Need some advice on changing my Smithing Strategy

[DegenerateX]

Alright as of right now I am F2P and have done the following:

 

 

 

1. Mined 400 coal and 200 iron myself. (al kharid - chasm mine)

 

2. Smelted into bars in al kharid

 

3. Sold bars for 600 each (fally east bank - world 3)

 

4. Used all money I made to buy COAL

 

5. MINE MY OWN IRON = to half the # of coal I purchased.

 

6. Repeat Process

 

 

 

*Although this increases my steel bar # by 1.5x each round (ive done up to 900 bars) it is getting very slow to mine my own iron and if I buy it it would decrease the multiplier of my bar stash. And smelting xp is very litte.

 

 

 

So I was thinking of switching to P2P over the summer. What I need to know is do people buy cannonballs (easy to sell?) (in mass or small #).

 

 

 

I would like the extra smithing xp from making cannonsballs as it would double the level rate at which I am increasing right now.

 

 

 

I DONT WANT TO MAKE STEEL PLATES AND ALCH THEM FOR 2 REASONS.

 

 

 

1. I would lose money so I wouldnt be able to make more bars.

 

2. I dont want to alch because it doesnt raise your hp level.

[primadog]

cannonballs are [very] easy to sell.

 

 

 

Your strategy seems like a good one, but where are you mining your iron? the Varrock east mine is the best f2p one available unless things changed.

[NETTY]

While its true cannonballs are easy to sell, they are EXTREMELY time consuming to make. They are by far the slowest thing to smith/smelt in the game. Its not like smelting normal bars, the time difference is VERY noticable.

 

 

 

But, if you're patient/don't care about time.. I guess its one way to go..

 

 

 

If you're going members, you can always smith iron bars into iron knives, they sell for 45 each, bars sell for 225 each, so you break even on every bar.. =\

[DegenerateX]

I'm very patient....Mining 1500 iron straight tested me enough. This can't be that much worse.

 

 

 

Whats the price range of cannonballs?

[Gurken_495]

Cannon balls are 200ea and you make 4 to a bar, though there members only

[ishepp]

If you get members, you should consider iron smithing too.

 

for example,

 

140 iron ore=14k

 

ring of forging=2or 3k

 

140 bars=28k

 

11k profit already by this stage

 

you could then make iron knives, 700 from 140 bars, so 28k still with free xp.

 

Obviously you do more htan 140 bars at a time, i did it like this because of the ring of forging which has 140 uses.

 

I think this is right, though I'm not a member, I heard it works ok.

[DegenerateX]

Wow I just calculated how much I will make with the 18002 bars I have right now :) Over 2 mil.

 

 

 

Probably going to go member as soon as school ends as I am also still training for staking in duel arena.

[wolfboy]

I've heard that arrowheads are also a good choice for p2p. I had many opportunities to sell arrowheads when I was selling bars, but alas, f2p for at least several more months.

[rft]

well i am a member, so I'll give you members advice if you are planning on joining f2p. I use the blast furnace (which requires 60 smithing to be effective, and you have to do a quest (i forget which). This halves the amount of coal that you need, so a steel bar costs 1 coal, 1 iron (which you can also buy from the shop there). As long as you are prepared to high alch your plates there, you will make a nice profit, and can make twice as many items due to needing only half the coal.

 

 

 

As was said above, I had a go at making cannonballs. By the time that I had made 4 loads, I was well bored. They take AGES to make, so I just went and bought them instead for 200 each. There is good money in them as long as you are prepared to be patient. I guess it depends on whether you want fast xp, or good financial return for your materials.

[DegenerateX]

Well at the moment its really just for the XP as I know if I work long enough I can actualy profit (although it will take quite a while).

 

 

 

 

 

I would love doing the half coal thing for the blast furnace but the problem is you need a group. I dont have any member friends and even if I did is it even practical to get a group of 5-9 people together everytime?

[pokemama]

It turns out to be quite possible for one person to run the Blast Furnace, although Jagex didn't plan it that way, lol. Just be sure you have the levels required for each station. (check Tip.It's minigame guide)

 

 

 

Regarding cannonballs, it depends on whether your goal is to make money or to get xp. They are the only item that gives less xp per bar. So forging 4 cannonballs from one bar earns 26.5xp (total) instead of whatever xp you normally get per bar (37.5 I think? Sorry I'm not totally sure)

 

 

 

So think over what your real goals are: money or xp? There is a genuine market for knives on P2P, believe it or not, because they are very fast and great for range training. Usually they are sold in quantities of at least 1k, but it sounds like that's not a problem for you.

 

 

 

Also, if you do the Family Crest Quest (which is not trivial), you can select the Goldsmithing Gauntlets as your reward, which give increased xp for smelting gold.

[kdb148]

I think that initially, Jagex didn't intend for it to be used solo, but didn't fix it because if you couldn't solo there it would be empty on every world :lol:

 

 

 

Cballs for exp are very bad, they are so slow, but you will make a significant profit. Gold ore with goldsmith gauntlets are the fastest exp, but gold ore can be very costly as the product, gold bars, are worth much less than the ore. My personal favorite as an "in between method" are arrows. Get your fletching up to the point you can make mith arrows, and you can buy all of your arrow shafts and feathers, and your bars, and smith them all and come close to breaking even. Alternately, buy your mith ore and mine your own coal and superheat bars in the mining guild.

 

 

 

Arrows aren't as fast exp as gold, but you get fletching exp as well and don't lose much money. And if you use the mine-your-own-coal-and-superheat method, you will make a significant profit and earn exp in 4 skills.