Am I the only one who finds it nearly irresistible to take crafting skills, simply because they can't stand seeing all those ingots and reagents and such going unused? And not being at the whim of the RNG (well, not as much anyway) for equipment feels so nice. And I hoard reagents. I have huge stashes because I can't bear to let them go to waste. Will I ever use those plastic ingots? Probably not. I mean, I might get lucky and get the Axekeytar recipe or something, but... I would hate to get the recipe and NOT have the reagents I needed. "If I get rid of it now I'll need/want it later", "waste not want not", etc. dominate my thoughts. I am Tycho, and I am a compulsive crafter.
I sell them for zorkmids and take a useful skill instead. If I have something in mind I tend to sell them to the pedestrials so I can buy back / craft them away for free later.
They *are* useful skills though, interestingly enough. Alchemy gets you the best staves in the game and enough potions to dtrastically reduce chances of death. Tinkering gives you a huge amount of trap disarming skill, and you can make enough bombs to actually use them for their knockback regularly, instead of in emergencies only. Wandcrafting ratchets your Savvy (and thus your Magic Power) higher than all other wizard skills. Smithing does something similar for Burliness, but most of the things you can craft with it are exceedingly lame by the time you have the recipe and materials, so it is uniquely uninspiring, but the rest are great.
Sorry, I thought he ment 'all' the crafting skills, and thus I was refuring to smithing specifically. (terrable skill, both the stats and the crafting) Wandcrafting seems kinda dull compared to the old wand lore, but I used to take the old one all the time, and tinkering and alchemy provide constant good items. (not to mention that sweet trap skill)
Honestly, I hate going without at least 2 item-based skills. Crafting and fungus too. I keep a stash and sometimes move it, about every 3 levels. Usually starting on level 2. I so wish DoD had the sophisticated stash system of Stone Soup, but alas, it's what we get for paying for a shorter game.
If DoD had the auto-move system from DCSS, I would get crafting skill in every new game I start. Now, I'm still playing with my Megacrafts/Clockwork Knight, but I don't play it often because it takes me twice or three times the normal time to complete a level. It's amazingly fun, though.
I feel you Tycho, I have to stop getting crafting skills altogether to prevent hoarding ingots and reagents. You're not alone my friend. I'm Gateman and I'm a compulsive Crafter and Hoarder
