Christmas 2015 101: Crafting Act 2

Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!!  IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!!!!  Snow is falling in Springfield and snowmen are being built, Gingerbread is cooking and IT’S CHRISTMAS!   May be less enthused about other holidays but Christmas is my favorite!  Favorite at home and favorite in TSTO!

For the last year or so, EA has broken up Events into stages.  Where every couple of weeks new prizes will be released.  They’ve also, over the last year, added an element of crafting to each Event, where you pick which prizes you want and craft accordingly.  And they’ve continued both methods into Christmas 2015.

While the prizes themselves are pretty self explanatory, collect this to earn these prizes, crafting is a whole other “animal”.  Crafting requires some self direction.  You decide what you want and collect the items to craft accordingly.  Sometimes this is successful and sometimes it’s not.

We broke down the details on crafting for Act 1 here but now that a new Act has hit, let’s take a look at all the new craftable items added for Act 2…

As always let’s start with the basics….

How Do I Access the Crafting Menu?

To bring up the Crafting Menu you first have to access the Event Hub from your main Springfield screen.  This is represented by the trophy in the bottom right of your screen:

From there you find the crafting Icon…

Tap on the icon and you’ll bring up the crafting menu, which will look like this:

What Items Do I Need to Craft? 

To craft during this Event you’ll need the following:

Bows

Baubles (Ornaments)

How Do I Get Crafting Materials? 

For Act 2 crafting materials can be earned the following ways…

Via Naughty/Nice Presents (check out this post for details on naughty or nice).  Presents will yield bows.

Via tapping on Merrymakers in both your town and your neighbor’s town.  Merrymakers yield Baubles (ornaments)

Via the daily/weekly challenges.  Various challenges will unlock bows/baubles.

How Often and How Many Merrymakers Spawn?

The Merry Makers are supposed to spawn at a rate of 1/5 minutes.  There can be a MAX of 40 in your town at once, and there’s a “bank” of 20.

Take that information for what it is…don’t yell at us if the results vary in your game.  This is what’s “supposed” to happen according to the files…but as always results may vary.

So now that we’ve covered the basics…let’s go over some of the none basic questions you guys are asking…

When will Crafting End?

From what I can tell crafting will end on January 2nd, when Act 2 ends.  So craft what you want before time runs out!

Is this It for Crafting Prizes Or Will There Be More?

From what I can tell this is it.

Should I Hoard Crafting Currency or Craft What I Want?

I think most of you will agree that it’s pretty easy to earn crafting currency for this Event, unlike past Events.  So honestly, if you see something you want just craft it.

And now let’s FINALLY breakdown the Act 2 Craftable items….

As I always say…craft what you want and what you like.  It’s a personal decision…if you like it get it.  If you don’t pass. 

Item: EFCOT Center
Cost:1,123 1,286 
Size: 12×10
Earns: $150, 13xp/8hrs
Conform-O-Meter: No impact
Unique: Yes, only 1 per Springfield
What Does It Do?: Aside from earning income every 8hrs, it doesn’t do a whole heck of a lot but take up a ton of space in Springfield.  Right now it’s just a building that will sit there…

Item: X-mas Trees Slightly Irregular
Cost: 20  40 
Size: 5×8
Conform-O-Meter: No impact
Unique: Yes, only 1 per Springfield
What Does It Do?: It’ll earn you prize currency (Act 2, Mistletoe)!  Every 4hrs you’ll earn 160 .  It will also have a couple of tasks there as part of the Week 3 Challenges.

Item: Giant Outdoor Fireplace
Cost: 1,095 
Size: 2×4
Conform-O-Meter: Obedience +10
Unique: Nope, craft as many as you’d like.
What Does It Do?: Not a whole heck of a lot, it’s your classic decoration for Springfield.  It is animated, smoke comes from the chimney and the fire flickers…like fire does.

Item: Ice Sculpture Couch Gag Scene
Cost: 522  714 
Size: 2×3
Conform-O-Meter: Vanity +10
Unique: Yes, only 1 per Springfield
What Does It Do?: Not a whole heck of a lot, it’s your classic decoration for Springfield.

Item: Festive Wreath Lamp Post x3
Cost: 96 
Conform-O-Meter: Vanity +100
Size: 1×1
Unique: No, have as many as you’d like.
What Does It do?: Decoration for Springfield

Item:Festive Candy Cane x3
Cost: 96 
Size: 2×2
Conform-O-Meter: Vanity +100
Unique: No, have as many as you’d like
What Does It Do?: Decoration for Springfield

Item:Lisa Snowman
Cost: 79
Size: 1×1
Conform-O-Meter: Vanity +200
Unique: No, have as many as you’d like
What Does It Do?: Just a decoration for Springfield..no bonus…will melt when Christmas is over.  (reform next Christmas)

Item: Grampa Snowman
Cost: 79
Size: 1×1
Conform-O-Meter: Vanity +200
Unique: No, have as many as you’d like
What Does It Do?: Just a decoration for Springfield..no bonus…will melt when Christmas is over.  (reform next Christmas)

Snow people from past Christmas events earn bonus %, however craftable snow people DO NOT earn bonus %.  They’re actually coded as “no bonus”. 

And that my friends concludes all of the details for crafting during Act 2 of Christmas!

What are your thoughts on crafting for this event?  Do you find it fairly easy so far?  Or are you struggling with it?  Thoughts on the craftable items?  Which ones have you gotten so far or do you plan to get?  Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!