crafting zero-level items (like the bolts example).
