HQing stuff

[Alisi]

I'm having a hellishly hard time HQing lvl 50+ stuff in this expac. Even when I get all HQ mats, it still seems impossible. What am I doing wrong? All my craft classes are lvl 51+.

Here's what I do when crafting an item:

round 1) comfort zone, inner quiet (sometimes I switch these around), SH2, innovation, hasty touch (until inno is out), repair if 40/35 dura, if greater dura: another hasty touch until SH2 falls off then use CS2 until I need to repair.

round 2) after repair, I'll generally use CS2 until the point where it either needs to be repaired again or it's a step away from being finished.

round 3) then I SD2 and hasty touch to get it as high HQ as possible, repaired and using rumination when I need the CP. I only occasionally use bb because rarely do I get my item above 50% HQ.

Fellow crafters, what am I doing wrong?! D: It's so frustrating to put in the time to make HQ and only getting it by random chance at best. DX

[Rawrz]

I'm having a hellishly hard time HQing lvl 50+ stuff in this expac. Even when I get all HQ mats, it still seems impossible. What am I doing wrong? All my craft classes are lvl 51+.

Here's what I do when crafting an item:

round 1) comfort zone, inner quiet (sometimes I switch these around), SH2, innovation, hasty touch (until inno is out), repair if 40/35 dura, if greater dura: another hasty touch until SH2 falls off then use CS2 until I need to repair.

round 2) after repair, I'll generally use CS2 until the point where it either needs to be repaired again or it's a step away from being finished.

round 3) then I SD2 and hasty touch to get it as high HQ as possible, repaired and using rumination when I need the CP. I only occasionally use bb because rarely do I get my item above 50% HQ.

Fellow crafters, what am I doing wrong?! D: It's so frustrating to put in the time to make HQ and only getting it by random chance at best. DX

From what my noob crafting sees you should forego rumination, although useful early levels, byregot' s blessing is a god send. If you can pair it with as many quality + things (great strides/innovation/ingenuity/good) it can take your craft from 20% to 80-100%. I use tricks whenever innovation is not up. Maker's Mark (54 gsm) helps you bleed your comfort zone too!

[Alisi]

From what my noob crafting sees you should forego rumination, although useful early levels, byregot' s blessing is a god send.

Yes, BB was a blessing pre-HW. Now, when I use rumination, I'm forced to use it long before I get even to 20%. I also use it when I have zero CP so even when I save it, I'm not able to pair it up with other skills (SH2 not withstanding, cause having BB fail makes me cry. .___.)

[Rawrz]

Yes, BB was a blessing pre-HW. Now, when I use rumination, I'm forced to use it long before I get even to 20%. I also use it when I have zero CP so even when I save it, I'm not able to pair it up with other skills (SH2 not withstanding, cause having BB fail makes me cry. .___.)

If you have any moonstones from ixal dailies trade them in in mordhona for better crowned pie from talon. I got lots leveling my cul to 50 from 40. That could move your quality along faster

[Alisi]

If you have any moonstones from ixal dailies trade them in in mordhona for better crowned pie from talon. I got lots leveling my cul to 50 from 40. That could move your quality along faster

Oh, I'll look into it! I sold them but it's easy enough to get more. How much do they cost?

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Yes, BB was a blessing pre-HW. Now, when I use rumination, I'm forced to use it long before I get even to 20%. I also use it when I have zero CP so even when I save it, I'm not able to pair it up with other skills (SH2 not withstanding, cause having BB fail makes me cry. .___.)

Hi Alisi,

There are a number of issues that you're not doing it quite right, and there are a number of things which you have not optimized yet:

(1) Firstly, your Innovation should not be there. You should not use Innovation that early on Hasty Touches when IQ was only 1. It's a waste of CP with very minimal effect. In contrast, it should be used as late as possible to span over your Byregot's Blessing, and if possible, the last touch before BB as well.

(2) Now that you have Byregot's Blessing, you should NEVER go back to Rumination. I think you underestimated Byregot's power because you do not realize how to set up your finisher phase of your rotation. Great Strides + Byregot is a minimal MUST. You should never use Byregot alone. If possible, you even want Innovation in there, or even Ingenuity II. You should always plan a SH or SH II to cover it as well to make sure it's 100% secure. Examples of different kinds of Byregot finisher phases can be found in my original crafting guide Part 1 - Ch12A (http://ffxivrealm.com/guides/ff14-ad...ie-tsukino.39/). The basic concept of end-game crafting is to use the most CP efficient way to build up a formidable IQ stack, and then use all your CP to buff up your Byregot for one final blow. Even if you're only sitting at 12% HQ rate before the Byregot, the Byregot will immediately send you to 100%. If you're not realizing the power of this yet, you really gotta try it out!

(3) If you're crafting a 70 or 80 durab item, you should NOT be repairing it at around 40 durab. I assume when you said "repair", you meant Master's Mend (92 CP)? If this is the case, you're using the worst possible way to repair. Our of all 3 "repair" skills (Manipulation, Master's Mend, Master's Mend II), MM is least CP efficient skill. In contrast, MM2 is the most CP efficient skill of all. If you're dealing with 70/80 durab items, you should try to reduce durab down to 10/20, and use MM2 to recover 60. This will save you 24 CP comparing to using 2x MM. If you still have extra CP to spare, you can throw down a Waste Not to touch 2 more times. If you're crafting a 40 or 35 durab item, you should be using Manipulation. For 40/35 durab items, please visit Ch46 of my Heavensward Craft Guide (http://ffxivrealm.com/guides/ff14-ad...e-tsukino.156/).

(4) Ingenuity II can greatly assist in "progress". No one should be using more than 4 steps to craft any 70/80 durab items below level 60. If you find yourself using more than 4x CS II, then you need to make use of Ingenuity II. If you plan to use Ingen2, you should plan to have it spans across your Byregot as well. Thus, the final phase should be something like this:
SH
Great Strides
Ingen2
Byregot
CS II
CS II
CS II

By reducing the number of CS II used for completion, you can use those steps for Hasty Touches to build up a even higher IQ stack for the Byregot.

(5) You should be using either Stone Soup, Bouillabaisse or Baked Onion Soup when you're crafting. Stone Soup adds 17 CP, and cost only 37 gil from Gold Saucer. Do not underestimate 17 CP. It's A LOT that can change the whole world for you if you know how to utilize it.

With the above methods, unless you're vastly undergeared, you should be reaching 100% HQ rate most of the times (even if you use all pure NQ mats to craft) especially when you have all lvl 50 cross class skills to help you out.

Good luck!

[Alisi]

There are a number of issues that you're not doing it quite right, and there are a number of things which you have not optimized yet:

Thanks! <333 I'll try it out. I don't think I'm vastly under geared. It's not HQ stuff but it's all the current level I'm at.

#1 Aha! I thought using it at the beginning when I had CZ up was best for CP. lol. ops! Stupid question: Is it, erm, bad to use tricks when Inno is up though?
#2 I was always told to use BB at 50%+ (better around 60%+). So 12% is okay? I rarely get it to 50% HQ. I'll try that with GS and Inno.
#3 I don't use MM for a 70/80 step thing. I use the 160 one. Sorry for not making that clear.
#4 Should I be getting the item as fast to complete before going for HQ or the other way around?
#5 Will do. Been using control foods. Ha.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Thanks! <333 I'll try it out. I don't think I'm vastly under geared. It's not HQ stuff but it's all the current level I'm at.

#1 Aha! I thought using it at the beginning when I had CZ up was best for CP. lol. ops! Stupid question: Is it, erm, bad to use tricks when Inno is up though?
#2 I was always told to use BB at 50%+ (better around 60%+). So 12% is okay? I rarely get it to 50% HQ. I'll try that with GS and Inno.
#3 I don't use MM for a 70/80 step thing. I use the 160 one. Sorry for not making that clear.
#4 Should I be getting the item as fast to complete before going for HQ or the other way around?
#5 Will do. Been using control foods. Ha.

@1: Yes, usually, don't take Tricks when Innov is active. You should normally only use Innov ONCE in a rotation, and that's somewhere near the end, spanning across the Byregot. Thus, any "Good" there in the Byregot phase should be made use of on the Byregot anyway! Put the Byregot ON the "Good" to gain 1.5x more quality (as long as you have Great Strides activated, because GS is 2x... even more important than a "good" condition)! That's way way wayyy better than taking 20 CP!
@2: It doesn't matter what % you have before the Byregot phase. You just need to do your best on building up a strong IQ stack. If you have only IQ6 or 7, your final Byregot's power will be quite limited. If you have IQ9 or above, then it's pretty save to HQ almost anything as long as you still have enough CP for a Byregot's finsher phase.
@3: Ok good! I misunderstood you! XD
@4: What do you mean by this? Can you please explain this?
@5: Control food isn't bad, but I found CP food to be just better, provided you know how to utilize that CP.... e.g. if you're 1 touch away from your Byregot, and You have enough CP for the finsher phase already, you might as well use Basic / Standard / Advanced Touch on the last touch to securely get 1 extra IQ stack. Each IQ stack is a gigantic difference in the end.

[Katlyna]

There are a number of issues that you're not doing it quite right, and there are a number of things which you have not optimized yet:

Huggles to the awesome Camie for giving the awesome full detailed answer. She's 100% spot on. And Ksenia answer confused me too? I'm still not sure what to make out of reading it.

[Katlyna]

Sounds like you're expending too much CP early on things like innovation when you really just need to be getting inner quiet stacks for BB. Byregots blessing is essentially required for solid HQ results. It is worth noting that 40 durability items are naturally difficult to HQ without good equipment and a very good approach.