Smithing Leveling Guide

Smithing is the backbone tradeskill of EverQuest — weapons, armor, and metalwork all flow through the forge. It's also one of the more expensive tradeskills to level, so choosing the right recipes at each tier saves serious platinum.

This guide covers the most cost-efficient path from skill 0 to 300+.

What You Need

• Container: A forge (found in most cities, or use a portable Collapsible Forge)
• Primary Stat: STR (minor effect on success rate)
• Budget: Moderate to high — metal components add up

Skill 0–21: Sheet Metal

The cheapest possible start. Buy Small Pieces of Ore from any smithing supply vendor and combine two in a forge to make Sheet Metal.

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This is dirt cheap. Burn through a few stacks and you'll be at 21 in no time.

Skill 21–68: Banded Armor

The classic smithing leveling path. Banded armor pieces use Sheet Metal and Large Bricks of Ore, both vendor-purchasable.

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Work through these in order. Sell the results to vendors or other players to recoup some cost.

Skill 68–122: Fine Plate

Fine Plate armor pushes you through the mid-range. You'll need Fine Steel components, which require smelting ore first.

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Continue with Fine Plate pieces (boots, bracers, gauntlets, etc.) working up through the trivials.

Skill 122–188: Cultural Smithing

This is where smithing gets interesting — and more expensive. Cultural armor recipes are race-specific and produce some genuinely useful equipment.

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Skill 188–248: Ornate Armor

Ornate armor patterns drop in Planes of Power zones. These combines are moderately expensive but offer solid skill-ups through this range.

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Skill 248–300: Expansion-Specific Recipes

From here, each expansion introduces new recipes that push the cap higher. Consult the expansion-specific guides for the most current path:

• Dragons of Norrath recipes (248–282)
• Serpent's Spine recipes (282–300)

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Beyond 300

Reaching 300 is the base cap. To push to 350, you'll need:

1. Tradeskill AAs (New Tanaan Crafting Mastery, etc.)
2. To learn a large number of recipes (the 300+ system requires recipe discovery)
3. Patience — skill-ups above 300 are rare

See the Skill Cap 350 Guide for the full breakdown.

Tips for Saving Platinum

• Always buy from vendors when possible — player bazaar prices fluctuate
• Sell your results — even failed items vendor for something
• Use a tradeskill trophy once you're past 100 for the modifier bonus
• Check the Prices section on this site for current vendor costs per recipe

Good luck at the forge.