In The Lord of the Rings Online, crafting is broken up into seven Vocations, and each is made up of three Professions. The name of the Vocation should give you a pretty solid idea of what they do. Armourers make Armour for example. The seven Vocations are; Armourer, Armsman, Explorer, Historian, Tinker, Woodsman, and Yeoman.
Within each Vocation is a series of Professions. Some of these directly support each other and the primary Vocation, while some will require you to find a player with a complimentary Vocation or Profession. There are ten Professions in all; Cook, Farmer, Forester, Jeweller, Metalsmith, Prospector, Scholar, Tailor,Weaponsmith, and Woodworker
Armourers, for example, have the Prospector Profession giving them the ability to mine ores and smelt them into the heavy metals used in crafting fine plate and mail armour. Their Tailor Profession allows them to craft the sturdy padding and bindings needed to hold all that heavy armour in place during combat. Finally, the Metalsmith Profession ties it all together to create fine suits of heavy armour capable of withstanding the punishing blows of the enemy.
Yet the Armourer cannot ply his trade alone. With no ability to treat animal hides and turn them into the leathers needed to craft his bindings and medium armour, the Armourer will need to seek out a partner who can. Since the Woodsman Vocation has no Prospecting Profession and will need ingots of smelted ore and plates of hammered metals to craft his bows and crossbows and the Armourer needs the treated leathers the Woodsman creates with his Forester Profession, a mutually beneficial partnership can be struck. Of course the Woodsman and the Armourer, and all Vocations, have the ability to create additional materials that other crafters may need. These materials as well as the finished products can sell for a hefty amount of coin at auction making crafting a great way to earn a living in Middle-earth.
Dedicated crafters can progress through several tiers of proficiency within their Professions. Each tier offers new opportunities to craft progressively better items. With mastery of a tier can come critical success, which can imbue an item with additional benefits like higher damage output, tougher armour, or special abilities and effects. Some of these items can even be named by the crafter to further set them apart. Critical successes of the highest tier are often highly sought after by players who are willing to buy them at a premium.
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