Yesterday I spoke a little about selling crafting materials early game, so I thought it was probably time we talked about Artisans
In Diablo 3, Blizzard is implementing a sort of companion class of crafters, who will follow you to the neutral zones of each act. These will include a Blacksmith, a Jeweler, and a Mystic.
It has been confirmed that the Blacksmith will be met in Act I through a quest chain, however, the other story lines have yet to be released. While the Artisans make for a very interesting dynamic, in not having to choose crafting professions, etc, anticipate that this will be one of the major gold sinks of the economy.
Blizzard has described that these crafters can be upgraded and be taught rare recipes (remember this). The upgrading process involves giving the Artisan some base materials, and gold, in order to train. The Artisan apparently has 5 levels of progression from Apprentice to Master. As you progress it is assumed you gain access to greater gear. It is also assumed that rare recipe drops will require a certain Artisan level in order for them to be learned.
Crafting in the game will act as the gamble in this version of Diablo (as mentioned in a previous post) in that you will provide your crafter with base materials, rare materials, and gold, and s/he will generate an item with some fixed stats and some random stats. Those you don't want you could break down back into mats and continue.
This will offer an interesting dynamic, and I'm looking forward to reporting more on these Artisans as information becomes available. As the Blacksmith was part of the Beta and well reported on, he will be the topic of our next discussion.
