I would recommend focusing on making Spirit Shards until you hit rank 59 at this point.

-- Faulkil

Well, with a limited sample of one afternoon, I'm agreeing with you so far... was down to 74 points in rank 50, and was up to 104. (2 boil/simmer/infuse, followed by the list task) Did done, and I think I did a set of minor sneezing powder just to avoid further debt.

I'm currently down to 86, and next task is simmer, and I'm two tasks behind... as it takes longer to sweep, and moneywise, it's about 3500 silver per 10 reps to boil/simmer/infuse... (that's if I buy the fire, with patience) I think I'm going that route. Should still be faster, and moneywise is affordable. Will be faster overall when I do get the channel reps.

Kadishmal, player of.

I traded a few tasks initially, but found trading tasks to be too expensive in the long run. sometimes each potion will cost over 2k to make, and it sucks if you get the same task again. and trading in means you have to earn additional points to the next rank; so even if you DON'T get the same task again, and get something easy like sweeping the guild, you'll get THOSE points back easily, and for free. I.E. EVEN if you get lucky and all that goes right, you're still right back where you started.

basically the only time trading it in is worth it is if you get two easy tasks in a row. and that rarely happens at higher ranks, because there are more "hard" tasks/recipes for the system to choose from, whereas at the beginning it might only have access to those recipes with "simmer" in it, making the odds that you'll get something cheap like cleaning the guild go up

I never trade anymore. not even for "gather ingredient" tasks.

~Moredin

trade and do spirit shards. find a friend to 308 you, use mana bread, if you're empath/cleric take 2 minutes and meditate before starting

I know it seems like you're worse off if you trade tasks, but it cannot be stressed enough how many crystals you're going to need when you get to higher ranks, not just in Trinkets and Potions but in General as well. You didn't say what capacity your jars are (20 or 50) or how many of each crystal you have; but as you advance in ranks, you get mostly "create item" tasks and more reps are required per task.

For example, once you get to rank 59, you'll usually get 11 or 12 reps per task. If you stick to major sneezing powder, that's 22 or 24 s'ayanad crystals you'll need per task. That means you'll be using one 50-count jar of crystals for every two tasks. At best, that will last you two ranks.

Other General formulas require at least one t'ayanad crystal, which I always found to be more scarce than any other type of crystal. Some require multiple crystals of various types. If you want to keep going in alchemy without a major break, you'll regret using up all your crystals now.

I know it seems like you're worse off if you trade tasks, but it cannot be stressed enough how many crystals you're going to need when you get to higher ranks, not just in Trinkets and Potions but in General as well. You didn't say what capacity your jars are (20 or 50) or how many of each crystal you have; but as you advance in ranks, you get mostly "create item" tasks and more reps are required per task.

For example, once you get to rank 59, you'll usually get 11 or 12 reps per task. If you stick to major sneezing powder, that's 22 or 24 s'ayanad crystals you'll need per task. That means you'll be using one 50-count jar of crystals for every two tasks. At best, that will last you two ranks.

Other General formulas require at least one t'ayanad crystal, which I always found to be more scarce than any other type of crystal. Some require multiple crystals of various types. If you want to keep going in alchemy without a major break, you'll regret using up all your crystals now.

---

Aside from the obvious mana bread use, do not discount having a friendly cleric or 3 nearby to well of life you to give you back spirit as well when you run dangerously low.

I cannot stress this more myself, but it has been a long time since I had Mastered General alchemy, so my memory might be somewhat suspect. But I distinctly remember hearing this, and after reading here again, the pros and cons of trading in all FORMULA tasks but CHANNEL. Trust me it may seem like you are going backwards, but you are not. The time saved in not wasting precious materials and having to collect more of them, will far outweigh the mind numbing channel tasks during this period.

Secondly, the odds are in your favor of NOT getting a the GUILD CAULDRON or TOUGH formula tasks anyway. You have better odds of getting the other tasks, and over time it will balance out that way. Sure, there will be periods with a string of bad luck and you find yourself behind 20-30 points from where you started, but since you have wasted nothing more than TIME and a few silvers in the Guild shop anyhow, you can continue collecting the rare materials along the way and save them for the final push to Master.

Now back to point one of trading in all BOIL, SIMMER, and INFUSE tasks. I did this during a time when sneezing powders required 2 times more than they do now, so it made way more sense then to do so. 6 essences of fire for one Major Sneeze!? Ouch! Notwithstanding, it still makes sense as even at the cost of COLLECTING the right materials for the formulas you need to make. If it TIME that you are worried about, then trading in those task will save you more in time due to not having to collect any materials AND make these lengthy formulas. As pointed out above, you will not believe how much material you need to advance in ONE task, between rank 59 and 63.

However, if you are comfortable at the rate you are collecting ingredients and you are able to keep from running out, then perhaps that is the way for you to go. Here is some basic math odds just looking over the possible tasks that can be given out. If I read correctly there are 14 or 15 possible tasks to be granted with 2 of them being TOUGH formula (with a specific skill) and TRAINING CAULDRON (with a specific skill). That leaves you with about 11-13 other tasks you can be assigned, and basically you should be seeing one of these with about 4-5 times more often than the others. Even worst case of 3 to 1 will eventually get you along positively. One step back 2 steps forward. If you are of average luck it will be 3-4 steps forward per backward step.

Like the original post I was skeptical as well at first, but since I used this exact method during the EXTRACTion period it was quite progressive and similar with CHANNEL as well. I cannot tell you how often I got to within 1 point of the next rank to only get another SIMMER, BOIL task to push me back 10-30 points. I might have said the heck with it and actually DID it because I was only one point away, then I thought wait! 10 reps of a high level formula was a huge amount of resources for ONE point! Grrrrrr!

I do not envy your decision.

--Zizzle

Sorry, I should have been more clear. The two ranks was referring to all 17 jars of crystals. As far as when you're getting close to making rank, I tend to agree with Zizzle. Resist the urge to just go ahead and make the items and trade all BOIL, SIMMER, and INFUSE tasks.