I'd like to know how to get better at crafting/synthesizing. I've tried goldsmith (currently at lvl 4) a few times and I've had a few synthesis fail, because of durability not being enough. I'm also not sure how to increase quality of the items. How can I get better at this or any other discipline of hand?

Also, is crafting the only/main way to get impressive-looking armor that lvl 50 players often have? And doesn't the goldsmith in particular earn a lot of gil? And I found out you can "fight" as a craftsman. ...and it sucks lol. You can't earn EXP from it, so crafting seems like it'll be time consuming.