Matria is needed?

[Undeadfire]

My argument is and has been that the gear level itself and player skill far exceed the boost that materia will give you. Upgrading a piece of gear from 510 to 520 will boost your damage in 99% of cases more than adding materia to the 510 piece will.

Tell that to Paladin/Dark Knight in Eden Verse where a 480 Head with 5 Melds defeated a 500 ilvl head. This raid tier? The Queens Pld Shield defeats Edenmorn with a penta melded craft ring. Don't believe me? Balance maths state so.

Sorry mate, Crit/DH is a lot stronger than you believe.

Edit: In the multiple past Healers raid equipment got defeated by certain Penta Melded crafts, and 1 defeated by a tome weapon over a Raid weapon because of stat values.

[wereotter]

Tell that to Paladin/Dark Knight in Eden Verse where a 480 Head with 5 Melds defeated a 500 ilvl head. This raid tier? The Queens Pld Shield defeats Edenmorn with a penta melded craft ring. Don't believe me? Balance maths state so.

You really do love pulling out that 1% I allowed for and saying "SEE! THIS IS WHY YOU WRONG!"

I'm done responding to you.

[Undeadfire]

You really do love pulling out that 1% I allowed for and saying "SEE! THIS IS WHY YOU WRONG!"

I'm done responding to you.

Sure mate, keep making ridiculous arguments over a great damage addition. There's nothing to use gil for in the game than like I said crafting for a bigger sum outside of raiding, nothing it's a fact. You shouldn't be going for a house if you cannot even afford 80-100k gil to fully meld armor. You can obtain this gil in 1-2 hours.

[Vyrerus]

You should always meld your gear, even cheap, old materia is better than no materia. There's no reason beyond laziness to not improving your power over the game.

For level 80 gear, use Tier VI materia at a minimum. It's super cheap, plentiful, and as was already said, you can take it out of gear on the off chance that you get an upgrade piece.

You don't even need to worry about melding optimally. Just make sure to meld stats that aren't at cap, and stats that aren't useless for your job. No piety on non-healers. No tenacity on non-tanks. No spell speed on non-mages, and no skill speed on mage. Crit, det, and direct are good for everything.

[CupOfIcedCoffee]

I myself don't go out of my way to materia my gear unless I've reached the point where I'm picking up tomestone/crafted gear, but applying materia is as easy as selling all the useless mats you get from random mobs at a shop. Just check what you need before hand, press a few buttons, and you've got some stat boosts on your gear. There's no reason not to slot materia unless you're going through gear every other level from dungeon drops.

[Laerune]

When doing endgame content with best gear, yes. I have it on my 510/520 gear.

Only time to not use Materia is when leveling DoW and DoM classes, because you will be replacing gear very fast.

[Adeacia]

Only time I use materia is on the final set of gear in an expansion. The gear will be used for a decent amount of time rather than be replaced fairly quickly. In my case, Enhanced Cryptlurker gear gets melded. Nothing else in this entire expansion does.

[Powercow]

Considering you actually make money off melding your gear, I can't fathom why people wouldn't.

[LeonKeyh]

Considering you actually make money off melding your gear, I can't fathom why people wouldn't.

Huh? I'm confused.

[Powercow]

Huh? I'm confused.

Melding your gear is free and there's a challenge log for doing it. You also get a bonus to spiritbonding when the gear has melds in it, meaning you make even more money.