Durability restoration choices?

[Kismet]

I know there are numerous ways to restore durability while crafting. I was just looking for some input on which one(s) you serious crafters use and why. I'm currently using Waste Not/Waste Not II since my LWing was my first 50 craft.

Has anyone experimented with the others enough to call one BETTER than the others?

[Capita]

I know for sure Waste Not II is the least efficient (I doubt anyone could efficiently use the charges without a huge waste -- ironically enough). Master's Mend II, I believe, is the most efficient for 70 or 80 durability items, but I personally have trouble maintaining 160 CP for it. Manipulation is the most consistent, I think. Waste Not is great for Hasty Touch spamming and is my preferred choice for leveling. I'll probably end up using MMII for high-level crafting, though.

I think it really depends on how you craft. Manipulation/Master's Mend is great if you're using Great Strides. Waste Not is great for Hasty Touch spam because you're not wasting charges on other buffs other than Steady Hand.

[Kismet]

I know for sure Waste Not II is the least efficient (I doubt anyone could efficiently use the charges without a huge waste -- ironically enough).

I assume this is due to the fact that you waste so many of the ticks setting up other "buffs" (Steady Hands/Great Strides/etc)? I am trying to find a solid baseline to use to HQ 1-star crafts with 40 durability, using NQ mats. Sounds like for the higher durability crafts, MMII is the way to go. I don't currently have Manipulation but something tells me it will be a huge help on 40 durability crafts. Thanks for the input!

[Laryndra]

I dont use any mending abilities and i HQ 1/2 star all the time. Go the other route and make Each quality touch as strong as it can be.. Not the baby touches.
EX:
Inner quiet--> Great Strides--> Ingenuity II-->Innovation-->Advanced Touch (Usually get around 700 on -normals-)-->Great Strides-->Advanced Touch-->Ingenuity II-->Advanced Touch. Thatll leave you around 40/50 durability depending on synth. Here i will usually use either Rumination or wait for a "good" and use Tricks of the Trade to get enough CP to use Steady Hand II then hasty Touchx2-3 (depending on how many Careful synthesis II's i need to finish the synth). Doing this i can HQ 1 stars from NQ mats nearly 100% of the time, and I am 4/4 on HQing 2 star recipes.

Edit on goods i can get around 1100, Excellents with full buffs = 2100-->2200. Its insane.

[Kismet]

I dont use any mending abilities and i HQ 1/2 star all the time. Go the other route and make Each quality touch as strong as it can be.. Not the baby touches.
EX:
Inner quiet--> Great Strides--> Ingenuity II-->Innovation-->Advanced Touch (Usually get around 700 on -normals-)-->Great Strides-->Advanced Touch-->Ingenuity II-->Advanced Touch. Thatll leave you around 40/50 durability depending on synth. Here i will usually use either Rumination or wait for a "good" and use Tricks of the Trade to get enough CP to use Steady Hand II then hasty Touchx2-3 (depending on how many Careful synthesis II's i need to finish the synth). Doing this i can HQ 1 stars from NQ mats nearly 100% of the time, and I am 4/4 on HQing 2 star recipes.

Edit on goods i can get around 1100, Excellents with full buffs = 2100-->2200. Its insane.

Wow that is insane! Looks like I need to start leveling the other crafts to 50. *bangs head against wall*

[Jess_Spark]

I have had some success using Great Strides followed by Steady hands (if a good condition pops during then I use Tricks of the trade rather than risk the possiblity of failing before Steady hands is on)...then just Great Strides/Standard Touch...I use Masters Mend if My quality is still not there...I find that I have enough CP to do this as well on the 40/40 synths. I do not have any crafters above 30 yet so these are the functions I have...but I am raising them 5 levels at a time because I will have 50 on everything.

Haven't found that Inner Quiet helps me...I do use Waste not on 70/70 to save dur on my progress bar...always taking it to 1 step before finish so i can focus on HQ line and still have like 50 dur to work with...Just gotta ignore the goods that pop up when doing that...but I always go for excellents...

Hopefully this helps...I usually get 90% of my synths HQ...(as long as I'm like 3 or more levels higher than the receipe.)

[Laryndra]

Another thing i forgot to mention. I do not waste CP/Rounds on using Steady hands II -unless- I am going to Hasty Touch. It isn't worth it in the long run if you have Ingenuity II up the whole time (Its only a 10% chance to fail on Advanced Touch, and Careful Synth II can't fail at all).

[Cycloptichorn]

The real problem with Waste Not is, frankly, how many of its' charges you end up wasting, thanks to Tricks of the Trade.

Here's my current rotation for 40-point synths:

Inner Quiet
(Tricks of the Trade, if condition is Good)
Great Strides
(at any point in the next three steps, if the condition changes to Good, I use Standard Synth immediately and then move into the rotation)
Steady Hand
Waste Not
Hasty Touch x4 (using ToT if Good condition pops up)
Master's mend
Steady Hand
Hasty touch x3
Master's mend (if there's enough CP left at this point)
Hasty touch (if there's enough CP left at this point)
Rumination (to get enough CP if there isn't enough left)
Standard Synth x whatever I need to finish
Careful Synth (if I'm really worried about it)

I can generally HQ any item from NQ mats using this method, as long as I'm a couple levels higher than the item in question.

Edit:

Haven't found that Inner Quiet helps me...

Inner quiet is fantastic, might be the best feature in the crafting part of this game. Combined with Rumination, this is THE key to getting consistent HQ's, and it costs very little CP to put on and stay on... pays off every single time you use it, without question.

[Jojoroku]

Master's Mend II is probably the most efficient considering it's pretty hard to make the most out of Waste Not II.

40 durability crafts you can mix it up with Manipulation and Waste Not I.

[Raldo]

There are crafting rotations that make good use of Waste Not II, but to each their own. Waste Not II is the one of the essential pieces of my crafting rotation.