Considered on par with tanners and carpenters in terms of value. In general these speed up metal and brick manufacturing and in some cases increase loads. Speeding up production on thick leather gets more value on bark which is one of the more annoying resources to farm. Leather is a simple craft and a great source for tar which becomes vital later on, but as you get to thick leather things get a bit rough. Being able to produce wood products faster as well as giving access to superior versions of weapons is a great thing Corruption is a permanent debuff that can really become an annoyance. As you explore the exiled wasted you are bound to get some corruption. It should be noted t3 blacksmith will give you access to special gear depending on the race. getting a few blacksmiths however can make this process less painful. What is worse is the craft time on these is extremely slow. As you progress in the game things such as iron reinforcements and steel reinforcements are going to be come a constant chore. Be warned normally surrounded by a ton of other thralls and high aggro beast. I have found them near atlars in the wild. Getting these is a requirement if you wish to have access to avatars. Getting taskmaster or enslavers will help reduce the time it takes to break their will.
The higher the level the longer the time.
No matter how you try to cut it thralls take time. While I have yet to find one of these mysterious thralls or break their will I can only assume they will grant access to special gear or possibly increase yields from crafting.
This was mentioned in the dev streams about special thralls that can be found. These values are subjective from my game play experience. Below is a list of thralls based on my own personal experience and a value for them. Combine this with limited slots of availability on lesser wheels and regular wheels of pain means every player will have to value what they capture. The higher the level of the thrall the longer it will take to break them on a wheel of pain. Thralls also tend to have a wide variety of weapons that are not determined by the level they are, making paying attention to weapons and armor a necessity. All thralls have a level system 1,2,3 and there is a level 4(named thralls). The value of a thrall is subjective but some are better to have then others. Some one to taunt and distract dealing with the thralls you don’t want, and one to go and capture the one you do want. When hunting it is recommended to bring at least one other person. In these larger camps however you will find the more desired specialized thralls. As you move deeper north the packs become 4-12 and have some extreme aggro range making stealth almost not possible. In the early river start area finding a thrall you want is for the most part simple as they tend to be in packs of 2-3. Run up, club them, drag them back to base, place on the wheel, feed them and wait. The concept of catching a thrall is simple enough. Trying to get the right thralls is tricky as they tend to be spread far an wide, but with a little bit of luck and hunting you can easily find them all, well almost. When you get that first lesser wheel of pain the urge to go slaving is pretty strong. Thralls are an amazing part of the Conan exile experience.