Materia Melding and Item Stat Cap

I have searched high and low for a straight, accurate answer to my question, so please do not flame me if it already exists.

How can materia bonuses be measured before the melding attempts begin? I have been currently just using trial-and-error techniques, but as I will be using higher-grade materia soon, I would like to know.

As an example, I have an ilevel 16 glove with +18 gathering and no other stats. I attempted to put in a Gatherer's Guerdon I (+3 perception); however, it said that the item was too low to maximize the materia's potential, and it only gave me +2. That would lead me to believe that any first-tier materia would give me 2/3 of the power, but that's not the case! I put a Gatherer's Guile I (+3 gathering) into the second slot and got 100% of the benefit.

There doesn't appear to be a rhyme or reason... Does anyone have *reliable* information on this topic?

For those also searching, and if there really isn't a straight answer other than "figure it out," here are two relatively helpful links that I found:

Materia meld caps for Disciples of Land

gathering/perception cap on AF

There is no reliable formula, so it's all trial and error (or other peoples' data from their trial and error).

What's the minimum item level required to get the maximum benefit of a Tier IV materia?

I'm curious as it looks like you need at least around 48 to get max stats just off a Tier III. Basically I want to know if it's a waste of gil or not to use Tier IV crafting materia even on HQ AF which are all iLV 55.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NefGP

Basically I want to know if it's a waste of gil or not to use Tier IV crafting materia even on HQ AF which are all iLV 55.

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http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...p-for-crafters

Thanks, good to know :)