Best Race/Class

     I found a Human Warrior or Monk to be the best class. I say this for a couple of reasons.

1)    Not  bad charisma. Charisma is important when dealing with NPCs. The better
 charisma the lower your costs will be.
2)    Warrior/Monk. It is easier to go out and kill all those monsters to gain those needed
 levels. A monk is considered a lower maintance class. Which means little is necessary in
 the way of buying weapons and so forth. The choice is yours, you are the one who has to
 roleplay your character.
3)    Widely accepted race. Heheh try entering other cities as an Ogre and fing out what I
 mean.

[ALLAKHAZAM'S NOTE:  Another reader sends this:  The best race for a smith is a high elf because intelligence determines how fast you gain skill.  It only cost me around 80 plat to go from skill 2 (Yes I only put 2 skill points into it) to skill 85. STR, DEX and WIS help too I believe.  Also, Freeport is the best city to smith in because it has 5 forges and all the shops which provide ore, file molds and armor molds.]

Needed Items to Smith

 1)    Skill.
    I suggest you start your career by venturing out into the wilderness and slaying those wonderful rats, bats, and snakes until you feel your ready to take on orc pawns. Don't be afraid to die (there is little 'punishment' for dying while under level 5). Remember to right-click on the corpses of your victims to claim your loot. Keep making frequent trips to  the local merchant to sell your loot. When you have enough money buy a couple of large backpacks (this will enable you to stay out longer and have enough space to store your loot). DO NOT TRAIN YOUR PRACTICE POINTS as your level increases. Wait until you  are ready to start smithing.  When you get bored with killing the lesser monsters, it is time to smith. But be warned, smithing is very very expensive so I recommend not getting bored  until you have alot of pp (Platinum Pieces). When you are ready to smith go to your guild  and train in Blacksmithy. Hopefully this will give you 25 skill in the profession (yes this assumes you hunt the little rats and such until level 5).

 2)    Forge.
     Most cities will have forges by several of the buildings. You will notice the shops you will visit often will have forges outside. Forges are where you will do your best work. You left-click on a forge to activiate it. put the necessary items in it and hit combine.

 3)    Blacksmith Books.
     Yes there are 2 books that I have found. The Bascis of Blacksmithing, and A Guide to Weapons and Armor. Buy both! There are rumors that these books are needed to smith. I cannot verify this but as a new smith you will open and read these books several times. SO BUY THEM!!!!!

 4)    Materials.
     There are many many items that can be used as material. The most common at this point in the game are water, a mold, ore.  With these materials you will build thebasic material needed to smith.  Each city will have its ore resources, you will have to find the vendor that sells it (Usually in a weapons shop).

Okay Already Now What?!?

     Well start smithing.  Heheh, the best thing you can do to start is make metal bits. To make metal bits, buy "a small piece of ore" from a vendor (actually buy lots of them). Take 2 bits, 1 flask of water (found at an inn) and place them in the forge. Make sure you have used 3 slots. That means do not stack the small ore pieces - put them in seperate slots. Hit the combine button and viola - you have metal bits.

    Make some files. To do this place 1 metal bit, 1 flask of water, and 1 file mold. Hit combine and you have a file. Make files until your skill is over 40.

    Make some studs. Studs are used by tailors and usually sell for approx 1pp each. To do this place 1 file, 1 flask of water, and 3 SEPERATE metal bits (for a total of 5 slots used) into the forge and hit combine.

    Make some skewers. Make skewers until your skill is 70-80. You have the general idea of how to make things so follow the book. Make skewers until the message reads trivial item.

    Now you can make the good stuff. Try making banded armor.  Gorget, mask, and bracers seem easy to make start with those. To make these items you need sheet metal. You can make your own sheet metal or buy it from a vendor. (the cost is roughly the same)

Notes

    Banded armor has a better AC than Chain armor. Npcs sell chain but not banded, and npcs don't pay much for player created items (usually the base cost of what you spend to make the item) so sell your wares to players. This is when you finally get to make money. Consider this... chain tunic cost 75 pp, your banded tunic costs approximately 6pp and is better then chain...do the math.