Endwalker Expert Recipe Guide by Caimie Tsukino

[Caimie_Tsukino]

I wonder what "Obtaining Signature" actually represents now. The Maker's Signature is now retained when moving items between worlds in the same region. I've noticed this when using one character to go on a Aether/Primal shopping spree for items I want on multiple alts then transferring the purchased items to the intended recipient.

So does Obtaining Signature now represent items being brought over from another region through character transfer? Players who transferred to Materia with their inventory loaded with cheap and useful crafted items may have noticed if the Maker's Signature switched to Obtaining Signature on everything. I'm fairly certain it would also represent items crafted by characters that have seen been deleted.

I recently saw from the MB the retainer who listed the item from "Obtaining Signature", and the crafter's signature changed to an actual player's name. I character-searched the player, and found him/her to be on a totally different data center than mine. So apparently, he/she is a data center hopper (which might explain why the retainer's name contained the word "hopper").

[Naizakane]

Thanks for writing this guide! Unfortunately, it's not helping me very much. Feels like everything I try gets walled out by rng. I'm still trying to apply the guidelines you lay out, but I keep having attempts where I can get within a basic synth of completing but not have the durability/CP to go for IQ stacks, or I get to 10IQ and now I either don't have the durability for the touch combo because the process of getting there had some steps get wasted by rapid syn/hasty touch failures, even with H&S to force a precise touch, or I don't have the CP because I wanted to use master's mend and I've blown all my careful observation charges trying to bait out goods for tricks of the trade so that I can get the CP for it. Or probably the worst scenario, being barely unable to get the 13.5k quality because I ended up reliant on a good because the hasty touch I needed to succeed so the finisher would guarantee that 13.5k rolled wrong. It's feeling less of an impossible task, but my success rate is extremely low because I can't find my way around situations where rng just doesn't want rapid synth to succeed.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

Thanks for writing this guide! Unfortunately, it's not helping me very much. Feels like everything I try gets walled out by rng. I'm still trying to apply the guidelines you lay out, but I keep having attempts where I can get within a basic synth of completing but not have the durability/CP to go for IQ stacks, or I get to 10IQ and now I either don't have the durability for the touch combo because the process of getting there had some steps get wasted by rapid syn/hasty touch failures, even with H&S to force a precise touch, or I don't have the CP because I wanted to use master's mend and I've blown all my careful observation charges trying to bait out goods for tricks of the trade so that I can get the CP for it. Or probably the worst scenario, being barely unable to get the 13.5k quality because I ended up reliant on a good because the hasty touch I needed to succeed so the finisher would guarantee that 13.5k rolled wrong. It's feeling less of an impossible task, but my success rate is extremely low because I can't find my way around situations where rng just doesn't want rapid synth to succeed.

I would avoid Master's Mend and use Manip instead as much as possible.
The only times I use Master's Mend is I got a really favorable condition at 15 durab or lower, such as a Good, then I'll do Precise Touch and go down to 5 durab, and then recover with a Master's Mend (or if I got a Centered at 15, I'd be happy to Rapid Syn on it, then recover with a Master's Mend too). Otherwise, I tend to use Manip (even on Normal condition) at 20 or 15 durab. Then use Observe to float the durab back up while baiting for conditions.

The purpose of using Careful Obs is indeed to bait for conditions, but you should not hope for a Good. Goods are rare, and one just cannot hope to bait for a Good using any means. Most of the Goods should be utilized for Precise Touch as much as possible. I rarely use Intensive Syn these days as both Centered and Sturdy are sufficient for Rapid Syns under Vene.

If you can record your process of making the item step by step (such as screenshotting each step, and just drop the links here), I'm happy to guide you through the whole craft, and point out what could be done better.

Just today, I had a run of 25 crafts (on the Water Otter Resin), and managed to fail only 5. It was a great run!

[dspguy]

I'm still all-in on Muscle Memory. The value is too great to pass up. The way I see it, when you use MuMe one of these things happens:

• You end up with 3200-4500/7480 progress done with 24 CP spent and H&S still available (more likely)
• You end up with 2600-3600/7480 progress done with 24 CP spent and no H&S (less likely)

But what seals the deal for me is this:

• worst case scenario, you are at 2600/7480 with no H&S available
• or you could spend that H&S afterwards on a Precise Touch and essentially Reflect for just 18 CP extra.

The way I see it any Good used for Precise Touch is essentially Reflect with 50% extra quality thrown in. And it is usable on any step. There is nothing like Muscle Memory. Sure, Intensive Synthesis is nice. But frankly, a Good should rarely be used on Progress. Especially when it is quite possible to be anywhere from 33% to 60% done with Progress in one shot. Goods have more value in exchanging them for 2 IQ stacks at just 10 durability and 18 CP plus the 50% bonus. I can't imagine expending a Good on Intensive Synthesis when I could be getting a 50% bonus on quality with 10 IQ stacks or build IQ stacks.

Rest of the guide is spot on and I love it. The Reflect path obviously works for the OP and considering how much the OP has contributed the community, I have zero doubts it is a viable path. I just think MuMe has its place and I'm mentioning it as an alternative.

[Liam_Harper]

I recently saw from the MB the retainer who listed the item from "Obtaining Signature", and the crafter's signature changed to an actual player's name. I character-searched the player, and found him/her to be on a totally different data center than mine. So apparently, he/she is a data center hopper (which might explain why the retainer's name contained the word "hopper").

If it's a bot (not saying that's a definite, just if), then it's generally because the bot mass crafts a huge number of items, then distributes them to retainer alts on multiple worlds to sell. This allows them to sell more items at once to a wider market.

[Naizakane]

I would avoid Master's Mend and use Manip instead as much as possible.
The only times I use Master's Mend is I got a really favorable condition at 15 durab or lower, such as a Good, then I'll do Precise Touch and go down to 5 durab, and then recover with a Master's Mend (or if I got a Centered at 15, I'd be happy to Rapid Syn on it, then recover with a Master's Mend too). Otherwise, I tend to use Manip (even on Normal condition) at 20 or 15 durab. Then use Observe to float the durab back up while baiting for conditions.

The purpose of using Careful Obs is indeed to bait for conditions, but you should not hope for a Good. Goods are rare, and one just cannot hope to bait for a Good using any means. Most of the Goods should be utilized for Precise Touch as much as possible. I rarely use Intensive Syn these days as both Centered and Sturdy are sufficient for Rapid Syns under Vene.

If you can record your process of making the item step by step (such as screenshotting each step, and just drop the links here), I'm happy to guide you through the whole craft, and point out what could be done better.

Just today, I had a run of 25 crafts (on the Water Otter Resin), and managed to fail only 5. It was a great run!

(Sorry for taking so long to reply, my motivation for expert recipes was completely gone when I made the first post)

I'd like to avoid using Master's Mend, but every time I've used it it's because Manipulation would be a significantly worse deal for me. Situations where in order for the next two steps to not kill the craft, I'd have to use Observe, putting Manip's actual cost to keep the craft alive at 110CP compared to the 88CP Master's Mend would take - part of my brain knows Manipulation would give more durability, but the other part of my brain refuses to waste the extra steps it would take for Manipulation to keep the craft alive. As for Intensive Synth, I feel like I can't afford to give a progress-phase Good over to Precise Touch, as Rapid Synth is simply too unreliable, failing even under Centered. I have to spend Goods on Intensive Synth just to catch up to where I should be, or where I would be if RNG didn't say no to RS succeeding. Careful Obs gets used to bait Goods out at the end of the craft anyway, because I'm taking so long to get to 1 synth from finishing + 10 IQ stacks + the rest of my combo leading up to Byregot's that if I don't have a Good to use Byregot's on then I'm not meeting the quality requirement. I'll follow your suggestion regarding recording the process, and I'll probably get a screenshot album done for you to look at tomorrow.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

(Sorry for taking so long to reply, my motivation for expert recipes was completely gone when I made the first post)

No problem. But just so you know, the gil rush is finished now though. These items have gone down from 3-5 million gil a piece to 200-400K a piece now. The demand is also a lot lower now... Instead of having 10 pops a day (and yes, it was 10 pops a day, each pop 5 mil, so it was easily 50 mil a day), it's only about 2 to 3 pops a day now.

I'd like to avoid using Master's Mend, but every time I've used it it's because Manipulation would be a significantly worse deal for me. Situations where in order for the next two steps to not kill the craft, I'd have to use Observe, putting Manip's actual cost to keep the craft alive at 110CP compared to the 88CP Master's Mend would take - part of my brain knows Manipulation would give more durability, but the other part of my brain refuses to waste the extra steps it would take for Manipulation to keep the craft alive.

Manip will ALWAYS be much, much better than Master's Mend in terms of CP efficiency, even when used without Primed condition. If you're using Manip + Observe, you may be doing it wrong. It sounds to me that you have been using Manip when durab is like 10 or something, which is way too late. Manip is designed to be used when durab is NEITHER max nor min. That is, ideally, your durab should be between 20 and 40 when you activate Manipulation.

Manip should NEVER be used when durab is at 10 (unless you got a very lucky Primed, then you do Manip even at 10 durab, and then use Master's Mend after that too).

At 15 durab, Manip usage is not ideal, because you will actually need to use Observe after Manip to ensure you have enough steps afterwards to take advantage of Goods or Centered conditions.

Personally, I'll keep consuming durab and hope for a Primed until durab is down to 20. If the condition is still just Normal, I'll use Manip anyway there.

If a Good suddenly pops at 20 durab, I'd use Precise Touch first, let durab go down to 10, then use Master's Mend, and then repeat the process above by slowly depleting durab, and pray for Primed for a Manip.

As for Intensive Synth, I feel like I can't afford to give a progress-phase Good over to Precise Touch, as Rapid Synth is simply too unreliable, failing even under Centered. I have to spend Goods on Intensive Synth just to catch up to where I should be, or where I would be if RNG didn't say no to RS succeeding. Careful Obs gets used to bait Goods out at the end of the craft anyway, because I'm taking so long to get to 1 synth from finishing + 10 IQ stacks + the rest of my combo leading up to Byregot's that if I don't have a Good to use Byregot's on then I'm not meeting the quality requirement. I'll follow your suggestion regarding recording the process, and I'll probably get a screenshot album done for you to look at tomorrow.

Your feeling is understanding since Rapid Syn is extremely unreliable. However, in these Expert Crafts, you need to push the limits to get it done. So if you use up all those Goods on Intensive Syn, what you will likely end up with after reaching near-max progress is a lack of CP and a low number of IQ stacks.

My approach is to NOT be stingy about Careful Obs.... By contrast to what you think it does (baiting for Goods), I use Careful Obs excessively for baiting Centered and Sturdy, which have a much higher chance of appearing than Goods. So after I pop Veneration, if the condition is Normal, I do NOT use Rapid Syn. I do Careful Obs, and Careful Obs again, and then Observe... I'll do up to 3 times baiting for Centered and Sturdy before I use Rapid Syn. Sure, you'll burn off the Careful Obs in no time, and when you use Observe instead, it burns 7 CP each time, and also a step of Vene. But all these are still better than doing a straight up Rapid Syn on Normal Condition. Because each time you lose 10 durab and a step of Vene together, it hurts way more than consuming some CP.

I save all Goods for Precise Touches instead of Intensive Syn unless my IQ is already at 9 or more. The 1.5x multiplier on quality from Goods is just too much to give up for together with the double IQ increase advantage. After IQ is maxed out, there's no true needs to use Careful Obs anyway. The entire "Touch Combo" (GS, Innov, Obs, FocT, PrudT, PruT) is designed so that every step is a baiting step for a Good. So there's no need to use Careful Obs for baiting Goods. Note that I rarely use "PruT, PruT" these days anymore, as CP is so tight. So if I do have a Careful Obs left, I'd gladly use there to bait for a Centered or Sturdy... surely if a Good pops, I wouldn't use it on the Precise Touch either. If durab is not a concern, I'd even do "BasicT, StandardT" in place of the PruT, PruT... really depends on the need...

Good on a Byregot is a very, very rare thing even if you bait. I wouldn't use it as a frequent strategy.... It's more of a last resort strategy. With the "Touch Combo" baiting Goods every step, it has a much higher chance of getting a Good than trying to get a Good on the Byregot.

[Naizakane]

No problem. But just so you know, the gil rush is finished now though. These items have gone down from 3-5 million gil a piece to 200-400K a piece now. The demand is also a lot lower now... Instead of having 10 pops a day (and yes, it was 10 pops a day, each pop 5 mil, so it was easily 50 mil a day), it's only about 2 to 3 pops a day now.

Oh that's alright with me, as long as I stay above 30 million I'm fine with missing out. Already have my medium, so any reason I have to make more gil would be to meet the costs of upgrading crafter/gatherer gear and keeping enough on hand to enter a lottery in the case my dream plot opens up.

Manip will ALWAYS be much, much better than Master's Mend in terms of CP efficiency, even when used without Primed condition. If you're using Manip + Observe, you may be doing it wrong. It sounds to me that you have been using Manip when durab is like 10 or something, which is way too late. Manip is designed to be used when durab is NEITHER max nor min. That is, ideally, your durab should be between 20 and 40 when you activate Manipulation.

Ah, that's what I was doing wrong? I was going down to 10 because I thought Manip should only be used at the last possible step if I can't get any Primed steps on the way down.

Your feeling is understanding since Rapid Syn is extremely unreliable. However, in these Expert Crafts, you need to push the limits to get it done. So if you use up all those Goods on Intensive Syn, what you will likely end up with after reaching near-max progress is a lack of CP and a low number of IQ stacks.

My approach is to NOT be stingy about Careful Obs.... By contrast to what you think it does (baiting for Goods), I use Careful Obs excessively for baiting Centered and Sturdy, which have a much higher chance of appearing than Goods. So after I pop Veneration, if the condition is Normal, I do NOT use Rapid Syn. I do Careful Obs, and Careful Obs again, and then Observe... I'll do up to 3 times baiting for Centered and Sturdy before I use Rapid Syn. Sure, you'll burn off the Careful Obs in no time, and when you use Observe instead, it burns 7 CP each time, and also a step of Vene. But all these are still better than doing a straight up Rapid Syn on Normal Condition. Because each time you lose 10 durab and a step of Vene together, it hurts way more than consuming some CP.

I didn't think to use Careful Obs to bait conditions outside of Goods for Byregot. I suppose I should be more willing to use those and regular Observe in the progress phase, but at the time it didn't feel like a good idea because of the extremely slim margin of error I had - things were either perfect or unsuccessful.

I was going to do a practice craft today, but I went to look at your guide again to refresh my memory and the site is down.

[Caimie_Tsukino]

The entire ffxivrealm is dead. But I have uploaded a PDF version of it. Please see the bottom part of the first post of the thread. Thanks.