Optimal melds for main hand, body, offhand

[SchalaZeal]

We have the choice to prioritize craftsmanship or control for those 3 items. CP being easily capped (pre-capped on the body even).

Which to prioritize and why? And is it worth to wait for better availability of tier V craftsmanship to meld earrings, bracelet and necklace (who lack 3 craftsmanship from max each, if you don't care)? V tier could also be used for the guaranteed slot on main hand, offhand and both slots of body.

I only did the rings so far, and that sure dug a hole in my finances by itself. Even if the ring crafting was relatively cheaper than before (only about 800k cost if getting a seaborne HQ).

[MN_14]

I'd personally recommend waiting until the requirements for 3* items are released before doing any serious melding. That way you'd be able to determine the most cost effective method of meeting the requirements. All I've done is put on some temporary cheap CP melds on my main hand and offhand, and my chest pieces (plus all other pieces of equipment other than accessories) are generally still in storage for future use.

I doubt grade v melding will be common or cost effective for this current generation of gear since grade ivs already provide significant stat increases over the i180 counterparts. The primary source of grade vs in the future will probably be i170 conversions, so it'll be strange to convert them just so that you can meld a grade v onto a new replacement piece of i170 gear.

[SchalaZeal]

Well, if affordable enough grade V craftsmanship existed, I'd meld them in the first slot of belt, earrings, necklace, bracelet, and thus be 100% sure its maxed forever and ever.

[SchalaZeal]

The primary source of grade vs in the future will probably be i170 conversions

I seriously doubt that stuff costing at *mininum* 600k for NQ is gonna be the primary source for grade V. Unless they're supposed to be 10 million a piece. I was kinda expecting steel spoils or brass spoils (or anything!!) to become V tier.

since grade ivs already provide significant stat increases over the i180 counterparts

If you only-IV meld your main hand, I'd rather buy the i180. I might miss out on 4 CP, but the rest isn't so bad (if there is a difference its positively tiny), for saving 4 million gil in melds. For example: Craft IV x2, Control IV x2, CP IV x1 = +4 CP, -3 craftmanship, same control. And 4 million poorer. Not counting the mats from crafting it. I guess that's 2.5 million more.

Body is 237/82/4 or 243/78/4
Vs 239/75/4
Big difference is one can be dyed. But if you're not keen on having to wait months to meld, or spend 4 million in temp melds, or have inferior stats to the i180 body in the mean time... I guess unmelded is still superior stats to the i150 temp-melded, just like offhand.

[MN_14]

If you only-IV meld your main hand, I'd rather buy the i180. I might miss out on 4 CP, but the rest isn't so bad (if there is a difference its positively tiny), for saving 4 million gil in melds. For example: Craft IV x2, Control IV x2, CP IV x1 = +4 CP, -3 craftmanship, same control. And 4 million poorer. Not counting the mats from crafting it. I guess that's 2.5 million more.

The only real practical advantage to an i170 main hand is the extra 4 CP plus avoiding the 26 token price tag of an i180 main hand (unless you load it with grade vs which might well turn out to be completely unnecessary for progression in the future). In the best case sceneario, we might not even have to penta-meld it with grade iv materia if the cumulative melds from our other pieces of gear can make up for a weaker i170 main hand relative to the i180. Everything hinges on the stat requirements for 3* items.

I don't think there's any reason to believe that we will definitely need grade v materia at all for this set of gear. If I remember from ARR, to meet the minimum 4* requirements using AF gear, I only needed a single guaranteed grade iv craftsmanship meld on my artisan's offhand (2.4), which was long after grade ivs were introduced. I didn't even use a single piece of grade iv materia on my DoL gear.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

The difference between a fully melded HQ i170 and an i180 mainhand tool is actually 22 craft, 15 control and 4 CP. I dont think it qualifies as "tiny". It's actually huge.

However, i do agree with you that it's probably not practical to spend that much money on it. You see, I strongly believe that SE released those i180 for a reason. I don't think they would set 3 star requirement so high that we need melded HQ i170 to craft. So that extra stats from i170 is a bonus but wont be necessary. For me and others who are adventurous though, that bonus stats allow us to discover new methods of crafting. So as a pioneer, i would try to seek as much as i can within my budget.

26 Tokens for an i180 mainhand is A LOT though. It's 1300 red scrips, equal to ~3 weeks of work. If you intend to gear up 8 classes with these i180 mainhand, it'll take you 3x 8 weeks = 24 weeks = 6 months! So the crafted version does offer a much faster choice, since it only need less than 2 Tokens now since 3.1.

[Kiara]

The difference between a fully melded HQ i170 and an i180 mainhand tool is actually 22 craft, 15 control and 4 CP. I dont think it qualifies as "tiny". It's actually huge.

Hi Caimie,

Actually it's less than that, no?

i180 Main Hand:
* Craftsmanship: 278
* Control: 149
* CP: 0

i170 Main Hand: (Base Stats, No Materia Yet)
* Craftsmanship: 263
* Control: 141

So the i180 is initially ahead of the Crafted i170 by: +15 Craftsmanship, +8 Control.

To make up for that difference you HAVE blow 4 Slots (out of 5) on the i170 just to catch up and exceed that, with the 5th Slot being CP. So:

* Craftsmanship Tier V: +11
* Craftsmanship Tier V: +11
* Control Tier V: +7
* Control Tier V: +7
* CP Tier IV: +4 CP

That brings you up to: Craftsmanship 285, Control 155, CP 4.

So you only *gain* +7 Craftsmanship, +6 Control, and +4 CP compared to the i180.

That's paltry for blowing Millions and Millions on Tier V Forbidden Melding IMHO.

[Sollux]

So you only *gain* +7 Craftsmanship, +6 Control, and +4 CP compared to the i180.

That's paltry for blowing Millions and Millions on Tier V Forbidden Melding IMHO.

I agree with Kiara, Tier V overmelds are not worth it, nor are they necessary.

Another thing to keep in mind when deciding i170 Crafted MH vs i180 turn-in MH is the i180 MH doesn't come with CP which is the absolute most important Crafting stat, well worth the reduced Craftsmanship/Control even if it's the only thing melded into it. A strong rotation can more than make up for less-than-maxed Craftmanship/Control, and you can always just meld 2 Competence IV 2 Control IV 1 CP IV and only miss out on 3 Craftsmanship.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Hi Caimie,

Actually it's less than that, no?

i180 Main Hand:
* Craftsmanship: 278
* Control: 149
* CP: 0

i170 Main Hand: (Base Stats, No Materia Yet)
* Craftsmanship: 263
* Control: 141

So the i180 is initially ahead of the Crafted i170 by: +15 Craftsmanship, +8 Control.

To make up for that difference you HAVE blow 4 Slots (out of 5) on the i170 just to catch up and exceed that, with the 5th Slot being CP. So:

* Craftsmanship Tier V: +11
* Craftsmanship Tier V: +11
* Control Tier V: +7
* Control Tier V: +7
* CP Tier IV: +4 CP

That brings you up to: Craftsmanship 285, Control 155, CP 4.

So you only *gain* +7 Craftsmanship, +6 Control, and +4 CP compared to the i180.

That's paltry for blowing Millions and Millions on Tier V Forbidden Melding IMHO.

*LIKE*
You're absolutely right! Even though the cap is high, I forgot even with Tier V, one can't max all them stats! It's totally NOT worth it! I do value that 4 CP a lot from the crafted mainhand though, just because I actually find good use of it a lot of times.

From my experience in manual crafting, 478 CP is 1 CP short for me in a lot of situations. In macro crafting, I also have a number of rotations that utilizes 469 CP, and one rotation that uses 472 CP. I'm just too much of a CP fan, LOL!

This right here is one of the main reasons I rushed Crafting Endgame first. Crafting materia was insanely low prior to Heavensward and up until about 2 months into it. To be fair though, the current materia prices on my server are 1/3rd this price even after the recent increase in general Crafting interest.

Meh, I totally missed the cheap materia window! LOL! It's ok. What's done is done! XD

Also do you need to max meld the rings? I went for IV Command, IV Cunning, III Command, III Competence and finish with a II/III Competence. That puts you what? 1 Control less than cap?

Right, there's no need to max that 1 tad bit of control. I have forfeited 1 control for most of my i170 gear. I maxed my rings because those were my very first i170s, and at that time Command IV were only 100K each.

[Katchoo]

Right, there's no need to max that 1 tad bit of control. I have forfeited 1 control for most of my i170 gear. I maxed my rings because those were my very first i170s, and at that time Command IV were only 100K each.

Exactly. Thing is, losing out on one or two stats on bits of gear these days is way less of an issue than what it was because we have much more choice when it comes to food. We can now get more CP than Bouillabaisse gave us AND give ourselves a big boost in either Craftmanship (Baked Onion Soup) or Controll (seafood stew).