You can't get the catchup gear without overmelding?

[Seyb]

Reaching 2 star stats is incredibly easy and cheap. You only handicap yourself by not getting the ilvl 180 tool and body. This is all you need. Not. A. Single. Meld.

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/UQNW

Eeat an HQ Seafood Stew and you are at 399 CP. This is not very much, but you have a lot of free slots to get the extra 38 CP for a good 2 star rotation.

Then you can start crafting your ilvl 170 gear and switch to HQ Bouillabaisse or HQ Baked Onion Soup.

In reality, Heavensward has made crafting a joke. It is way too easy. Getting the master books is way too easy. Getting the main hand tools is way too easy. Gearing-up is way too easy. The crafts are way too easy...

[Nezerius]

OP, just get a set of Carbonweave gear, the i170 gear that's shared across all the DoH jobs, it shouldn't be too expensive to get. Meld some materia into the 100% slots, since you can't overmeld it.
Work on getting the augmented mainhand tools for your specialist jobs, and the i180 versions for your non-specialist jobs. Maybe get the i170 or i195 offhand tools depending on how much you want to spend, the i170 offhand likely not being as expensive anymore, due to red scrip mats dropping in price.
SE already said that new augmented offhand tools and accessories will be coming in 3.4, which will likely cause the current i180 offhand tools/accessories to be shifted to blue scrip tokens.

Outside of that, if you want all of your DoH jobs to be at the same stats for the highest recipes, without the feeling of gearing up 1 job at the time (augmented gear), then you'll have to get into melding ironworks gear.

In reality, Heavensward has made crafting a joke. It is way too easy. Getting the master books is way too easy. Getting the main hand tools is way too easy. Gearing-up is way too easy. The crafts are way too easy...

Would you prefer going back to 3.0, with its 15 min favor buffs, hours of preparation to craft anything 2-star, DoH sets that took longer to craft than any of the sets in 2.x, and DoW/M gear that was almost dead on arrival when the majority of the playerbase ignored it over tome gear/gordias gear?

[Seyb]

In reality, Heavensward has made crafting a joke.

Would you prefer going back to 3.0, with its 15 min favor buffs, hours of preparation to craft anything 2-star, DoH sets that took longer to craft than any of the sets in 2.x, and DoW/M gear that was almost dead on arrival when the majority of the playerbase ignored it over tome gear/gordias gear?

Last time I checked Heavensward started with 3.0? What was hard about favor gathering? What was hard about 2 star? All it took was time or a lot of money.

I am talking about having to craft 40 durability crafts in HQ for your first master book. Crafting the token turn-ins in HQ for your second master book. Getting the artisan tools. Getting the supra tools. Getting the lucis tools... You get it?

[Nezerius]

I am talking about having to craft 40 durability crafts in HQ for your first master book. Crafting the token turn-ins in HQ for your second master book. Getting the artisan tools. Getting the supra tools. Getting the lucis tools... You get it?

Nothing about that was hard, and I've been crafting since 2.0.

Master book I: A bit expensive during the initial rush, but it certainly wasn't something difficult. You just had to attempt HQing it a few more times, since it wasn't possible to 100% HQ it without RNG. (Heck, I even remember HQing 5 out of 6 Vanya Silks, with my 2-star melded gear)
Master book II: This was the RNG wall of 2.x, since you couldn't 100% it unless you'd get 11 IQ stacks and an excellent condition on Byregot's. However, RNG =/= difficulty.
Artisan tools: Time consuming, but not nearly as much as the 2-star gear in 3.0. Getting these turn ins were a joke, because you could get nearly 50% starting quality with HQ mats.
Supra tools: This was difficult? Sorry, but you only needed NQ items for this. This was a gil sink.
Lucis tools: This wasn't difficult either, it was repeatedly attempting to HQ something, similar to the master book II. The difference between the two is that you could turn in NQ items to get most of the important mats back.

Crafting was never hard.

[Seyb]

snip

Yes, that's all it takes. And I agree, an overly convoluted and time consuming system is not fun.

Snip

You don't seem to get it. Here's a very easy example:

2.55 BiS: Lucis Tool, rest crafted
3.X BiS: All crafted

It's not about being difficult or not. It's about being too easy. If you can buy your way to BiS, something is very wrong.

Also, i quite liked the upgrade path in 2.X. Heavensward is not too bad either, if you do it on your own. Buying your way up is not fun to me.

[Nezerius]

2.55 BiS: Lucis Tool, rest crafted
3.X BiS: All crafted

It's not about being difficult or not. It's about being too easy. If you can buy your way to BiS, something is very wrong.

Also, i quite liked the upgrade path in 2.X. Heavensward is not too bad either, if you do it on your own. Buying your way up is not fun to me.

So the only reason you're calling Heavensward crafting a joke, is because someone can buy their way to BiS?

You're correct, I'm definitely not getting what you're saying here, since it was just as easy for someone to buy their way to BiS meldable artisan gear in 2.x. (It was even easier to meld, too)
Buying it made it much easier to get the upgrade path done, too. Higher stats + HQ mats for master book I turn ins, making it easier to get supra tools, allowing players to start HQing lucis tools turn ins, which in turn made it much easier to HQ master book II turn ins.

[FoxyAreku]

You don't even have to meld much anymore, I barely melded my 170 sets at all and I've been doing 3 star crafts since they were introduced. Kinda silly to be complaining about it now.

Most I overmelded was on accessories and even then they weren't that expensive.

But yes, 180/200 gear exists for the casual crafter.