TC, re: melding, there IS the option of making your own Materia. Assuming you have the classes leveled for it, you can make the accessories (make them HQ) and toss a cheap materia into them. Then buy the NQ vendor-sold left side gear, tossing two materia (only one overmeld, being on the belt) onto them. Pick up the vendor-sold MH and OH (NQ, so two materia apiece) and just start crafting some component recipe, threads for example, or the Zelkova lumber. Convert everything and repeat, with two materia in the NQ and one in the HQ equipment, they’ll all SB at about the same rate.