What kind of meld do i need for 2 star?

[Train88]

I looked at the blue gear and it's the exact same thing as my hq set. I figured melding is the key but everything is melded and i have a long way to go still.

What am i missing here?

[rappa]

ilvl 170 blue HQ + meld > ilvl 180 blue (NPC vendor) > ilvl 170 blue NQ + melds > ilvl 150 melded

[Train88]

i have 150 hq, it's the same as 170 blues. Thought the red script stuff was the same as the crafted blues.

Anyway, i'm not touching red scripts, i hear the 180 battle gear doesn't sell. Selling leveling gear atm and the odd glamor or barding.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

i have 150 hq, it's the same as 170 blues.

199+6+6+5 = 216 craftsmanship... less craft, less control than i170 HQ. They're not "the same". But they are pretty close.

If you're talking about HQ i150 = NQ i170's base stats, yes, that is true (except 1 CP). This is why nobody wants NQ i170. Any time when someone makes an NQ i170, it breaks my heart a little bit

Although, given enough Tier V materia, one can still push the stats of an NQ i170's stats to max, which is obviously going to be stronger than HQ i150.... but at the cost of.... er.... "an arm"! Yea, totally not worth the precious Tier V! LOL!

[Katlyna]

Yeah I'm disappointing at the stat jump from all the body peices from i150 to i170HQ or i180. The differences are super small.

[rappa]

do you means small difference without melding ilvl 170 hq? Right?

Caimie_Tsukino's body ilvl 150

199 + 6 + 6 + 5 = 219 craftmanship
62 + 4 = 66 ctrl.

ilvl 170 hq without meld
225 craftmanship
70 ctrl
4 cp extra

ilvl 170hq with melds Grade IV materia
225 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 243 craftmanship
70 + 4 + 4 = 78 ctrl.
4 cp extra
(24 craftmanship and 12 ctrl more)

ilvl 170hq with melds Grade V materia
225 + 11 + 11 + 11 = 258 craftmanship
70 + 7 + 4 = 81 ctrl.
4 cp extra
(39 craftmanship and 15 ctrl more)

[TechnoTechie]

snip

I think they were only looking at the crafting list to see difference in stats w/out knowing the HQ stats and meld caps. but yea, all of the i170 NQ base stats is more or less the same as HQ i150 (aside from some CP); you can check HQ stats by using "Search for Item" function and looking in your chat log for the HQ link (I don't know how PSN users can check link, but on PC you can hover over the item for stats)