Just got all crafts to Lv.50 - Looking for Advice

[Tanama]

I just recently leveled up all of my crafting jobs to 50 via leves so I have a bunch of the crafting quests to finish. My equipment currently consists of level 40-ish gear so my stats are pretty crappy.

Should I spend the time to get Forager's gear, master books and Lucis tools or should I skip that stuff and aim for 3.0+ equipment?

Also, I have not completed the 2.0 storyline so that is another thing I will get to work on.

[FoxyAreku]

Lucis is a huge waste of time now as it is old content. Foragers gear will also get replaced very quickly.

Generally level 50 equipment is useless for anyone who is above level 50 unless you just want glamour.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Lucis .. I'd actually recommend working on those, ESPECIALLY if you are NOT taking crafting classes higher any time soon. The Lucis tools have the same stats as the level 60 NQ tools, which are better than the 52, 54, 56 HQ tools.

Do NOT bother with the Foragers level gear though. Stick with the general Dodore/PAtrician's until you do hit 51 then start making HW crafting gear.

You will need to finish 2.55 storyline in order to access HW content, which puts you at something of a disadvantage (the 50+ leves are obtained in Ishgard) but when you get tired of the 2.x quests, work on getting the Lucis and Patrician's stuff.

FWIW, Lucis Gathering tools are an even bigger "buy" than the crafting tools. This is because they make great MH tools for any gathering retainers you may want to level from 50 to 60 ... Just sayin', for when you decide to work on your Gathering classes.

[FoxyAreku]

Lucis is literally pointless and the money and time you spend making the turn ins for those could easily be used to just level faster, so I would say that's not the best advice...

But hey, the lucis tools look cool at least, and get sheathed on your back. Always liked that.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Having just grinded my own crafts up relatively recently, this would be my advice in balancing cost with practicality.

Make the crafts needed for the Artisan ilvl 70 set. Not only is this gear cheap, it'll easily gear you to level 53 as the Archaeoskin set isn't as good.

Crafting Lucis and Supra weapons, frankly, depend on your server and how much Fieldcraft Demimateria III sell for. I prefer crafting my own weapons along the way as by level 55, high quality versions of normal slotted gear are a meager 8 craftsmanship less. If you're willing to pace yourself over a few days-- to maybe a week. You can get by simply doing Grand Company turn-ins daily. You also get special crafting manuals by completing each craft's newly unlocked level 50 quest (provided you have finished everything prior), which grants a 150% bonus over twenty minutes. Put simply, you can grind up to 55 easily and save several hundred thousands.

Now if you do the above method, you can further save by skipping a gear set. For instance, I kept the aforementioned Artisan set until level 55, where I finally crafted the Ramie set. Not a huge savings, but Grand Company turn-ins at this level really make the leveling process easy. They also allow you to completely skip melding any materia on baby gear. Which brings up an important thread. When you start completing the 3.0 craft quests, you'll receive a few IV crafting materia. Don't use these until you either make or purchase the Chimerical set. You shouldn't meld any set prior to that one.

I also recommend searching through Mithrie's videos on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2F...linjwkqYQh6DHQ

He has detailed guides on crafting, even if some are outdated now. I still feel they are useful as a reference, especially to newer crafters.

[Culfinrandir]

I bought the HQ Archaeoskin gear when I started to craft in Heavensward. I've since gone back & got the Artisan's (token) gear from Talan in Mor Dhona because it's better until you hit i55!

If you haven't seen Camie's Crafting Guides then search them out & make them your theological texts. She includes the best rotations ever invented for 50* & 50** items that are guaranteed to produce HQ from all NQ mats. You'll be able to get the tokens needed for your Master Books etc using them. Don't bother with Lucis DoH tools but the DoL Lucis tools are worthwhile, being the same as the Adamantite lvl60 NQ mainhands.

As with all DoX jobs, having a strongly melded accessories set (+ belt) is essential & will see you through to the end of Heavensward for DoL & arguably to at least lvl50 for DoH.

Have fun!

[Tanama]

Thanks everyone for your contributions. I have a few more questions if you don't mind.

1. I don't see Manipulation when I look at the current crafting rotations. Is Manipulation worthless now? With 40 durability synths I normally do

1. Comfort Zone
2. Inner Quiet
3. Steady Hands II
4. Waste Not
5. Hasty Touch until 20 durability (depends on Goods & Excellent procs)
6. Manipulation
7. Steady Hands II
8. Waste Not

After that I'll buff up with Innovation, Great Strides for Byregot's blessing if I have to.

I am not sure whether this is outdated but seeing as I don't see Manipulation in rotations anymore that would seem to be the case. If it is, what is a better rotation? As reference, my crafting classes are level 51 - 53.

2. Should I ditch Waste Not 1 for 80 durability synths?

3. Is Rumination still used post 50?

[Alisi]

v v

1. I don't see Manipulation when I look at the current crafting rotations. Is Manipulation worthless now? With 40 durability synths I normally do

I always use manipulation. When you get farther along, there won't be anything with 40 dura. It becomes 35 dura (and the 80 becomes 70 dura.) I always use it when it's on 15 dura and just keep it going from there (since you 5 dura is the same as 10 dura.) I almost never use master mend 1 anymore, unless I get a good/excellent at 15 dura and wish to use it on PT.

After that I'll buff up with Innovation, Great Strides for Byregot's blessing if I have to.

GS is stronger than Inno. It's stronger than even a good. Use GS over Inno or a good during finishing moves.

2. Should I ditch Waste Not 1 for 80 durability synths?

I use WN2 for 2 star stuff but not for much else. All my classes are 60, though, so there's that. I don't need it for recipes under level 60.

3. Is Rumination still used post 50?

I don't use it at all. It could be helpful when you wish to use Reclaim (I think that's the name of it.) It gives you a 90% of recovering your materials if you fail.-

For other advice, I found the thing that helped me the most was to understand how to craft post level 50. You don't craft via the HQ bar anymore. That's secondary to getting HQ stuff. You craft to build up your inner quiet stacks so that you can use finishing moves with BBlessing. Better gear helps, naturally, and I did upgrade myself but I still had a very hard time until I got the hang of inner stacks. Then my gear really didn't matter so much. I was able to craft master book recipes with reasonably bad gear (like a NQ lvl 57 MH tool.)

[Roth_Trailfinder]

My rotation for 35/40 durability recipes is fairly simple. And yes, it does use Manipulation. And it can be tweaked depending on if you need more than 2 CS2's to finish the recipe, or if you only need one.

Comfort Zone, Inner Quiet, Careful Synthesis 2, Steady Hand 2, Waste Not, Hasty Touch x4, Manipulation, Steady Hand 2, Waste Not, Hasty Touch x4, Steady Hand, Great Strides, Innovation, Byregot's Blessing, Careful Synthesis 2.

Working backward, replace as many Hasty Touch with Basic Touch as your CP permits. Never take a Tricks if SH2 is up; but don't forget that your CP determines your total Basic/Precise you can do, so if you use a Precise (and you should use a Precise) it means one less Hasty gets replaced with a Basic.

Manipulation is a valuable tool. An alternative rotation, suitable only for 40 Durability recipes (as it will break a 35 Durability recipe) is :
Comfort Zone, Inner Quiet, Waste Not, Steady Hand 2, Hasty Touch x5, Manipulation, Steady Hand 2, Waste Not, Hasty Touch x4, Steady Hand, Great Strides, Innovation, Byregot's Blessing, Careful Synthesis 2.

[FoxyAreku]

I am not sure whether this is outdated but seeing as I don't see Manipulation in rotations anymore that would seem to be the case. If it is, what is a better rotation? As reference, my crafting classes are level 51 - 53.

The reason you don't see manipulation in rotations often is because it's essentially just a master's mend that you have to be careful with that costs 4 less CP. Since we're at a shortage of cross class ability slots at the moment with the newfound popularity of Maker's Mark, people usually ditch manipulation as a mere 4 CP isn't a big deal.