Most logical method to advancing advice

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Is this a viable way of hitting the optimum gear/stats required to craft 1-4*?

Yeah, it seems fine. Once you have reached the minimal craftsmanship and control for 2* and 3*, you can go ahead and try making crafted mats (like ingots or leathers) as practices.

The making of the i195 tools (3* items) might be slightly trickier, as you gotta beware the fact that there are two different difficulties for 3* items. One type has only 1651 difficulty, the other has 1764 difficulty, and the i195 tools fall into the more difficult category. So make sure you don't underestimate the amount of progress you needed for completion.

4* items have very harsh stats requirement of 995 crafts and 955 control. You will definitely need i195 or i200 tools to reach these stats. With the powers of the Specialists' Soul Crystals, you can reach these stats just by melding your Ironworks gear set, without melding too much on the main/offhand. However, if your class is without a Soul Crystal, then you will need to push a bit more on the melds on the main/offhand tools too. Despite all these harsh requirements for crafts and control, I strongly suggest you maxing out your CP during melds of any gear. Food is absolutely necessary to maximize CP, and the current consensus is either Seafood Stew HQ or Baked Onion Soup HQ. FC buffs on control or craftsmanship can also help. Apart from being harsher on stats, 4* is practically a slightly more difficult version of 3*, and 3* is just a slightly more difficult version of 2*. Once you have incorporated Rath's rotation into your own, you will have no problems with anything.

Also, beware of any elemental aspected items. Your progress for every synthesis is halved. Just be careful.