Enchanting system is horrible in this game.

[Kosmos992k]

Even though I was nitpicking I agree with you. Most of the time, I don't feel materia makes a large enough difference to merit the gil loss and time spent to do it. Sure, a whm in Penta melded vanya may be better than me in full DL, but the stat differences IMO aren't big enough to justify the cost. Let alone the amount of luck that's involved just to get the pentameld.

The impact of materia is limited by the impact of the stats themselves. I think that the impact of player stats is de-tuned too harshly in FFXIV, reducing our ability to make differing builds within the same class by using our bonus status, gear and materia.