Quote Originally Posted by Tezz_Xivectro View Post
Are you referring to the spiritbond on equipment that can be converted into Materia once full? Sorry if i didn't understand you.
Gathers can also get catalysts for crafters to make into Materia as well. They also can be traded.

If SE did decide to make HQ armor drop from dungeons, then crafters could still come out better by crafting/attaching HQ materia onto it. It could also work the other way around and have good materia drop but not HQ armor.

Dungeons have the benefit of R/EX armor though, so i don't think they should drop +3. Just unique armor & materia, imo.
Catalysts are used to mount Materia to an item. Materia only can be created by Spiritbonding equipment.