Cooking is a great production skill that can be useful for players of any class. In the early game, it is an easy way to make money, and later on it can be used to produce foods that restore vigor and cure scurvy. Some foods even benefit your entire fleet! Interested? Read on to find out how to quickly train your cooking skill.
Getting Started
Portugal and The Netherlands have the most abundant cooking resources, giving cooks from these countries an advantage since they are able to buy greater quantities of materials at lower prices in their home countries. However, there are many options in cooking, so it is still very accessible to players from any country.
Skills
Cooking
Livestock Trading
Food Trading (recommended)
Accounts (recommended)
Jobs
Animal Trader is the only job which favors all of these skills and is therefore the ideal class for beginning your cooking career. To become an Animal Trader, use a Merchant Guild Card at any Merchant GM to change jobs. If you do not have a Merchant Guild Card, you can obtain one from The Merchant Guild's Predicament quest, available randomly from Merchant Mediators in the major cities once you have reached 500 trade fame. It is possible to cook under any job as long as you can obtain the cooking skill, however, it will be more difficult to advance your cooking skill without support from the livestock trading and food trading skills. See the individual skill pages for info on other jobs that favor them and requirements for getting the skills when not favored.
Recipe books
In addition to the cooking skill, recipe books are required in order to cook. Which books you use will depend partly on your home country and personal preference, though everyone can start with the Simple recipes book, which can be purchased in Palma or Bordeaux or acquired for free from The city's first epicurean quest. Some books can only be found in certain cities, and rarer books require significant investment in a city before they become available. More info about recipe books can be found in the relevant sections below.
Mediterranean Cook
Recipes
Simple recipes (Palma, Bordeaux, The city's first epicurean Quest) 5000 D
Livestock secrets - Pigs (Porto) 5000 D
Livestock secrets - Sheep (optional - Amsterdam) 8000 D
Makeable Meats (optional - Genoa) 10000 D
Levels 1 - 2
Wheat »
Flour
Purchase
Simple recipes from
Palma or
Bordeaux for 5,000 D. Optionally, if you find
The city's first epicurean quest at the Merchant Guild you can obtain the book for free. Portuguese players can buy from
wheat from
Porto, and Spanish can buy
wheat from
Seville, though it may be worthwhile to sail between the two since they are close. Mill the
wheat into
flour and sell it. Of note,
flour seems to hold a pretty constant price no matter where you go, which is nice.
Level 3
Pig »
Pork »
Lard
Purchase
Livestock secrets - Pigs from
Porto for 5,000 D.
Pigs are available in
Faro and
Gijon.
Pork is available in
Porto.
Lard makes quite a profit, especially for Portuguese players.
Level 4
Pig »
Pork »
Bacon
Buy
pigs as before. You can now make
pork into
bacon, but it's worth considering sticking with
lard because you can produce up to 3 barrels of
lard per barrel of
pork, compared to only 2 for
bacon.
Level 5 - 6
Pig »
Pork »
Ham /
Sausage
Buy
pigs as before. You can now make either
Ham or
Sausage. Check the rates at the markets closest to you and make note of the prices and which cities are already selling
Ham or
Sausage, since that halves your selling price.
Level 7 - 10
Lamb +
Butter +
Salt »
Roast Lamb
(optional)
If you're tired of butchering
pigs or want something else to supplement, you can try your hand at
Roast Lamb using the
Makeable Meats book from
Genoa. See details in the North Sea Cook section below.
North Sea Cook
Recipes
Simple recipes (Palma, Bordeaux, The city's first epicurean Quest) 5000 D
Livestock secrets - Sheep (Amsterdam) 8000D
Livestock secrets - Cattle (Nantes) 8000D
Makeable Meats (Genoa) 10000D
North sea cuisine collection (Amsterdam, London, reward after 1,000,000D in investment)
Level 1
Wheat »
Flour
Purchase
Simple recipes from
Palma or
Bordeaux for 5,000 D. Optionally, if you find
The city's first epicurean quest at the Merchant Guild you can obtain the book for free. Buy
Wheat from
Antwerp.
Level 2
Sheep/
Cattle »
Milk then
Milk +
Salt »
Butter
Purchase
Livestock secrets - Cattle from
Nantes and
Livestock secrets - Sheep from
Amsterdam. Dutch can buy
sheep from
Den Helder, English can buy
cattle and
sheep in
Edinburg, and French can buy
cattle in
Calais. Make
milk from your livestock using the appropriate book. Buy
salt from
Den Helder. Combine
milk and
salt to make
butter.
Level 3 - 4
Sheep »
Lamb or
Cattle »
Beef
Buy
sheep or
cattle as before, then make them into
lamb or
beef.
Level 5 - 6
Sheep »
Lamb then
Lamb »
Sausage
Buy
sheep from
Den Helder or
Edinburg. Butcher the
sheep into
lamb, then make the
lamb into
sausage. If you were using
cattle and
beef exclusively before, it may be worth switching to
sheep so you can train your
cooking skill twice. If you are English, you can make both
sausage and
beef in
Edinburg to train your skill more quickly.
Level 7 - 10
Lamb +
Butter +
Salt »
Roast Lamb
Buy
Makeable Meats from
Genoa which allows you to make
Roast Lamb. You have two options.
You can buy
sheep and
salt in
Den Helder, turn some of your
sheep into
butter, the rest into
lamb, then make
roast lamb. However,
salt will be the limiting factor here, so you may want the
Seasoning Trading skill.
You can buy
sheep and
salt in
Den Helder, butcher all the
sheep into
lamb, travel to
London, buy
Butter, and combine all three ingredients to make
Roast Lamb. This option will allow you to trade between
Den Helder and
London and potentially earn some side profit.
Roast Lamb can be sold to the Item Shop or other players.
Originally written by and produced by MTC and her leaders. Moved to these forums by demand and complaints of signing up for the MTC forums to view them:
Introduction
To me, Casting is one of those love it or hate it crafting professions. The reason i say that is that, the items produced by casting are so industrial. The raw materials for casting favour very specific nations such as England and Spain, and it makes it quite difficult for players of other nations to master.
For Maritime players, Casting is a godsend.
Cannons, Armour and Weapons crafted by master Casters are sort after across the whole game world. Because of the slow wear down of Cannons and Equipment overtime, player built weapons has become one of the most demanded items in game.
A well built Cannon can easily make light work of even the most well-armed pirates.
Recommended birth place
-Lisbon
-Seville
-London
-Amsterdam
Medittaranean Chapter
This chapter is for Spanish and Portuguese players. Spanish casters will have the luxury of crafting Cannons from the Port of Barcelona in late game.
-Required Recipe Books
Introduction to Casting
Casting of Props for Land Battle
Book of Metal Refining
Weapon Production Technique Book
Book of Alloy Smelting [optional]
-Required Skills
Mineral Trading
Industrial Goods Trading
Weapons Trading [optional]
Firearms Trading [optional]
Casting
Level 1 - 3 (Log »> Dart or Lumber »> Carpenter Tool; 2 x Lumber »> Spare Rudder)
Path A.
Spanish players can travel to Las Palmas to purchase Logs, and Portuguese players can travel to the Azores.
Use the Casting of Props for Land Battle to turn Logs into Darts.
Path B.
If the method feels too slow. You can travel to Oslo, and make Carpenter Tools and Spare Rudders from Lumber. For details please read the North Sea Chapter.
Level 3 - 5 (Dagger »> Throwing Knife)
Dagger can be purchased from the Portuguese Port of Lisbon and then made into Throwing Knives with the Casting of Props for Land Battle book.
Level 5 (Iron Ore »> Iron, Steel + Iron »> Dagger, Dagger »> Throwing Knives; Lead Ore »> Lead or Copper Ore »> Copper)
Path A.
For Spanish players, there's the route between Barcelona and Algiers. Iron can be made from Iron Ore from Algiers, using the Book of Metal Refining book.
Combine the Iron with the Steel from Barcelona to makeDaggers are made from Iron and Steel using the Weapon Production Technique Book.
The Daggers can then be made into Throwing Knives using the method described above.
In addition, Barcelona also has Lead Ore which can be turned into Lead with theBook of Metal Refining book.
Path B.
Portuguese players can purchase Copper Ore from Lisbon after some investment. Turn Copper Ore into Copper with the Book of Metal Refining book.
Level 6 (Lead Ore »> Lead, Gunpowder + Ammunition + Steel »> Steel Ammunition or Copper Ore »> Copper)
Path A.
Spanish players can camp in Barcelona and use The Introduction to Casting book make Steel Ammunition by combining Gunpowder, Ammunition and Steel. All three products can be purchased in Barcelona
Path B.
Portuguese players are encouraged to stay in Lisbon to make Copper
Level 7 (Gunpowder + Ammunition + Steel »> Steel Ammunition; Lead Ore »> Lead or Copper Ore + Tin Ore »> Bronze, 2 x Bronze »> Bell of Withdrawal)
Path A.
Spanish players use the same method as in level 6.
Path B.
Portuguese players can purchase Copper Ore from Lisbon and Tin Ore from Porto, combine the two to make Bronze using the Book of Alloy Smelting.
The Bronze can then be made into the Bell of Withdrawal using the recipe book Introduction to Casting.
Level 8 - 9 (Gunpowder + Ammunition + Steel »> Steel Ammunition; Iron Ore »> Iron, Iron + Steel »> Curved Sword or Copper Ore + Tin Ore »> Bronze)
Path A.
Spanish players can use the familiar route between Barcelona and Algiers to make Iron from Iron Ore, and then combining Iron with Steel to make Curve Sword with the Weapon Production Technique Book.
This process can be added to the Steel Ammunition process.
Path B
Portuguese players should stick with the Bronze process.
Level 9+
See Late Game
North Sea Chapter
The North Sea is blessed with industrial goods, and the imba town of Hamburg. Whichever nation (England or Holland) controls Hamburg will have a huge advantage in the Casting market, and even shape the overall political map of North Europe.
-Required Recipe Books
Introduction to Casting (Groningen, Antwerp, Dublin, Plymouth, Oporto, Palma, Madeira, Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Genoa, Pisa, Syracuse, Las Palmas, Antwerp, Naples, Saint-George)
Casting of Props for Land Battle (Tunis) 10,000D
Book of Metal Refining (Lübeck, once developed) 12,000D
Book of Alloy Smelting (Dublin, reward after 300,000D in investment)
Firearms Production Technique Book (Barcelona, Ceuta) 20,000D
-Required Skills
Mineral Trading (mineral trader)
Industrial Goods Trading (mineral trader)
Weapons Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Firearms Trading [optional] (arms trader)
Casting (arms trader, mineral trader)
Level 1 (Lumber »> Carpenter's Tool)
Travel to Oslo and use the Introduction to Casting to make Carpenter's Tool from Lumber.
Level 2 (2 x Lumber »> Spare Rudder)
Staying in Oslo, make Spare Rudder from 2 Lumbers, using the Introduction to Casting
Level 3 - 5 (2 x Bronze »> Bell of Withdrawal or Coal + Iron »> Bullet)
Path A
If you are an English player, you could travel between Plymouth and London, using the Bronze from both Ports to make the Bell of Withdrawal from the Introduction to Casting book.
Path B
Alternatively, you can also go to Dublin and make Bullets from the Firearm Production Technique Book . The ingredients for making Bullets are Coal and Iron which are both available in Dublin.
You can also sail between Dublin and Plymouth, and add the Bell of Withdrawal to the production line.
Level 5 - 7 (Copper Ore »> Copper; Lead Ore »> Lead; Iron Ore »> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron »> Ammunition)
It's time to move the production line to the Mineral capital of Hamburg.
Here you'll see your Casting level up in a matter of minutes. There are three metal ores, which can all be refined with the Book of Metal Refining.
Copper Ore, Lead Ore and Iron Ore can be refined into Copper, Lead and Iron.
The refined Iron can be combined with Coal to make Ammunition from the Firearms Production Technique book.
Level 7 (Lead Ore »> Lead, Copper Ore + Tin Ore »> Bronze, Bronze »> Bronze Statue/Bell of Withdrawal; Iron Ore »> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron »> Gun)
In a similar process to above, refine metal ores into metals. Except this time, combine Copper Ore with Tin Ore to make Bronze from the Book of Alloy Smelting.
The Bronze can be used to make Bronze Statue (requires level 5 Handicraft) or Bell of Withdrawal with the Introduction to Casting book.
Iron made from the Iron Ore can be used with Coal to produce Guns from the Firearms Production Technique Book instead of Ammunition.
Level 8 - 9 (Lead Ore »> Lead, Copper Ore + Tin Ore »> Bronze, Bronze »> Bronze Statue/Bell of Withdrawal; Iron Ore »> Iron, 2 x Coal + 2 x Iron »> Gun or Copper Ore + Zinc Ore »> Brass)
Path A
You can choose to stay in Hamburg and make the items from above.
Path B
Alternative you can travel to Lübeck to make Bronze from Copper Ore and Zinc Ore from the Book of Alloy Smelting, which are both available in Lübeck.
Level 9+
See Late Game