A 415 CP (before food) near-minimum-stats rotation for level 70 2-star crafts

[XhrysanthRubicant]

Required stats before (and after) HQ seafood stew:
Craftsmanship 1332 (1332)
Control 1224 (1255)
CP 415 (465)

I've searched high and low for a solid low-CP rotation for level 70 2-star crafts but, as of a few days ago, haven't really found anything. All the "100% HQ no-RNG macro" rotations out the require melding a good deal of CP which, in itself, is not such a bad idea. However, I am concerned that when the next crafting tier comes out, any i290 sets that are melded out with CP will need to be remelded with new materia and I am just not interested in that kind of expense. I'm a crafter simply because I'd like to be able to make what I want myself. I'm not a production crafter who pumps out 10 stacks of items each day to sell. For them, the cost of remelding is not really an issue. For me, it is. So, I developed this low-CP near-minimum-stats rotation which I would say has more or less the same HQ chance as Rath's did back in Heavensward. If everything hits, you're in good shape. Progress is really tight with these stats so it's a bit unforgiving there. Quality works pretty well and out of about 30 items I've made, only 1 came out NQ. I do use a few HQ mats for each craft, usually aethersands or non-2-star mats like palladium nuggets or gazelle leather that are easy to make. I'm not saying this is the best rotation that can be made but it seems to work really well. I assume anyone crafting at this level will know where it's safe to take Tricks and where it will waste durability, but I can add that info if there is a demand for it. Obviously with each Trick you can replace a Hasty or Hasty II with Precise if a good condition pops. A craftsman's tea could give you a few extra CP to play with. Anyway, here it is:




For reference, this is my melding GOAL with the gear I have now: http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/12GMA
And this is my gear as it CURRENTLY stands: http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/12GMF
Note that my offhand was melded with low-grade materia to hasten spiritbonding, feel free to meld it as you like, as long as you have 415 base CP before food. I am including macros although I do this rotation by hand. Hope this is helpful to somebody.

Macro 1:

/ac "Muscle Memory" <wait.3>
/ac "Comfort Zone" <wait.2>
/ac "Manipulation II" <wait.2>
/ac "Inner Quiet" <wait.2>
/ac "Steady Hand II" <wait.2>
/ac "Piece by Piece" <wait.3>
/ac "Piece by Piece" <wait.3>
/ac "Patient Touch" <wait.3>
/ac "Hasty Touch II" <wait.3>
/ac "Hasty Touch II" <wait.3>
/ac "Careful Synthesis III" <wait.3>
/ac "Manipulation II" <wait.2>
/ac "Comfort Zone" <wait.2>
/ac "Observe" <wait.3>
/echo Macro #1 complete <se.1>

Macro 2:

/ac "Focused Synthesis" <wait.3>
/ac "Steady Hand II" <wait.2>
/ac "Hasty Touch II" <wait.3>
/ac "Hasty Touch II" <wait.3>
/ac "Hasty Touch" <wait.3>
/ac "Hasty Touch" <wait.3>
/ac "Hasty Touch" <wait.3>
/ac "Steady Hand II" <wait.2>
/ac "Ingenuity II" <wait.2>
/ac "Innovation" <wait.2>
/ac "Prudent Touch" <wait.3>
/ac "Great Strides" <wait.2>
/ac "Byregot's Blessing" <wait.3>
/ac "Careful Synthesis II" <wait.3>
/echo Macro #2 complete <se.14>

[magnanimousCynic]

While I admire your dedication and the good looking rotation, I don't think using G6 Materia for the first tier of crafted gear is a good financial idea. Like you said, we'll be replacing this set soon, so why spend a good amount of Gil to not only meld G6 Materia, but to also overmeld it for your chest and belt? Unless G6 crafting Materia are really cheap on your server I advise not overmelding it for now and maybe even save the G6 Materia for the chance that 3-4 star needs them.

And why no Zelkova Accessories? You'd gain 21 Craftsmanship and 26 Control over your Ironworks using the same melds. Your Offhand for the ideal stats link only has one CP3 meld. Why not meld more on that?

Your minimum stats with Seafood Stew leave the craft with 25 spare CP (38 with Cunning Tea), so why not turn the last 3 Hasty Touches into Hasty Touch II for better success rate? I'm not a master at making rotations so I'm not too sure what else to suggest using the spare CP on.

[Leknaat]

And why no Zelkova Accessories? You'd gain 21 Craftsmanship and 26 Control over your Ironworks using the same melds. Your Offhand for the ideal stats link only has one CP3 meld. Why not meld more on that?

Your minimum stats with Seafood Stew leave the craft with 25 spare CP (38 with Cunning Tea), so why not turn the last 3 Hasty Touches into Hasty Touch II for better success rate? I'm not a master at making rotations so I'm not too sure what else to suggest using the spare CP on.

Probably because the IW accessories are already melded to death from getting to 4 star crafts in 3.0 :X I'm still using then rather than melding the new accessories

[XhrysanthRubicant]

While I admire your dedication and the good looking rotation, I don't think using G6 Materia for the first tier of crafted gear is a good financial idea. Like you said, we'll be replacing this set soon, so why spend a good amount of Gil to not only meld G6 Materia, but to also overmeld it for your chest and belt? Unless G6 crafting Materia are really cheap on your server I advise not overmelding it for now and maybe even save the G6 Materia for the chance that 3-4 star needs them.

And why no Zelkova Accessories? You'd gain 21 Craftsmanship and 26 Control over your Ironworks using the same melds. Your Offhand for the ideal stats link only has one CP3 meld. Why not meld more on that?

Your minimum stats with Seafood Stew leave the craft with 25 spare CP (38 with Cunning Tea), so why not turn the last 3 Hasty Touches into Hasty Touch II for better success rate? I'm not a master at making rotations so I'm not too sure what else to suggest using the spare CP on.

Well, this post was really about the rotation and I only provided the melds as a reference for people to see how I got these stats in case they were curious. Didn't really expect to have to defend them, but since you brought it up I'll address it.

First, thank you for your thoughtful criticism. It's nice to see someone disagree and actually say why.

Second, about the offhand, I believe I did state in my original post that I melded cheap materia on it for spiritbonding and that people can meld it as they like as long as they meet minimum CP stats. I didn't need any more stats so I didn't bother replacing it in my gearset in ariyala.

Third, about the Ironworks right side. They work fine for me. No need to replace them at this time. People used their level 50 right side until halfway through Heavensward, and lots of people are doing the same with Ironworks.

Finally, the left side melds. I think I just take a different approach from you. We know that the next crafting tier is going to have higher requirements so I planned my melds to cap. As you noticed, I don't want to make a new set and remeld when 2.5-star or 3-star crafts come out. I simply followed my melding plan until I had the stats to make 2-star crafts. There are only 6 grade VI materia, 4 of which I got from spiritbonding the 4 previous sets of cheaply melded (a la the offhand) i290 gear I used before I melded this set (I did have to sell a couple to buy one of a different type but it came out pretty even). I'd rather spend 1.5 mil on 2 safe melds than 5 mil or more on enough materia (not to mention depleting my stock of materia) to overmeld to reach these same stats and then later replace because requirements got higher. I will do the high-grade overmelds if and when they become necessary, and adjust for unexpected changes in stat requirements at that time.

To tell you the truth, I always end this rotation with extra CP. Whether it's the bonus from Stroke of Genius or taking Tricks, plus using the CP tea which isn't necessary for the rotation, I almost always get all HT2s and sometimes Precise instead of having a few HTs. I spent many months doing Rath's below minimum CP and it worked out every time with a little skill and attention. The only reason high CP has ever been needed was to make macros, especially no-RNG macros. I don't need that because I just don't make that much stuff. I only macro my (non-2-star) submats and make the 2-star stuff by hand. This rotation is a place to start and people can adjust it to fit their needs.

Ultimately, I have the stats I need and found a rotation that works nicely. I thought I'd share it with the community.

Xhrys

[Caimie_Tsukino]

I actually find XhrysanthRubicant's rotation to be valuable to people with lower CP. Leknaat is right that a lot of us melded our hearts out for the IW acc, so we're really reluctant to re-meld accessories even though the SB ones give so much extra stats. But for your "melding GOAL", XhrysanthRubicant, I have to disagree with that too. It's too expensive and will not last through another patch. I think, since you have such a low CP rotation, you could use a Craft+Control food... Isn't there a food called something like Warrior's Soup... or something along those lines... The NQ ones were pretty cheap. Maybe those could be utilized instead of melding Tier VI materia on white gear.

[Ziggyzapps]

Maybe those could be utilized instead of melding Tier VI materia on white gear.

The next set of gear could still be class based, if so almost every omni crafter is going to to put VI into white gear. I'd be surprised if the next gear is universal, class based gear is one of the few ways to balance specialist and omni crafters.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

The next set of gear could still be class based, if so almost every omni crafter is going to to put VI into white gear. I'd be surprised if the next gear is universal, class based gear is one of the few ways to balance specialist and omni crafters.

Yet, if the next gear is not universal, I'm worried that the stats are so high that even Tier IV on white may not be enough to compete with. Plus, depending how pretty they are (hehehe, yeah, that's an important factor! XD), even omni crafters may go after them all anyway, and abandon the white gear. Inventory space is certainly an issue, but if we need that high stats or the beauty, we'll grab all of them class-specific gear anyway.

[Katlyna]

The next set of gear could still be class based, if so almost every omni crafter is going to to put VI into white gear. I'd be surprised if the next gear is universal, class based gear is one of the few ways to balance specialist and omni crafters.

Actually crafted class based gear doesn't balance omni crafters. Core omni crafters are one of few people who can throw enough money out to gear up and materia multiple sets. Consequently they cut their own costs (able to make all their own intermediates) and completely eliminate solo specialist competition.

Class based gear which requires a weekly grind initially is fair for everyone... but once you fall behind, you become financially blocked out... and again only the dedicated core omnicrafters come out ontop.

As others have noted the whole crafting system needs some systemic changes.

[Ziggyzapps]

Actually crafted class based gear doesn't balance omni crafters. Core omni crafters are one of few people who can throw enough money out to gear up and materia multiple sets. Consequently they cut their own costs (able to make all their own intermediates) and completely eliminate solo specialist competition.

We wouldn't gear up and meld 8 different class sets , we would just pay 50-100 mil to meld one set. Class sets would just be for people who don't have 50-100 mil or only want to craft in a few jobs. If we get another universal set it just means it's going to be easy mode again, they can't balance melds between casuals and hardcore players. Being able to make your own intermediates never mattered much, I've never had other chars or anyone to make them for me and it's never been an issue.

[lulunami]

We wouldn't gear up and meld 8 different class sets , we would just pay 50-100 mil to meld one set.

At the start of Heavensward, class sets were BiS. Before Ironworks was released, only those who basically max melded class sets could craft the latest recipes (for Midas raid). As a result, omnicrafters made hundreds of millions of gil. Crafting became a lot more accessible once they released the universal Ironworks gear.