Tbh i cannot recommend doing cooking as a beginner of the game, even if it is the most fun you can have with crafting in this game.

I did that when i started and it was the last profession i finished, since i never had the mats and had to use the wiki alot.

It takes Karma, Gold and a lot of inventory space. Especially if you want to learn all recipes.

You need lots of butter for example and you only get that from enemy drops or the AH.

It is also a bit more complicated than normal crafting IMHO, since there are many dishes you need as a step inbetween or have to travel all over the world to get some specific spices.

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Very easy to craft a weapon. You mostly need 3 things.

Lets say for an Axe you need:

A short woodhandle since it is a one-hand weapon.

The Axe Blade that goes on top

And a rune that signifies what stats it has.

You put em in discovery and you get an axe with the stats of that rune. Thats the basics.

For some later you might also need the receipe or Ektoplasma.