08. CRAFTING AND EQUIPMENT

>> the overview.

Gaining new weapons and armor is an important part of getting stronger in Sword Art Online. In fact, equipment has the single largest impact on composite level.

All gear has a level from 1 to 100 corresponding to your character's level. For example, a longsword (12) can only be used to by a character that is level 12. An attempt to use a piece of equipment that you don't have the level for will result in the system informing you that you cannot equip that equipment.

>> the gear.

Obtaining gear isn't easy in Sword Art Online. The occasional drop of equipment from your average monster isn't something you can rely on. Unique event quests and bosses are the best ways to get your hands on guaranteed powerful equipment.

Another more customizable approach is to craft the equipment with raw materials.

>> the crafting.

Materials are needed in order for players to create their own equipment. Materials are bought from the NPC SHOP. COL, the currency of SAO, can only be earned through finishing and turning in quests or socials for review. Additional COL can occasionally be earned from events or boss encounters.

In order to craft an item, the crafter must have both the related skill to craft the item and 10x the level of crafting or above. For example:

Exalia is asking Rance to craft a longsword (One-Handed Sword) at an e-Level of (3). Rance's Smithing level is 40. Therefore, Rance can craft the sword. However, when Exalia asked Jade earlier, who had a Smithing skill of 20, she could not craft the sword.

Crafters may increase their crafting levels by adding points upon character level up.

For more information on the different kinds of crafting, go to the In-Game Guide.

>> the levels.

Composite level (c-level) is your equipment level + character level and Skill level (s-level) is your skill level. Although s-level is generally more important than c-level, your equipment helps players along the way during their battles. Players must always keep in mind the difference between their weapon levels and their armor levels when fighting. Just because a player has an armor level of 50 does not mean he or she should take on a c-level 5 Kobold with their level 1 weapon.

C-level does not necessarily overpower S-levels by any means, however. Although C-level helps players in the tide of battle, it is not the only determining factor for who wins and who goes home. Above all, players should rely on their skill level during battles. The higher the skill level, the better a player functions or may succeed in a particular skill. For example, a level 5 player with a c-level of 15 and an s-level of 45 for their one-handed sword and leather armor will fare far better than a level 2 player with a c-level of 18 and an s-level of 18 for their one handed sword and light metal armor.