Materia and mounts questions

[REPROBEAN_CHILD]

I'm still trying to figure out how to use materia. From what I got from the materia quest on lvl 19, I can convert it from curtain equipment and then use it to enhance other equipment. But when it comes to binding them together, it seems like I have to have a crafting job raised to a certain level first. I have some stuff that could use a level upgrade, but so far, materia seems hard to understand.

Also, I just got my chocobo mount. My question is are mounts faster than the players sprints (they seem to be at the same speed)? In fact, all the mounts seem to run at the same speed as far as I can tell.

[Enkidoh]

Materia is a tricky subject,but you have the basics down which is a start - not all gear can be converted to materia though (such equipment will state 'non-convertible' in it's description), plus not all equipment can have materia melded to it either.

Mounts do in fact move faster than sprinting, and yes, no matter what mount it is, they all run at the same speed (some may appear slightly faster or slower though due to their size - large mounts like the magitek armour and gobbue seem to be slower than the company chocobo/Legacy chocobo, but that's just an illusion. Really, the only difference in mounts is size and appearance, so it just comes down to personal preference (my favourite is the Legacy chocobo for it's rarity, and the magitek armour because FFVI is my favourite FF game, next to FFXIV of course ).

[Pence]

Materia is created from gear by converting it once it has 100% spiritbond. You gain spiritbond by equipping the item you wish to convert then defeating mobs. (Spiritbond % is displayed under item stats 'Crafting & Repairs). Once your item is 100% SB, just right click from armory and 'Convert'.

To attach materia you need the relevant whittle job leveled (One under Crafting & Repairs). You can attach 5 materia per item. When you see a 'Materia' tab with circles, it means you'll have a 100% success rate for that many materia. Any subsequent will have a lower success rate.

All mounts have the same movement speed. They're just vanity, atm. In the upcoming Heavensward expansion there will be flying mounts. Their speed is unknown.

[Belhi]

To add to what others have said to meld materia to gear you need to have the crafting skill relevant to the piece of gear to at least lvl 20 I think. Which crafting skill is needed can be figured out by what crafting skill can repair the armour which is listed in the gear's details.

However, if your not incline to raise your crafting skills you can get another player to meld gear for you if that player has a high enough crafting. Best option is to have a friend or FC member do it for you as most other players are likely to charge you to do it.

[Nutz]

Everyone pretty much covered it, but I'll add that melding materia to combat gear while you're leveling is not very important. All gear has hidden stat caps. HQ gear already has main stats (things like STR, VIT, DEX, MND, INT) as high as they can go, so no adding any more DEX or VIT to your Archer gear (if it's high quality) for example. Equipment also gets replaced so quickly that it's barely worth it to meld materia.

To meld materia to your own gear the relevant crafting class needs to be at the same level as the piece of gear (technically the recipe level, but they're usually very close or the same). This means that for an archer to meld all their own gear they'd need leather worker, weaver, gold smith, and carpenter at the same level or higher than ARC. It's pretty impractical on your first combat class unless you just really love crafting (and probably gathering).

[Niwashi]

I'm still trying to figure out how to use materia. From what I got from the materia quest on lvl 19, I can convert it from curtain equipment and then use it to enhance other equipment. But when it comes to binding them together, it seems like I have to have a crafting job raised to a certain level first.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Once you've used gear long enough that its SpiritBond is at 100%, you can convert that gear into Materia. (You can't control the type of materia that results from it, though, and some are significantly less useful than others.) Any character who has done that initial Materia quest can do this part, converting used gear into materia.

Only crafters of the appropriate class and level can take that materia and affix it onto another piece of gear. If someone's not crafting themself though (or just doesn't have the right crafting class leveled up far enough for what they want to meld), they can request a meld from another player who does have the crafting skill necessary. There's a special feature for this, which allows you to interact with a crafter so they can meld your gear while you keep both the gear and the materia in your own inventory, so it's safe to do even with strangers who you might not trust enough to trade gear back and forth with. It's customary to tip the player who does the melding for you, especially if they're a stranger, but it only takes a few moments of their time, so the cost shouldn't be exorbitant.

Also, I just got my chocobo mount. My question is are mounts faster than the players sprints (they seem to be at the same speed)? In fact, all the mounts seem to run at the same speed as far as I can tell.

Mounts are just slightly faster than sprinting, but I think the biggest advantage is that they can maintain that speed continuously, as opposed to Sprint only lasting a few seconds at a time. (As mentioned, all mounts are the same speed as each other, though the animation of their movement may look faster or slower depending on the length of their legs and therefore how many steps it takes them to cover a given distance. A behemoth, for instance, has a slow looking ponderous walk that's actually as fast as a running chocobo.)