Any idea what the final item level of the relic tools will be?

[tdb]

There will be a new tier of crafted combat gear (i510 / 80****) in 5.4, which will require more stats than the current crafted items. But there will likely be no further tiers of crafter/gatherer gear after aesthete. So upgrading facet gear to aesthete is more about preparing for the upcoming crafts than making the current ones easier.

I won't go for the crazy numbers with all VIII/VII melds because the chances of success get ridiculously small and acquiring all that materia is prohibitively expensive. I typically use VI for the first overmeld and IV for the next two, though variations are commonplace depending on what the stat budget on each item is. Needing new macros wouldn't be a problem anyway since I can make one easily enough.

[Sqwall]

There will be a new tier of crafted combat gear (i510 / 80****) in 5.4, which will require more stats than the current crafted items. But there will likely be no further tiers of crafter/gatherer gear after aesthete. So upgrading facet gear to aesthete is more about preparing for the upcoming crafts than making the current ones easier.

I won't go for the crazy numbers with all VIII/VII melds because the chances of success get ridiculously small and acquiring all that materia is prohibitively expensive. I typically use VI for the first overmeld and IV for the next two, though variations are commonplace depending on what the stat budget on each item is. Needing new macros wouldn't be a problem anyway since I can make one easily enough.

On point here. I currently have all the Aesthete HQ now and slowly melding them until 5.4 drops. Still wearing my Facet/Aesthete hybrid though. That just leaves the tools as I don't know what the ilevels will be for them at 5.35 beyond. I believe your right as we won't get any more updated crafting gear save for relics to be top tier VERY late 5.5 into next expac.

Really that leaves the expert recipes to drop in ishgard restoration, and I see no benefit to penta at this point unless certain crafters are into that. Expert recipes are no joke and extremely tough which for me required penta. After 5.3 dropped all that GIL imo was wasted, and I no longer try to keep up with the materia race. Personally I look for the best ROI down to the very last GIL spent on gear.