Start up tip that I can't find

One of the start up tips is "blacksmiths, carpenters. and tailors have a repair skill that allows them to repair armor better than just using a repair kit alone. seek them out!"

I read this to mean that I should be able to talk to say a blacksmith and he will repair my shield. I have yet to find any NPC blacksmiths, carpenters, or tailors who will repair anything for me. What's the key word to do this?

 

There are none, the tip is talking about player crafters have that skill. As is, the tip is not exactly clear on that point.

Or if you choose, you can learn the Repair skill from a Crafting Trainer in the corresponding skill tree.

 

I rarely repair items on the crafting table but it is do-able.

With a repair kit alone you simply drop the repair kit on the item and it increases the durability so many points.

The other way is to put the item on the crafting table appropriate to its creation along with a repair kit and then press the repair button or something like that.

I don't recall why that method is better than a kit alone.

To increase the durability number on the right side of the standard 35/70 max 120 up to its max again requires a gold coto.

These are the only methods I know of.

Learn the crafting skills. You will thank yourself.

 

In my opinion the tip is wrong and should be removed. As already mentioned you can repair items in two ways:

• Drag the appropriate repair kit from your inventory to an item in your inventory
• Place the item you want to repair together with the appropriate repair kit on the appropriate crafting station and press the repair button.

According to the Player Instructions:

It is more effective to repair items at a crafting table with the appropriate tool and repair kit. This repairs more points of current durability than using a kit in the field, further improving as your relevant repair skill improves. Repairing items at a crafting table helps train your relevant repair skill.

 

The other kicker is the overall durability. So with repairs there are 3 numbers related to the durability: overall max durability, current max durability and current durability. So when an item is brand new, it might have 150 durability. Then after enchants & masterwork it's max durability is say 90. So brand new with enchants it's 90/90 (90). However, as the item is used and durability reduces repairs are needed. To promote crafting & the economy the item's current max durability has a chance of decreasing during repairs (and/or possibly during use? Don't play much anymore). So let's say at 7/90 durability you repair and the item degrades slightly to 88/88 (with 90 still being overall max durability possible). The higher repair skill and using a crafting station, in theory, reduces the chance of the current max durability decreasing and extends the life of the item while repairing a higher amount. Repairing a higher amount means less repairs and less chance of current max durability loss. When an item gets down to 7/25 (90) or less is typically when a Gold COTO would be used to repair the item back to the full max durability (90). However that can only be done a couple times and the overall max durability restored is reduced each time, again to help promote crafting and new items needed. (Don't repair with the a Gold COTO if the value of the item is less then the cost of the COTO.

So when you need the repairs, sometime it can be worthwhile to look for a good craftsman but as noted that will be a good guild member or friend (trustable with trading the item to) versus an NPC.

Safe travels & good hunting!