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Crafting Guide

FFXIV: A Realm Reborn Crafting Guide


Crafting in FFXIV: A Realm Reborn is completely different to that in 1.0 and we have updated this guide to reflect that. The crafting system is quite complex and the classes now have more abilities so this crafting guide will most likely be updated again once we are more experienced with the system.


Crafting Tools


In order to start crafting in your chosen discipline you must first equip the tool that belongs to that class. You're probably wondering where you can get hold of these tools but you need not worry about that. Once you join the guild of your choice you will be given a simple introductory quest where you speak to an NPC within the guild. This person will then give you the level 1 crafting tool for this class.

There will come a time when you need to upgrade your crafting tool to a better one, as your level gets higher. The first time is usually around level 5. These better tools can be obtained through crafting, from class quests, buying from other players or by visiting the shops below.

Discipline Limsa Lominsa Gridania Ul'dah
Alchemist (ALC) Yoyobasa
(Saphire Avenue Exchange)
Armorer (ARM) Syneyhil
(West Hawkers' Alley)
Blacksmith (BSM) Syneyhil
(West Hawkers' Alley)
Carpenter (CRP) Admiranda
(Rosewood Stalls)
Culinarian (CUL) Syneyhil
(West Hawkers' Alley)
Goldsmith (GSM) Yoyobasa
(Saphire Avenue Exchange)
Leatherworker (TAN) Admiranda
(Rosewood Stalls)
Weaver (WEA) Yoyobasa
(Saphire Avenue Exchange)


Levelling Up Your Crafting Class


FFXIV Crafting Guildleve
There are two main ways to level up crafting in FFXIV: ARR, which are Tradecraft guildleves and completing the crafting log. By using these you don't really need to grind your levels by making lots of useless items; however you can still do that if you want to.

The thing with guildleves and the crafting log is that they are limited. You will only gain 8 guildleves per day and they are shared with battle classes. It is better to keep these for leveling crafting and using one of the many other methods of leveling your battle classes. You can store up to 99 guildleves so you are not forced to use them or lose them every day.

The nice thing about crafting guildleves is they give a lot of EXP. The level 10 guildleve to the left will earn you 3872, plus they give you shards which you will use in crafting other items. Unlike in 1.0, you are not given the crafting materials needed to do the quest.



The way the crafting log works is that the first time you craft a recipe you will be given a bonus EXP reward, so by crafting everything in your log you will earn some nice EXP. But as the bonus is only on the first synthesis you will run out.

The alternative is old school grinding, which is very repetitive and boring, so we feel it is better to level up crafting at a slower pace entirely by guildleve and crafting log rather than this way. Hardcore players will tell you otherwise however, and that is the road to riches if you are playing on a fresh server. Being at the top of the leveling path is very rewarding, until you hit the cap and lots of people catch up.

If you do go down this route then you need to research which recipes will result in the lowest cost and use the least amount of materials. You will end up losing lots of money as you will end up selling your finished products to an NPC since players will not buy them fast enough.




Beginning a Synthesis


FFXIV Crafting Begin
To begin your synth, first open up your crating log. You will be presented with a window like the one on the left. From here you have a list of recipes that you are able to craft at your level.

The log will tell you how many of each material and shard is required in order to make the synth. If you don't have enough then you need to go buy or gather the materials. Once you have decided which recipe you want to produce and have gathered the materials for it you can start crafting it by clicking Synthesize. Once a recipe has been completed a tick will appear next to the recipe in the crafting log so that you know you have created that item before.




Crafting Mechanics


The crafting menu gives you a number of options and pieces of information about the item you are creating. It gives you your progress, its durability and its quality. As you use actions your progress will increase towards 100% while your durability decreases towards 0%. The goal is to reach 100% progress before 0% durability. Quality is only important if you are going for HQs.

FFXIV Crafting Progress Bar

In FFXIV: ARR each crafting class has 14 abilities that can be used during a synthesis and they can also share some skills between classes. So which strategy you want to take depends on the difficulty of the recipe and how many levels you are above it. It also depends on whether you are going for HQs. Each action you use will take up CP (Crafting Points) and this will limit which abilities you are able to use. This is to stop you using nothing but the best abilities. We recommend you check out our DoH disciplines section for more details on abilities. However the main crafting abilities that you will be using are outlined below.

Basic Synthesis - This is the safety option. It has very little risk and is perfect if you just want to complete the recipe without caring about HQs.

Basic Touch - This ability is intended to be used if you are aiming for quality. The chance of success is lower than that of Basic Synthesis but you will gain quality on a successful action. This will not increase progress.

Master's Mend - This item will restore 30 durability, which in turn helps you complete a synthesis which you may have otherwise failed.

Observe - This does nothing, it just skips the turn and gives your synthesis a chance to recover from an unstable element. An unstable element results in very high quality losses when it explodes.

In the example above with the Amber gem, I used Basic Synthesis once followed by Basic Touch twice; this took me down to 10/40 durability with 45/87 progress left. This did not look great so I had to use Master's Mend, which took me back up to 40/40 durability. From here I then used an ability called Flawless Synthesis, which gives me 50% progress. This completed the synthesis.


HQ Crafting


HQ crafting in FFXIV: ARR is different to that in 1.0 in that there is now no Double Down option after you have completed the synthesis. This used to give a second chance at producing an HQ and destroy your NQ on a fail. Everything else remains the same. Quality is still super important. Quality is displayed in its own bar in the crafting window with a target at the end (2551 in the example below).

FFXIV Crafting HQ Progress Bar

When you start a synth your crafting bar will have an initial quality which is determined based on the quality of your materials. By using HQ materials your quality bar will begin partially filled, while all NQ materials will start it at 0. The goal here is to get as close to the target number as possible. The higher you get, the higher your chance of HQ.

Your chance is displayed as a percentage at the bottom of the crafting window. The scale isn't a simple percentage of the target number however, it's more complex than that and we aren't sure of the exact formula. If you reach the target then you will guarantee yourself an HQ, whereas anything lower will be based on the percentage chance.


Desynthesis


Desynthesis was added in patch 2.3 and it allows players to break down items into their material parts. While not part of the crafting system it is kinda related because crafters need the materials that items are broken down into. Some of these materials can be quite rare.

Desynthesis is not part of any crafting class, you can use the ability no matter which class you are on, even DoW/M classes/jobs. But as with classes/jobs it is something you have to level. Even if you are level 50 GSM for example you will start out at level 0 GSM desynthesis skill. You can then level this up to 100 by breaking down items.

Some items are harder to break down than others and the chance of success will be displayed when you try to desynth it. The difficulty is based on the ilevel of the item and an item with the same ilevel as your desynthesis skill will have a 50% chance of success. So it is best to work your way up. Due to the availability of items with ilevel 50 or less it is very easy to level up to 60, at which point it either becomes very expensive or time consuming due to needing dungeon drops.

It is a good idea to level desynthesis skills that compliment your crafting speciality, for example if you like to sell jewellery you will find GSM desynth skill the most rewarding.




Comments


The following comments are from our legacy commenting system.

Featherwight [Anon]
May 10, 2014 - 20:56:14 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

You should add how craftsmanship and control affect the crafting process
 
sharp [Anon]
Jan 10, 2014 - 21:46:42 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

any details on crafting hq with 100% sucess. i see a few people using the cross class doh abilities to hq every time. i am maining looking for how they manage this. it would be like 4 cross class abilities, touch, touch, abilties then syth and his stuff comes out hq. he does hq 2 star items, but figure it would help while i am leveling too not just for ilvl70 stuff. i am also currently researching melding and trying to understand when he says the item is capped on an ability to add more matria, or increase sucess of adding like 6 materia to a 1 materia slot ring. instead of 45% chance fail on my second maeteria meld.
 
Elarnia [Anon]
Nov 10, 2013 - 22:09:40 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

" Quality is only important if you are going for HQs."

Actually - going for a quality increase is worthwhile even if you have no (or very little) chance of getting HQ - it increases the exp points you get for the crafting - the increased points are not based primarily on success at HQ, but on how hard you tried and how many processes you used. - cheers
 
Xenor
Sep 19, 2013 - 12:55:15 | Location: Durham, United Kingdom

Hi Knows Better, that is an advertisement you are referring to, not part of the guide.
 
knows better [Anon]
Sep 18, 2013 - 19:43:02 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

stopped reading when you recommended paying for a leveling guide. this is info for babies.
 
Anonymous
Sep 18, 2013 - 18:55:21 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

@Xenor To be fair, it's comprehensive enough to count!
 
Xenor
Sep 12, 2013 - 18:23:06 | Location: Durham, United Kingdom

Haha Kaelani I've lost count how many people have posted comments/tweeted/e-mailed me about server/account issues. I don't know why some people think this is an official website.
 
Kaelani [Anon]
Sep 11, 2013 - 20:59:27 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

@ Anon: Pretty sure this website isn't associated with the actual Square Enix folks. Take your complaints to official forums, not a game-related website.
 
fix [Anon]
Aug 28, 2013 - 01:09:57 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

U guys need to fix the full world thing when people stay afk for so long they get DC cuz it makes other people not to be able to enjoy the game we all payed for when every world is full
 
Ranamoor
Aug 15, 2013 - 08:37:45 | Location: Unknown, Denmark

Feels like crafting in EverQuest 2... Nice info.
 
Anonymous
Jan 23, 2011 - 18:45:35 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

Great tips, but some times the synth just keeps failing. Why is that? or is it just about luck? Cheers.

 
Anonymous
Dec 17, 2010 - 17:26:31 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

And what about stability? I think you should tell us more
 
Anonymous
Oct 01, 2010 - 08:12:33 | Location: Nowhere, In a Box

great synth tips!