Remove Materia from Min Crafting/Gathering Requirements Consideration

Heya!

So this is something that has proven really disheartening about leveling a crafting class.

So much materia seems to be required, and most of it is of a high level. It seems crazy for people wanting to get into endgame crafting.

Here is what I propose, as an example.

Minimum Requirements for 2-Star Crafting: (Just to literally unlock the capability to craft it)

Craftsmanship: 347 -> 312
Control: 318 -> 308

312 Craftsmanship will enable everyone who has the best crafting gear to craft 2-star, whereas 347 would require a serious amount of materia. Same with 308 vs. 318.

I can't comment on 3 and 4-star crafts because I haven't gotten there yet myself, but maybe someone else can pitch in.

The bottom line is this: Materia should be a helpful boost, not a mandatory one. Especially as they can get really expensive.

There should be 2 options. Melded gear and a higher ilvl alternative.

Kind of like DoW/M you can meld i110 gear to i120ish lvls or buy the i120 gear with Poetics.


Just make the higher lvl gear harder or longer to get. So melded crafters still have a time advantage for new synths and the more casual crafters can catch up in a few weeks.

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Originally Posted by SirTaint

There should be 2 options. Melded gear and a higher ilvl alternative.

Kind of like DoW/M you can meld i110 gear to i120ish lvls or buy the i120 gear with Poetics.


Just make the higher lvl gear harder or longer to get. So melded crafters still have a time advantage for new synths and the more casual crafters can catch up in a few weeks.

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That's a great idea for the most recently released crafting level, but when it comes to the early stuff like the 1 and 2-star crafts, rookies really need some ease on the slack.

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Originally Posted by HakuroDK

That's a great idea for the most recently released crafting level, but when it comes to the early stuff like the 1 and 2-star crafts, rookies really need some ease on the slack.

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Unless the rookies could catch up to current levels like a new 50 NIN can still buy poetics gear.

I'm in the same boat as you and the cost to meld out weighs my desire to craft. I like crafting I just don't like the entry fee.

I don't consider myself a hardcore crafter, but I did do all craft classes to 50 ( it was a grind and a half) to have all cross class skills and be able to HQ 1 star items with NQ mats. Also while leveling all those classes I was able to obtain most materia from my own gear to get some higher stats. Also having CUL helps out because where I left off on materia I can make up for it in food. With the money I made along the way I could have bought materia, but I really didn't need to, so I bought a house.

The reason why materia is "mandatory" is because Crafting and Gathering stats don't increase on leveling up, so you have to put all your stat growth onto your gear, unlike the combat classes where some of the stats are tied to gear and some are tied to level. I think the system could use a few tweaks but overall it's fine. Any crafter worth his Table Salt would know how to make materia efficiently. In a way, it makes leveling crafts more fun, because you can see what you need to do to progress, rather than just progress entirely passively. The materia aspect of crafting/gathering is very very much like the ilvl gear progression of the combat jobs.

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Originally Posted by Morari

The reason why materia is "mandatory" is because Crafting and Gathering stats don't increase on leveling up

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Not so sure about this. It is evident when crafting or gathering for leves. When leveled up without changing gear the craftsmanship and gathering stats increase with level. Noticed at nodes for instance, the percent chance to gather will increase with each level using the same gear. Crafting will increase progress with each level as noted crafting the same item while also doing leves. Something is increasing without changing gear.

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Originally Posted by Eye_Gore

Not so sure about this. It is evident when crafting or gathering for leves. When leveled up without changing gear the craftsmanship and gathering stats increase with level. Noticed at nodes for instance, the percent chance to gather will increase with each level using the same gear. Crafting will increase progress with each level as noted crafting the same item while also doing leves. Something is increasing without changing gear.

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That's just the level difference portion of those equations showing. Crafting and gathering, unlike combat, rely on your stats and the difference in level between you and your target (node or recipe). You're correct though in that it nullifies the argument that this is what makes materia mandatory. It actually makes it less useful than if dLvl wasn't checked. The dLvl portion of the equation is what makes level 50 gathering nodes cap out at 95% regardless of stats (the end of that equation must be something like dLvl+5) and makes ingenuity II have no effect on 4-star recipes (because it doesn't lower the recipe level enough to matter).

It's not that expensive to meld to that level. Without over-melding or penta-melding a single piece, you can meld Craftsmanship +4 (or less) to every safe slot, and leave your later slots for over-melding control and CP, and make those minimum requirements easy. This is assuming AF pieces, militia accessories and off-hand, and Echatl smithing gloves. All relatively easy to obtain.

Materia has and should be the gate to two star crafting. Do what everyone else did, go spiritbond. Do enough ixal, sell the sealant and buy the artisan pieces. Then you only have to meld 3 times instead of 24. They already made it easy for you. A lot easier than we had it at least.

Hey guys,

So I recently came back with the release of the new coil and have never been much of a crafter. I decided to pick it up though and try my hand at getting to 4 star crafting. I can tell you It is A LOT of work. But that being said It's also been alot of fun. I think the biggest pain for me right now is finishing leveling my last 3 crafting jobs so I can get into 3-4 star crafting. Reaching 2 star crafter is relatively easy. What I suggest you do If you are new to crafting is go spiritbind. If you have GSM leveled up you can make your own accessories and become a spiritbinding machine. This will allow you to meld your gear for basically nothing as well as sell materia you don't need. It takes alot of time and work but It's worth it once you have that stuff all melded. I think making it easier would honestly turn me off from crafting personally as the reason I actually ENJOY it in FF14 is because it actually seems like you need to put some work into it (just like raiding) to get up there and be the top crafter. It can be done but If your looking for a short and fast route to get up there then It's probably not for you.