"The selected item level too low to maximize materia potential"

I am a lvl 20 Blacksmith. I did all the materia quests. When I try to put a Str 1 and/or Vit 1 materia on any of the lvl 20 iron gear I crafted i get this message, "The selected item level too low to maximize materia potential" with in red letters Vit+0.

So I thought that I need the tier2 version of these materia but that doesnt work either, any solutions?

Each piece of gear has a stat cap.
Str/Dex/Int/Mnd
Vit/Pie ((I think Pie caps the same as Vit, rather that the same as Str/Dex/Int/Mnd))
Acc/Crit/Parry
Det

no matter how much materia you meld you can't go over the set amount for that stat, it is based on the item level (and if the item takes up 2 slots)

the base stats, first 2 stats, usually strength and vitality for tanks, are always going to be capped on crafted gear. the other stats are close to capped, and then you can add all other materia to cap. also certain levels of materia cannot be put on lower ilvl gear. IV materia cannot be put on raptorskin merchants purse which is i47. only IIIs can. i think it is 1-30 for I. 30-40(45) for II and 40(45)-55 for III 55+ for IVs

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Originally Posted by Linaphor

"The selected item level too low to maximize materia potential"

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As said above - it basically means that not full (or even none of the) potential of the given materia will be used. Each gear item have "hidden" stat caps which cannot be exceeded by any means (apart of temporary increase using potions and food buffs indeed). If the increase is 0 then there is no use to meld that materia at all (with one exception of Relic quest melds where some actually have 0 increase but it doesn't matter as that's what the quest require). If the gain is let's say +3 instead of full potential of +4 you'd most likely still use it. I'm on the same server so you can try to give me a shout in game if you need any help or have any (not only materia / crafting) questions ;)

Thanks for your responses. Would have never guess there was a hidden stat cap. Seems a bit strange because it is not like I can put at lvl 50 materia on a lvl 20 item.

The error message is REALLY misleading. It should read something like "The selected item has already reached its maximum potential for that stat." I spent a LONG time believing that the reason I couldn't meld a STR or MND materia was that for some reason you needed really high level equipment, when the answer was that I needed to meld these materia onto gear that didn't ALREADY have STR or MND on them (and therefore hadn't already reached cap for those stats).

If there were no caps, VIT IV materia would be selling for 500k+ each, and the top gear in the game would be 2 star crafted gear with attribute materia.

The item stat cap is a terrible terrible idea that needs to be removed from the game entirely.

The entire system of having to use a piece of equipment far beyond the point where the next one is available just so you can recycle it is a mis-step in my view. I can understand discouraging the sale of hand-me-downs but the money system is broke enough where most of the Market prices are ridiculous for their own sake - either too high to show you don't really need the money, or too low so that nobody can make a profit off their grinding.

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Originally Posted by Linaphor

Thanks for your responses. Would have never guess there was a hidden stat cap. Seems a bit strange because it is not like I can put at lvl 50 materia on a lvl 20 item.

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The stat caps aren't exactly hidden. When you have the meld window open you can see the stat caps for each item.

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Originally Posted by MistakeNot

The stat caps aren't exactly hidden. When you have the meld window open you can see the stat caps for each item.

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To piggyback, an example of what you would see in the meld window could be something like:

Vitality: 20/20 Strength: 20/20 Critical Hit: 0/20 Determination: 15/20 Direct Hit: 10/20


These aren't actual stats, but just an example of what you may see. Vitality and Strength are 20/20, so they are capped and you cannot meld any more of them. However, Critical Hit is 0/20, meaning that you can meld up to 20 points of critical hit materia into the gear. Likewise with 5 points of Determination and 10 points of Direct Hit.

White gear can be pentamelded, meaning you can put up to 5 materia in it. Note that only the visible slots you see on the gear are guaranteed a 100% success rate. There are other, advanced melding slots where the percentage for success is lower (i.e., not 100%). All of the gear you can craft may be pentamelded, but some gear only allow 1~2 melds, and some none at all. The game will tell you if you cannot meld a piece of gear.

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Originally Posted by MistakeNot

The stat caps aren't exactly hidden. When you have the meld window open you can see the stat caps for each item.

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Well yea, the meld stat caps aren't hidden right now.

That QoL change hadn't been made yet, when OP made this thread, back in 2014.

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Originally Posted by Nezerius

Well yea, the meld stat caps aren't hidden right now.

That QoL change hadn't been made yet, when OP made this thread, back in 2014.

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Sigh. People practicing thread necromancy should at least note in their post that they are doing so.....