Zomg. Disappearance!

Sorry about no updates, recently. I'd give some reasons, but then again; I really can't stand it when people try to reinforce a situation with excuses. So, I'll just apologize, and tell you that I am still here, and I even made a small amount of progress towards a relative point, towards crafting as a Goldsmither! ..I'll explain;

Since I actually haven't been crafting, lately, I 'have' been looking for Crafting Materials. <3! So, if you're also a player who has a separate damage-dealing class leveled (or leveling!) then this pertains to you in particular.

Farming for Materials!
Look at it like this; we're all crafting and trying to make something of ourselves, but one of the hardest parts of Goldsmithing is maintaining: Gil, Materials, and Crystals / Shards. Our craft has several recipes that require whole Crystals to make a basic Synth (I.E: Earth Rock -> Marbled Eye [Craft Information will be posted below.]) That being said, we're constantly using crystals to make obscenely low level synths! ;_; Hunt Elementals! I haven't had the opportunity to farm them, per se, but, I imagine around Rank 25+, they're definitely duo-able with a healer in your arsenal, or solo as a Conjurer / Thaumaturge. Find an Alchemist friend to help and have them break your Crystals in to Shards. I'm sure they'll be happier than sin to do it for you, if you're willing to cover the cost of their sand..
Also, I was looking for raw materials for synthesis, as well.. Mining is a great way to obtain these materials, especially if you have tons of Crystals and Shards to waste. Another great source of materials, I'm suspecting, is the Coblyn monsters found in/around Ul'dah! Sphene Doblyn's are too much for me to handle, but as your Rank level gets up there, I'm sure you can feel free to help yourself to some possibly great materials, while also earning SP and EXP for your melee / mage class! <3

That's what I've learned in the last little while. Stay on those levequests! Happy crafting, friends. ^^;

..Oh yeah, that Wind Crystal Recipe for Marbled Eye's! - -'

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Marbled Eye;

Crafts: Goldsmithing Crystals: Water Shard x 2 Wind Crystal x 1 Training Gemcutting Training

Ingredients: Wind Rock x 1 Yield: NQ: Marbled Eye x 1 HQ 1: Wind Moraine x 1 HQ 2: Eye of Wind x 1

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You know what I think!? [Rank 15]

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Hasty Hand

Hasty Hand

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Advances synthesis progress. Most effective for parts.

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...Sucks.

Growing up is [not] so fun. [Ranks 11 ~ 15]

Well, growing up can be fun~ ^^; But, it seems the more we level our ways into our favourite craft, we're looking at more time between levels; longer distances for our shoes to tread.

I feel I've done well, considering my constraints on playtime ( I 'am' a father, and a loving husband. ^^; ) Also on that note, I am trying to make regular progress, and furthermore--regular updates on the blog. So, carrying on to a positive-er display, let's talk about the task at hand.. Rank 11 ~ Rank 15. ..Here we go~!

So, like I iterated in my last post, Levequests! Do your Levequests! Do your Levequests~!!! They provided me (over the course of about 3 sets) enough to garner bunches of experience in order to progress so quickly in such a little time. I found a pretty decent, and cheap, craft to start pounding out, which I started around Rank 13. I'm sure I dissed it last post... I'll check right now!

Yeah, I did. Copper Rings, and I commented the following, in my Rank 9 ~ Rank 11 post.

"I decided that I'd try this synth out at Rank 9. This synth, to put it clearly, sucked at both Rank 9 and Rank 10. I found the success to be few and far between, and durability dropped like a rock. I even noticed quite a few Unstable states forming. And, apparently, it sucks to try a Synthesis action while that Elemental Ring is spinning around your orb, signifying the "Unstable Element." I've had successes on it, but haven't noticed anything different, really. I'd usually just wait it out. But, success was worth about 350 Rank Points. I just found the price of the synthesis price Vs. the success rate wasn't worth it. Keep any Copper Nuggets you get, to repair random jewelry found in Bazaars."

I'll post the Recipe again.

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Copper Ring;

Crafts: Goldsmithing (11) Crystals: Fire Shard x 2 Wind Shard x 4

Ingredients: Copper Nugget x 2 Yield: NQ: Copper Ring x 1

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Copper Rings are Cheap. They're easy to make. And they NPC for a decent price. You're looking at 800 gil per synth (Plus the Shards.) On top of that, you're also most likely going to NPC'ing if you're doing this in quantity (I ended up doing about 50 synths between Rank 13 ~ Rank 15.) NPC value at the Goldsmith Guild in Ul'dah, 576 Gil. Total Profit & Loss: -234 Gil. Gil, at this point in the game, is looking to be fairly easy to get in quantities that can be spent on buying a stack of Copper Nuggets, etc. I like math, so I'll crunch some numbers, quickly.

Copper Nugget x99 : 39,600 Gil. [400 x 99. To be honest, for 50 Synths, that's a decent price..)
Provided Synthesis: 49 Synth's. [1 Extra copper nugget... maybe you could repair some jewelry!]
End Result : 49 Copper Rings. [Well, if you're super-duper lucky, and play your cards right. Realistically, it's probably a bit closer to 40 rings, give or take a few.)
Max Profit & Loss : -11,376 Gil. [This is if you decide to solely NPC your labours. Definitely feel free to sell via your Bazaar for whatever price you can sell for. Also, if you have a retainer, or two, that'll also help free up space and earn some extra cash; coupled with some patience.]

Also, each synthesis was rewarding me anywhere from 250 ~ 350 Skill points, so that math means...
Successful Synths [Multiplied by] Variable Experience (250 ~ 350) results in : 12,250 ~ 17,150 Rank points! inorite!? Not bad for burning an afternoon, and killing some time between levequests.

...You have been doing them, right? Your Levequests, that is! I was able to take the copper ingots I'd earned as rewards from levequests, and got some Animal Glue from my brother (who's an Alchemist,) and created some Marbled Eyes out of some Elemental Rocks. I made a few Copper Scepter's and even got a High Quality result in the mix. I'm saving them, for the time being, to make the attempt at a High Quality Decorated Scepter. Here are the synths, for your pleasure.

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Copper Scepter;

Crafts: Goldsmithing Crystals: Fire Shard x 3 Ice Shard x 5 Training Inlaying Training

Ingredients: Animal Glue x 1 Copper Ingot x 1 Marbled Eye x 1 Yield: NQ: Copper Scepter x 1

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Decorated Copper Scepter;

Crafts: Goldsmithing (15) Crystals: Fire Shard x 5 Ice Shard x 7 Training Inlaying Training

Ingredients: Brass Nugget x 1 Bronze Nugget x 1 Copper Scepter x 1 Yield: NQ: Decorated Copper Scepter x 1 HQ 1: Decorated Copper Scepter +1

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If the upgraded version of the Copper Scepter is a Rank 15 goldsmithing recipe, then the base recipe has got to be lower. I achieved my High Quality upon my first synth. I was pretty excited! ^^; You can also spam this recipe, just because of the resale value of the scepter. And, if you're already ahead of the class, you can give the decorated scepter a shot! And share with the rest of the class!

...Whew! What a post! Now to finish with some great findings. ^^;

1. I have plans. As I'd mentioned, I have some plans to help detail the basics of Crafting. It's just finding the time.. ;_; My life is pretty busy with my wife and son, and also having visitors for the last few weeks. It is going to happen! I already have some ideas of some great things to come.
2. A new design! While Blogger's web styles are pretty decent, I'm a pretty talented Graphics Designer myself, so I'll start building a custom template, do some custom graphics, and even some custom programming! Huhwheee~~~
3. I've made some findings on High Quality results! I was waaaay off from my initial ideas. I'll tell a little story, to help explain how I felt, and just how wrong I was, and finally the findings!

My Findings (+1!);
Sooo.. My very first High Quality, if you remember reading, was a Bone Ring +1. If you don't remember, or haven't read, I'd started mining to get some materials for Crafting. Lucky enough, I pulled up a Bone Chip +3! I popped the synthesis, and I started with a whopping 250* Quality, and about 230** Durability! I was amazed. After utilizing most of that durability for Bold Synthesis, I was able to jack the Quality of the crafted item to about 550! 550 Quality! When I finally hit 100% on the progress bar, it showed up as Bone Ring +1. I tried a few Touch Up's, but nothing resulted more than the +1. After this exciting event, I believed that a High Quality synth for sure had to be an extreme number. My brother had told me stories of never seeing a High Quality, even at 200+ Quality. I was very nervous, because with regular materials, it seems almost impossible to get that high of results!!!
On to the actuals and factuals.. While I was doing my Copper Rings, for my grind from Rank 13 ~ Rank 15, I managed to score several Copper Ring +1's, with quality as low as 55. So~ If you can manage to get a synthesis above 50 quality, and you have the extra Durability, definitely give your 'Touch Up' option a shot. You never know...
I interpret these findings in the following way; no matter what the quality of the finished product is, there's always a chance for High Quality to result. I'm using the [Quality] as a modifier for [High Quality Chance], and finally using [Touch Up] as a "Retry" effort, such as re-rolling the odds of the High Quality Opportunity.. While I believe there's always a chance for High Quality, that doesn't mean that more quality isn't better. Look at it like this;

(These are just figurative numbers which represent absolutely nothing, other than the theoretical representation of what I'm trying to portray.)

Quality: 100. End Result: Normal Quality. Chance for High Quality at 100 Quality: 15%.

[Synthesis Process;]

• Standard Synthesis ->
  
• Success! Durability: 52. Quality: 100. Normal Quality.
• Touch Up -> [Chance for High Quality re-rolled at 15%]
  
• Durability Decreases by 7. Durability: 45. Quality 100. Normal Quality.
• Touch Up -> [Chance for High Quality re-rolled at 15%]
  
• Durability Decreases by 9. Durability: 36. Quality 100. Normal Quality.
• Touch Up -> [Chance for High Quality re-rolled at 15%]
  
• Durability Decreases by 4. Durability: 41. Quality 100. High Quality!

Make sense? I hope so. ^^; As Quality increases, the High Quality Percentage raises. My numbers and figures are just made up, but I know for a fact you can High Quality on a Copper Ring with as low as 55 Durability! If you're shooting for a High Quality, though, try to finish with over 100 Quality, and as much durability left as possible, to re-roll your Touch Up as many times as you can!

I hope you enjoyed the post! Lots of information waiting to be absorbed by those of us who're aspiring and attempting to achieve greatness! Leave some comments, tell some friends, and let's all be the best Goldsmithies that we can be! ^^; Thanks for the time, and Happy Crafting!

Some points of advice.

Well, I haven't updated in a couple days, but my home life and work life keeps me pretty busy! But, fear not... I'm still going to do everything I can to continue my success as a Goldsmithy, and record all of my findings and results with the world~ Some quick updates;

• I'm still Rank 11.
  
• I've prepared some advice!
• I've made some findings. (Advice ^)
• I've heard some Rumours. (Within Advice, as well.)
  
• I've prepared an idea of some added content for the Blog.
• My son turns a Year old, today! (Well, by the time I finish this post it'll be Friday, October 8th.) Big Birthday for Saturday. Wheeee~ ^^;!
• Still no Updates on Epiphany...
  
• And, I'm still Rank 11. ;_;

Okay, let's start with...

!Speculation!
I've heard some rumours, regarding Crafting..

1. While conversing with my brother, today, he explained to me that while crafting, if a specific action is successfully completed in succession ( 2+ times in a row) that the results will start beneficially stacking; thus ramping up. He explained to me, "When I use Bold Synthesis paired with my Preserve skill [Maintains a white orb for 3 turns], I'll see results such as; Increase in Quality by 29 [First time], Increase in Quality by 31 [Second time], Increase in Quality by 33 [Third time]." I'm sure he didn't mean that it increases like clockwork by 2 each time, but, he seems to think it has some effect.
2. Also, I did overhear a linkshell member stating that the more successes during the Synthing process, that more successes are likely to happen. I suppose he meant using Standard Synthesis to solidify a success streak, then attempting more risky maneuvers.

Do I believe any of this? To be frank... No. Am I always right..? I'd like to think so, but I very well could be wrong. I don't always buy what I sell, but if you're a hardcore number cruncher, maybe this information is useful to you! ^^; Anyways, just some speculation and rumours, for the time being.

So, now that we've pushed that whole story aside, I can move in to some actual advice, from the Lalafell Gambler, himself!

My advice today is pretty limited, but I think it's great advice (regardless of what discipline!) Use your Levequests, and use them frequently. ..I know, you're already doing that, and good for you! But, I personally believe that a lot of people don't want to either; spend the anima to get around to different cities, do the legwork involved, grab leve's from crowded Adventurer's Guild's, or are just too darn lazy! I just realized (I've known you get rewards, but I had my own Epiphany) that the rewards you get are actually pretty decent! Let's go down the list..

1. Free Ingredients! : Umm.. Not a single bad thing about this. Even if you're rank 10+ and doing level 1 Guildleve's, you're looking at free crafting ingredients. Also, with your increased skill and proficiency in your craft, you handle the materials better; thus allowing a higher Quality (Not High Quality [+1]) item to be made, improving your evaluation, and improving your gil & rank / experience points reward. Think about that, will you!
2. Gil! :Yheey, money~! Shiny things! One day, they'll organize the Market Ward's, and us Goldsmithies will be able to go and find some actual useful items for ourselves! You'll definitely need some barter moneys.
3. Rank / Experience Points! : You're receiving an above-average amount of Rank / Experience points per synth, and even doing your lower-level Levequests, you're higher quality item are yielding more Rank / Experience points per successful synth (Based on final quality.)
4. Rewards! : Gil is cool. So is Experience / Rank Points. Heck, I've even heard that you can get Guild Marks for GLD on the 20+ Leve's. But, the actual reward you get is a Recipe relevant to your trade (In our case, Goldsmithing.) Jot it down, maybe that specific recipe isn't on the Wiki! You can either share it, or keep it to yourself. I won't pass any judgment! But, even better yet.. I noticed I was getting Silver Ingots from my levequests! It's a material that can be used for later on synthesis materials, helping us all out in the long run and saving quite a bit of shiny Gil in the process. Stock pile these supplies if you haven't found a use for them yet... They've got to be good for something, they've just got to!

And, that's pretty much it. Get those Levequests done! Get those materials! Save those Recipes! ..Maybe I'll see you out in the field, and you can teach ME a thing or two! And, on a semi-final note, as mentioned above I still have yet to find any significance with Epiphany. It's probably a Placebo thing, and once somebody has definitively described it, we'll all go, "Oh my... That 'is' wonderful! Now that I know what it does, all of that previous crafting all makes sense now!"

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Oh well. On the absolute final note, I wanted to make some space to wish my good friend Cullen (FFXI: Rasta) who's on deployment with the U.S. Marine Corp., serving his country. Take care, buddy, and stay safe. Miss talking to you~ ^^;

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