I have just made a shadowknight who is now level 25. In order to have a little fun im trying to be as self sufficient as possible. i have my smithing up to around 160 and have a fulle set of tier 1 cultural with symbols and will upgrade to tier 2 when my level allows. The thing that is bugging me is blacksmithing is laughable when it comes to crafting weapons and shields appropriate to your level, and i think the craftable equipment needs to be revamped to make the effort worth while, i know we have energaic equipment but even that isnt that great and now we have defiant drops its almost pointless tradeskilling except for the cultural armor and i would be more than happy if they added a cultural set for the primary and secondary slots.

that said im hoping for advice on where to find good shields and weapons that an SK can solo in the early 50s as i have cheated a little and have bought a mace of the shadowed soul, but im not so happy about that when im trying to build a non twink toon that has earned his own gear.