I am new to this game and thought I was going to make some coin afk processing, as that works pretty well for me to check in every once in a while on the game during the day. But, it seems many things lose money unless you have really high processing and some things just completely do not sell after processed.
Is there something I am missing or processing just dead for newer players without super high processing ability?
Looks like best afk money is fishing or imperial cooking. Anything I am missing?
I do semi-AFK processing on my Valkyrie with craftsman clothes and processing stones while I am doing other things, but I check in here and there to deposit old materials and collect new materials to process. I am Master 11 Processing at the moment and can pull in a decent income selling resources like Steel, Bronze, Brass, some Plywoods, and some Planks. I also use other ingots and plywoods to upgrade and sell alchemy stones of protection and destruction. There are certain materials I will also use at workshops to produce high-quality furniture which I then sell on the marketplace.
I believe the only reasons these work for me are:
I have over 1800LT capacity on my Valkyrie with the fairy skill Feathery Steps V (I am unencumbered up to 125% LT)
I have enough mastery currently to mass produce 35 stacks at a time
I ensure my Valkyrie is not idle for more than a brief moment
I have a 350 CP worker node empire and worker workshop empire that allows me to gather materials instead of buying them and produce items like alchemy stones and furniture that sells on the marketplace regularly
With higher mastery I could make my AFK processing more lucrative, but that’s where I currently sit after about 7 months of playing BDO sincerely (not seriously). This is purely anecdotal and should be taken with a grain of salt.
If you are looking for ways to rapidly increase your Processing Level, materials like Flax, Cotton, and Fleece give a lot of Processing EXP. These are also lightweight and can be processed in bulk overnight with a decent LT capacity. If you choose this path, I would recommend cooking foods that increase your Life EXP such as Assorted Side Dishes (+5%), Sute Tea (+8%), or Whale Meat Salad (+10%). Longer lasting higher quality versions can be made with high enough cooking skill. A nice set of +3 Silver Craftsman Clothes and Books of Life might also be a good investment.
I hope you can find some use of my ramblings and, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.
I did process a bunch of Flax, but Flax cloth is currently unsellable on the MP. I see that I can, and probably will make some clothing with it as that is decently productive.
I also made a bunch of copper ingots before I found they were also unsellable, I since learned better which ingots to make and both of these made me learn to check the marketplace before making anything.
Yes, most fabrics are unsellable but they are the best for just pure processing xp, which is the reason the market is flooded and they are unsellable. Though I would like to add that I can occasionally sell cotton fabric and knitting yarn which can be obtained from cotton and fleece respectively.
Non-alloy metals are randomly produced while processing raw ore, so people who simply process ore for xp have flooded the market with things like iron and copper, so they are useless for anything outside of polishing alchemy stones. Alloy ingots though will sell, but you need to process melted copper with melted zinc or melted tin to make those. Steel is also a big seller for me and it only requires processing melted iron and coal.
If you know how to read the market trend graphs it gets easier to identify market variance, which indicates a healthy market for an item. Something flat-lined is either impossible demand (i.e. Milk) or impossible supply (i.e. Copper Ingots).
Yes I learned hard lesson with the non-allow ingots. But, it really pushed me to better understand the market and watch before just blindly doing things. So much to learn in this game which I love (usually, lol). It was actually a good leap for me because I went from just reading “what to do” to actually learning about the market to figure out myself what to do, instead of following someones, sometimes years old, advice online.
And that is the first steps of true learning. You will do well. Trend-chasers collectively crash markets chasing the popular meta-game. If you want to succeed in your ventures, I would follow only the advice of Bruce Lee.
" Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water"
Best of luck to your and your journey into learning the deepest mechanics of BDO.
Processing metals that proc ingots is really good xp.
Fabrics to make into materials for clothes usually silver embroidered at a costume mill.
Timber to make crates (trading) or ship repair materials.