where is the melding npc

how do i unlock any prequisites

In the major cities and idyllshire. It's the npc that has a big light blue materia as his icon...
Shouldn't be hard to find.

They should be in the MB area of the major cities including Ishgard. Not sure about Idyllshire

Idyllshire:
http://i.imgur.com/YJXyHGxl.png

I haven't tried using him yet, does he cost anything extra over the normal mats required, or is he basically the same as melding yourself/getting someone to meld for you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CodingSquirrel

I haven't tried using him yet, does he cost anything extra over the normal mats required, or is he basically the same as melding yourself/getting someone to meld for you?

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Decided to grab some random cheap Materia from MB to test it, and here's what the process looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/bHwHDT0.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CodingSquirrel

I haven't tried using him yet, does he cost anything extra over the normal mats required, or is he basically the same as melding yourself/getting someone to meld for you?

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Better. He charges a fee like 1k for a materia grade iv, but doesn't required the carb matter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miles_Maelstrom

Better. He charges a fee like 1k for a materia grade iv, but doesn't required the carb matter.

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Oh, that sounds convenient.

The only thing is they can't overmeld, so if your looking for overmelding then its better to do it yourself or get someone to do it for you, but other than that they are pretty convenient like codingsquirrel said.

I can confirm that the Materia Melder in Ishgard is right next to the market board in the Jeweled Crozier.