The Exarchic crafts are significantly too hard.

[Kaurhz]

Adressing this in general, because there's a common theme between many of these replies:

I have full normal (non-advanced) melds on all of my aesthete gear, which is all HQ, including my tools, plus some overmelds.
Using High Quality Chili Crab, I can only meet the minimum requirements to attempt the crafts.
Having spent an hour in the shed on Teamcraft, I was only able to manage 14% HQ on precrafts, with HQ materials where they are available, on one of my specialist jobs.

If I want to have a statistically significant chance at receiving a high quality final craft, I need all of the materials that can be obtained as high quality, to be high quality.

I don't mean to be this sort of guy, but if you're only achieving these rates, then I really want to say that you probably ought to be working harder on the rotations, much harder. Given roughly the same constraints as your build- Handsaint Tools + Aesthete's melded only in standard slots, with only 1 overmeld on the rings (Only IV), and I'm pushing around 78% HQ on average, and with the 2 tomestone materials HQ this pushes the rate to 100%, and that is not specialist. They aren't complex recipes irrespective of your level- You just need more intimate knowledge of the crafting system.

[WhiteArchmage]

I'm confused, are you saying that you should be able to make the hardest crafts in the expansion without overmelding...? Because that is a huge misunderstanding of the crafting system in this game. Overmelding isn't even that difficult, and they streamlined it A LOT in recent patches.

As for materia itself, you can slot VIIIs and VIs in the first overmeld spot, and anything else in the rest, that means slot CP3s if you need to fill holes, and make sure to cap your CP ASAP.

I mean, I don't even have my tools melded (as in, base melded...except ARM, for some reason) on my actual crafters that make gear, and I still made myself full Aiming, Fending, and Maiming Sets. While making the mats for the gear is kind of a gamble, you should be able to make the gear itself with little problem.

[Anacondo]

You can complain all you want, the fact that no one has and no one will agree with you speaks loudly enough. You have options. You can make money in other ways and buy materia, you can farm scrips and buy materia, you can improve your rotations, you can give up crafting. A world of options. The bar isn't high, if you're not willing to put in the work you shouldn't be surprised you can't be at the cutting edge of content.

[Aronos]

I have overmelded some of my gear, spent over a million gil pumping materia into it, and still it's genuinely impossible for me to even manage HQ precrafts with food and potions because these crafts were balanced to be a challenge for pentamelded crafters.

Again, if you're having issues with the gear you say you have then you need to reassess your rotation. To say, "because these crafts were balanced to be a challenge for pentamelded crafters" is just laughable. 100% chance to HQ with one or two HQ materials and a couple of macros doesn't exactly make a strong case for the argument you're trying to make. Therefore, it sounds like an issue with you, instead of an issue with how the gear you have is inadequate for what you're trying to do with it.

[Arkevorkhat]

You can complain all you want, the fact that no one has and no one will agree with you speaks loudly enough. You have options. You can make money in other ways and buy materia, you can farm scrips and buy materia, you can improve your rotations, you can give up crafting. A world of options. The bar isn't high, if you're not willing to put in the work you shouldn't be surprised you can't be at the cutting edge of content.

Or maybe it's that the only people who are willing to put up with the godawful square-enix forums where NA is ignored anyways are the ones who are deeply invested in the status-quo and have no interest in seeing the game made more accessible.

Also, you're the second Lalafell who has told me to quit the game if I don't like overmelds today. I have to wonder why it's only Lalas saying that.

[Anacondo]

If you read tooltips as well as you read that post it's pretty clear why you're having trouble.

[Aronos]

Or maybe it's that the only people who are willing to put up with the godawful square-enix forums where NA is ignored anyways are the ones who are deeply invested in the status-quo and have no interest in seeing the game made more accessible.

Also, you're the second Lalafell who has told me to quit the game if I don't like overmelds today. I have to wonder why it's only Lalas saying that.

Saying NA is ignored as if NA is balanced in any other way from JP or EU servers? I don't even know the point your trying to make with this statement or how it has any relevance to the topic at hand.

To be honest, it sounds like a losers argument where you make a statement, are disproven and widely disagreed with so you then attack the people who disagree with you making petty statements.

Seems pretty petty.

[Arkevorkhat]

Again, if you're having issues with the gear you say you have then you need to reassess your rotation. To say, "because these crafts were balanced to be a challenge for pentamelded crafters" is just laughable. 100% chance to HQ with one or two HQ materials and a couple of macros doesn't exactly make a strong case for the argument you're trying to make. Therefore, it sounds like an issue with you, instead of an issue with how the gear you have is inadequate for what you're trying to do with it.

I'm fine with being wrong on this, and that it's my rotation, it's completely uncontroversial to say that I'm not the best player in this game. However, you could live to dial the condescension back about 3 notches, because as is, it's extremely difficult to take what you're saying at face value when you're placing it in a framework of "look at this dumbass who doesn't know how to craft".

[Anacondo]

When you set up a framework so perfectly you can hardly blame anyone from approaching the situation from that direction, now can you?

[Aronos]

I'm fine with being wrong on this, and that it's my rotation, it's completely uncontroversial to say that I'm not the best player in this game. However, you could live to dial the condescension back about 3 notches, because as is, it's extremely difficult to take what you're saying at face value when you're placing it in a framework of "look at this dumbass who doesn't know how to craft".

Perhaps, but at the same time maybe ask for help and seek out additional resources or reassess what you're doing before complaining about the entire system from a state of ignorance.

There are many resources available. If you haven't done so already, The Balance Discord channel is a great resource for any and all past, current and future content for all classes from Dow/DoM to DoH/DoL, Blue Mage etc. I'm sure you could gain some clarity there.