So how exactly are soul stones made?

[Transient_Shadow]

just curious because there's a lot we don't really know about these items and the various ways they're made and function.

[Enkidoh]

Good question, the short of it is, we don't really know! (Incidentally many suns ago there was a thread in the now defunct 1.0 forum that asked this same question pretty much and sadly no one really could answer it.)

The only real clue we have is the description for the MCH Soul Crystal, which, unlike the Soul Crystal for every other Job in the game, MCH's one specifically says it has yet to be filled with the deeds and memories of MCHs - this is due to the Job being literally new born, created out of whole cloth by Stephanivien, basing it on Limsa musketry techniques (as in, the never implemented Musketeer class - MSK for short) but with Garlean magitek technology providing the underlying power source for the Job (namely, the aethertransformer worn on their hip creating bullets from the MCH's own aether rather than using primitive balls and gunpowder weaponry that MSK uses). Hence little wonder it's Soul Crystal is empty, it's literally a blank slate.

So you're experimenting with the Job based on Stephanivien's theories and the musketery techniques taught by Sthalmann Rostnsthal, all the while the Soul Crystal is being imprinted in a sense by your aether, effectively acting as a on-going record of your progress. So, it seems a soul crystal starts out as a special crystal that simply gains an aetheric imprint of a person's accomplishments in that Job, which can be then used later by someone else to act as a kind of, well, short-cut, in that Job, all the while continuing to gain even more memories, knowledge and experience as time passes and it's passed on from user to user.

Also remember all the other Jobs are (mostly) old Disciplines that either fell out of use years before or were outlawed, and thus they lack the more structured teaching system used for the starting Disciplines by their respective Guilds. Soul Crystals thus provide a helpful way of overcoming that obstacle, accordingly they could kind of be looked on as an ongoing record of that Job itself, that Job's legacy if you will.

Either way, that is how I interpreted it so it's likely to be wrong - someone more knowledgeable should be able to clarify or correct it.

[Transient_Shadow]

"specifically says it has yet to be filled with the deeds and memories of MCHs"

could it be that soul crystals are a form of mateira?

[Mholito]

"specifically says it has yet to be filled with the deeds and memories of MCHs"

could it be that soul crystals are a form of mateira?

It would make sense. Or some kind of stone with similar properties to aetherial items.

[ObsidianFire]

The Lvl. 70 SMN quest has some interesting things to add. There we see an Allagan computer "running" off of SMN soul stones and able to use techniques in the soul stones. Namely the techniques that have to do with making an egi. It seems that certain techniques are tied to soul stones (creating SMN egi, SCH fairy living in one, DRK's Darkside coming to life, etc.) and are primarily taught that way instead of "from scratch".

It also shows how old the idea behind Soul Stones are. Not only did the Allagans know what they are, but they had multiple soul stones all of the same job (other jobs with multiple soul stones are PLD and NIN). Given that societies at every level of technology have Soul Stones associated with them, they must not be that hard to make and relatively intuitive to figure out how to use/make. Otherwise I'd have a hard time seeing jobs like WAR associated with them...

[SummonxBeast]

DRK 60-70 quests make your soulstone split in half and it still functions, and the storyline straight up telling you that is because your aether have been taken. Maybe they are purely made by aether, could be different case for each job

[koichi88]

Other things we know about them:
They are crystals, presumably in the same context as the elemental crystals and miscellaneous crystals we use for crafting. IE made of crystallized aether. Furthermore they are said to be multi-aspected, though exactly which elements they actually contain isn't specified. It seems likely that they either contain all six or a mix of elements appropriate to their class.

Maybe they're dug up as multi-aspected crystals, carved or otherwise shaped into the appropriate form and then filled with the aether of those that use them. A bigger question, at least to me, is how the heck they manage to carve any deeds onto them when they're maybe 1.5 inches in diameter at best.

[Yuriane]

Is it perhaps possible Job Crystals are made from Auracite?

If you look at the Auracite used in the Rabanastre Raid, it bears quite a resemblance to a Job Crystal, even having a symbol on it that represents what kind of thing is represents.
Mayhaps they even function the same, except an auracite holds the aetheric composition of a primal where as a Job Cyrstal holds aethetic imprints of memories.

[Anonymoose]

I think Enkidoh is on the right track. It seems a given that the majority of the Soul Crystal lore is utilitarian; duct-taping Final Fantasy jobs to 1.0 classes, explaining how you're learning things barely anyone remembers - quickly - and why this knowledge and power isn't readily accessible, and so on.

And it also seems a given that the lore deliberately vague so that it can be as versatile of a MacGuffin as possible. They impart knowledge and house faeries and project ghosts of your repressed feelings and malfunction when you need to go on an introspective journey to become worthy again. Your own personal pocket A WIZARD AETHER DID IT.

So I guess we take what information we can...?

I posit that they're dense, unaspected crystals that share certain qualities with aetheryte and auracite.

On one hand, they would be highly receptive to attunement, slowly becoming highly "magnetized" to the behavioral, psychological, and physiological profile of the practitioners of a given art. When the soul crystal is within the aetherial "aura" of someone who fits that profile, the crystal "resonates" with that and comes to life, creating a feedback loop of sorts that facilitates a connection between them.

On the other, there is a "vessel-like" quality to them, as well. As the aether of the owner (and sometimes their arts) flows through and interacts with the crystal, it takes on memories, spiritual impressions, and secures the essence of scholar faeries. Perhaps it's some kind of anima-based interaction.

But even Sidurgu cracks jokes like "Who knows how these even work."

[Random0]

What Enkidoh and Anonymoose have written seems to be right on point and appears to be supported by what’s written in the Encyclopedia Eorzea.

“Ever since the height of the Allagan Empire in the Third Astral era, the practice of using crystals to store and impart knowledge has been prevalent in Eorzea. An adornment known as a “soul crystal” is worn close to the skin, where the uncommonly clear facets of the carefully cut shard catch and transcribe the ebb and flow of a soul’s aetherial composition—effectively capturing an imperfect echo of the wearer’s memories. This arcane tool engraved with the myriad deeds of heroes from eras past was employed by many of the disciplines of yesteryear to preserve and pass on the skills of successive generations of masters.

The wisdom contained in a soul crystal, however, is not so easily drawn forth—an untrained neophyte cannot simply pick up one of these gems and expect his mind to be flooded with the knowledge of advanced spell craft or combat techniques. Without first attaining sufficient proficiency and tempering one’s soul to mirror the maturity of the crystal’s contributors, a prospective student will be denied even the slightest glimpse of enlightenment. Thus, as is the case with more contemporary disciplines, the key to mastering the secrets of a soul crystal lies in diligent study and training.”

—Soul Crystals, pg 217