Best materia setup for crafters?

[Searious]

I didn't list it, since it's your call as to which order you meld in, and there's a few different options. I'm not even sure which one I would suggest since I haven't max-melded any body yet (though I have done all the rest, except offhand of course).

This option has the advantage of using cheaper materia on the forbidden melds, so you don't blow up as much cash.

Each option is equally valid, and will get you to the same stats. The choice is yours. There are other options you could use (such as using Control IV and I, instead of III and II for either option), but I consider the above two to be the best ones when taking materia prices and availability into account.

I've updated my earlier post to reflect this information, as well as the optimum melds for the accessories.

Thank you very much!

[CatholicFan]

Head (HQ AF): 4 Craftsmanship; 5 Control; 0 CP
- Optimum meld: Control IV, Craftsmanship II, Control I

Just a quick note, you can obtain this optimum meld with Control III, Control II, Craftsmanship II. Because the head-pieces have two materia slots, you're guaranteed 100% on the first two melds. You can just pick whichever rank-II materia is cheapest on your server to use for the forbidden meld, which actually has a fairly high percentage to succeed (42%, if I remember correctly).

I just wanted to point this out, as it is a significant difference in cost to go for a IV+I setup over a III+II setup, and they yield the same statistics for your piece.

[CatholicFan]

Offhand (HQ Militia): 19 Craftsmanship; 11 Control; 3 CP
- It is impossible to reach all the stat caps on this, so it's your pick what you meld.

I'm getting ready to start melding my Militia offhand. Does anyone have any suggestions based what they put into theirs? I'm considering doing the following:

Control IV
Craftsmanship IV
Control III
Control III
CP III

That would give me +10 Control, +6 Craftsmanship, and +3 CP. Any thoughts? Do you find you have enough Control with the other stats in the optimal, where I should swap the Control III's with Craftsmanship III's to help progress?

[Kakure]

That would give me +10 Control, +6 Craftsmanship, and +3 CP. Any thoughts? Do you find you have enough Control with the other stats in the optimal, where I should swap the Control III's with Craftsmanship III's to help progress?

If you have max-melded accessories, you can get the stats to make 100% HQ 80-durability items (see the guides in this forum) without overmelding any of your class-specific pieces except maybe the chest. At that point, the only real benefit you get from additional melds is a higher chance of making HQ 40-durability items.

Once you have the stats necessary to make HQ 80-durability items with NQ components, you don't really need to HQ the components anyway. So unless you plan on making HQ two-star 40-durability components (e.g. Vanya Silk) to sell, you are pretty much just improving your already high chance of making HQ Darksteel Nuggets or whatever.

In short, overmelding your offhand seems kind of like overkill to me.

[Raldo]

I'm getting ready to start melding my Militia offhand...

After melding everything else, I've deemed it a complete waste of time to bother melding the offhand beyond a single materia (and to be entirely honest, I just meld enough to reach the 2-star stat thresholds w/o food, then stop so most of my offhands have no materia on them at all).

Oh dang, the person above me just basically said the same thing, whoops.

Just a quick note, you can obtain this optimum meld with...

I'm well aware of this, and anyone who took the time to think things through should be able to figure this out for themselves. Your suggestion applies to head/hands/legs/feet. I posted those optimum melds long before putting much thought into it (back when I was blowing my cracked materia and didn't realize the rarity of T4 materia), but I will update my earlier post to reflect the obvious ones.

[Rowyne]

Body (HQ AF): 16 Craftsmanship; 5 Control; 0 CP
- Optimum meld option 1: Craftsmanship IV, Control III, Craftsmanship III, Craftsmanship III, Control II
- The above option has less reliance on Tier-4 materia
- Optimum meld option 2: Craftsmanship IV, Craftsmanship IV, Craftsmanship III, Control II, Craftsmanship II
- The above option has less expensive forbidden melds

This is a fantastic guide! Thanks for this.

However, I think option 2 has a typo. Shouldn't it be Craftsmanship IV, Craftsmanship IV, Control III, Control II, Craftsmanship II?

[Dreamer]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but from what I've seen thus far the CP materia are a waste of slots. The amount even a materia IV will add is utterly negligible compared to comes on the gear, and nowhere near enough to make a difference. My current priority is Control > Craftsmanship > CP.

[Rainsford]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but from what I've seen thus far the CP materia are a waste of slots. The amount even a materia IV will add is utterly negligible compared to comes on the gear, and nowhere near enough to make a difference. My current priority is Control > Craftsmanship > CP.

You're correct, but one IV Materia (or, in some cases, one III Materia) is enough to cap a particular stat on HQ gear, so there's really no reason not to put the CP on at that point.

[SedoSan]

Hmm, so the only options we have is in the offhand tool?
19 Craftsman, 7+ Control and 3 CP

With 5 slots maximum, to cap craftsmanship we need 3x Craftsman IV, 1x Craftsman I (or 3x Craftsman III, 1x Craftsman II)
to cap control we need at least 2 slots (1x Control IV, 1x Control III), then finally 1x CP III.
So theoretically we need at least 7 slots to cap stats on the offhand. And this being a single slot item (it will be very expensive to successfully meld all 5 slots!)
So, what is the best route to go here >.>

[Zetonegi]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but from what I've seen thus far the CP materia are a waste of slots. The amount even a materia IV will add is utterly negligible compared to comes on the gear, and nowhere near enough to make a difference. My current priority is Control > Craftsmanship > CP.

A few CP can be the difference between an extra Master's Mend II or an extra Steady Hand(II). Since Tricks of the Trade returns 20 and Steady Hand(II) costs 22/25 every 2/5 CP is like an extra one and if you've been crafting a lot, you've probably noticed the times when you're a few CP short of doing whatever action you want and have to settle for something inferior instead, not guaranteeing a HQ.

Hmm, so the only options we have is in the offhand tool?
19 Craftsman, 7+ Control and 3 CP

With 5 slots maximum, to cap craftsmanship we need 3x Craftsman IV, 1x Craftsman I (or 3x Craftsman III, 1x Craftsman II)
to cap control we need at least 2 slots (1x Control IV, 1x Control III), then finally 1x CP III.
So theoretically we need at least 7 slots to cap stats on the offhand. And this being a single slot item (it will be very expensive to successfully meld all 5 slots!)
So, what is the best route to go here >.>

ControlIV ControlIII CPIII done
Craftsmanship is kinda useless at high levels outside of giving you access to synths. You won't really see a difference when you're finishing synths in 2-3 actions, depending on if its a 40/80 durability item, under ingenuity(II).