Maker's Mark is obnoxious at high difficulty and should be adjusted ASAP

[Texa]

You don't need to use MaMa for 3543 difficulty

You don't "need" to use any one method to increase progress. The main gamble with any progress increasing skill is the risk of either losing a step or not having enough left to finish with. The appeal to the maker's mark method is that it's a long and relatively safe approach compared to anything that relies on rapid that's good for a couple of high-end crafts but a huge pain in the butt if you're trying to craft stuff like potions and food.

That said, yeah the balancing on crafter skills feels a bit weird right now. I get the impression they didn't really pay much mind to old skills while adding the new ones.