Why do Heaven's Eye II and III have the same stats?

[Molly_Millions]

Why do Heaven's Eye II and III have the same stats? Why would I ever want a Heaven's Eye III when I could put a Heaven's eye II on my gear for the same stats but a higher success rate?

This seems like a HUGE oversight on the part of SE's QA staff.

[Asiaine]

Heavens' Eye (and likewise Hells' Eye) overlap on II and III.
II: +9, +10, +11, +12
III: +11, +12, +13, +15

So you can get +11 and +12 from either II or III. However, if you want +13 or +15 you will need III.

The benefit of this is that you can add Materia to give +11 or +12 to items that are lower than level 41. (Only items Level 41+ can use III or IV materia).

Although it does seem 'odd' to have the overlap, as it is not common, it happens enought to suggest it was intended. Additionally, unless you want the low end of III (+11 and +12) you would need III anyways (to get +13 or +15).

In fact, in my opinon, III is better than II for Level 41+ equipment, as you can meld +13 or +15 at a fraction of the price of IV. Additionally, III will be more common than IV (and I believe more common than II if you are spiritbonding Level 41+ equipment).

[Molly_Millions]

ok, so there are still teir IIIs that nobody would ever want.

IIIs are never better than a II with the same amount of stats, the II will give you something like 10% higher success rate, more if you put another II instead of a III on for the sencond materia. Try it.

[Asiaine]

You are correct that if all you are after is +11/+12 you are (usually) better off going with the T2 versus the T3 variant. The reason I say 'usually' is, I believe you are more likely to convert an item into a +12 T3 than a +12 T2 so in that sense the +12 T3 is more 'common' than a +12 T2. And if you need a lot of them or want to save a few extra gil, +12 T3 may be a better option.

But if we take availability out of the equation and are only concerned with equipment Level 41+, then yes +11/+12 T2 is better choice than +11/+12 T3.

[Molly_Millions]

You are correct that if all you are after is +11/+12 you are (usually) better off going with the T2 versus the T3 variant. The reason I say 'usually' is, I believe you are more likely to convert an item into a +12 T3 than a +12 T2 so in that sense the +12 T3 is more 'common' than a +12 T2. And if you need a lot of them or want to save a few extra gil, +12 T3 may be a better option.

But if we take availability out of the equation and are only concerned with equipment Level 41+, then yes +11/+12 T2 is better choice than +11/+12 T3.

My highest craft isn't even 40, so when I'm getting gear melded, all I care about is success rate. So yes, T3 11s and 12s are useless in my eyes. It's also important to note that this is the only type of materia that follows this pattern, thus it's highly unlikely that it was intentionally created that way.