Minimum melds needed for hat

[Shadygrove]

....
So you can use Toil of the Mountaineer or Solid reason (kinda same result in fact), and Unearth II for 30% more HQ, with luck, you can do a chain and use Deep Vigor to get 100% success HQ on the last attempt.

Not really the same result. Well at the end but not the start.

If you use Toll you need 650 GPs with food to get 30% HQ and +5% to gathering chance from the start.

If you plan to use Solid Reason You can start with 630 GPs, pop Sharp vision I and Unearth II, recover 20 from 4 swings, then use Solid.

No luck involved and less overmelding.

[Yonko]

Not really the same result. Well at the end but not the start.

If you use Toll you need 650 GPs with food to get 30% HQ and +5% to gathering chance from the start.

If you plan to use Solid Reason You can start with 630 GPs, pop Sharp vision I and Unearth II, recover 20 from 4 swings, then use Solid.

No luck involved and less overmelding.

don't you need like full melds to hit 600+ gp? I know I only have ~580 and I have the hat/tool

[LineageRazor]

don't you need like full melds to hit 600+ gp? I know I only have ~580 and I have the hat/tool

With Forager's Hat and Forager's Tool and all HQ gear (including the new Dodore and Rose Gold accessories), you sit at 588 GP, I think.
Base GP: 400
Forager's Hat: 3
HQ Body: 3
HQ Hands: 3
HQ Rose Gold Ear: 45
HQ Dodore Neck: 45
HQ Militia Wrists: 43
HQ Dodore Ring1: 23
HQ Dodore Ring2: 23
Total: 588

If you use the old best-in-slot accessories, drop this total to 573.

That's just twelve GP you need to meld, which is far less than fully melded. Using the old BiS accessories, you'll need 27 instead, which still isn't fully melded but will be fairly close to full.

And, as has been noted, you can start with less GP if you use the Swing x5 -> Solid Reason Swing x2 method instead of the Toil -> Swing x6 method, since you recover 5 GP on a successful swing (if you connect with all four swings, you'll then have enough GP to use Solid Reason.

If you forego the 50 GP spent for 5% gathering chance, this means that you can get by with just 580 GP - less than even a full set of unmelded HQ gear gives you!

[Shadygrove]

don't you need like full melds to hit 600+ gp? I know I only have ~580 and I have the hat/tool

I am at 628 GPs and I forget if I am fully melded.

Hat 3
Body 3
Gloves 3 +1
Dodore belt +4
Legs +4
Feet +4
Dodore neck 45 +8

Nope not.
Electrum earrings 41 +7 (Rose Gold will go 45 +8)
Wrists 43 +7 (this can go to +10 now)
Rings 23 +4 each