It's definitely not necessary, but crafting can give you the best possible items in a lot of cases... There were a lot of features that I didn't get to before I moved on unfortunately, so it isn't necessary to min-max that much.
on second note, I've ran through chat logs, and Insane Atiel HAS been beaten, but its pointless as there's with no other bosses after it. Would be a waste of time to beat Blackshade.
tempest, shooting star, partnership, tooth and nail, level 47, essence level 49, druid path with tank hp and ranger attack as focuses, made it to last boss of bio quarter, Atiel Blackshade (Which I'm pretty sure is impossible currently)
 "Mini Healer"){kind=icon}
 "Stormbound"){kind=icon}
 "Rogue Fable II"){kind=icon}
 "Paladog"){kind=icon}
 "Scrap Quest"){kind=icon}
 "Idle RPG"){kind=icon}
 "Rogue Fable III"){kind=icon}
 "Champions of chaos"){kind=icon}
It's definitely not necessary, but crafting can give you the best possible items in a lot of cases... There were a lot of features that I didn't get to before I moved on unfortunately, so it isn't necessary to min-max that much.