New Artisan's Apron - What Melds?

Hi All,

Just wondering what people thought were the best Materia Melds for the new Artisan's Apron HQ Body from 2.5?

Looking at Ariyala's site we clearly can't max out the melds (only 5 Slots) so did people go with:

* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control IV
* CP III

?

That gives it a great upgrade of Craftsmanship over our Crafter-Specific Body, but only +1 Control increase.

Crafter Body HQ: Crafts 108 / Control 36 / CP 3
Artisan's Apron HQ: Crafts 119 / Control 37 / CP 3


Thanks!

Honestly, if you are planning to get (or already have) your Lucis tool, don't cap Craftsmanship, it's pointless past 453. Cap Control and CP instead, and put the rest into Craftsmanship.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Archadius

Honestly, if you are planning to get (or already have) your Lucis tool, don't cap Craftsmanship, it's pointless past 453. Cap Control and CP instead, and put the rest into Craftsmanship.

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unless you get to 540 or so? Which is possible with a Lucis . . .

Also full +Crafts helps out people who are still using Aritsan main hand. I don' remember for certain, but I think as of this patch my Armorer can do 4* without CP food. (I Typically eat Chilled popoto Soup instead of Bouillabase)

I have seen several different melds.. Those who seem to want to meld less craft on off hand and those who want more control or those who think more craftsmanship is not needed.

Craftsman build:

* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control IV
* CP III

Control build:
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* control IV
* Control II
* CP III


Control build:
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control III
* Control III
* CP III

I did the top one but personally I would cap control if I did it again.. Mainly because it is far cheaper.

I have seen some other melds too..
like :

* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control III
* Control III
I dont like the above meld because I like CP.

* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control IV
* Craftsmanship III
* CP III
This above basically for those who want more craftmanship but a cheaper meld. It is one less craftsmanship than the first one but way cheaper meld.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mishini_Dracoto

unless you get to 540 or so? Which is possible with a Lucis . . .

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Personally I wouldn't sacrifice 26 of my max CP to move from a 5 step progress synth to a 4 step one (which only saves you 10 durability, CP usage doesn't change). That's when comparing 472+ Craftsmanship and 398 CP (Control based melds and HQ Bouillabaise) to 542 Craftsmanship and 372 CP (Craftsmanship based melds and HQ Shark Fin Soup).

So yes, you could do it, sure... But why would you want to? D:

Thanks all.

Yah, I can HQ 4 Star just fine without the Apron. I was thinking the full Craftsman build only to future proof (or at least make easier) 3.0's initial recipes. Then again, they probably(?) wouldn't make the requirements so high that you had to have near Max Craftsmanship to attempt them (I hope).

Otherwise, yes, I'd probably max Control and CP first, and then Craftsmanship. Hm.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Archadius

Honestly, if you are planning to get (or already have) your Lucis tool, don't cap Craftsmanship, it's pointless past 453. Cap Control and CP instead, and put the rest into Craftsmanship.

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If you have the lucis, don't forget that your other crafts are also using the apron.

I did:
Control IV
Crafts IV
Crafts IV
Crafts III
CP III

My reasoning is doing more craftsmanship makes 4-star more easily obtainable (supra + artisan offhand with 2 Crafts III materia to hit 453). Yes, Lucis tools render the extra craftsmanship meaningless. Having just finished my first Lucis, however, I have come to the realization that all 8 Lucis tools isn't happening any time soon for me. I chose a meld that would make it easier to get my other crafts I don't care for as much up to 4-star without Lucis. I figure I am going to need that 5 crafts on my non-Lucis classes more than I will need the 2 more control in general.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kiara

* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control IV
* CP III

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Thats what I did, saves gil melding artisan's off-hand tools later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RiceisNice

If you have the lucis, don't forget that your other crafts are also using the apron.

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An excellent point. However you can still manage the road to Lucis with other crafts by focusing Control/CP for melds (where possible) over Craftsmanship. That extra +6 Craftsmanship on the Apron is not going to make a difference if you follow this gear path:

AF Mainhand Tool + HQ Artisan Offhand Tool > Supra Mainhand Tool > Lucis Mainhand Tool

Assuming you have all your other "shared" gear BiS and max-melded, you can even go so far as to NOT meld anything to your Artisan offhand tool until you're ready to attempt Lucis and still have more than enough stats for the required synths.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BunnyChain

Thats what I did, saves gil melding artisan's off-hand tools later.

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That is what was my thinking was, but knowing me I will probably try for a higher meld on my off hand anyway once I start melding artisan off hands.

Also was thinking if they brought out newer recipes at a higher level I would be set with the extra craftsmanship...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Archadius

...

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I meant that in context that you shouldn't remeld your artisan top to accommodate the fact that lucis gives you excess craftsmanship, because chances are, your other crafts that do not have a lucis would not reach 453 craftsmanship if you remelded your artisan top for more control.

I guess it also depends on what you have melded on your other pieces; I had max craftsmanship melded on all my body pieces and rings, but I still needed to meld +6 craftsmanship on my offhand to reach 453 unless I had a supra.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Archadius

Honestly, if you are planning to get (or already have) your Lucis tool, don't cap Craftsmanship, it's pointless past 453. Cap Control and CP instead, and put the rest into Craftsmanship.

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I think 500 is realy important for BSM.
At this point u can do 4star with PpP * 2, RS and BS*2 instead of CSII *2 (and gain a free slot for innovation)
For all others jobs, 466 is enought for me. (4star with PpP*2+RS+CSII*2)

Capping Craftsmanship also has the advantage of being able to reach the 4* requirements without needing a Supra. Artisan off-hand still needed with melds naturally.

On Stats, Mine are 498 craft/ 426 control/ 352 cp before any food is used. I have all the i90 tools. The control works just fine and no issues getting hq 4 star from nq mats. The crafting at 498 is a little high. If you go back to do a 3 star and start with progress, Rapid Synth 3 times is 444/445 progress. Parks it a little closer than I would like to the finish line. I would recommend for those that haven't melded/fully melded their i70 off hand to go more towards control than crafting. Though with anything this varies depending on the food and rotation you use for crafting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nashred

Control build:
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* control IV
* Control II
* CP III


Control build:
* Craftsmanship IV
* Craftsmanship IV
* Control III
* Control III
* CP III

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Is this worth it? You basically dropped 6 craftmanship just to get additional 2 control. I don't see the benefit of having 2 control considering that my first hit of Hasty Touch would only yield at around 120 quality increase.
If this is CP, I would gladly drop all craftmanship/control just to get 1 CP.

Craftsmanship is the one that you really need to ask "is this worth it?" for.

It takes a lot of Craftsmanship in order to reduce the number of Synthesis type actions by one. If you are just over that point, then 6 Craftsmanship may hurt. If you are nowhere near such a point, then losing 6 Craftsmanship has no impact upon your recipe at all. As an example, Darksteel Nugget takes 97 Progress to finish. As long as I have enough Craftsmanship to do at least 49 Progress in one Careful Synthesis 2, then I know that it will take me exactly two CS2's to finish it. If I improve my Craftsmanship so that instead of getting 50 Progress I get 75, I have not sped up that particular recipe at all. However, thanks to Inner Quiet, any increase in Control is much more likely to reduce the number of steps it takes to hit 100% Quality, and on the harder recipes, any increase in control is going to improve the chances of my getting a decent HQ chance.

Having enought craftmanship could help :

-> To remove Ingeniosity II on the end of your crafting rotation. You loose a bit of quality but it's a flat 32 CP gain.
-> To change CSII to BS, it's help me a lot on my BSM 4 star rotation.

For exemple, my 4 star BSM rotation who need at least 500 craftmanship and 395 PS :

Keep the first tot for an Innovation, each other Tot will allow you to change a Hasty touch for a basic touch.

On good : Tot
Confort Zone
Inner Quiet

On good do nothing
Waste Not
Steady Hand II

On good, use Hasty touch instead, but no more than one time. (So if Rapid Synthesis fail, you can do it once again under Steady hand)
Piece per piece
Piece per piece
Rapid Synthesis
Hasty touch until SHII fade

Only if you don't had any Tot : (Remember if you use it or not, it will be usefull later)
Hasty touch


Confort Zone

Now here you can do 1 Tot Max if you didn't use the hasty touch before renew the Confort zone. 2 Tot otherwise. Dont count the Tot if you had a good on the last hasty touch before SHII.

SHII
Hasty touch until 15 durability, you could do it until 5 dur if you get a good/ex
Master Mend II
Hasty until SHII fade
SHII
Hasty until 25 dur

SH1
Great Stride
From now if you have Good/Ex : Byrgot.
Innovation if you had at least one Tot
Basic Synthesis
Byrgot
Basic Synthesis

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roth_Trailfinder

Craftsmanship is the one that you really need to ask "is this worth it?" for.

It takes a lot of Craftsmanship in order to reduce the number of Synthesis type actions by one. If you are just over that point, then 6 Craftsmanship may hurt. If you are nowhere near such a point, then losing 6 Craftsmanship has no impact upon your recipe at all.

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The thing about having a little bit higher Craftmanship that needed is that you can play around your rotations. Sometimes that 6 Craftmanship is the difference between using PbP or Rapid Synth, thus saving you 15 CP.
As for adding 2 Control, most of the time, it has no effect on the touches. On some cases, it just add 1 to quality. Admit it, 1 quality or maybe 12 for IQ stacks, wont matter much if you're aiming for 4000.

The thing about Craftmanship stats is you have to look beyond the present.

If you have been crafting since 2.0, you will always notice that with every 1* increase in recepie, you tend to have more issues with the Craftmanship requirement rather than the Control requirement.

As a matter of fact, with the Artisan LHS gears melded and the RHS accessories properly melded as well, I could instantly upgrade my IL55 ALC main hand to I75 Supra in 5mins (IL55 offhand as well, I was lazy with ALC all the while) by just eating Craftmanship food to meet the requirements. Control was never an issue.

And remember that before you are able to unlock 4* book, you would need that Craftmanship stat to get your I70/I75 main hand as well. It is only as of now with Lucis tool and all the new Artisan gears, you are overloaded with Craftmanship stats. It is kind of an irony - you need to cap Craftmanship stats to get there to Lucis, but when you get Lucis, you have too much of it.

But I am pretty sure that the Craftmanship stats will have a meaning to it, in Heavensward new crafts. Remelding right now then have to remeld it later doesn't seem like a good idea.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sounders

The thing about having a little bit higher Craftmanship that needed is that you can play around your rotations. Sometimes that 6 Craftmanship is the difference between using PbP or Rapid Synth, thus saving you 15 CP.
As for adding 2 Control, most of the time, it has no effect on the touches. On some cases, it just add 1 to quality. Admit it, 1 quality or maybe 12 for IQ stacks, wont matter much if you're aiming for 4000.

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Thats pretty much what the guys states in his post. Also IQ caps at 11.

I sold mine after i melded +18 +4 +3 to it, I found it useless for current crafting items, I am just gonna wait for next patch to see whether I should go for control or craftsmanship meld