Cheapest Crafting professions

I'm planning on power leveling my thief, so I can use him in WvW. I want more than one fighting style to be able to use and that's why I am doing this. What do you guys think the cheapest crafting professions are, as in cost of mats. Once I get to level 350 or 375 I plan on stopping because I want to avoid ectoplasms and other high cost mats, there is really no need to go to 400 for that much gold unless you are wanting to actually use that profession. I was thinking Jeweler and cooking so far, I know that Cooking is the only profession that doesn't use etoplasms, and also you have to buy some ingredients from karma vendors. And also, do you think it is possible to get to 80 with out having to go through all the professions? Thanks.

None of the professions use ectos until you actually get to 400. Pre 400 you don't use ectos.

Jeweler is one of the cheapest, for sure, because you don't have to buy thread or any of the other catalysts that other professions require.

Crafting will certainly give you a good boost of xp on a toon, but just remember exploring gives great xp too. Finding a new place on a toon gets it xp, finding waypoints, poi, and vistas do too. Not to mention that as you explore you can farm alot of the mats you need for crafting and thus save money and gain good xp at the same time. I love how farming mats earns you more xp than killing mobs.

I've leveled all the crafting professions in the game to 400 (finally! lol). Of them all, the cheapest for me to level were chef (I simply farmed most of my materials while leveling my girls out in the world), jeweler (relatively few recipes overall and only jewels and ore needed basically), and artificer. Leveling artificer was cheap and fast since I did it mostly by discovering the potion recipes, which use very few items compared with weapon and armor recipes. I had to throw in the occasional staff or scepter, but I mostly made potions.

Good luck to you. :)

If you're only doing it for XP Artificing is by far the cheapest. You can level the entire thing with about 3 gold if you sell everything you make back to the vendors. Some of the stuff might make you more back if you market it but it's doubtful. I recently did it on a new alt starting at level 2 and taking a crafting booster he was 15 when I finished. I gave him 5 gold to start he had about 4 left after selling everything I made. I did 1-375 on potion and tuning crystal discoveries then from 375-400 I did a couple of discoveries from the karma recipes at the trainer. Pick the recipes that sell well on the market and you'll make back a bit of gold.

Granted I had a lot of stuff gathered already but even buying a lot it wouldn't cost you more than 3 or 4 gold when all is said and done.