A crafters bane : 1-40 gearing

I do a lot of crafting for new players (Hi my names Vel, and Im a craftaholic...), am I the only one who sees the gear systems and items 1-40 as...haphazard? In some slots you dont get upgrades for 4-7 levels, can this be streamlined? Reviewed?

Reset so I can craft gear for new players every 2-3 levels instead of having a 35 player with l 26 jewellery?

Feedback requested, can any crafters dive in and give me their assessment? Am I the only one who thinks some of the ARR crafted stuff needs an overhaul? And WHY in the name of the Twelve is crafter quest gear nq and not hq?

Me confused...:confused::confused:

Why would you want to have to craft replacement gear more often though?

If i26 gear is still your best in slot at level 35, great. You're still up to date and the level 35 recipes are designed with those stats in mind.

You're just not at those levels for long enough to worry about upgrading gear every few levels, even if it's available.

If you want to help newbies out by crafting things for them, your time would be better spent crafting levequest and GC hand-ins for them so they can whiz through those early levels and not even need to gear up in the first place.

My biggest issue doing Isghard restoration on alts was that main/offhand upgrades were not on the same level for all jobs beolow level 50.

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Originally Posted by VelKallor

I do a lot of crafting for new players (Hi my names Vel, and Im a craftaholic...), am I the only one who sees the gear systems and items 1-40 as...haphazard? In some slots you dont get upgrades for 4-7 levels, can this be streamlined? Reviewed?

Reset so I can craft gear for new players every 2-3 levels instead of having a 35 player with l 26 jewellery?

Feedback requested, can any crafters dive in and give me their assessment? Am I the only one who thinks some of the ARR crafted stuff needs an overhaul? And WHY in the name of the Twelve is crafter quest gear nq and not hq?

Me confused...:confused::confused:

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Truth be told, yeah, 1-49 is pretty wonky. You can almost get through the entire range with like, 2 sets of dungeon gear gear (the 17 Sastasha/Copperbell/Tam Tara and the 34 Brayflox).

The sheer amount of gear thrown at you via dungeons makes crafted gear just filler, which is unfortunate for people like yourself trying to find a niche to sell in.

I’m sure more experienced joboholics will have more relevant points to make, but for crafters wanting to make a difference to newer players, the best thing you can do from my point of view is undercut the NPC vendors on right side gear and weapons, particularly at the low 50, 60 and 70 thresholds. Poetics have the left hand side handled, but pre-50 goes too fast to fret over. Where leveling players need your help is breaking in to each new expansion’s dungeon requirements, and that means weapons and jewelry!

That’s been my experience anyway. I’ve become a hoarder of weapons and jewelry as I’ve been leveling alt jobs!

Really, crafting gear for newbies is a nice thing to do, but it's generally wholly unnecessary for a variety of reasons.

1) Upgrades are infrequent as you have noticed. This is because stat increases at low levels have to be small, but this also means that natural levels have more impact than gear for a time.

2) Dungeon gear provides gear at level for each dungeon, and this gear is always of the caliber of high quality gear of a similar level range. For instance, the Brand New Gear/Foestriker's Gear from the three earliest dungeons provides the same stats as almost all of the crafted gear present through the level 20s with the exception of body and leg pieces. The level 20 dungeon gear provides stats that are on par with crafted gear, even as high as the level 29~31 gear. The level 32 dungeon provides gear that is on par with late 30s/early 40s gear. In this way, gear stats overlap more often than not, before level 50, such that dungeon upgrades can provide a streamlined experience. Couple this with now being guaranteed a piece of gear for the job you are on at the end, including weapons for every dungeon. Lowbie crafted gear just doesn't really have much of a niche.

3) They won't change this newly implemented take on dungeon gearing, and it was relatively the same, but a bit more RNG based before this with Aetherial gear. You're better off crafting for level plateaus, since tomestones dry up quickly, especially if one is working on multiple jobs. Also keep in mind that earrings generally have no value, due to the pre-order leveling earrings. It is only really after level 50 that dungeon gear stops being upgrades for the most part, compared to crafting gear, but all crafting gear that is between levels is also still awkward between plateaus. It is also rewarded by the MSQ.

4) Even prior to level 50, gear upgrades are provided by the MSQ. This occurs as frequently as possible with multiple rewards listed to cover every job. The devs fully intended for players to relax on gearing for 5~8 levels, as demonstrated by quest rewards.

I don't really find it an issue. In fact, I personally find it better as you don't really want to be upgrading your equipment every 5 levels. You can get away perfectly well with upgrading every 10 levels, to be honest. That is if you're leveling from item spam and levequests. You can quite comfortably craft items way into the 40s when your gear on avg is in the low 30s. - Just take advantage of materia extraction (spiritbond) and retrieval

If you're doing Ishgard Restoration then the only upgrades you really should be getting are at around levels 20, and 50

My wife is the Omni crafter and she has made gear for me and all my 7 alts, all level 80.

Here is what I noticed.
1-30 Have them earn the "Tabard" Brand-new_Tabard
This gear lasts quite a while and teaches newbies a very basic understanding of combat. This quest chain starts next to any major city near the "Inn".

1-49 hodgepodge is pointless to craft because you level SO FAST.
50-59 HQ I-Level 115 Gear
60- 69 HQ I-Level 225 Gear
70-79 HQ I-Level 385 Gear
80 HQ HQ I-Level 510 Gear

Gear crafting starts at level 50. Everything prior to 50 is just meh. Between the Tabard gear and the 115 there really isnt anything to craft.

Here is the starting set:
https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Brand-new_War_Set

Which comes with this nice buff:
https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Brand-new_Ring
"Increases EXP earned by 30% when level 30 and below" great for when they want to level more the one class.

The most important set of gear you could craft for new players is the level 50 HQ crafting/gathering gear. Players can then explore the fun behind Master Recipes themselves as they wend their way from ARR into HW. A full set of Artisan's/Forager's Gear goes a long way toward providing some early two and three star crafting to get them excited for what comes next.

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The sheer amount of gear thrown at you via dungeons makes crafted gear just filler, which is unfortunate for people like yourself trying to find a niche to sell in

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Kaynide this isnt about the MB..i told you, I spend a lot of time crafting gear for new players and helping them out. Thats where this is coming from. Im a serious crafter and one of the small joys for me is helping new players with gear, getting them new weps or gear pieces. Gil doesnt worry me, this is about crafting and the 1- 40 gear sets. :)

And that's fine, but if your gear isn't selling, then people aren't buying or needing your gear, right?

I mean, you could shout in a town offering to give away gear if that's what you wanted to do, but you'll find most people just don't need it outside of interesting/unique skins (mostly level 1 anyway)

I find I sell a lot of 1x-2x HQ gear for new players. You can get really far with that gear. It's a mess, sure, things don't get consistent until HW+, but the main milestones are around early 20s and then around 40 when crafts start being hard to HQ again. The gap to HW is really annoying but can be jumped with ShB food + gear from GC. I've never bought anything from other players here, but I do craft the other pieces, specifically jewelry.

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And that's fine, but if your gear isn't selling, then people aren't buying or needing your gear, right?

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Kaynide maybe I didnt put it the best way, I am not SELLING anything, a lot of players know me and / or point newbies to me so i can help them out.

On my server I am often approached by new players asking for help, and when looking at their gear I make them new stuff as a gift, one player to another, and yes they do need it, but what maybe you dont get is the gist of this thread, that the 1-40 stuff is haphazard and needs an overhaul.

We are going to have a LOT of new players in the coming months, and it would help if I had more choice and options for gearsets, what id like to see is a 3 level changeover with crafted gear FOR that set of levels, rather than walking around with a 26 bracelet on a 35 character when you should be able to get better.

Dungeon drops arent an option as thats rng and wont often be for the slot you want.

Another idea would also be to categorise gear in the craft menus by job, so I can pinpoint what to make for a 45 DRG as opposed to a 45 SMN.

Anyway these are just ideas to streamline the early gearing curve, so crafters like me can help others better.

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Originally Posted by VelKallor

We are going to have a LOT of new players in the coming months, and it would help if I had more choice and options for gearsets, what id like to see is a 3 level changeover with crafted gear FOR that set of levels, rather than walking around with a 26 bracelet on a 35 character when you should be able to get better.

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There is already an approximate three-level gap between crafted gear types, with dungeon gear inbetween. You don't *need* to regear every three levels. It's a waste of time and resources.

As for jewellery, it simply does not increase fast enough. From memory there is only a one-point stat difference between the level 28 and 38 jewellery; any need to craft more than that would be overkill and a further obstacle to completing the crafting log.

Aetherial jewellery from dungeons, even with the element of luck involved, it likely to be equal value to whatever you can give them.

If you want to regularly craft stuff for people, make your own reference table of best gear for mages, DPS and tanks at five-level intervals, or three if you insist.

I get you. There is a lot of room for improvement:

I would also like to have more search options (like you said, by job or role), or for it to be “smarter”. As in, if I am making blue dye on carpenter, but I’m looking at dye on culinarian, it should just auto switch over or prompt me rather than “you can’t do that, go through your menus again!”

I’d also like to be able to organize the crafting list a little better. I often make my own dye, and would like for that to be at the top for me. Or to otherwise organize the list to my tastes.

..finally, we should be able to change crafter jobs while kneeling in “craft ready” position.


But on your main topic, I just don’t know if we need more gear, especially with the hard limit of possible gear. As a low level you can easily get 1 to 2 levels per dungeon, making it nothing to go 10 levels in a sitting.

Anyway, what you are doing is definitely good for the community, and hopefully a pay-it-forward kinda atmosphere can be had..but I would caution about worrying about keeping tight iLVL pre-50, because it’s simply not needed. The brand new gear will easily last until Brayflox, and anything post Brayflox will last until Af1.

You don't even need accessories until like level 50, as long as you upgrade your tools and chest piece often enough you shouldn't have an issue at that low of a level. Not a big issue.

Not more gear, just in better level increments. Using the model for after 50 would be a good way of doing it.

The desire to help newbies is nice. I just don't think it has much pay off, other than making the community an even more welcoming place.

If you want to help them the most, I'd suggest weapon upgrades over anything, even if they aren't the level to use it yet. Weapons are the most important gear slot, followed by Body then Legs.

Something I didn't add in my post last page is that if newbies pay attention to their Grand Company, the GC also provides pretty stellar gear starting in the 20s all the way up till the high 40s. With the set effects, it's usually on par with AF armor at 45, and GCs also provide top notch weapons for those leveling intermissions. Ranking up is mildly important too, in order to get emotes and have access to a chance at housing/apartments.

Arm the new folks not just with some transitory gear, but with knowledge if you get the opportunity. Knowledge, and how to apply it, is a weapon and an armor beyond all others.

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Originally Posted by VelKallor

Not more gear, just in better level increments. Using the model for after 50 would be a good way of doing it.

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It's not needed below 50 though.

What's the point of having gear upgrades every 2-3 levels when you can gain 5 levels in about 20 minutes? ARR leveling is extremely fast now compared to what it was in the past. You'd spend more time updating gear than you'd spend actually leveling. Level 1-5 gear will get a crafter to level 25. Level 20 gear (with the level 15-19 accessories) will last until 40 as long as you replace the old tool with the new one you get from the quest rewards.

Someone who's struggling below level 50 isn't struggling because gear is a problem. They're struggling because they don't understand how crafting works. It's better to spend our time helping them learn how to craft than spend our time making gear that won't teach them anything.

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It's not needed below 50 though.

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That is your opinion, and is not one shared by a lot of people. It is not fact.

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Originally Posted by VelKallor

That is your opinion, and is not one shared by a lot of people. It is not fact.

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Who says?? I actually agree with her 100%

Just an objective look at, for example, rings for let's say.. STR DPS:

Level 1: Weathered Ring; gives +1 to all 6 base stats (STR/DEX/VIT/INT/MND/PIE); No HQ available.
Level 9: Copper Ring; gives +1 to STR/DEX; HQ gives +1 Def/MDef; Arguably inferior and unnecessary.
Level 18: Brass Ring; gives +1 STR/VIT/DEX; Direct Hit +1 is new. HQ gives more direct hit and same armor as Copper.. also unnecessary.
Level 27: Silver Ring; gives +2 STR/VIT/DEX/Direct Hit; +3 Direct Hit on HQ; This is our first reasonable upgrade.
Level 37: Mythril Ring; gives +3
Level 39: Garnet Ring; gives +4 to main stats and Skill Speed. If this is important it only makes Mythril obsolete; don't need both.
Level 47: Electrum Ring; gives +5
Level 49: Rubellite Ring; gives +5 Completely unnecessary; Instantly replaced at 50. (Ironworks Ring of Slaying: Gives a whopping +23 STR)

If you look then at, for example, Necklaces, you'll see they are basically 1-2 levels off instead of united with the rings; I believe this was explained so that low level characters had something they could look forward to updating each level..back when 50 was cap and leveling took significantly longer.

At this point, I'd say sure: They could just get rid of obsolete filler levels and have all accessories upgradable every 10 levels, on the 10s.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Why would you want to have to craft replacement gear more often though?

If i26 gear is still your best in slot at level 35, great. You're still up to date and the level 35 recipes are designed with those stats in mind.

You're just not at those levels for long enough to worry about upgrading gear every few levels, even if it's available.

If you want to help newbies out by crafting things for them, your time would be better spent crafting levequest and GC hand-ins for them so they can whiz through those early levels and not even need to gear up in the first place.

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I'm still wearing white vendor rings at 41 because drops for jewelry are non existent.

I'd like more crafted options that don't cost a fortune on mb.

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Originally Posted by Imora

I'd like more crafted options that don't cost a fortune on mb.

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The existing items are fairly cheap to produce assuming an affordable source of raw materials (eg. yourself or a retainer) and have the gear and levels to trivialize HQ.

The MB behaves like any other unregulated market. There's a lot of impatient/desperate people with enough gil that many multiples of vendor cost doesn't faze them.

the best thing u can craft at low lvls are GC requested items , those are always welcomed :D