Arbitrary Stat Caps on Materia Melding & Freedom to Meld MAIN Stat Please

[Skies]

Whereas crafters can't make gear that matches up to the Allagan gear, they can make items that match up to Darklight and primal weapons which are IL70 gear. That is because they can make Darksteel gear (I refer to as Darksteel but I also mean the Gryphonskin leathers and other two-star synths) which is all IL70 itself.

Every item of the same slot with the same IL will have the exact same attribute caps. So my Obelisk can have as much STR and Critical Rate as my Melancholy Mogfork, but it can't be strictly superior to it since it's the same IL, hence why stat caps. (that is presuming the mogfork has capped STR and Crit)

What is better, melded gear can be fine-tuned and useless stats (such as earth/wind resist in Titan/Garuda gear) can be replaced with important stats (such as crit+ and determination).

Whether intuitive or not, the stat caps make absolute sense, and i'm happy they are in the game, this give the devs absolute control over the power level of the gear they implement

[RhazeCain]

So I've been buying these Darklight accessories "of Fending" for my warrior. Always Vit on those, but not Str. My plan is to meld Str materia. Maybe some Parry/Determination as well.

I'd argue that every class has at least 2 basic stats that matter. Sure maybe one more than other, but both very useful. For example, Lancer's top stat might be Str, but Vit is great. Live through more AEs that way. Or take a hit from an add that you're killing while tank is busy elsewhere. A healer might benefit from both Mind and Piety, plus Vit.

Additionally you could look into getting a gear *without* your top stat, then melding in your main stat. Example: Lancer buy the Darklight Earrings of Fending (with Vit/Determination) and meld Str materia. Not sure if this works in reality, but worth a look (is it possible to reach Str cap on a high end item with 5 materias?).

Reaching caps on the main stat without materia means that materia is a little less important overall. Consider once you get to advanced level with good materia on all pieces, especially if the OP's wish were granted. Then a gear upgrade wouldn't be an upgrade unless you could also meld more good materia into it. I've been in that situation in other games and it's not particularly pleasant.

[Skies]

Rhaze as a Dragoon I wouldn't focus on my VIT and more on my Critical Rate, bigger and more consistent boost on my damage specially stacked with Internal Release, also our innate/crossed survival skills (Second Wind, Bloodblath) take advantage of critical hit (Second Wind can crit for a LOT of HP)

[Tirocupidus]

I agree with the OP. I wear only HQ gear that I've made, and after messing around with a few materia for it and having lackluster results (i.e. nothing, or a stat point if I'm lucky), I just said "Screw it." Bunch of empty slots in my gear because it's more trouble than it's worth trying to figure out what I might actually gain from it. I might experiment more once content becomes more difficult, but I doubt the materia will help much.

[Kiara]

I was wondering about this very thing. Right now I'm ALC 50 and I have a full set of HQ Alchemist's gear and currently my Craftsmanship is 312. I previously experienced an issue where I couldn't get the full benefit out of a vitality materia I melded to my PLD armor. Then I got to doing the math, I would need to add 6 tier IV craftsmanship materia to my gear to even qualify to try to craft the top synth's for ALC as they require 347 Craftsmanship. Why do I not see this happening with the current stat cap. Also, if that is the case, how do I even get to 347 craftsmanship required to craft the WHM staff or similar items? It must be possible because there are some on the AH.

Agreed, I was glad about the changes they made to the materia system from 1.0, but when i saw the stat caps it makes it almost pointless again.

It's totally counter-intuitive.

The problem you have is that you have allowed forbidden melding still and have to keep this in check with stat caps, why did you not go the same route as WoW where the cap is determined by the materia sockets ?

Forbidden melding is pointless when there is nothing to take advantage of.

Hi Dex, ^^

It's overwhelming at first, but look into using Tier III, II and I's in smaller increments. You'll eventually be able to hit those #'s. Also, meld those on HQ versions of your gear which will help also.

@ Jinko:

Definitely! I was thinking that as well. That I'd rather have Yoshi P limit us via the # of Materia Slots (like Final Fantasy VII), and let us meld *what we want*, instead of having some arbitrary, confusing Hidden Caps that we're blinding testing against.

[Lux_Rayna]

You guys are getting off-topic. What you can craft is not the point, its the stat caps for melds.

Personally, i find them quite intuitive most times. In the OP's first example, that gear has a greater affinity for control materia than craftsmanship. This is obvious because it has a high control stat and a very low craftsmanship stat. A rather small leap in logic will tell you that the item in question has a low craftsmanship cap and a high control cap. There's a reason craftsmanship is only +3, and its probably not for giggles. Makes perfect sense to me.

In regards to the rest, the system is the way it is to prevent stat stacking and to make all the stats useful. This in turn creates variety in melds and builds, which means we all aren't just going to be 100% one stat for every meld (like it was in 1.0).

I basically disagree with everything you said.

[Kiara]

Personally, i find them quite intuitive most times. In the OP's first example, that gear has a greater affinity for control materia than craftsmanship. This is obvious because it has a high control stat and a very low craftsmanship stat. A rather small leap in logic will tell you that the item in question has a low craftsmanship cap and a high control cap. There's a reason craftsmanship is only +3, and its probably not for giggles. Makes perfect sense to me.

Exactly how is it intuitive or consistent when you have:

Weaver's Trousers HQ (i55): Craftsmanship +3, Control +31.
When attempting to meld a Tier IV Craftsmanship Materia (there's only +3 default on the item), you can only get +1(!) Craftsmanship to add. Yet, you can add a FULL Tier IV Control Materia (even though this item has a whopping +31 Control already). And you can only add +1 CP, and there's NO CP on this gear at all.

Amber Ring HQ: Vitality +6, Parry +9.
You can add NO Vitality or Parry at all to this item.

So we have 1 item that has a default +31 Control (and is its highest stat), and you can add an *entire* Tier IV Control Materia; yet on the Amber Ring with it's biggest stats (VIT and Parry) you can add NOTHING?

That's not intuitive or consistent at all.

And in 1.0, there were plenty of players testing out various builds vs. just 1 Stat Stacking. Look at WHMs testing out MND Builds vs. Healer's Hand Builds vs. Sound of Certainty Builds.

[Lux_Rayna]

Exactly how is it intuitive or consistent

It is really really easy. Low stats on an item means low melding cap. No stat on an item means the same thing (usually). High stats on an item indicates a high melding cap. You're just looking at it the wrong way. What you see when you see stats is that things with low stats/no stats have room for more, while things with high stats are close to cap; that is not how it works. The stats on an item *tells* you (mostly) how you can meld it. The only thing thats really tricky is when something doesnt have a certain stat on it. That requires some trial and error, but thats not a bad thing.

Its fairly consistent. Both of your examples fit what I just told you.


EDIT: And sure ppl tested, but Stat Stacking was by far the most used and most recommended method of melding. This system is far better, as it doesnt make 80% of the stats useless, as was the case in 1.0.

[Kiara]

It is really really easy. Low stats on an item means low melding cap. No stat on an item means the same thing (usually). High stats on an item indicates a high melding cap. You're just looking at it the wrong way. What you see when you see stats is that things with low stats/no stats have room for more, while things with high stats are close to cap; that is not how it works. The stats on an item *tells* you (mostly) how you can meld it. The only thing thats really tricky is when something doesnt have a certain stat on it. That requires some trial and error, but thats not a bad thing.

Its fairly consistent. Both of your examples fit what I just told you.

We'll just have to disagree. What you said doesn't explain those 2 examples: The Weaver's Trousers have Craftsmanship +3 (low number), but you can only add +1 more stat to it. It has Control +31, and you can pour in a full Tier IV Materia into it. It doesn't have CP at all, and you can only add +1.

The Amber Ring only has 2 Stats displayed, and those are *high* numbers in their category (i.e., a Tier IV VIT Materia is +7), so it has +6 VIT and +9 Parry. Yet you can add ZERO to either of them; completely opposite of the Trousers. Yet you can then add a full Materia not displayed on it (Determination, Crit Rate, etc.), unlike CP on the Trousers, which were practically locked out.

Sorry, but that makes no sense, nor is it intuitive. I'm glad you like it.

In addition, the current system still doesn't resolve a key point I mentioned: Most Mainstream (and even veteran) players will naturally look to enhance and increase their Main Statistic that was taught to them by this game (DRG for STR, BLM for INT, etc.). Nowhere does it teach them that, "Sorry, you can never really add anything (via Materia) to your Main Stat, even though we tell you it's the most important." It's just locked out. Which I find absurd.

Again, I realize why Yoshi P is doing this, and it controls stat stacking, and allows him total control over Game Balance, but IMHO, it's not as enjoyable, and is eliminating one path of materia gear development (and probably the most obvious one).

[Shouta]

Being more transparent with what caps would be nice. It does kind of take the fun out of discovering what they are for ourselves though.

However, I think the general trend they have for melding is fine. Stat stacking was silly in 1.0 and the system is more simplified now so other areas will be stronger as a result. It also will mirror the XI trend as well. Early on raw stats were prized but as the game matured, they became secondary to the stats that yielded better benefits, namely Crit and Haste (or Skill/Spell Speed). I expect that to be the case with XIV in the long run. So I would say it's far too early to be remove the caps and allow stacking like that.