A summary of my impression on the new skills and tips for 5.2 crafting

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Long before 5.2, I've already made up my decision to try craft the items in this patch using as many white gear as possible (i.e. skipping as many Facet gear as possible). What I found was that I must at least have one i460/i470 mainhand or offhand to reach the minimum stats requirement of 2480 craft & 2195 control.

So I bought i470 offhands for each of my classes from the Scrip Exchange vendor. They cost only 250 white scrips each, which was super easy to get with the help of Kai-shirr Custom Delivery:


Buying these offhands did make me lose 5 CP. But that's ok. (WARNING: DO NOT bother with any of those shared i470 "Professional" left gear set pieces. They are quite useless, and are very inferior to even lightly-melded Facet gear, and are almost without improvement comparing to strongly-melded white gear!)

I have also crafted the Facet chest and pants and overmelded them to help me reach the minimum stats requirements.

First, please allow me to show my non-specialist stats below. You can also see my melds on my i430 mainhand here. For some other mainhands, I melded 2x Competence IV instead of a Competence VI:
This is my LTW, currently using HQ Matcha:


I have a tad bit less craftsmanship for my GSM. Shown below is without food. You can see my melds on my Facet Coat as well:


I have been using HQ Matcha I happened to have a crap load of Cunning Craftsman’s Tea (+13 CP). So I have a total of 602 CP.
Basically, my non-specialist stats after food & medicine are approximately:
2491 craft
2289 control
602 CP

So here’s my first few attempts on taking on the new 3 star recipes.

For the 35 durab, I've been using pure NQ mats:






Then for the final product, I start with a good few pieces of HQ mats:




Basically, I have absolutely no problem doing all these 3 star recipes with the minimal stats, using mostly overmelded white gear.

My impression? Now that Ingenuity is gone, I found the biggest impact is that DELICATE SYNTHESIS (DelSyn) has become much less powerful than before. This is because now we can't buff both its progress and quality at the same time using Ingen. If we buff DelSyn with Innovation, the progress it gives is pathetic, and does not justify the CP it spends.

So without Ingen, I buff my Prudent with Innov to build up IQ stacks under Manip, and then just do a GS+Byregot under the effect of Innov to hit max quality.

For progress, 2 new skills have been introduced in this new Patch 5.2 -- (1) Veneration and (2) Groundwork.

Veneration is basically the progress version of innovation, and it's really really good.

Veneration:
- Increases efficiency of synthesis action by 50% for the next 4 steps.

Well, how about Groundwork?

Groundwork:
- 300% efficiency
- Durab cost = 20 durab
- CP cost = 18 CP
- Efficiency is only 150% if remaining durab is 15, 10 or 5.

At first glance, Groundwork sucks comparing to Observe+FocSyn or even Careful Syn (CS). Observe+FocSyn costs only 12 CP, but provides 200% efficiency and consumes only 10 durab. CS costs only 7 CP, but provides 150% efficiency and consumes only 10 durab. Both are more efficient than Groundwork in terms of CP/durab. However, it turned out Groundwork can pair up with Veneration A LOT better than Observe+FocSyn or CS. Once Veneration is activated, you can continuously buff up a streak of Groundwork. This is something that Observe+FocSyn cannot do, and CS is basically too weak to be effective.

So, for 35 durab items, before I hit the Byregot, I make sure I have less than maximum durab. Then I use Manip, Veneration, Waste Not (WN), and then Groundwork spam. Usually 3 strokes of Groundwork will complete the item. When both Manip and WN are active, durab falls very slowly even with Groundwork. In the case that my CP runs short, and I don't have enough CP for sufficient Groundwork, as long as Manip and WN are active, then I can just spam Careful Syn or even Basic Syn to complete the item.

As for 70 durab items, I can do the same as above. Or sometimes I don't really need to use WN, then I'd just Manip, Ven and then Groundwork spam to complete the item.

One sneaky change that happened this patch, and that the 5.2 Patch Note didn't make a big fuss about was PRECISE TOUCH. It has been changed from 100% efficiency to 150% efficiency on top of the double IQ stacks. This is a big deal, as it trumps Prudent Touch whenever it is available (and as long as IQ is 9 or lower).
NOTE: It was probably a change in the previous patch that I missed.

In conclusion, I think I'm a little disappointed on the difficulty of the newest 3 star recipes (since I am mostly on white gear, and all my classes are on i430 mainhand only). But I did find the new skills quite fun to play with.

[Nandrolone]

In conclusion: Too easy

[Frizze]

I may be remembering the wrong skill, but i think Precise was actually changed last patch to be 150% and then left unchanged this patch.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

I may be remembering the wrong skill, but i think Precise was actually changed last patch to be 150% and then left unchanged this patch.

You're probably right. I didn't even properly read the whole patch note in the last patch, so I probably missed it! I'll make an edit in my post above.

[NanaWiloh]

Not surprised Yoshi said the difficulty would be the same as 2 star they also lowered the difficulty on star gear. Star gear is no longer Hardcore endgame, expert recipes are the new end game for hardcore.

[Hasrat]

Unrelated question: How is it you get the item details window to show up off in the corner like that, instead of blocking the window right next to the selected item?

[Nandrolone]

You're probably right. I didn't even properly read the whole patch note in the last patch, so I probably missed it! I'll make an edit in my post above.

You did a wonderful job compiling all of this together in a single thread for newer players to understand, really. But I mean. I have to ask, and respectfully, of course. But...Camie, with such articulate ways of conveying your points and thoughts across to the crafting community, why not do the same for calling out how overly simplified crafting has become? You’ve been an OG crafters since ARR like some of us, so I know you miss the old difficulty and the old sense of accomplishment you received from completing those hard recipes. And don’t get me started on Lucis lol.

Anyways, point is, why not call it out? As seen with the thread, you clearly agree that the crafting has gotten too easy, and I’m sure you realize these expert recipes aren’t looking too promising. Just wanted to know your take on the matter. I’ve just found it strange such a small amount of vet crafters choose to call that stuff out. Going to assume it’s due to being afraid of backlash. But like they say, to make a change, even a small one, you have to deal with haters.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Unrelated question: How is it you get the item details window to show up off in the corner like that, instead of blocking the window right next to the selected item?

Character Config -> UI Settings (on the vertical tabs on left) -> General (horizontal tabs) -> Scroll down -> Display action help. -> Position -> choose from pulldown menu for "Fixed (Reversed)".
Enjoy!

[NanaWiloh]

You did a wonderful job compiling all of this together in a single thread for newer players to understand, really. But I mean. I have to ask, and respectfully, of course. But...Camie, with such articulate ways of conveying your points and thoughts across to the crafting community, why not do the same for calling out how overly simplified crafting has become? You’ve been an OG crafters since ARR like some of us, so I know you miss the old difficulty and the old sense of accomplishment you received from completing those hard recipes. And don’t get me started on Lucis lol.

Anyways, point is, why not call it out? As seen with the thread, you clearly agree that the crafting has gotten too easy, and I’m sure you realize these expert recipes aren’t looking too promising. Just wanted to know your take on the matter. I’ve just found it strange such a small amount of vet crafters choose to call that stuff out. Going to assume it’s due to being afraid of backlash. But like they say, to make a change, even a small one, you have to deal with haters.

I know we dont see eye to eye Nondrolone but yes please vent, let SE know too either make Expert recipes harder then a brick *whistles* house or up crafting difficulty. I would aim for the Expert recipes since they are aimed at the hardcore community, tell them what you want and expect. I am causal crafter but if you feel content aimed at you is not measuring up then feel free to speak loudly. If their intent is for starred gear too be for causals then Expert better be full on hardcore balls to the wall difficult.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

You did a wonderful job compiling all of this together in a single thread for newer players to understand, really. But I mean. I have to ask, and respectfully, of course. But...Camie, with such articulate ways of conveying your points and thoughts across to the crafting community, why not do the same for calling out how overly simplified crafting has become? You’ve been an OG crafters since ARR like some of us, so I know you miss the old difficulty and the old sense of accomplishment you received from completing those hard recipes. And don’t get me started on Lucis lol.

Anyways, point is, why not call it out? As seen with the thread, you clearly agree that the crafting has gotten too easy, and I’m sure you realize these expert recipes aren’t looking too promising. Just wanted to know your take on the matter. I’ve just found it strange such a small amount of vet crafters choose to call that stuff out. Going to assume it’s due to being afraid of backlash. But like they say, to make a change, even a small one, you have to deal with haters.

I had to think deeply about what you said here... Took me a long time to gather my thoughts, LOL!

If I remember correctly, back in ARR, it wasn't the Lucis that was tough. It was the Master Book 2 (containing ARR 4 star recipes for i110 battle gear) that was the toughest to acquire. One needs to unlock Master Book 1 to get the recipes for things like "Calibrated Rose Gold Cog", and then one had to HQ the Cogs to obtain Master Recipe 2. You could just buy items to exchange for Master Book 1, but I remember most players had huge difficulties in HQ-ing the Cogs, thus only a handful of master crafters had access to Master Book 2's 4 star recipes, and we were selling the i110 crafted gear exclusively on the MB. When the Master Book 2's were released, Artisan Offhands were also released. I chose to skip it, and acquired all the books with just Militia Offhands, LOL! And then tackled on all those 4 star recipes with just Militia Offhands (eventually I did make the switch to Artisan Offhands)! That was good old times! And only after that, then Lucis tools were added to the game, and surprisingly, people still had trouble with those Cogs even after having Lucis.

That kind of locking recipes behind bars had not happened since then. Since that day, crafting had been made easier and easier each day. Some people called it a "decline" of the crafting game. Others supported it, as more players are able to access endgame crafted gear.

We all know the benefits and problems of making certain recipes only available to a small number of crafters. I'm not going to comment here. There are obviously two sides for the coin. Imo, the biggest issue is that ONCE IN AWHILE, the coin needs to be flipped to balance the benefits and problems. However, as I mentioned above, the coin has been on one side for a very extended period of time... (basically since 2014).

I didn't call out because I've seen many call-outs from other crafters before, such as those from RothTrailer. And yet, almost every time, SE would dismiss such call-outs for harder recipes. There was one time in Stormblood that they released Special 2 Star Recipes (Snailfish Oil etc). Those were quite hard and fun, but they nerfed them 1 or 2 patches later. I eventually kind of gave up. But you're right. Deep down I'm really bored, and every day, I'm waiting for something to happen, and yet it never comes. Maybe it's time for me to take a step up, and voice my opinion.

Locking recipes behind bars is one thing, but having difficult recipes to fiddle with is another issue. I think SE actually can separate the two. Many suggestions that I have seen before supported this idea. I also support this idea. Perhaps I'll make a thread in regards to this. ... Gosh, this feeling reminds me of the time BEFORE I wrote my first crafting guide... That was the time when I thought, "Gee, perhaps I should just do something about it, and write out a guide for the people". De Ja Vu here!