Crafting Guide: Casting by Starcrossed

Source: Crafting Guide: Casting

Originally written by and produced by MTC and her leaders. Moved to these forums by demand and complaints of signing up for the MTC forums to view them:

Introduction

To me, Casting is one of those love it or hate it crafting professions. The reason i say that is that, the items produced by casting are so industrial. The raw materials for casting favour very specific nations such as England and Spain, and it makes it quite difficult for players of other nations to master.
For Maritime players, Casting is a godsend.
Cannons, Armour and Weapons crafted by master Casters are sort after across the whole game world. Because of the slow wear down of Cannons and Equipment overtime, player built weapons has become one of the most demanded items in game.
A well built Cannon can easily make light work of even the most well-armed pirates.
Recommended birth place
-Lisbon
-Seville
-London
-Amsterdam

Medittaranean Chapter

This chapter is for Spanish and Portuguese players. Spanish casters will have the luxury of crafting Cannons from the Port of Barcelona in late game.
-Required Recipe Books
Introduction to Casting (Groningen, Antwerp, Dublin, Plymouth, Oporto, Palma, Madeira, Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Genoa, Pisa, Syracuse, Las Palmas, Antwerp, Naples, Saint-George)
Casting of Props for Land Battle (Tunis) 10,000D
Book of Metal Refining (Lübeck, once developed) 12,000D
Weapon Production Technique Book (Barcelona, Groningen, reward after 500,000D in investment)
Book of Alloy Smelting [optional] (Dublin, reward after 300,000D in investment)

-Required Skills
Mineral Trading (mineral trader)
Industrial Goods Trading (mineral trader)
Weapons Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Firearms Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Casting (arms trader, mineral trader)

Level 1 - 3 (Log >>> Dart or Lumber >>> Carpenter Tool; 2 x Lumber >>> Spare Rudder)

Path A.
Spanish players can travel to Las Palmas to purchase Logs, and Portuguese players can travel to the Azores.
Use the Casting of Props for Land Battle to turn Logs into Darts.

Path B.
If the method feels too slow. You can travel to Oslo, and make Carpenter Tools and Spare Rudders from Lumber. For details please read the North Sea Chapter.

Level 3 - 5 (Dagger >>> Throwing Knife)
Dagger can be purchased from the Portuguese Port of Lisbon and then made into Throwing Knives with the Casting of Props for Land Battle book.

Level 5 (Iron Ore >>> Iron, Steel + Iron >>> Dagger, Dagger >>> Throwing Knives; Lead Ore >>> Lead or Copper Ore >>> Copper)

Path A.
For Spanish players, there's the route between Barcelona and Algiers. Iron can be made from Iron Ore from Algiers, using the Book of Metal Refining book.
Combine the Iron with the Steel from Barcelona to makeDaggers are made from Iron and Steel using the Weapon Production Technique Book.
The Daggers can then be made into Throwing Knives using the method described above.
In addition, Barcelona also has Lead Ore which can be turned into Lead with theBook of Metal Refining book.

Path B.
Portuguese players can purchase Copper Ore from Lisbon after some investment. Turn Copper Ore into Copper with the Book of Metal Refining book.

Level 6 (Lead Ore >>> Lead, Gunpowder + Ammunition + Steel >>> Steel Ammunition or Copper Ore >>> Copper)

Path A.
Spanish players can camp in Barcelona and use The Introduction to Casting book make Steel Ammunition by combining Gunpowder, Ammunition and Steel. All three products can be purchased in Barcelona

Path B.
Portuguese players are encouraged to stay in Lisbon to make Copper

Level 7 (Gunpowder + Ammunition + Steel >>> Steel Ammunition; Lead Ore >>> Lead or Copper Ore + Tin Ore >>> Bronze, 2 x Bronze >>> Bell of Withdrawal)

Path A.
Spanish players use the same method as in level 6.

Path B.
Portuguese players can purchase Copper Ore from Lisbon and Tin Ore from Porto, combine the two to make Bronze using the Book of Alloy Smelting.
The Bronze can then be made into the Bell of Withdrawal using the recipe book Introduction to Casting.

Level 8 - 9 (Gunpowder + Ammunition + Steel >>> Steel Ammunition; Iron Ore >>> Iron, Iron + Steel >>> Curved Sword or Copper Ore + Tin Ore >>> Bronze)

Path A.
Spanish players can use the familiar route between Barcelona and Algiers to make Iron from Iron Ore, and then combining Iron with Steel to make Curve Sword with the Weapon Production Technique Book.
This process can be added to the Steel Ammunition process.

Path B
Portuguese players should stick with the Bronze process.

Level 9+
See Late Game

North Sea Chapter

The North Sea is blessed with industrial goods, and the imba town of Hamburg. Whichever nation (England or Holland) controls Hamburg will have a huge advantage in the Casting market, and even shape the overall political map of North Europe.

-Required Recipe Books
Introduction to Casting (Groningen, Antwerp, Dublin, Plymouth, Oporto, Palma, Madeira, Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Genoa, Pisa, Syracuse, Las Palmas, Antwerp, Naples, Saint-George)
Casting of Props for Land Battle (Tunis) 10,000D
Book of Metal Refining (Lübeck, once developed) 12,000D
Book of Alloy Smelting (Dublin, reward after 300,000D in investment)
Firearms Production Technique Book (Barcelona, Ceuta) 20,000D

-Required Skills
Mineral Trading (mineral trader)
Industrial Goods Trading (mineral trader)
Weapons Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Firearms Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Casting (arms trader, mineral trader)

Level 1 (Lumber >>> Carpenter's Tool)
Travel to Oslo and use the Introduction to Casting to make Carpenter's Tool from Lumber.

Level 2 (2 x Lumber >>> Spare Rudder)
Staying in Oslo, make Spare Rudder from 2 Lumbers, using the Introduction to Casting

Level 3 - 5 (2 x Bronze >>> Bell of Withdrawal or Coal + Iron >>> Bullet)

Path A
If you are an English player, you could travel between Plymouth and London, using the Bronze from both Ports to make the Bell of Withdrawal from the Introduction to Casting book.

Path B
Alternatively, you can also go to Dublin and make Bullets from the Firearm Production Technique Book . The ingredients for making Bullets are Coal and Iron which are both available in Dublin.
You can also sail between Dublin and Plymouth, and add the Bell of Withdrawal to the production line.

Level 5 - 7 (Copper Ore >>> Copper; Lead Ore >>> Lead; Iron Ore >>> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron >>> Ammunition)
It's time to move the production line to the Mineral capital of Hamburg.
Here you'll see your Casting level up in a matter of minutes. There are three metal ores, which can all be refined with the Book of Metal Refining.
Copper Ore, Lead Ore and Iron Ore can be refined into Copper, Lead and Iron.
The refined Iron can be combined with Coal to make Ammunition from the Firearms Production Technique book.

Level 7 (Lead Ore >>> Lead, Copper Ore + Tin Ore >>> Bronze, Bronze >>> Bronze Statue/Bell of Withdrawal; Iron Ore >>> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron >>> Gun)
In a similar process to above, refine metal ores into metals. Except this time, combine Copper Ore with Tin Ore to make Bronze from the Book of Alloy Smelting.
The Bronze can be used to make Bronze Statue (requires level 5 Handicraft) or Bell of Withdrawal with the Introduction to Casting book.
Iron made from the Iron Ore can be used with Coal to produce Guns from the Firearms Production Technique Book instead of Ammunition.

Level 8 - 9 (Lead Ore >>> Lead, Copper Ore + Tin Ore >>> Bronze, Bronze >>> Bronze Statue/Bell of Withdrawal; Iron Ore >>> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron >>> Gun or Copper Ore + Zinc Ore >>> Brass)

Path A
You can choose to stay in Hamburg and make the items from above.

Path B
Alternative you can travel to Lübeck to make Bronze from Copper Ore and Zinc Ore from the Book of Alloy Smelting, which are both available in Lübeck.

Level 9+
See Late Game

Late Game

Usually level 9 in casting is a threshold, as after level 9, there is a distinct lack of effective crafting recipes to level up casting. Furthermore after level 9, you can generally make Cannons which are somewhat useful in Sea Battles. For more details on how to make Cannons, please refer to my Cannon Production guide.

-Required Recipe Books
Introduction to Casting [optional] (Groningen, Antwerp, Dublin, Plymouth, Oporto, Palma, Madeira, Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Genoa, Pisa, Syracuse, Las Palmas, Antwerp, Naples, Saint-George)
Book of Metal Refining [optional] (Lübeck, once developed) 12,000D
Weapon Production Technique Book [optional] (Barcelona, Groningen, reward after 500,000D in investment)
Book of Alloy Smelting [optional] (Dublin, reward after 300,000D in investment)
Firearms Production Technique Book [optional] (Barcelona, Ceuta) 20,000D
Book of Gold Casting (Havana, reward after 1,000,000D in investment)

-Required Skills
Mineral Trading (mineral trader)
Industrial Goods Trading (mineral trader)
Weapons Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Firearms Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Casting (arms trader, mineral trader)
Precious Metal trading (accountant)

Level 9 - 11 (Iron Ore >>> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron >>> Gun or Copper Ore + Tin Ore >>> Bronze or Copper Ore + Zinc Ore >>> Brass or 2 x Iron + Steel >>> Two-Handed Sword)

Path A
If you are English or Dutch, you can stay in Hamburg and refine metal ores or make Guns from Iron and Coal from the Firearms Production Technique Book to level up to level 11 casting.

Path B
Alternatively, you can smelt Brass from Copper Ore and Zinc Ore in Lübeck

Path C
Portuguese players can use the Lisbon, Porto route to make Bronze from Copper Ore and Tin Ore and then Bell of Withdrawal from the Bronze.

Path D
Spanish players can travel between Barcelona and Algiers to make Two-Handed Swords from the Weapon Production Technique Book.
Two-Handed Swords are made from 2 Iron and 1 Steel. Iron can be made from Iron Ore in Algiers.

Level 11 - 13 (Iron Ore >>> Iron, Brass + 2 x Iron + 2 x Steel >>> Western Armour or 4 x Coal + 4 x Iron >>> Cannon)

Path A
Spanish players can make Western Armour using the Weapons Production Technique Book from Brass, Iron and Steel. Brass and Steel are available in Barcelona. Iron can be made from Iron Ore in Algiers.
Brass is only available after investment, meaning only Spanish players should make Western Armour to level up.

Path B
Because other nations don't have access to Brass in Barcelona, they can either go to Dublin or Hamburg and use the Firearms Production Technique Book to make Cannons from Coal and Iron.
Coal is available in both Hamburg and Dublin. Iron is available in Dublin, and Iron Ore is available in Hamburg which can be turned into Iron with the Book of Metal Refining.

Level 13 - 15 (3 x Gold Dust >>> Gold)
At casting level 13, you can travel to ports in the Caribbean, and purchase Gold Dust. The ports that sell Gold Dust are San Jose, San Diego and Jamaica.
Gold Dust can then be turned into Gold.

Alternative Level 9 - 15 (Ship Cannons)
Another way of leveling up from level 9 casting to level 15 casting is to craft various Ship Cannons for players. The materials for making cannons are generally Cannons, Ammunition and Iron/Steel
The ingredients for crafting Ship Cannons are all available either by purchase or crafting in the Ports of Barcelona, Hamburg and Dublin.
Because Barcelona is a Spanish port and close to the trade hub of Lisbon/Seville, it gives Spanish players the natural advantage in crafting Ship Cannons

Level 15
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have finally graduated from casting. What a long journey. You now have the ability to craft the best Ship Cannons and Weapons in the game.
Whether you follow the path of the Cannonsmith or the Weaponsmith, you will never be short of firepower.

Good luck and sail safe.