I have quite a few crafters but I have almost never done anything with enhancing items (and what I have has been pretty underwhelming in terms of results).

I don't want to keep wasting resources and I've looked around for guides on what to enhance, what not to bother with, etc... but have not yet found a good, concise guide.

Can anyone either point me in the right directions or give me some tips on what to try? It all seems pretty complicated and I am feeling totally lost. :[

Depends on what you're enhancing.

These are my checks I make before enhancing items.

Weapons to enhance:

Anything NOT metal. (pretty much anything you'd have to use Blacksmithing with to enhance)
Bows - Use Ash if SSI already exists, use Yew if not. (9 times out of 10)
Bokutos - Normally use Yew unless I see a reason not to.
Staffs - Property/Type dependant mostly same checks used with Bows.

Armor to enhance:

Metal - if Mage Armor and 35+ total resists (type metal used depends on which resistance can get the most bang for the buck, normally stick with Valorite or Verite)
-- if not Mage Armor usually needs to have 40-45 total resists with good properties. (stick with Valorite or Verite)

Leather - if medable usually must have 35+ total resists with good mods (use Horned if already high in Fire, Barbed for anything else)
-- if non-medable must have 40-45 total resists with good mods (use Horned if already high in Fire, Barbed for anything else)

Wooden - if Mage Armor and 35+ total resists (use bloodwood or frostwood)
--if not mage armor if not Mage Armor usually needs to have 40-45 total resists with good properties. (use bloodwood or frostwood)


ANY Luck items:

Must have 85+ Luck (enhance with corresponding +luck resources)

Great asnwers DiP.

palexandria,
(scroll down to post 4)
Did you find this post here on the forums? If you did, and it was still not clear and concise, is there anything I can do to clarify it? For me, this was a huge learning curve are a crafter, and want to make sure my experiences (and mistakes) are readily accessible.

There are charts in that thread as well. I also have the charts (newly sitckified in the common FAQ forum) here.

Is there anything I can do to make it easier to find?

have you visited www.uostuff.com super guide for crafters. Also, www.towerofroses.de has some good calculators and info on the wood/ingots/etc.

I find it almost useless to enhance with ingots unless i'm trying to make a weapon 100% of some element.

Hope this helps