New Crafting system and those 25-35 range opinions

The highest I've gotten is 2.6k from a lv 35 leve done as a lv 30-31 ALC while under rested bonus.

Generally I start off with Rapid/Standard based on the level of the recip and/or previous experience with success rates. I tend to use Tender Touch for Standard and Fulfillment for Rapid (I don't have Blinding Speed). I also have a GSM skill Pride of Labor which can advance the progress by 30% on success, but only takes 5 or 10 dura on fail.

Once I get to a point at which I am comfortable with the progress/dura ratio I spam careful the rest of the way, augmenting it with Masterpiece, Preserve.

I'm still working on getting Perfection and Hands of the Gods, both of which will significantly boost my ability to reach higher Quality levels.

Gridania leves seem more difficult than Ul'dah.

I think the folks with the higher level abilities are having a much easier time.

On a leve, I might Blinding Speed and get a Rapid or two in, then Quality the rest of the way.
Or if durability is going to fail from Standard, gambit with Rapid.

On the plus, I think I've passed the Velveteen and Steel phases of those respective crafts.

As others have mentioned, gear + abilities go a long ways in finishing leves successfully and grinding your levels. I've crafted for a good while, and tried to level all crafts (besides cooking) pretty evenly. I range from 26-31, with 36 alc, and 18 cooking as the ones outside that range.

Before 1.21 I was all about Control. I wore every piece of armor that had it. Only did synths amd grinds that were 4-7 above my level. 7 was pushing it at times, but my success rate was in the 90%+ range I would say. Only failed a handful of leves, more often they would be the "dated" ones. Times I would major fail would be from Unstable lightning or wind.

My current set up is as follows for gear:
Black Usagi Kabuto - Control +7 - Level 20
Ul'dahn Gown - Control +5 Magic craft / Craft +5 - Level 25
Dodoskin Shepherd's Belt - Control +8 - Level 17
Cotton Breeches of Toiling (brown) - Control +5 - Level 21
Fingerless Leather Gloves of Toiling - Control +8 - Level 25
Velveteen Gaiters - Control +8 - Level 28
Horn Earrings - Control +3 - Level 25
Silver Choker - Crafts +3 - Level 29

Before 1.21 I used Preserve, Tender Touch, Fulfillment, Maker's Muse as abilities, depending on how many I could equip. Never had a problem finishing leves and grinds as long as I stayed with in range.

After 1.21, I still use all Control, however, I changed what abilities I do now. Netting 2k xp a synth, with no resting bonus is awesome. Now I use Masterpiece, Tender Touch, Perserve, Hands of the Gods, Blinding Speed, and Fulfillment.
The change is night and day. From being able to set more abilities (no action costs) and having them always be on the list to use, crafting is a breeze.

I also want to point out, I did not get Hands of the Gods til just after 1.21. I was working towards it doing Daily Guild point turn ins and leves, since I didnt want to fish to level it. I stopped leveling other crafts to make it to 36 alc first, and am now working towards 36 crp.

Now my routine so far, is Masterpiece > Careful @ start. Perserve > Standerd to boost Progress bar to about 60. Hands of the Gods > Careful to boost Quality up, then I fiinish with Tender Touch > Careful or Standerd depending on Durability left. Maybe have to toss in a Blinding Speed > Rapid or Fulfillment, but thats rare. I have not had any issues with grinding or leves so far and average 250-350 quality, starting from 0.

I grinded Flax into Linen (33) as 27 Weaver with no issues, got 2 full levels with not even 1 stack of Flax, with rested bonus. Did a Carpenter leve of Teak Plank (33) as 26 Carpenter, again no issues. 1700-2100 with no rested bonus per synth on that leve. Of the few times I have failed, it has been becuase of me trying to push that Quality up just a little higher and botching the final synth to get 100%. Only one fail has been because of Unstable, so far.

Hope this helps a bit!

I normally try to get to 70% before I start to focus on quality, you will know at this point if the synth is going to your favour of not and either complete the synth with standard or try for a bit more XP.

As someone said above if you just do simple math (remaining durability) + (Progress) = more than 100 then you can take a gamble and use careful synth.

I would suggest trying to max your control as much as possible I'm not sure if this reduces loss in durability but I find it much easier to succeed in a synth if I'm wearing gear with a lot of control on it.

I genuinely do not have trouble with the new system. Even though the individual attempt fails are more common, I rarely fail the synth itself. However, I also have most of the crafter abilities at my disposal and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. I used the method I am about to share to get all of my straggler crafts up to 41. Here is an example of what I do:

Gear: I don't focus too much on gear but I make sure to have a nice distribution and do not focus on one stat at the expense of others. I tend to like the coatee sets. I also make sure to wear stat rings for the tool I'm using like Heliodor rings for CRP (again only level 41). Don't forget about the new earrings and necklaces for crafters either. The bonus is small but it helps. Another note, if it matters, I haven't bothered melding crafter materia into my crafting gear and don't see much need to.

Synths: I do not waste my time on synths below my level and almost never do anything even on level. In the past I would always try to do synths 5 to 7 levels higher than my current crafting class. Right now, I'm finding you get the best xp ratio when going for quality if you stick to crafts that are only 3 to 4 levels higher. Going higher starts to see diminishing returns.

Process: I will use finished item synths as an example and use CRP again. First I will harmonize and then immediately follow up with an assemble. It will almost always work this way and get you 30% progress right off the bat, sometimes without using any durability if it is a "success!" I will then go immediately into a resolution to maximize the vitality so important for quality gain on my primary tool (saw). Hit careful three times. For the next ability I like to use masterpiece even though it works best for mass production because you can still get some good gains to quality. By now my quality is around 300. Next I will use an ability like high return (preserve works here too) and continue to smack careful synth right up until it fades. This puts me at around 500 or more quality and I am down to anywhere between 6 - 17 durability. Go another round of careful with hand of the gods active. Now I am around 600 quality or higher. If you have enough durability, give it one last careful then finish off with a perfection and a rapid synthesis for a free, no durability loss, finish and tons of xp.

If the initial assemble fails, I switch it up a bit with a perfection and rapid synthesis right at the beginning and then hit my high return (or preserve) to get a standard synth off, two if the first fails. I'm at 45 - 50 progress at this point and then I go right into my careful synthesis path above right until the end. Hand of the gods makes this possible and will finish strong for you. The quality gain on this is less than if assemble hits but it's better than a total fail and still pretty damn good xp compared to what we used to get.

Hope this helps people.

P.S. keep in mind the above example only works well for finished item synths on a class that is using a tool that benefits from VIT, like CRP. You would have to modify the abilities based on the synth, class, and tool you are using but the basic formula works like a charm for me no matter what I'm doing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wynn

First I will harmonize and then immediately follow up with an assemble.

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Unless Harmonize's function changed with 1.21, it doesn't do anything for you at the start of a synth. It doesn't reduce risk for X number of turns, that much I can assure you, because you never get a 'Harmonize wears off' (or whatever it says) message.

All Harmonize is really good for is reducing/removing Aetherial sparking, and you certainly won't have that at the beginning of a synth. Risk is some magical number that starts at 0 and slowly grows depending on the actions you take and how successfully you performed them. If it gets high enough, you begin to see a few sparks--higher, even more sparks, etc.

To me, Harmonize is a garbage ability, and I think you're wasting a crafting ability space. Judging from the abilities you listed, I would suggest Fullfillment, or one of the many "increases chances of success" 1-turn abilities.

Above data is mostly assumption, as we have no solid data on "risk".

Wait/Preserve > rapid 2x > careful / wait > standard or rapid if needed. if you fail rapid 3x, you will screwed up anyway

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raldo

Unless Harmonize's function changed with 1.21, it doesn't do anything for you at the start of a synth. It doesn't reduce risk for X number of turns, that much I can assure you, because you never get a 'Harmonize wears off' (or whatever it says) message.

All Harmonize is really good for is reducing/removing Aetherial sparking, and you certainly won't have that at the beginning of a synth. Risk is some magical number that starts at 0 and slowly grows depending on the actions you take and how successfully you performed them. If it gets high enough, you begin to see a few sparks--higher, even more sparks, etc.

To me, Harmonize is a garbage ability, and I think you're wasting a crafting ability space. Judging from the abilities you listed, I would suggest Fullfillment, or one of the many "increases chances of success" 1-turn abilities.

Above data is mostly assumption, as we have no solid data on "risk".

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Harmonize reduces risk for the entire synth, as soon as you use it. That's why I start with it, unless it doesn't appear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wynn

Harmonize reduces risk for the entire synth, as soon as you use it. That's why I start with it, unless it doesn't appear.

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I highly doubt that, but I have no evidence to the contrary. I certainly won't believe it until I see some evidence in your favor though.