Elusive HQ .

[Mod2004]

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Before my 2 year break as a level 50 crafter ( all DOH at 50 ) I could HQ almost anything. Now it's struggle. My Craftsmanship is at 356 and control is 334 in buffed.
Is there anyone that could offer some tips?
I used Comfort zone,hasty touch,tricks of the trade then careful synthetic. With steady hand 1 or 2 when needed.

I am trying to hit the collectables to turn in but am not able to get there.

The recipes I am doing are 50 to 54 type times.

Help me forum your our only hope. ( To be read in a Princess Leia voice )

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Well, checking your classes I see you are 51 CUL, but still 50 in everything else. And that right there is the bulk of your problem.

Remember Ingenuity, and Ingenuity 2? Those two buffs lower the recipe's effective level, which reduces the level-based penalty to Progress and Quality. That level-based penalty is MUCH bigger in HW recipes than it was in ARR recipes, and it is why you are having such difficulty HQ'ing stuff.

To solve this, level up! The best recipes are probably going to be the old 1 star ARR materials recipes : Darksteel Nuggets, Spruce Lumber, Rose Gold Nuggets, etc. No need to use the old Philosophy Materials (I.E. - no need to make Darksteel Ingots) just make those old easy recipes until you hit 51. Then start making level 51 recipes. Keep your crafters all up at about the same level though.

The reason for that is there is a lot more inter-dependency for refined materials than there was in ARR. And that level-based penalty is still there just waiting to get you when you attempt recipes higher than your own level. By keeping your classes all at about the same level, you can provide such refined materials without suffering too much from that penalty.

[Shadygrove]

Do your new L 50 quests and get engineering manuals.

Then go mine stuff like electrum and cobalt ores. Lots. Rapid synthing these with the engineering manuals will get Gold, Smith, and Armorer to 51. Leather can be done on raptor skins and raptor rings, wood on some kind of lumber, woolen yarn and cloth, Alchemy IDK unless you want to do Madman's Whispering Rods and turn them in for GC seals.

If you have 2.55 BIS fully pentamelded you are OK gearwise till L55 or so. If not gear up with the new L 51 stuff. If you have Lucius tools they are good to L 58 and MUCH easier to get today. HQ artisan's off hands are the best you can do until L 53.

[Mod2004]

I know about the Lucius tools. Is it wise to just level up to 53 and not worry about the tools? I guess I need to get them for my miner to. I just want it to be throwing gil at stuff I don't need. For I am poor.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

The tools are optional. Level to 51 on ARR recipes though, before trying more HW recipes. That'll help you a lot.

[Alisi]

Is there anyone that could offer some tips?

Crafting HQ's 50+ is less about having the best gear and more about understanding the process. How are you going about the job?

Offhand, my advice would be to stop looking at the HQ bar and start working on building stacks of Inner Quiet. Inner Quiet, along with the finishers, are what gets you to 100% HQ (or close.) Basically, what you do is build those stacks until they're 7 (at least, if possible), and use skills that turn those stacks into a huge amount of quality all at once. You can literally go from having 15 ~ 20% HQ chance to 100% with enough stacks and the finishers.

So, use whatever synth you have until you're one step away from finishing the item then focus on your Inner Quiet stacks. Once you get them to 7+, you want to use Great Strides and Inno then BBlessing. This'll give you the huge chunk of quality. After which you finish the piece.

At 51 or 53, you get precise touch that gives you two stacks of IQ. You can only use this on a good or excel. Very helpful. Also, note that Great Strides actually trumps a good quality so if you're finishing your stuff, you might want to either take that for CP or ignore it. A good condition trumps Inno, though, so if you get a good after you use GS then use BBlessing then.