Crafting Guides: Handicraft I

Originally written by and produced by MTC and her leaders.

Introduction

Handicraft has always been one of my favourite crafting skills, because of its versatility. It can be coupled with other major crafting skills such as Cooking and Casting and significantly shorten the time to level the other two skills. It can also be complemented with skills such as Procurement and Collection, and therefore turning trash items such as Grass, Sand and Stone into highly valuable commodity.
Handicraft can be used to make trade goods such as alcohol, as well as make Gems from ore collected in Landing areas. It is also responsible for making all furniture throughout the game, and can add valuable boosts to your ship by building Head Pieces and Wooden Armours
Because Handicraft is such a versatile, each nation will have its advantages and disadvantages. Spanish players and Portuguese players will have easy access to, Wheat, Barley, Olives, Cane, Almond, and Wine, French players will have the Bordeaux to Nantes trade route as well as access to the Brewing Secrets Volume 2 from Montpellier, and Dutch and English players will have the raw materials of Lumber and other metal ore and Industrial goods from the North Sea.
Recommended Birthplace

Mediterranean Chapter
-Lisbon
-Marseille

North Sea Chapter
-London
-Amsterdam

Mediterranean Chapter

-Required Recipe Books
Book of Pharmaceutical preparation [optional] (Nantes, Malaga, Syracuse) 5000D
Book of Seasoning (Palma) 5000D
Brewing Secrets (Cagliari, reward after 320,000D in investment; Hamburg) 10000D
Brewing Secrets Volume 2 (Montpellier, Havana, reward after 800,000D in investment)

-Required Skills
Food trading (animal trader, food merchant)
Alcohol trading (accountant)
Luxury item trading (accountant, medicine trader)
Handicraft (medicine trader)
Either one of Procurement or Collection [optional] (fisherman)
Industrial goods trade [optional] (mineral trader)

Level 1 (3 x Grass >>> Basic Medicine)
One of the biggest problems with Handicraft is that most recipes start at level 2, so at level 1 your options are very limited. You can of course try and purchase a +1 Handicraft Shipwright’s Saw from players, but that equipment would cost about 3 million ducats. The next best thing is try to get your Handicraft to level 2 by crafting level 1 items.
Sail to Nantes, purchase the Book of Pharmaceutical preparation. Go outside the town through the gatekeeper and use either Procurement or Collection skill (on a grassy patch) to gather Grass and turn them into Basic Medicine.

This method can be time consuming if you can’t find the Logs.

Level 2 (Olive >>> Olive Oil; Cane >>> Cane Sugar; Wheat >>> Beer)
If you are Spanish you can sail between either Seville and Faro, and use the Brewing Secrets to turn Wheat into Beer or between Palma and Valencia and make Olive Oil from Olives using the Seasoning Book. Both products can be sold back to the market.
If you are Portuguese, you can sail to the Madeira and produce Cane Sugarfrom Cane with the Seasoning Book, or travel between Porto and Lisbon to brew Beer from Wheat found at Porto

Level 3 (Almond >>> Almond Oil; Wheat >>> Aquavit; Barley >>> Vodka)
Spanish players use the Seville to Ceuta route, making Aquavit from Wheat and Vodka from Barley using the Brewing Secrets book. Portuguese players use the Porto to Lisbon route, making Almond Oil from Almond from the Book of Seasoning, and Aquavit from Wheat using Brewing Secrets.

Level 4 (Almond >>> Almond Oil; Wheat >>> Aquavit; Barley >>> Vodka; 2 x Wine >>> Brandy)
Spanish players use the same route between Seville and Ceuta, this time with the addition of making Brandy from Wine.
Similarly Portuguese players use the route from Porto to Lisbon, making Brandy from Wine on top of the Almond Oil and Aquavit.

Level 5 - 7 (Wheat >>> Whiskey; Barley >>> Vodka or Vinegar, 2 x Wine >>> Brandy)
Sail between Seville and Ceuta and brew Whiskey from Wheat, Vodka from Barley and Brandy from Wine. Now you’ll see why Handicraft is so profitable. Both Whiskey and Vodka are speciality products from the North and can see for quite a lot of money and fame.
If you want less profit and fame, you can turn the Barley into Vinegar with the Book of Seasoning

Level 7 (Wheat >>> Whiskey; Barley >>> Vodka or Vinegar, Wine >>> Wine Vinegar)
Using the same trade routes above, except turning Wine into Wine Vinegar with the Book of Seasoning rather than Brandy.

Level 8 - 10 (Wheat >>> Whiskey; Barley >>> Vodka or Vinegar, Wine >>> Wine Vinegar or 2 x Wine >>> Brandy, Brandy + Raisin >>> Shelly)

Path A (Wheat >>> Whiskey; Barley >>> Vodka or Vinegar, Wine >>> Wine Vinegar)
If you are unlucky and do not have friends from France that can help you invest in a Brewing Secret Volume 2, then you are stuck in the Lisbon and Seville area, making Wine Vinegar from Wine. That would be the only recipe available to you until level 10.

Path B (Raisin >>> Wine, 2 x Wine >>> Brandy, Brandy + Raisin >>> Shelly)
If you are lucky enough to grab hold of a Secret Brewing Volume 2, then its time to make some serious profit.

Path B1 (Raisin >>> Wine, 2 x Wine >>> Brandy, Brandy + Raisin >>> Shelly)
-Suitable for all players, French players will have greater advantage.
Travel to the Bordeaux, Nantes area in the Bay of Biscay. Once you get here you’ll understand just how just how much of an advantage French players have in terms of Handicraft. Nantes sells Brandy, Bordeaux sells Wine and Raisins. Simply travel between the two ports, loading up on Brandy, Raisins, and Wine. Use Wine to make Brandy, combine Brandy with Raisin to make Shelly. Any leftover Raisins can be made into Wine, and then into Brandy and combined with another Raisin to make Shelly. Everything related to alcohol here can be crafted and therefore making these Nantes and Bordeaux area ideal for Handicraft crafters.

Trade Route (Nantes/Bordeaux >>> Plymouth)
Once your ship has full cargo of Shelly, you can unload them at Plymouth, where Shelly is considered a speciality product, and earning you some handsome exp, fame and profit.

Path B2 (4 x Cane >>> Rum, Raisin >>> Wine, 2 x Wine >>> Brandy, Brandy + Raisin >>> Shelly)
-Suitable only for Portuguese players
With a small investment in Madeira, you will be able to purchase Wine and Raisin. The disadvantage of Madeira is that unlike Bordeaux/Nantes, there are no nearby ports. If you want maximum efficiency its best to bring category 2 purchase orders.
The process is the same as in B2. Buy out Wine and Raisin. Turn the Wine into Brandy, and combine Brandy with Raisin to make Shelly. Buy Cane and brew Rum from the Cane.
Because your are Portuguese, you will be able to invest in Madeira and purchase extra trade goods.

Trade Route
This trade route is highly profitable and fast. Before you set out from Lisbon, make sure you have in your ship cargo 50 of Feathers (crafted from by plucking chicken with level 1 Sewing), 50 of Whiskey, brewed from Wheat, 50 of Aquavit, made also from Wheat, 50 of Vodka, made from Barley in Ceuta, travel to Madeira, craft at least 50 of Shelly, and some Rum if you have cargo space.
Once your ship is loaded with alcohol, sail down to Arguin, south west of Madeira on the African Coast. All the items in your ship apart from Rum are speciality items, and by selling them together you will receive Specialty Combo, earning you lots of experience and Ducat.
This Portuguese special trade route can make you a multi millionaire in a matter of days.

Level 10
See late game