Crafting general questions

Hopefully not too general of a question but I'm not getting a feel for all of crafting's uses from the beta. Is crafting integral to character progression? For instance, is crafted gear generally better than bought gear? I'm assuming it's likely good to a certain point before drops outclass what you can make? Is it a good source of Gil maybe? The market is pretty empty in the beta so I can't really get a feel for that either.

1. Is crafting integral to character progression? - No, but you will eventually need a level 50 crafter (not necessarily yourself) to help with your relic weapons.
2. Is crafted gear better than (store) bought gear? - Yes, miles better.
3. Do drops outclass what you can make? - Below 50 they are about equivalent but you can add materia to crafted items. The crafted items only go up to ilvl70 right now and dropped items can go up to ilvl90, so eventually drops are better.
4. Good source of gil? - depends on how market savvy you are. For some yes, for others no. The market is highly variable based on the server.

Cool, thanks. So if one was to do their own crafting would it be advisable to keep their level in whatever trade they're pursuing as close as possible to their main level?

Secondly, are these items easy to find on the market for prices that aren't utterly crazy?

Lastly, I'm unfamiliar with the nomenclature, what does the "i" before the item level stand for?

The game will teach you how to meld materia as a matter of course through the story, but it is not required to pursue any content. Materia themselves are only marginally useful while leveling. If you keep half your gear current, you should not have too many problems leveling or completing the quests. You will need a Lv.50 crafter to help with your relic quest, but you can easily find another player to do that now.

Crafted gear is only better than the bought gear if you get a high-quality version of it. The best way to high-quality is to cross-class crafting classes (although this requires some initial investment as your first crafting cross-class is at Lv.15). Otherwise, crafted gear is the same as the quest gear.

Dungeon drops are generally the best gear you will find for your level. You will notice a "level" notation on most items and to the right of it, an "item level" (ilvl). High-quality items tend to be equivalent to 2ilvls higher than the level you can wear it. Pink gear is roughly equivalent to HQ, although they have 3 random stat boosts that may be better for some builds. Green dungeon drops tend to be the best and have stats equivalent to an item 4 lvls higher than the stated value. So, a lv.15 foestriker tabard (green dungeon armor) would be ilvl19 and be the equivalent of a lv.19 normal armor (but usable at lv.15).

Most players make gil from dailies and the dungeon roulettes. Crafting and gathering leves can also provide a surprising amount of money and materials in addition to the exp (which helps a lot in leveling those classes up). You can always sell materials and items on the market, and most players will tip a few thousand gil for melds if you do them.

And the majority of your materials before lvl20 can be bought from npcs for 10 gil or less each. Afterwards, it helps to have a gathering class leveled to help you. For example, if you are pursuing blacksmithing/armorsmithing/goldsmithing, you will need a lot of metal ore. You can reduce many of your expenses by having a miner at the appropriate level to gather ore. That way, you only have to buy a few scraps of cloth and leather from the marketboard or npcs. This way, you'll make more gil than you spend if you sell it on the marketboard or even use it to turn in for leves.

If anything I'd level Culinarian and Botany (with probably Fishing as well) so you can make your own food. Everything else is kind of extra since there's usually a ton of items on the Market Board and competition drives prices down to the point of being laughably affordable. That and dungeon gear is just as good as HQ gear more or less, as you're leveling up. Crafted gear lets you mix/max a bit with materia, but with gear getting replaced every 5 levels or so it's kind of moot. The only gear that will have any longevity will be level 50 (i70) crafted gear until you can get enough CT/Coil gear.

Even then, this whole dynamic is going to change soon since the next patch will be out within a month and they will be creating new recipes to take advantage of mythology tomes (which currently reward i90 gear) but you'll also be able to farm Coil (opposed to only being able to do it once a week now) so it may not mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. If you have money you can get i90 geared a lot easier (and if you have a LOT of money you can make the forbidden melds to possibly surpass the Coil gear) than farming Coil.

This is all speculation of course as they haven't given us the specifications on the new crafted items yet.

Food is mostly XP boosts, correct? Are those boosts stackable BTW?

If you level your main combat class before a crafting class, you'll most likely have to rely on inferior quest rewards or random dungeon drops for gear (or buy it off the Market Board). I leveled my crafting classes before my main class and was able to take the cash reward from every sidequest afterward because I could make my own equipment. To have the relevant materials, though, you'll need at least both of your gathering classes leveled up beyond your crafting classes (or else you'll be buying materials).

It depends on how into crafting you really WANT to be, because it's not integral to any part of the main story and some people forego crafting completely, seeing as at endgame - the focus of most people - superior gear is given away like candy on halloween. Not only is the best crafted stuff expensive to make, it also takes a HUGE time investment to gather the materials, leveling other classes for all the cross class skills, and spiritbonding and overmelding your crafting gear to even be able to ATTEMPT the best stuff.

There's a certain pride to being able to do and make HQ stuff other can't, and at this point, all we can do is hope that crafting becomes relevant in the future somehow.

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Originally Posted by Cap75

Food is mostly XP boosts, correct? Are those boosts stackable BTW?

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The XP boost from food is not stackable. You will get a 3% xp boost from any food item for 30 minutes. You will also obtain a specific boost to your stats. Some food items increase STR, DEX, and the like, while others will affect gathering or your crafting stats. Choosing the right food can make certain tasks easier.

Another way to get xp boost is to simply rest in a sanctuary. You will get a brief period where you receive 50% more xp. A free company can also buff your xp gain by 5% if they spend seals to maintain it. That may not be so much now though as many use it on other buffs (such as to improve crafting or for various gil-making strategies).

The main problem with leveling a crafting class before a combat class is that the best way to level a craft is with Leves, and the ones outside the city, that can be unlocked every five levels, can only be unlocked on combat classes.

There's really no problem with equipping your first job with quest rewards and dungeon drops while you work on crafting in your spare time. It's quite beneficial long term to level most crafts along with BTN and MIN. They feed off each other a great deal.

For your 1st battle class even if you level a crafting class at the same time it will not be much useful.
What you will find from quests and dungeons will be better or at least a lot cheaper. (unless you can gather all the stuff it will cost you to buy the materials)

But for subsequent battle classes it will be easier to craft for them as you will have the funds and can unlock all leves to level your crafts.

Thanks for all the info, guys.