Smithing

Smithing (a.k.a. Blacksmithing) is the canonical heavy-metal tradeskill of EverQuest — forge-based metalwork that produces weapons, plate armor, chain armor, and racial cultural-pattern crafted items. Most mid-game and a substantial portion of high-game weapons and armor are smith-made. Dwarves built their cultural identity around the forge, and the Kaladim smith trainer is one of the most popular newbie tradeskill mentors in the game.

The recipe book debuted classic with bronze, iron, and steel weapon and armor lines. Kunark added the Crushbone Pattern and racial cultural smithing chains. Velious introduced velium-grade smithing and Coldain-faction crafted armor — the standout era-cap endgame work.

At a glance

Field	Value
Skill cap	251 (PoP-era), 300 with later AAs (out of era on The Last Camp)
Container	Forge
Container locations	Kaladim, Freeport, Qeynos, Felwithe, Cabilis, PoK, most major cities
Class focus	Open to all; Warrior, Paladin, Shadow Knight self-craft most often
Race focus	Dwarven, Iksar, Ogre, Troll, Vah Shir, Drakkin (post-PoP) cultural plate
Common products	Bronze through velium weapons, banded/plate/chain armor, cultural sets
Difficulty	Hard — pattern drops, faction gates, expensive components

What it makes

Smithing output covers the four heavy-armor families: bronze (newbie-tier, vendor-stocked), iron and steel (mid-tier, mostly vendor with some pattern drops), fine steel (the workhorse mid-game weapon line), and velium (Velious-era endgame). On the armor side, smithing produces banded mail, plate, and chain sets at every tier, with cultural racial plate chains adding race-locked endgame work for Dwarves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls, and Vah Shir.

The skill also handles imbue work — endgame weapons enhanced with gem inlays for stat or proc bonuses. Most imbue recipes come together at the master tier and require Velious or PoP raid components.

Skill-up path (1 → 251)

1-50 (Trivial newbie tier)

• Water Flask (trivial ~5): Empty Flask + Water — used as a tradeskill ingredient elsewhere; cheap practice.
• Rusty weapons (trivial ~10-20): rusty dagger, rusty long sword.
• Bronze Long Sword (trivial 21): Long Sword Mold + Bronze Bar + Water Flask + Forge.

50-100 (Apprentice)

• Banded Mail Tunic (trivial ~70): Banded Mail Pattern + Sheet Metal × 6 + Water Flask + Forge.
• Banded Mail Breastplate (trivial 89): heavier version with the BP pattern.
• Sheet metal vendor-stocked; banded mail patterns from low-tier vendor or quest sources.

100-150 (Journeyman)

• Crushbone Breastplate (trivial 122): Crushbone Breastplate Pattern + Combine Breastplate Mold + Sheet Metal × 6 + Water Flask + Forge.
• Fine Steel Long Sword (trivial 89): Long Sword Mold + Fine Steel Sheet + Coal + Water Flask + Forge.
• Crushbone Pattern drops in Crushbone Keep — a frequent newbie tradeskill component camp.

150-200 (Expert)

• Iron Plate / Steel Plate: mid-game plate sets, mostly Kunark-era pattern drops.
• Class-specific crafted armor: pattern-locked race+class chains.
• Mid-tier work overlaps Kunark armor pattern hunts.

200-251 (Master)

• Master smith Trophy combine.
• Velium weapons and Coldain crafted plate: Velious-era pinnacle smithing requiring Coldain faction.
• Imbued weapons: endgame work with gem enhancements.

Signature high-end recipes

• Fine Steel weapon line: the default mid-game melee weapon suite, durable through 50+.
• Crushbone Pattern plate: Kunark-tier pattern armor, foundational mid-game crafted plate set.
• Velious crafted (Coldain, Indicolite, Kael): faction-locked premier endgame crafted armor.
• Velium weapons: Velious-era endgame weapons with cold-vulnerable bonuses.
• Imbued weapon line: master-tier weapons with proc or focus enhancements.

Tools and containers

The Forge is stationary and lives in most major cities. Kaladim is the canonical Dwarven smithing hub — the forge sits adjacent to a smith trainer and an ore vendor, making it the recommended 1-150 grinding spot regardless of your character's race. Freeport, Qeynos, Felwithe, Cabilis, Halas, and the PoK tradeskill workshop all have forges. Specialty racial forges (Iksar cultural, Ogre cultural) live in the respective racial cities.

For the highest-tier Velious work, the Coldain forges in Thurgadin are required for several Coldain-locked recipes.

The Last Camp any-race-class note

Smithing is class-agnostic; any character of any race can train it. Race does matter for racial cultural plate chains — Dwarven, Iksar, Ogre, Troll, and Vah Shir all have race-locked cultural smithing recipes that require the smith to be of that race. The Last Camp's any-race-class character creation does not unlock these cultural gates. If you want full Dwarven cultural smithing access, you need to be a Dwarf.

Class-specific crafted output (warrior plate patterns, paladin armor) follows canonical class gating on the equipped item, not the crafter — any class can smith a warrior breastplate, but only a warrior can wear it.

Common pitfalls

• Setting up smithing far from your forge. Running between a forge and ingredient merchants three zones away is the primary time sink.
• Buying ore at retail in non-mining cities. Kaladim ore vendor and Cabilis ore are cheaper than equivalent stock in Qeynos.
• Stocking only 5-combine batches. A 10- to 20-combine attempt batch is the realistic minimum for grinding through a tier.
• Skipping the Trophy combine at 200. The cap is a hard wall without master training.
• Buying patterns instead of camping them. Crushbone Pattern is a 1-2 hour camp at best — don't pay 200pp for one.
• Using Iron Sheet for Fine Steel recipes. Components don't substitute — verify the spec page.

Pattern hunting grounds

Banded mail patterns drop from low-tier humanoid mobs across classic zones — Befallen, Najena, and orc camps in Greater Faydark and East Commonlands. Crushbone Pattern drops in Crushbone Keep itself; the orc legionnaires and orc centurions are the realistic camps. Kunark plate patterns drop in Kaesora, Karnor's Castle, and Old Sebilis. Velious Coldain patterns are faction-locked behind Coldain hand-in chains in Thurgadin and Eastern Wastes — plan faction grind alongside the smithing grind.

Vendor sources

Kaladim ore vendor and the Cabilis ore merchant are the cheapest stops for bronze, iron, and steel bars in the game. Sheet metal stocks at any major-city smith merchant. Coal and water flasks vendor everywhere; Coldain forges in Thurgadin sell velium-grade components exclusively. Stock ore in 50-100 bar batches; the savings on bulk grinding are substantial.

Related

• Tradeskill strategy guide
• Tailoring — soft armor cousin tradeskill
• Jewelcraft — gem-based parallel
• Kaladim — canonical forge hub
• Crushbone Keep — Crushbone Pattern camp
• Dwarf — canonical smith race
• Coldain — Velious crafted armor faction