Cracked Materia Guide

Hey guys, I whipped up another guide for 1.0 players. This one goes over what to do with all that cracked materia and gear melded with cracked materia. I hope to make the decision easier by including some sound reasoning along with my answers to the questions you've probably been asking yourself.

http://www.abaddon.us/phpBB3/page.php?p=broken-materia

Thanks again. No way I am trading in my Vanya\Gryphonskin gear considering how much I like it and how long it took to make but for the rest of the gear not on that level I agree I will trade that in and start over.

Useful guide, thanks OP

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

Thanks again. No way I am trading in my Vanya\Gryphonskin gear considering how much I like it and how long it took to make but for the rest of the gear not on that level I agree I will trade that in and start over.

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Vanya and Gyphonskin, like Darksteel, is the stuff you want to keep. Aside from Darklight, it's BiS as of phase 3 and tier 4 meteria won't be nerfed in it.

I have a bit of III and IV cracked. I heard I can convert it after OBT. I haven't found a way to do it so far. Mine will be going toward CP crafting gear if it's an open system. CP is the only thing I feel starved for in ARR.

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Originally Posted by Ksenia

I have a bit of III and IV cracked. I heard I can convert it after OBT. I haven't found a way to do it so far. Mine will be going toward CP crafting gear if it's an open system. CP is the only thing I feel starved for in ARR.

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Yeah, anything unslotted can be turned into whatever type you want. I believe that happens in open beta. The slotted stuff can to, but I think it's worth just trading that gear in for DL tokens.

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Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

Yeah, anything unslotted can be turned into whatever type you want. I believe that happens in open beta. The slotted stuff can to, but I think it's worth just trading that gear in for DL tokens.

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My question about DL tokens will be if there is another way of getting them. If not we have to be real careful when trading in so we don't end up with let's say 99 tokens after trading in all our gear with 100 tokens required for a DL piece and no way of getting that last one.

I think there will be. We'll get tokens if we don't get drops in end game dungeons. I have a sneaking suspicion they'll be the same tokens.

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

My question about DL tokens will be if there is another way of getting them. If not we have to be real careful when trading in so we don't end up with let's say 99 tokens after trading in all our gear with 100 tokens required for a DL piece and no way of getting that last one.

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Mmm... I suspect they might be the same token you get from losing on a need roll ^-^

I reeeaaaalllllyyyy hope the exchange rate towards Darklight currency is decent.

Also, is it only gear that can be traded for the currency? Or can just unmelded Materia be used to trade for that currency too? Does anyone know?

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Originally Posted by Gukster

I reeeaaaalllllyyyy hope the exchange rate towards Darklight currency is decent.

Also, is it only gear that can be traded for the currency? Or can just unmelded Materia be used to trade for that currency too? Does anyone know?

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Check the image in my guide, it's from the original lodestone post. Only melded gear can be traded for darklight. Un-melded cracked materia can be traded for new materia only.

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Originally Posted by Gukster

I reeeaaaalllllyyyy hope the exchange rate towards Darklight currency is decent.

Also, is it only gear that can be traded for the currency? Or can just unmelded Materia be used to trade for that currency too? Does anyone know?

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Cracked Materia can be traded for any new materia of the same tier. So a Cracked Materia III can be traded for a materia of tier III.

Equipment melded with Cracked Materia can be traded for either to the Materia NPC as above, or traded to the Currency Exchange NPC for some kind of tokens towards equipment. That equipment includes darklight but isn't limited only to it. It can be traded for other dungeon equipment or primal rewards.

So if you trade to the materia npc and not the let's call it the Darklight npc.. the materia npc will let me keep my gear but replace the cracked materia inside?

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Originally Posted by Chiapet

So if you trade to the materia npc and not the let's call it the Darklight npc.. the materia npc will let me keep my gear but replace the cracked materia inside?

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That is one option, yes. But for the reasons I mentioned, I believe it's better to trade most melded gear for darklight tokens rather than swap the cracked materia for new materia. The exceptions would be if you have darksteel, vanya, or gryphonskin gear from 1.0.

Yea i was just thinking about stuff like my silver tricorn or my giantsgall stuff. Stuff im uncertain of how if how i will reobtain but thank you for the info i've been very confused by it. Its hard for me to understand if the one npc just took my items and materia and only have me materia or just mended it for me.

Hm... great guide... makes me wonder if I should trade or keep my Sentinel stuff.

For rarer gear it's a judgement call. The stuff like Sentinel's gear doesn't have great stats in ARR, darksteel is much better. However, some of that stuff took forever to get like the Sentinel's Cuirass. Personally, I'm going to trade my more run of the mill stuff in and see how much darklight stuff I can get, then if I need to trade in more stuff, my sentinel's gear is next.

Can you show me where they mentioned that this is the "darklight" currency you speak of? Is that not an assumption? Also I was under the impression that the tokens that they spoke of that we would be getting from dungeons were tradable for lesser versions of the actual Darklight drops not the same things. Since it will be easier to obtain it won't be as powerful.

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Originally Posted by Nikkita

Can you show me where they mentioned that this is the "darklight" currency you speak of? Is that not an assumption? Also I was under the impression that the tokens that they spoke of that we would be getting from dungeons were tradable for lesser versions of the actual Darklight drops not the same things. Since it will be easier to obtain it won't be as powerful.

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http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...48a963d6e53673

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8-1. Conversion of Version 1.0 Materia
1. All Version 1.0 materia will be automatically converted into cracked materia.

2. Players will be able to exchange their cracked materia for new materia of their choosing.
* Materia that has already been affixed to gear can be converted as is.

Even after converting cracked materia, there is the possibility certain gear will see a decrease in effectiveness when compared to Version 1.0. To compensate for this loss, players will have the option to exchange any gear affixed with cracked materia for a special currency. The amount of currency received is based on the type of gear as well as the number of materia affixed. This currency can be exchanged for a variety of gear, such as those obtained in dungeons and primal battles, or darklight gear.

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No official source that I have seen has said it's a lesser version of darklight gear.

There IS one more thing to consider when trading in melded cracked gear. Tier IV materia now come from items with an ILevel of 75+. This means the only thing you're going to get it from is things like Primal weapons, darklight, vanya, gryphonskin etc. So all of the tier IVs you have could be very precious. There's a few pieces of gear that I have with a single IV melded on them that I think I'm just going to pop that IV out of offload the gear itself. I imagine IVs are going to be pricey.

I really hope this thread gets Rep attention for commentary, such as a 'good job' or some such (Really though, Molly, great guide. I bookmarked your site for reference, good stuff inside).

I'd like to make a suggestion - Open our options with cracked materia to exchange the unattached pieces for currency points as well. Some players, many I imagine, myself included have a TON of lvl1-2 materia that is honestly not worth even having. It was the product of attempting a convert to that resulted in crap. At such low levels there's really no point in even attaching it to gear since the leveling progression is so quick, gear can be exchanged for a better piece rapidly. Low level materia is going to end up just being trash materia sold to vendors. Just a suggestion.

well lets see... I have 300+ cracked materia III...

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Originally Posted by Akujin

I really hope this thread gets Rep attention for commentary, such as a 'good job' or some such (Really though, Molly, great guide. I bookmarked your site for reference, good stuff inside).

I'd like to make a suggestion - Open our options with cracked materia to exchange the unattached pieces for currency points as well. Some players, many I imagine, myself included have a TON of lvl1-2 materia that is honestly not worth even having. It was the product of attempting a convert to that resulted in crap. At such low levels there's really no point in even attaching it to gear since the leveling progression is so quick, gear can be exchanged for a better piece rapidly. Low level materia is going to end up just being trash materia sold to vendors. Just a suggestion.

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If the Gambler's Crown will still be there in ARR then all materia and mainly the lvl1 materia will still be worth something..they used to be selling for 1-10k each before.

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Originally Posted by Akujin

I'd like to make a suggestion - Open our options with cracked materia to exchange the unattached pieces for currency points as well. Some players, many I imagine, myself included have a TON of lvl1-2 materia that is honestly not worth even having. It was the product of attempting a convert to that resulted in crap. At such low levels there's really no point in even attaching it to gear since the leveling progression is so quick, gear can be exchanged for a better piece rapidly. Low level materia is going to end up just being trash materia sold to vendors. Just a suggestion.

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My understanding is that the cap per stat will be quite low and will also include the bonus to the stat the item itself gives so in a lot of cases you will only be able to add something like +3 STR. If that is the case, that low grade materia will come in handy since no point wasting the high grade materia.

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Originally Posted by beryuyu

If the Gambler's Crown will still be there in ARR then all materia and mainly the lvl1 materia will still be worth something..they used to be selling for 1-10k each before.

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And yes, I missed out on gambler's crown myself, although not from a lack of trying, so I will always be interested in low level materia.

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Originally Posted by Tinks

There IS one more thing to consider when trading in melded cracked gear. Tier IV materia now come from items with an ILevel of 75+. This means the only thing you're going to get it from is things like Primal weapons, darklight, vanya, gryphonskin etc. So all of the tier IVs you have could be very precious. There's a few pieces of gear that I have with a single IV melded on them that I think I'm just going to pop that IV out of offload the gear itself. I imagine IVs are going to be pricey.

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When you take materia out of an item, you lose it.

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Originally Posted by Akujin

I really hope this thread gets Rep attention for commentary, such as a 'good job' or some such (Really though, Molly, great guide. I bookmarked your site for reference, good stuff inside).

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Thanks a lot! There's more on the way too. I'm trying to get guides for each battle class and leveling guides for crafting as well. Now that we've got some downtime, I hope to get a lot of that done before phase 4 starts.

Well, here's hoping in anycase. But if not, then I'll just have to sit on my stash and watch the markets to see what they do.

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

My understanding is that the cap per stat will be quite low and will also include the bonus to the stat the item itself gives so in a lot of cases you will only be able to add something like +3 STR. If that is the case, that low grade materia will come in handy since no point wasting the high grade materia.

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The best thing to do is to start with an HQ item, so the stats that are on it are capped. Then add stats that aren't on that item yet. This way you get the full benefit from the materia you're adding, plus higher base stats.

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Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

The best thing to do is to start with an HQ item, so the stats that are on it are capped. Then add stats that aren't on that item yet. This way you get the full benefit from the materia you're adding, plus higher base stats.

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Oh, are ALL stats that an HQ item gives capped? I didn't realize that.

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

Oh, are ALL stats that an HQ item gives capped? I didn't realize that.

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From the test results I've seen that appears to be the case. On HQ gear, you can only add stats that are not on that gear already. For NQ gear, you can add those stats, but only as much as is on the HQ equivalent.

Using a Rubelite Ring as an example, the HQ version has +7 STR. You can't add any STR to an HQ Rubelite Ring. The NQ version has +5 STR, so you can only add +2 STR to one of those. You can, however, add +7 VIT or DEX to both an NQ or HQ Rubelite Ring.

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Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

When you take materia out of an item, you lose it.

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Under normal circumstances yes, though the image implies that it may be possible to exchange the gear cracked materia for materia. While this may just be a direct swap out, it doesn't specify either way. Regardless, the fact that tier IV materia are going to be more rare is definitely worth taking into account when trading in things.

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Originally Posted by Tinks

Under normal circumstances yes, though the image implies that it may be possible to exchange the gear cracked materia for materia. While this may just be a direct swap out, it doesn't specify either way. Regardless, the fact that tier IV materia are going to be more rare is definitely worth taking into account when trading in things.

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2. Players will be able to exchange their cracked materia for new materia of their choosing.
* Materia that has already been affixed to gear can be converted as is.

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This seems to imply that we can only swap the materia in place or exchange the gear for tokens.

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Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

From the test results I've seen that appears to be the case. On HQ gear, you can only add stats that are not on that gear already. For NQ gear, you can add those stats, but only as much as is on the HQ equivalent.

Using a Rubelite Ring as an example, the HQ version has +7 STR. You can't add any STR to an HQ Rubelite Ring. The NQ version has +5 STR, so you can only add +2 STR to one of those. You can, however, add +7 VIT or DEX to both an NQ or HQ Rubelite Ring.

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Maybe we are talking about the same thing but just in case. I was thinking of something like a Cobalt Cuirass that I think as NQ gives:

STR +12
VIT +12
Parry +17

If I HQ that will all those three stats go up to the cap or might it just be some of them...

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

Maybe we are talking about the same thing but just in case. I was thinking of something like a Cobalt Cuirass that I think as NQ gives:

STR +12
VIT +12
Parry +17

If I HQ that will all those three stats go up to the cap or might it just be some of them...

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all 3 will be at the cap.

I think they go up to

STR +15
VIT +15
Parry +20

Excellent. I need to start planning my HQ crafting gear and skill sets then:)

IMO, use HQ gear for melding good dungeon gear, use NQ for spiritbonding. Wherever you don't have darklight gear, use darksteel or equivalent for your class. That will obviously change once the really high-end recipes are introduced.

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Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

IMO, use HQ gear for melding good dungeon gear, use NQ for spiritbonding. Wherever you don't have darklight gear, use darksteel or equivalent for your class. That will obviously change once the really high-end recipes are introduced.

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Yeah, definitely my plan. I am glad I got my Vanya and Gryphonskin gear done in 1.0. Just hope I can turn in the materia on those as well.

Come to think of it, since most of my Vanya/Gryphonskin isn't HQ, I can fill in the 2 materia spots with G5 materia of something useful but since there is no penalty for failing forbidden melds, I guess it makes sense to just plug along with low level materia to get those extra +3 INT... until you get lucky. That is probably more useful than trying to get a third G5 materia of the 6th most useful stat to stick. Not even sure I could think of a 6th particularly worthwhile stat category for BLM for example, not worth throwing G5 materia at any rate.

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

Yeah, definitely my plan. I am glad I got my Vanya and Gryphonskin gear done in 1.0. Just hope I can turn in the materia on those as well.

Come to think of it, since most of my Vanya/Gryphonskin isn't HQ, I can fill in the 2 materia spots with G5 materia of something useful but since there is no penalty for failing forbidden melds, I guess it makes sense to just plug along with low level materia to get those extra +3 INT... until you get lucky. That is probably more useful than trying to get a third G5 materia of the 6th most useful stat to stick. Not even sure I could think of a 6th particularly worthwhile stat category for BLM for example, not worth throwing G5 materia at any rate.

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TBH, I'd put the highest grade materia in there first because the success rate is higher, then cap out the base stats with the cheap stuff last.

I seriously can't wait for phase 4, materia is like gamers crack to me, I love the concept so much. :)

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Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

TBH, I'd put the highest grade materia in there first because the success rate is higher, then cap out the base stats with the cheap stuff last.

I seriously can't wait for phase 4, materia is like gamers crack to me, I love the concept so much. :)

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Right, that's what I meant. I know what you mean, I really like the materia system as well. I just hope we can make endgame relevant gear and weapons that way even if it isn't BiS.

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

Right, that's what I meant. I know what you mean, I really like the materia system as well. I just hope we can make endgame relevant gear and weapons that way even if it isn't BiS.

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Currently we can make relevant armor, but weapons, not so much.