Crafting in video games can sometimes be confusing, especially since every video game has its own system that can vary in complexity.
While at first I genuinely didn’t enjoy crafting in FFXIV because I found it confusing and difficult, the more time I spent with it the more it became my favourite form of Crafting.
In theory, FFXIV Crafting is simple, you have a progress bar and a quality bar, the difficulty lies in the fact that each resource a player wants to craft has different metrics that make them more or less difficult to perfect. Not only that but with every action a player uses the integrity of the Craft diminishes. It can also take on a modifier that can let a player use a more useful ability that drastically increases either quality or synthesis.
Each craft a player completes is genuinely a mini-game and though late-game players will often create macros to finish their Crafting faster, a player must understand the ins and outs of Crafting in order to do this.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to take you through some of the most frequent questions I get asked about Crafting, while I will not be taking you through things like your Crafting Rotations or how to min-max Crafters I will cover the tools you have at your disposal as well as the stats you should be aware of.
Note: If you have any questions about FFXIV that you want me to cover feel free to leave them in a comment below, you can also ask me while I am streaming on Twitch, YouTube or in our community discord.
WHAT IS CP IN FFXIV?
CP in FFXIV stands for Crafting Points. The simplest way to describe it is that this stat is like stamina or mana, except for Crafting.
You see, each ability a player uses when Crafting will consume different amounts of CP and if players run out of CP before the end of a craft they will lose the resources used for that craft.
Unlike mana or GP, CP will reset each time a player exits a craft. Though at first, a player will have no abilities that help regain CP, as the player levels they will unlock abilities that will either consume less CP as well as an ability that can be used to regain CP when the condition of the craft is Good or Excellent. Though enticing a player will always want to make sure that they have balanced their stats to ensure that they guarantee a successful craft each time. Unfortunately, this varies from level to level and will also change based on what it is you are crafting and if it is an “Expert Craft” which uses a somewhat more complicated crafting system.
IS CP THE MOST IMPORTANT STAT WHEN CRAFTING?
Realistically, no. CP is generally one of the least important if not the least important stat when it comes to Crafting. This varies from Gear set and level, however, a good Crafter will recognize what tools they have at their disposal and will typically focus on the other stats to boost the amount of progress or quality each action provides.
While yes a player can take more actions when their CP is high, without significant Craftsmanship and Control the progress or quality of an item will hardly change making the CP useless.
SHOULD I USE CP MATERIA?
As I’m sure most players are aware, almost all Gear can be customized by melding Materia. While some stats are more niche and allow for players to customize more freely, Crafters tend to have a more rigid “this is the best.”
In my time playing FFXIV I have never seen a Gearset that recommends CP Materia, though this doesn’t include Crafted Crafters’ Gear that requires pentamelding to hyper min-max all of the Crafter stats.
The average player will not need to hyper-optimize in order to complete the majority of Crafts, however, players who are regularly completing Expert Crafts will.
The resource I use for my optimal Crafting melds is Teamcraft. Not only do they release guides specifically on Crafting and Gathering, but they also have a very active community that will help newer crafters achieve the tasks they set out to do.
OKAY, SO NO CP MATERIA, BUT I NEED MORE, HOW DO I GET IT?
The nice thing about FFXIV is there are always workarounds to help you get the stats that you need to complete tasks.
Though it is not recommended that players use Materia to boost their CP, it is generally recommended that players use Food to do this.
Again, the average player will not need food to Craft the majority of resources unless their Gear is not good enough. While Vendor Gear can take you through tasks like Tribal Quests and Custom Deliveries, a player will want to have either Crafter Crafters’ Gear or Scrip pGear to complete more complicated Crafts, especially if they are end-game Crafts.
I typically use food that has Control and CP on it and will always make sure the food is HQ as this will provide you with more of both stats.
TIP: USE HIGH-QUALITY INTERMEDIATE INGREDIENTS FOR YOUR CRAFTS
The biggest tip I could ever give you when Crafting is to always use High-Quality Intermediate ingredients if you are Crafting something that needs to be High-Quality or is a Collectable that needs to be turned in.
Although not always a possibility, there are a number of Crafting recipes that use ingredients like Lumber or Bolts that can be high-quality.
Pre-End Walker players used to be able to Gather High-Quality ingredients, however, now that this is no longer possible players will have to resort to only Intermediate Crafts.
Now, this isn’t all that bad as Intermediate Crafts can still provide you with up to 50% quality even before you make your first move, and I would strongly suggest that you make due this way rather than try to maximize your CP.
If you are still struggling beyond this then I strongly recommend taking a good look at your Gear and seeing whether or not it might be time to invest in a new set. The majority of your stats come from your Tools, so you may want to work towards a Relic as I have in order to complete the more complicated crafts.
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