As we continue reshaping Pax Dei’s core systems, crafting is stepping into the spotlight. With the arrival of Path of the Adventurer, we’re not just adding new recipes or tweaking numbers: we’re rethinking the entire structure and flow of crafting to make it more engaging, intuitive, and meaningful at every tier.
This revamp is major. It complements the updates to combat and progression, and it reflects months of work by the design team to better align the system with how players actually want to play: more meaningful gathering, more strategic crafting, and clearer professional identities.
Disclaimer: it’s possible that, by the time the update is deployed, some minor changes will occur to the details below.
Four Key Goals
We’ve structured the crafting overhaul around four core design goals:
Easier Onboarding
One of the most common points of feedback from players, especially newer ones, has been that starting a crafting profession feels unclear or overly dependent on other players. We're addressing that by:
- Making it faster and simpler to start any core profession,
- Removing the need for a dedicated processing crafter to begin basic crafting,
- Streamlining the early game to help you get into the loop quickly without getting stuck on bottlenecks.
This lowers the barrier to entry and makes early progression more rewarding.
Real Complexity, Not Confusion
Crafting should grow deeper as you master it, not just more time-consuming. We're adding real structure and logical depth to recipes across tiers:
- Tiered complexity: T1 recipes remain simple, but higher tiers introduce more layered ingredient chains.
- Cross-profession clarity: Components will now more clearly belong to your profession or to another, reducing ambiguity.
- Persistent value: Early-tier items, especially Tier 1, will retain relevance at higher tiers (e.g., as ingredients or in alternate recipes)
Smarter Dependencies
Crafting collaboration is good, but dependencies shouldn’t be frustrating. We’re restructuring how professions rely on each other:
- Components from other professions will now be at least one tier lower than the item being crafted,
- This preserves interdependence while avoiding deadlocks and confusion,
- It also helps reduce crafting overhead when you’re focused on progressing in your own field.
This change keeps specialization valuable without punishing solo crafters or small groups.
Better Pacing
We want crafting to be more about the world, and less about waiting at a bench.
- Progress and costs are being balanced across all three core professions,
- We’re increasing the importance of gathering and reducing the need to be idle at crafting stations,
- Changes include adjusted yields, ingredient costs, and XP multipliers to reflect this philosophy.
This means that your time in the world — gathering, hunting, mining — is what drives your progress, not just standing still and watching a progress bar.
What’s New in the Toolbox
This revamp comes with new workflows, new materials, and ultimately, new gear. Here are some highlights:
New workflow
As we introduced in our recent post on RPG, the crafting changes are designed to support and enhance the new combat system. That’s why tailoring, leatherworking and Blacksmithing are the three professions undergoing drastic changes, as they are the ones used to craft gear and weapons.
- New spells and gear stats require new crafting inputs,
- Combat roles like Tank, DPS, and Healer are now reflected in the gear you craft,
- Reworked recipes will provide tactical choices for builders, gatherers, and fighters alike.
New Crafting Components
Most professions are gaining a full suite of new intermediate material, designed to support the new tiered structure. These parts will appear at different tiers and will help distinguish recipes by complexity and function.
For example, leatherworkers will now work with a new intermediary material: Leather Splits, available in various qualities. This gives more control over final item quality and adds depth to leatherworking progression.
New Items Replacing Old Gear
Almost all existing crafted gear, including weapons, will be phased out and replaced with newly designed items that better match the revamped progression and balance systems.
If you’ve been hoarding mats for that perfect build, keep an eye on the new crafting tables — what’s viable and valuable is about to change significantly.
Crafting is one of the core pillars of Pax Dei, and this update is a long-overdue leap forward. It makes the system more intuitive, rewarding, and integrated with the rest of the game. Overall, progressing in a profession should be more rewarding; the higher the craft, the better the value. However, higher crafts will require more materials, so more time wandering the world - or quite some gold to buy those at a market stall.
Whether you're just picking up your first tool or running a full workshop, we can’t wait to see what you build next.
Pax vobiscum,
The Mainframe Team
