how to reliably craft HQ now.

With a full set of HQ melded facet gear and food bringing me to about 620 CP, I can craft the 35 durability level 80 2 stars from normal mats without procs. Use Reflect > Manipulation> Ingenuity > Innovation > Delicate Synth x4 > Ingenuity > Innovation > Manipulation > Prudent Touch x 3 > Great Strides > Byregot's > Careful Synth x 2.

It really is about having good gear and enough CP overmelded. Remember, it can be cheap to overmeld CP as some items only allow like 1-4 points and you can get rank 1-4 grasp materia cheaply and easily, but it all adds up, especially when using food.

What's killing me is getting the scrips needed for mats. It's like 14000 white crafter and gatherer scrips each for mats for both armor sets and all the main hand tools. Ugh.

Just to note, I desynthed a bunch of items from the new dungeon and got a Sublime Solution from one of them. It's likely not common but it can mitigate the script cost for those a bit.

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Originally Posted by Nicodemus_Mercy

Just to note, I desynthed a bunch of items from the new dungeon and got a Sublime Solution from one of them. It's likely not common but it can mitigate the script cost for those a bit.

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It's pretty common if you're 450+

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Originally Posted by StouterTaru

It's pretty common if you're 450+

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ah good to know!

At 40, even with top-of-your-level gear, you're only gonna be able to manage about 20-30% HQ without using HQ mats. With all HQ mats, though, you can manage 100% easily.

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Originally Posted by Roth_Trailfinder

I, and a couple people under my tutelage, have seen that you could start fairly reliably (subject to RNG, of course, since it wasn’t usually 100%) HQ’ing finished products starting in the low-mid 20’s, assuming both up to date HQ gear and a good selection of level 15 CC moves, from all NQ mats. I noticed that during 2.0, the others more recently (somewhen between the release of HW and the release of SB).

In other words, its always been about having up to date gear, and a good selection of CC moves. Now, they’ve taken those CC moves away and provided some of them to everyone. But we’re still left with it being about up-to-date gear. So why are some people (not the person I quoted, obviously) surprised by it, or need to be reminded of it?

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Well you see, a new problem exists now: You level up so fast that it's easy to not realize you need new gear.

Even at Level 71. I made myself Lv71 HQ tools and 5 hours later my BSM had dinged 74 and I was like "woah, I need new tools and new clothes now!" I saw someone ding 32, 33, 34, and 35 by turning on one GC item. They had one set of tools... now they need a new set of tools, IIRC. It's easy to forget when you gain levels that fast. And NQ stuff just doesn't cut it, so .... you do a bunch of speed leveling and now you're not able to craft anything at your level anymore.

BUT

Thankfully, prices on the MB are dropping, as I noted a couple days ago.

EDIT: IMO, I think it's time for a buff to NQ tools and cloths up until Level 70. Buff the NQs so that they're only 10% weaker than the HQs so that you don't *NEED* HQs to do anything. And then when the new expansion comes out, do the same for ShB stuff.

That, or give us easier ways of getting ahold of tools and clothes, perhaps do the same thing you do for Poetics: Dump a full set of tools, clothes, and jewelry on the crafting tribe vendor at the end of the expansion that's good enough (with mild difficulty) to HQ the next expansion's x1 equipment.

CPs...

Blood bouillabaisse is flat broken. +26% CPs NQ or HQ. HQ has a higher cap which doesn't mater at low levels. NQ is sold by an NPC shop in the crystarium.

No other crafting food gives more than +12% CPs.

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Originally Posted by Maeka

And NQ stuff just doesn't cut it, so ....

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NQ Vendor stuff will cut it now though.


The core rules still apply. At 40 for example, if you have all NQ gear and up to date accessories, throw in some CP food (NQ) and like before, you use all HQ mats, you are going to get an HQ result. It's the same with Gathering. If you are up to date with vendor stuff, you will see 100% on Gathering at your level.


As you pointed out. A star, HQ GC turn in can get you 3 levels. Levequests also got buffed. If you use the old method of vendor NQ, keep HQ parts and make only what you need for the levequests, you will need new gear every 10 levels or so and it's a simple matter of going to the vendor.

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Originally Posted by Ksenia

NQ Vendor stuff will cut it now though.


The core rules still apply. At 40 for example, if you have all NQ gear and up to date accessories, throw in some CP food (NQ) and like before, you use all HQ mats, you are going to get an HQ result. It's the same with Gathering. If you are up to date with vendor stuff, you will see 100% on Gathering at your level.


As you pointed out. A star, HQ GC turn in can get you 3 levels. Levequests also got buffed. If you use the old method of vendor NQ, keep HQ parts and make only what you need for the levequests, you will need new gear every 10 levels or so and it's a simple matter of going to the vendor.

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If you use HQ materials.

Which aren't all that easy to get at times, especially early levels. Sure, at 71, if I'm wearing HQ clothes, HQ tools, I can (or could, rather) always HQ a processed resource... if, and only if I got at least one "Good" during the Touch phase. If not, then my best is 94% and I may or may not be able to squeeze in one more touch action to bring it up to 96% (I should know I had to do this several times). Now, sure that's going to almost always HQ, but it's not 100%.

But that's at 71. When you have things like Reflect (which you learn at Lv69).

Surely, Lv30, it isn't so easy to just pump out HQ processed materials?

EDIT: One thing I'd like to see, is a Bi-color Gemstone vendor for older materials, like Skins, Fangs, Claws, etc from Pre-Shadowbringers content. Group them up into levels and material types or something to make it easier to sift through them all or something.