Do any of you have preferences to what classes you assign the various craft feats? I ask because I always get overwhelmed in trying to figure out who is best suited for making certain things taking into account required spells, Pre reqs etc
I usually use a straight wizard for most things, and a cleric with the Good and Law domains for Holy Axiomatic weapons and Periapts of Wound Closure (which should probably be "Regeneration" for purposes of this game).
For a Bard I'd only consider taking Brew Potions and maybe craft wondrous items. Clerics and Druids get good options for most crafting feats as they automatically gain every spell of any level they can cast Wizards have to learn any prerequisite spells before crafting many items, they get Scribe scroll as a free feat though, and you can scribe any spells you know of any level. They also get bonus feats for metamagic or item creation feats so I usually give them as many as I can.
For meta gamers, the best magic items in the game are the ones that improve stats, such are the Belts of Giant Strength or Headband of Intellect. Wizards create these items, but need to know the appropriate spells, i.e. Bull's Strength, Cat's Grave, Fox's Cunning, etc. The problem is the spells are not found on scrolls regularly in the game early on, sometimes are a random buy from some of the merchants, or available at end game in Verbonc. So the best option is to buy your wizards scrolls of spells you really want to use, like fireball or web, as they are readily available early on, and use your level up choices on the stat spells so you can guarantee you have them. With the abundance of money and XP available to your characters, creating many magic items won't slow your casters progression too much, but I suggest having several creators in your party and spreading out the costs. The wizard can enchant the sword to +2, then the cleric can add holy and flaming burst to it. Weapons and armor can be added on to, but making a +2 cloak of charisma cannot be upgraded to +6 later on, only a new one can be made. But it may be worth it to make the +2 early on to help the party, then upgrade later when you are high enough level. That +2 headband could mean bonus spells for the wizards, who would turn down an extra fireball each day? Then you can either hand me down the +2 to someone else, or sell it for the cash. I also make Belts of STR for everyone, if for nothing else but the carrying capacity.
You have responses from some of the best players of the game. I can only add that if you have a Cleric you must consider what domains your Cleric should take. These domains will dictate what additional spells you receive and thusly determine what crafting advantages you will gain. It will help you decide what crafting feat to take for that character. Also of note is that you can hire NPCs for the purposes of crafting. Ronald and Spugnoir are excellent choices for this option.
If the whole crafting requirements thing seems a little overwhelming you could install Temple+ and in configurations choose to disregard crafting requirements.
