The
elderscrollsonline.com has some helpful tips for crafting in the game today, including some quick tips which will come in handy even if you aren't focused on making the best gear and potions possible. The full article is well worth a read, but here are the bullet points:
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Several crafting disciplines allow you to contract a hireling by spending points in a skill. That hireling will send you a steady supply of useful materials and updates on his or her adventures.
• Anyone can harvest materials, but only those that invest points into crafting skills will learn how to get the most benefit from resource refinements and item deconstruction.
• Crafters can learn how to spot resources in the world at great distances that would be overlooked by those with less training.
• There are secret crafting stations hidden throughout the world. Rumor has it that powerful set bonuses can only be imparted to items when they are crafted in those locations.
• There are 15 different racial styles for smiths to learn! Racial styles can be learned from special books found through exploring and adventuring.
• With the right tempers, tannins, or resins, a smith can improve an item all the way to legendary quality. Smiths who spend points in their skills will have a better chance to improve gear with these boosters than those who don't.
Make sure to talk to NPCs. Some may have Provisioning recipes to share.
• Alchemists can discover the first of four properties of an ingredient by sampling it. The others must be discovered through experimentation while creating potions.
• Using the right ingredients, an alchemist can make extremely powerful potions with multiple beneficial effects. We think everyone who wants to do battle in Cyrodiil will want to know a good alchemist.
• The language developed for Enchanting is based on syllables that have their own meanings. Each runestone has the symbol for its syllable etched on it, and each glyph (combination of three runestones) has its own pronunciation.
The Elder Scrolls Online releases to the PC and Mac on April 4, 2014 and to the Xbox One and PS4 in June of 2014.
