U/U Gear - A reason why we cannot meld. (long post)

[Soukyuu]

Something needs to be done to make both U/U and and crafted gear worth having. Why does there have to be only one single piece of equipment that is "the best"? Why do U/U or crafted gear have to be better? Why not make U/U on par with the "best" base crafted equip and allow melding materia to both? This way, there will be more variety in equipment and not everyone running around in the same setup.

Example: have a crafted armor give +5 to str and another U/U piece give +5 to int for the pugilist (both useful stats), while having same def.

[Zezlar]

It's not a bad idea, but I would like to see that "need or greed" system first. I've done so many Moogle fights, and i've yet to get that sword. So blowing it up, and then having to run another 60 fights is way to excessive.

[Jinko]

Something needs to be done to make both U/U and and crafted gear worth having. Why does there have to be only one single piece of equipment that is "the best"? Why do U/U or crafted gear have to be better? Why not make U/U on par with the "best" base crafted equip and allow melding materia to both? This way, there will be more variety in equipment and not everyone running around in the same setup.

Example: have a crafted armor give +5 to str and another U/U piece give +5 to int for the pugilist (both useful stats), while having same def.

This would be fine if that worked, problem is that there are so many piece of gear craftable with alternative stats.

of slaying and of invoking in your case above.

It would require of slaying to be craftable and of invoking to be U/U.

[Soukyuu]

It would require of slaying to be craftable and of invoking to be U/U.

I don't see a problem with making one variation craftable and the other one dropable. That way people have a choice to go hunt it or just craft it while keeping both of the items useful.

[Klive]

I'm so against U/U gear being meldable. I would like to have different stats on my sword other than what materia can provide. Materia is very limited with what stats can go on what gear. Please do not make that the bulk of my stats come from materia on my U/U. I want my U/U to have unique stats and abilities unable to be provided by materia. For example, Ifrit Bow has Att. Pow, Fire resist, and bonus fire damage. I like this because these are not stats able to be put on a bow with materia.

Let crafted gear by empty vessels to fill with the limited materia system, let my U/U gear be pre-fill vessel with unique stats.

[Riaayo]

Dunno if anyone else has touched note on this but Yoshi-P said himself the reason why U/U gear is not meldable, and it is not because you would have to level the craft yourself.

Their current model is that U/U gear surpasses basic crafted gear in strength, while crafted gear with materia melded into it will surpass the U/U gear. This is the idea they wish to stick to, and how they intend to balance the power of gear.

This is intended to keep crafters relevant to the game and economy. If all the top-end gear was U/U, nobody would need to craft. Likewise, if all the top-end gear is crafted, why do you need to farm bosses or dungeons for gear.

I think the best solution lies in dungeons and bosses dropping both U/U gear with stats superior to non-melded gear, as well as rare crafting materials from which high-end crafted gear can be made and then melded for the most high-power gear. This setup ends with PvE content remaining relevant, and crafters remaining relevant.

I will state my personal opinion that U/U gear does not need to be meldable due to the above model. It has its place as a stepping stone and trophy, but making it meldable essentially kills the market for crafters aside from them just melding materia... and that seems exceptionally counter-productive.

[syntaxlies]

Dunno if anyone else has touched note on this but Yoshi-P said himself the reason why U/U gear is not meldable, and it is not because you would have to level the craft yourself.

Their current model is that U/U gear surpasses basic crafted gear in strength, while crafted gear with materia melded into it will surpass the U/U gear. This is the idea they wish to stick to, and how they intend to balance the power of gear.

This is intended to keep crafters relevant to the game and economy. If all the top-end gear was U/U, nobody would need to craft. Likewise, if all the top-end gear is crafted, why do you need to farm bosses or dungeons for gear.

I think the best solution lies in dungeons and bosses dropping both U/U gear with stats superior to non-melded gear, as well as rare crafting materials from which high-end crafted gear can be made and then melded for the most high-power gear. This setup ends with PvE content remaining relevant, and crafters remaining relevant.

I will state my personal opinion that U/U gear does not need to be meldable due to the above model. It has its place as a stepping stone and trophy, but making it meldable essentially kills the market for crafters aside from them just melding materia... and that seems exceptionally counter-productive.

he also said tht was just the way it was for now and they'd keep an eye out on it and make changes if needed. Why have SH gear if its junk. waste of resources to even produce the SH's.

even if Sh gear was meldable crafted would still have the potential to be more powerful with x2 melds being a common occurrence.

SE is gonna need new customers and the MMO world in general wont like crafted being best in game and if nothing else will leave for that reason. Most people dont like spending hours of time farming vanity gear.

It would not kill the market for crafters. people would have to buy gear to farm SH gear. At the low drop rate a person could easily turn 5 full sets of gear into materia farming one item. that would stimulate the market not kill it.

[Heaven]

The problem I see with this is when the level cap goes up, all the current U/U gear and content becomes obsolete regardless if you can meld materia on them.

A more permanent and proven solution used in other mmo's to keep gear drops and old content usefull is by having a Item remodelling / Display slots feature.

Allows you to have the appearance of the U/U gear while maintaining the stats of any other gear. This keeps the U/U gear and it's associated content always usefull even if it's from a level 15 quest, you can still use it at level 99 and create a unique look for your character.

For more info on this feature please visit these threads:

Item Remodelling
Display Slots

[syntaxlies]

to anyone who thinks melding rare gear makes crafted unwanted i only need to give you one example sentinel gear. it is tradable therefore allowing it to be melded and has no negative impact on the game.

[Soukyuu]

I would like to have different stats on my sword other than what materia can provide. Materia is very limited with what stats can go on what gear.

Else everyone would stack the same stats in all slots, for example STR.

I want my U/U to have unique stats and abilities unable to be provided by materia. For example, Ifrit Bow has Att. Pow, Fire resist, and bonus fire damage. I like this because these are not stats able to be put on a bow with materia.

You can put ATK+ on a weapon, not sure about fire resist but the way resistances seem to be working atm, that stat is nearly useless.

Let crafted gear by empty vessels to fill with the limited materia system, let my U/U gear be pre-fill vessel with unique stats.

It could work, but it would make one of the choices less potent. They would have to make U/U at least as good as crafted single melded versions. That way you'd go for materia melds if you are willing to risk to gain more and use the U/U as the safe method. Though in the end, it makes U/U inferior again.