The downside is that your characters won't be able to craft or repair in the field, which is an immensely helpful skill. Simple repairs to your gear only require a character to carry a repair hammer, so if one of your normal party members takes Blacksmithing and carries a Repair Hammer at all times, he will be able to repair gear for free even in the middle of a deep dungeon. Just keep an eye on your gear durability!
Creating a piece of gear from scratch requires ore, which can be smelted by dragging metal onto a blacksmith's forge. Forges are not portable, but there are many around; the first one you can find is out in the open behind the abandoned house in Cyseal. Repairing gear, or crafting normal items such as potions, do not need additional items to be crafted.
To craft most items, you only need to drag one ingredient on top of another. For example, to craft a simple Minor Healing Potion, you need a Penny Bun Mushroom and an Empty Potion Bottle. To craft it, simply drag either item onto the other. Assuming your Crafting level is high enough, the item will be created. If your level is not high enough, you will be informed as such. Blacksmithing, including repairing gear, works the same way.
Some recipes require combining two of the same item. For example, to create a Medium Healing Potion, you must combine two Minor Healing Potions. If you have multiple Minor Healing Potions, they are likely stacked on each other. In order to combine them, you'll need to split the stack. To do this, hold SHIFT, then click-drag the Minor Healing Potions into an empty inventory slot. You'll be asked how many you want to put in the new slot. Then, combine the two stacks, and you'll prompted to either combine the stacks or craft something better, assuming your level is high enough.
Around the world, you may find recipe books. Double-clicking a book will spawn a “Recipe Unlocked!” message, and the recipe is copied to your journal. You can then sell the book, and the recipe will be retained. Further readings bring no benefit.
That said, most recipe books are not required to craft. As long as your respective level is high enough, you will succeed in the crafting. Failure is only possible if your level isn't high enough, and even if it's not, your ingredients are not lost.
Note that some incredibly high-level items will need recipe books.
We'll do some of the heavy lifting for you here. On the next few pages are several recipes sorted by crafting level. If we missed any, please add them to the wiki!
