Always HQ?

[Capita]

Hey guys. I'm currently leveling 3 of my DoH at the same time (WVR, CRP, LTW) and have been having a great time doing so, but I'm fairly short on funds (only 100k). I'd like to maximize my EXP, so I did my research and I've been doing those 3 turn-in leves about 5 levels lower than my own (Lv20, as all 3 are Lv25). However, I seem to have a problem with HQ crafting. I've been told it's possible to always get HQ out of non-HQ mats, provided my gear is up-to-date and my crafting sequence is good. I'm currently wearing Lv20 gear, which I will be updating to Lv25 gear (non-HQ). My sequence for 40 durability items is as follows:

Steady Hand
Waste Not
2x Hasty Touch
2x Standard Touch
Steady Hand
Waste Not
Standard Touch
Hasty Touch
2x Basic Synthesis

I seem to only get between 19%-28% with this, and maybe 46% on a good round of touches. I have another sequence that uses Inner Quiet and Master's Mend instead of Waste Not, but that nets me slightly lower (about 17%-22%).

Any tips on making this better, or is that just how it works?

[xcaptainmorganx]

Well I'm not a pro but I'm lvl 30ish or so. Are you paying attention to the condition state? Meaning good normal poor excellent ect....

[Capita]

Well I'm not a pro but I'm lvl 30ish or so. Are you paying attention to the condition state? Meaning good normal poor excellent ect....

No... lol. I have a macro for it. I'm not sure how to utilize the conditions. I know I probably want to use a Touch on Good or Excellent, but what do I do until then?

[Zeronic]

Try using Inner quite, that gives a bonus to control. Rumination removes that effect, but gives back CP X the amount of touches that worked. Manipulation gives you back 10 durability for the next 3 steps. Combined with waste not you gain 15 durability for 88 CP.
Try working that in between.

[Capita]

Try using Inner quite, that gives a bonus to control. Rumination removes that effect, but gives back CP X the amount of touches that worked. Manipulation gives you back 10 durability for the next 3 steps. Combined with waste not you gain 15 durability for 88 CP.
Try working that in between.

Yeah, I'll work in Inner Quiet and Rumination.

Also, is there any way to predict an item's condition? It seems fairly random, and I usually get Normal and Good, but rarely Excellent.

[Kijimea]

I have no problems with HQ crafting out of NQ and i dunno why ppl even use Manipulation. 80 Durability is far enough and 40 Durability is also enough to get 100 % with 3 steps and the last one for 100 % progress. I never ever use anythings that restores my durability.

[Jojoroku]

My sequence for 40 durability items is as follows:

Steady Hand
Waste Not
2x Hasty Touch
2x Standard Touch
Steady Hand
Waste Not
Standard Touch
Hasty Touch
2x Basic Synthesis

I seem to only get between 19%-28% with this, and maybe 46% on a good round of touches. I have another sequence that uses Inner Quiet and Master's Mend instead of Waste Not, but that nets me slightly lower (about 17%-22%).

Any tips on making this better, or is that just how it works?

If you are going to use Hasty touch you will want to grab Tricks of the Trade (15 Alch) and Steady Hands II (37 Cooking) otherwise you are better off with a Great Strides build where you try the make most of the durability and skip turns until you can land a touch on greater conditions.

[Capita]

If you are going to use Hasty touch you will want to grab Tricks of the Trade (15 Alch) and Steady Hands II (37 Cooking) otherwise you are better off with a Great Strides build where you try the make most of the durability and skip turns until you can land a touch on greater conditions.

Great Strides hadn't even crossed my mind. Great tip. Seems a lot more efficient than spamming Touches.

[rkpost]

I have 5 crafters, all of them at the same lvl, near to 30 lvl.

I crafted a lot of HQ items, my formula is

1) all my ingredients are HQ (whenever is possible)

2) My sequence for 40/40

Inner Quiet (very important)
Tricks Of The Trade (if I can)
Great Strides
Steady Hand
Standard Touch -> 100% chance, 250% eff +HQ
Great Strides
Standard Touch -> 100% chance, 250% eff +HQ
Great Strides
Standard Touch -> 100% chance, 250% eff +HQ
Steady Hand + Basic Synthesis or Careful Synthesis

I made all my gear, everything HQ with materias

If I try to make a difficult item I use Observe or Basic Synthesis (with 60/70 items) in order to obtain Good or Excellent condition after Great Strides.

3) Depending on what I want to do, I have HQ Food to improve CP, Control or Crafting.


Great Strides is better than manipulation or Master's Mend because grants you free extra touches ( 6 touchs in 30 durability)

[Mjollnir]

The lv.21 Culinarian ability Great Strides is the key. At 32CP it doubles the amount of quality gained from Standard Touch, also 32CP.

This might seem a net of zero, but if you ensure the Standard Touch goes off on Good or Excellent condition, it produces much larger results as it effectively doubles the double.

Great Strides applies on the first successful Touch action after activation and lasts three steps. Therefore, you can use other non-touch abilities to coax out the Good condition you require.

My rotation is:

Great Strides ->
if red/multi, Standard Touch / if white, Steady Hand
if Standard Touch has been used, Great Strides again
else if red/multi, Standard Touch / if white Waste Not or Standard Synthesis, depending on if a Standard Synthesis will complete your synth or not (if Steady Hand has worn, I tend to use Careful Synthesis, as using this instead would only rarely mean an extra se is required - you can do the maths depending on the synth you're doing)
if still white and Great Strides is down to the last step, suck it up and do a regular Standard Touch - nothing lost.
if it goes red now use Standard Touch and curse your ill fortune. Then use Great Strides.
Repeat all of the above, mixing in enough Standard/Careful Synthesis moves to bring you to your penultimate Synth, until you're either out of CP (at which point use up durability with Hasty Hand) or out of durability (ie it's at 5 or 10).

By using this method, I get HQ (ie 100% Quality) from normal materials on about 95% of synths that're up to two levels higher than my current level. I can get 100% quality on items up to four levels above my level using HQ mats (usually that I've crafted myself). Can get a decent rate of HQ on anything higher.

Gear is important - use HQ best-in-slot for your level. It should spiritbond quickly, so as soon as it has, convert it, craft/buy the piece again and attach the materia you got.

Food is important - if you find yourself a few CP short of that additional Standard Touch, use +CP appropriate for your current level, else use +Control to increase your Quality gain. I haven't found a time when doing mid-level crafting that I'd take +Craftsmanship over +Control, but feel it out for yourself.

Ugh I should prolly write this up as a proper guide somewhere for mid-level crafting^^ There's a few other bits n' pieces, but I'm sure you'll fathom those out yourself!