Quote Originally Posted by Highlow View Post
I tried collectibles and gave up. I spent days going over and testing and finally just said fuckit and grinded and used a few leve's to go from 51-63 in botany and mining... fishing i got to 57 and just no... can't do it. Getting to 600 with HQ gear would cost over 1m gil which I can't justify blowing just to go for 3-4 levels vs using the white garbage at the appropriate level.

The only extra buttons I use are the ones that give 2 extra resources I tend to blow on whatever i'm farming when I get an extra gathering turn. I use the 50% chance increase when i get to new nodes. If I don't really care for the grinding mat i blow the extra items on crystals as lightning and wind ones are expensive AF.
How close to 600 GP are you, and can a cheap food get you over that mark?

Also, have you considered taking up crafting? Gearing (which includes melding Materia) becomes a lot easier if you have a few crafters among your classes; Blacksmith, Leatherworker, and Weaver in particular, Alchemist and Culinarian both support in other ways. If you are already gathering, its no real hardship to use some of the materials you’ve gathered to make better gear for yourself. And, ultimately, its a lot cheaper as well. Additionally, gear that you make HQ and meld will Spiritbonding faster, allowing you to generate even more Materia.