My Craft Skills Aren't Going Up. Please Help!

[Snowball]

So my leathercraft is only LvL 2, and I've been crafting sheep leather for a while now. (it's currently my favourite item to craft) I find it the most easiest thing to craft because 1) the materials are easy to obtain 2) I don't like to craft something which includes too many of one thing, and..... 3)sheep leather at skill LvL 2 sells for a higher price on fenrir out of all you can craft at LvL 2.
But now, here's my problem.
After a while of crafting the same item, I am finding that my leathercraft skill isn't giong up anymore. /sigh. :worry: so I proceed to search the info with the guild npcs to see what else I could craft instead. (not sure which they are right now. still have to go back and search on this one)
So anyway, I'm In Windurst, and I continue to craft roasted corn, (also at lvl 2, my current cooking skill lvl) which ALSO..... is not raising my skill any, after crafting it for a while. So again, I proceed to to ask around the npcs to see what else I can craft.
But here's another problem.
Some of the other foods they have said I can craft, are at a higher lvl than my cooking skill lvl. For e.g. I look up "Pebble Soup" on 'somepage.com' (I was told that I could craft this by one cooking guild npc) which is skill lvl 5, grilled hare at skill lvl 6, orange juice at skill lvl 10. I just don't understand! :worry: :worry:
I thought I would at least be told to start crafting foods at lvl 3, but why am I given the option to craft food items which are beyond my skill lvl?
Shouldn't the npcs be waiting until I reach that skill lvl until they tell me I can craft something at a certain lvl?
I'm quite confused over this, and am wondering if anyone could expain why I am getting this ingame? Does this happen to anyone else?
Please help. :cool:

[Icemage]

Uh... you gain skill by attempting synths ABOVE your skill level. Crafting anything at or below your level produces no skill gains (as you've noticed).

This is how it's supposed to work. The NPCs explain this pretty thoroughly when you sign up for the guilds...


Icemage

[Caspian]

Its best to pick a craft thats 3+ levels ahead of your current skill. Click me (http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp/ffxi/us/index.html) for a database with all the possible crafts. At 5 levels and less you can skill off of breaks. You can pick crafts that are 7 or so levels ahead of your current level if you use guild enhancement. Much more than that without guild point items and you'll get lots of breaks with no skillups and very few successes at all.

[Treth]

also, it is said that skill ups, hqs and synth completions have a tie into what direction u r facing when u synth (idk if its been technically proven, but it doesnt hurt) try checking out this website http://www.iluvitar.com/sections/ffxi/craft/compass.html

[Snowball]

Thanks a lot for the info guys. :)
But I was always under the impression that you could only craft items at your own skill LvL, (thus raising skillups in this way) otherwise it would become a desynth, and have a lot of breaks. But the way you describe it, I guess it starts to make more sense to me.
Also, I probably didn't folow the dialogue properly with the npcs you speak to when you first sign up with each of the guilds around vana 'diel. I was hoping I might find somewhere, (around the ffxl sites) any of the explanations on registering with the guilds that you read with the npcs ingame, so that I could read over them again to give myeslf a better understanding. I have looked around, but all I can find is the location of the guild npcs, and where the guilds are. Is there any info on this that I could possibly read over again or not? If not, then it's no big deal.
I've been reading a few posts here in which people have said that you can synth items about 10-15 levels above your skill lvl, but I'm worried about too many breaks in this case. I guess I should probably stick to something about 5 levels above, at the most.
"Treth",
Thanks for the chart info. :)
I've read that people get successful synths depending on the day (and the element) and the direction you face (I think there was something else too, though I can't remember right now) though I'm not too keen on the idea.
I'll use that chart though and see what I get. It might come in useful. I'll see. :cool:

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Thanks a lot for the info guys. :)
But I was always under the impression that you could only craft items at your own skill LvL, (thus raising skillups in this way) otherwise it would become a desynth, and have a lot of breaks. But the way you describe it, I guess it starts to make more sense to me.
A desynth is a recipe where you use a Lightning Crystal on a finished product, and a successful attempt results in one of the ingredients for making the product. What you've described is imply a failed synthesis, not a desynthesis.

Also, I probably didn't folow the dialogue properly with the npcs you speak to when you first sign up with each of the guilds around vana 'diel. I was hoping I might find somewhere, (around the ffxl sites) any of the explanations on registering with the guilds that you read with the npcs ingame, so that I could read over them again to give myeslf a better understanding. I have looked around, but all I can find is the location of the guild npcs, and where the guilds are. Is there any info on this that I could possibly read over again or not?
What the Guild NPC tells you when you first sign up is inconsequential. You can sign up with all the guilds without any drawbacks.

I've been reading a few posts here in which people have said that you can synth items about 10-15 levels above your skill lvl, but I'm worried about too many breaks in this case. I guess I should probably stick to something about 5 levels above, at the most.
Technically, you can attempt a recipe once it is within 15 levels of your effective skill. But you're practically guaranteed to break the synth. The main reason anyone tries a recipe this far above their level is to verify the level cap for a recipe's support craft. If the cap is 16 levels above your effective skill, you won't even attempt it. You'll simply be given a message that says this recipe is too far above your skill, or something to that effect.

The only time I would suggest using a recipe that is 10 levels or more above your actual skill level is if you have enhancements to raise your skill level. This is what is meant by "effective skill". For instance, if your skill is 50, and you get advanced image support, your effective skill is 53. If you also happen to have a guild item that gives you +1 skill, then your effective skill is 54.

Generally, I'm willing to try a recipe for skill ups if the cap is 5 levels above my effective skill. A few times I have done a recipe that was 6 or 7 levels above my effective skill, but those were rare cases where the recipe I was attempting was much, much cheaper than the alternatives (e.g. Insect Fletchings, caps at 52, I started right at 42 once I was done with Bird Fletchings).

[Snowball]

A desynth is a recipe where you use a Lightning Crystal on a finished product, and a successful attempt results in one of the ingredients for making the product. What you've described is imply a failed synthesis, not a desynthesis.
I assume you were using Lightning crystal as an example to describe what a desynth is. (i.e. you could have used earth or fire or wind e.t.c. it doesn't JUST have to be lightning)
Okay, so for e.g. - Sheep leather at skill level 2.
Ingredients : Sheepskin, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Distilled Water.
Crystal : Dark
So what you're saying is, (in this case for e.g.) that could use a dark crystal with a sheep leather, (the item being crafted in the 1st instance) resulting in either Sheepskin, Windurstian Tea Leaves or Distilled Water. Is that correct?
If so then, then I have never tried it before. Probably because I what I originally thought was a desynth is now wrong.
What the Guild NPC tells you when you first sign up is inconsequential. You can sign up with all the guilds without any drawbacks.
True, but maybe if I had been able to read over their dialogue, it might have helped me to understand that to raise skill level, you have to attempt synths above your level. I can't remember when I first started, but I know I have been playing FFXl for at least over 3 or 4 years now, and in that time I have been playing without the correct knowledge on how to raise guild skills.
Ahh well.... it's always a joy to have very helpful game forums like these, and I feel they have helped me learn a bit more now than what I used to know, and for that...... I am greatful. :)
Technically, you can attempt a recipe once it is within 15 levels of your effective skill. But you're practically guaranteed to break the synth. The main reason anyone tries a recipe this far above their level is to verify the level cap for a recipe's support craft. If the cap is 16 levels above your effective skill, you won't even attempt it. You'll simply be given a message that says this recipe is too far above your skill, or something to that effect.
So by attempting a synth at a high skill level and causing it to break, a player is veryfying the cap at which they can synth an item, therefore they should attempt something a bit less higher than their own skill level.
The only time I would suggest using a recipe that is 10 levels or more above your actual skill level is if you have enhancements to raise your skill level. This is what is meant by "effective skill". For instance, if your skill is 50, and you get advanced image support, your effective skill is 53. If you also happen to have a guild item that gives you +1 skill, then your effective skill is 54.
So when you use the advanced image support, your sikill level is 3 more than normal? (meaning that you can try a synth a bit higher too)
Cool! How do you work that one out?
Generally, I'm willing to try a recipe for skill ups if the cap is 5 levels above my effective skill. A few times I have done a recipe that was 6 or 7 levels above my effective skill, but those were rare cases where the recipe I was attempting was much, much cheaper than the alternatives (e.g. Insect Fletchings, caps at 52, I started right at 42 once I was done with Bird Fletchings).
Thanks a lot for the very useful Info! :)

[neighbortaru]

no, snowball, desynthing can ONLY happen with lightning crystals.

[Caspian]

Wind crystals can also desynth, but afaik, thats it.

Actually advanced guild support is 2 effective levels, not 3. Atleast not until you become a Veteran rank in the respective craft. At that point it is indeed 3 levels.

Snowball: You have the mysterytour link, correct? Go to guilds then to desynthesis and it will tell you all the currently known possible desynths you can perform for any particular craft at any particular level.

[neighbortaru]

wind crystals just carve, not desynth. what recipe uses wind to desynth? unless you mean wind + yag necklace or wind + gob mask? those aren't really desynths since you can't synth yag necklaces or gob masks

[LyonheartLakshmi]

I used to think that Wind Crystals can also be used for desynth. This was back during my early days when I would farm yagudo bead necklaces, and either make Copper Ingots (Lightning + Bead Necklace) or Grass Thread (Wind + Bead Necklace) out of them.

However, my understanding of desynthesis has grown since then. Desynthesis is characterized by the following:
- success rates above the recipe's cap are no where near the 90% ~ 95% you normally achieve with synthesis
- HQ rates for desynthesis can be quite high, even when below the recipe's cap
- the game message for a successful desynth is "PlayerX obtained a xxxx", rather than the synthesis message of "PlayerX synthesized a xxxx"

Wind crystal + Yagudo Bead Necklace is not a desynthesis due to the fact that the success rate is consistent with typical synthesis recipes. Lightning crystal + Copper Ingot, in spite of using a Lightning crystal, is also not a desynthesis. I was successful with this recipe about 95% of the time.

Okay, so for e.g. - Sheep leather at skill level 2.
Ingredients : Sheepskin, Windurstian Tea Leaves, Distilled Water.
Crystal : Dark
So what you're saying is, (in this case for e.g.) that could use a dark crystal with a sheep leather, (the item being crafted in the 1st instance) resulting in either Sheepskin, Windurstian Tea Leaves or Distilled Water. Is that correct?
If sheep leather was a desynth-able item, then you could substitute Lightning crystal in place of Dark crystal in your question, and expect that result. However, not every craftable product is able to be desynthed. "Refined" products, such as leathers, ingots and cloths, cannot be desynthed. There are other products which surprisingly cannot be desynthed. For example, Eremite's Rings and Saintly Rings cannot be desynthed, even though they are crafted products.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

wind crystals just carve, not desynth. what recipe uses wind to desynth? unless you mean wind + yag necklace or wind + gob mask? those aren't really desynths since you can't synth yag necklaces or gob masks
"If you can't synth the item, then it's not desynthesis to break it apart with a Lightning crystal."

I might agree with that, if it wasn't for items such as Quadav Backplates. While there is no known way to create backplates, the success rate for turning backplates into materials is consistent with desynthesis, and so is the in-game message given when it succeeds.

Edit: As far as wind crystal recipes, I don't have any personal experience with recipes like Wind + Goblin Armor or Wind + Antican Robe. Can anyone lend their personal experiences with the success rates of those (and similar) recipes?

[Caspian]

wind crystals just carve, not desynth. what recipe uses wind to desynth? unless you mean wind + yag necklace or wind + gob mask? those aren't really desynths since you can't synth yag necklaces or gob masks
Specifically, I was thinking of antican pauldrons. While its not a desynthesis of of synthable material, it is the breakdown of an item into its component(s). That and mysterytour lists them as such, so I've just kinda gone with the accepted terms for it.
Oh, and along the same lines, don't light crystals "desynth" rusty caps?
I know wind crystals and antican pauldrons make darksteel sheets, and have the about the same success and HQ rates as lightning crystal desynths.

[Omniblast]

"If you can't synth the item, then it's not desynthesis to break it apart with a Lightning crystal."

I might agree with that, if it wasn't for items such as Quadav Backplates. While there is no known way to create backplates, the success rate for turning backplates into materials is consistent with desynthesis, and so is the in-game message given when it succeeds.

Edit: As far as wind crystal recipes, I don't have any personal experience with recipes like Wind + Goblin Armor or Wind + Antican Robe. Can anyone lend their personal experiences with the success rates of those (and similar) recipes?

I've managed to desynth a god item before. You can't synth a god item, but yet you can desynth them.

I forgot what that item was >_<. Sorry.

[neighbortaru]

light crystals "repair" rusty caps. didn't think about the pauldrons

hmm, perhaps Lyonheart's method is more accurate then, "Player obtained a xxxx" will signify desynth.

[Caspian]

I never really thought about it before, but he is right.
I always thought of them as you get an item or material that would have been used (theoretically or otherwise) to make the original item.
A padded cap turned into a rusty cap over time. The light crystal brings back what it was.
A piece of darksteel or bronze (ingot or sheet) was used to make a pauldron.
Bloodwood lumber is used to make soulflayer staves, etc.

[Nakti]

Wind + Goblin Mask = "You obtained a square of sheep leather."

I'm thinking that Fire + Gigas Socks results in an "obtained" message also.

[Kitalrez]

Lightning is mainly the only crystal you'll see used in desynths of actual player craftable or usable items. Beastmen crafted items, however, have all kinds of odd desynths. For instance, Tonberry Lanterns can be desynthed with a water crystal to obtain olive and slime oils. Both Mysterytour and Somepage have listed this as a "desynthesis" recipe, although I'm not sure how they categorize it.

[Icemage]

Edit: As far as wind crystal recipes, I don't have any personal experience with recipes like Wind + Goblin Armor or Wind + Antican Robe. Can anyone lend their personal experiences with the success rates of those (and similar) recipes?

Those are definitely desynthesis recipes.

There's also a fire desynthesis:
http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/3596

---

I've managed to desynth a god item before. You can't synth a god item, but yet you can desynth them.
I forgot what that item was >_<. Sorry.
You probably desynthesized Genbu's Kabuto (http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/4324). It's the only god item I know of offhand that has a valid desynthesis recipe.


Icemage

[Nakti]

yep to Kitalrez' post

Wind + Yag Necklace = synth (very odd)

Also, Lightning + Tahrongi Cactus = synth if I remember correctly.

Somepage has this listed as a desynth, but I remember trying it *way* back when and I succeeded easily so I doubt it's a desynth.


SE breaks their general rules of thumb often. :P

[Icemage]

Also, Lightning + Tahrongi Cactus = synth if I remember correctly.
Somepage has this listed as a desynth, but I remember trying it *way* back when and I succeeded easily so I doubt it's a desynth.
SE breaks their general rules of thumb often. :P
Lightning + Tahrongi Cactus is definitely a synth. A level 0 synth, at that (I'm pretty sure somepage is wrong about the synth level as well - I remember trying it many moons ago and realizing I got no skillups at 0 alchemy after a stack of lightning crystals). Quite possibly the most useless synthesis in the game, since the only thing it produces is distilled water, which can be purchased for 11-12 gil in virtually every town.


Icemage

[Taskmage]

Lightning + Tahrongi Cactus is definitely a synth. A level 0 synth, at that (I'm pretty sure somepage is wrong about the synth level as well - I remember trying it many moons ago and realizing I got no skillups at 0 alchemy after a stack of lightning crystals). Quite possibly the most useless synthesis in the game, since the only thing it produces is distilled water, which can be purchased for 11-12 gil in virtually every town.
IcemageNot to mention how terribly inconvenient it is to get the tahrongi cactus itself. This used to frustrate the heck out of my friend and I, back when we were newbs and had no idea where to buy anything from NPCs.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Heh, Tahrongi Cactus. The first craft I attempted to level was Alchemy, when I was still in the teens of my first job. I remember getting that recipe from one of the Guild NPCs, and franticly searching the AH for Tahrongi Cactus. I even shouted a couple of times for help finding it, with no success.

Stupid SE, they just wanted to mock us with that recipe :(

[Snowball]

Okay, I understand what a desynth is now. I have the link for the mysterytour site, so I will look over it later to see what available desnths there are, created by the only...... lightning crystals! :)

A couple of you have mentioned light crystals. I've never used these for anything so far, apart from the occasional glance over at random AHs. So how are these obtained? Are they dropped from high LvL mobs? I'm guessing they would be, since I'm not a high LvL player...... yet! (I maybe roughly half way there with my WHM though)

Other than that, you don't really get a big profit out of crafting a lot of items ingame, do you? The other day, I started crafting shell earrings for a short while, using a stack of wind crystals, and when they ran out, I went over it, crafting the same item again until I had reached LvL 3, (the skill LvL for shell earrings) but this time, I bought my wind crystals from the AH, which only sell for about 2k a stack but they sold for a bit more than the earrings themselves did at 500gil each, and since I found that they weren't very popular, I just kept throwing them away when I had crafted them, so in this case I thought it more important for my skill to increase than to actually want the earring. Nevertheless, I have found sheep leather to be a higher earner up to now, (and quite a popular item to buy too. It was around 30k a stack, but it may have gone down a bit) so every now and again, I think I would still craft it just for the sake of receiving some gil here and there. The ingredients are quite cheap too.

Btw - "Taskmage"
May I just say how much I LOVE your new baby chocobo avatar!
It's sooooo cute! I'm aching to take it for short walks as it waddles along behind me! Kwhee! Kwhee! :P

[Caspian]

There are profitable crafts at lower levels, though for most crafts you have to be high enough to get a significant number of high qualities. That fact holds true pretty much throughout your crafting career, just at the highest levels you can make HQ higher level synths and make much more money per synth.
I can't actually recall ever getting light crystals as a mob drop, I know they drop from things other than light elementals, but those are the only ones that come to mind. I think light crystals are mostly used for alchemy, though they aren't even used much in there, just a few "desynths" and some random synths for skillups.

[Icemage]

I can't actually recall ever getting light crystals as a mob drop, I know they drop from things other than light elementals, but those are the only ones that come to mind. I think light crystals are mostly used for alchemy, though they aren't even used much in there, just a few "desynths" and some random synths for skillups.
A few different enemies drop light crystals. Bid bird type enemies like Perytons in Valley of Sorrows drop light crystals. All Tonberries do, too. There's probably a few more that I'm forgetting as well.

There aren't many synths that use them. Repair synths are the most common use for them (for broken fishing rods, for example). The formulas for Prism Powder also uses light crystals, as does the synth for the Hakutaku Cluster.


Icemage

[Sabaron]

Wind + Goblin Mask = "You obtained a square of sheep leather."


Don't use wind crystals on Goblin Masks, whatever you do (you can only get 1 leather at most). The resultant product is worth no more than the mask itself, generally. However, an Alchemist can turn a Goblin Mask into Glass Fiber using a Lightning Crystal and actually acquire a useful amount of a valuable product--up to 8 Glass Fiber can be made from just one mask.

Desynthing goblin masks is also not good for skillups unless you're incredibly poor and like farming for countless days on end. Desynths produce very few skillups and generally yield little product. The Wind->Goblin Mask desynthesis is an especially good example of a very bad desynthesis.

[Caspian]

A few different enemies drop light crystals. Bid bird type enemies like Perytons in Valley of Sorrows drop light crystals. All Tonberries do, too. There's probably a few more that I'm forgetting as well.
There aren't many synths that use them.
Thats why I've never seen them drop. Never killed any Perytons, and never killed Tonberries with Signet.
Yeah, I'd forgotten about repairing rods, never did that for skilling ww'ing.

[Nakti]

Don't use wind crystals on Goblin Masks, whatever you do (you can only get 1 leather at most). The resultant product is worth no more than the mask itself, generally. However, an Alchemist can turn a Goblin Mask into Glass Fiber using a Lightning Crystal and actually acquire a useful amount of a valuable product--up to 8 Glass Fiber can be made from just one mask.

Desynthing goblin masks is also not good for skillups unless you're incredibly poor and like farming for countless days on end. Desynths produce very few skillups and generally yield little product. The Wind->Goblin Mask desynthesis is an especially good example of a very bad desynthesis. Sorry if it seemed like I was recommending this desynth. I was only giving an example desynth not using Lightning Crystals that I could easily get my hands on.

Lately, I've been experimenting with Lightning + Cotton Kyahan to get Cotton Threads (I'm in that Hunter's Cotton stage).

One thing I noticed with desynths is they seem to work opposite from regular synths. Where Lightsday is usually a safe day to do a synth (except for maybe Dark Crystals), I got more breaks when de-synthing.

Edit Add: Although I've never fought them, I've seen Cardians listed as dropping Light Crystals.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Edit Add: Although I've never fought them, I've seen Cardians listed as dropping Light Crystals.
I fought Cardians in Horutoto when I leveled NIN to 10. Each cardian can drop a different crystal, based on their job.

[Taskmage]

Are you sure? I only got light crystals while I was learning Bludgeon.

Golems drop them too.

[Sabaron]

One thing I noticed with desynths is they seem to work opposite from regular synths. Where Lightsday is usually a safe day to do a synth (except for maybe Dark Crystals), I got more breaks when de-synthing.


I've noticed the same thing, but I have no hard evidence or statistics to back it up. I've found Lightning->Mask Desynthesis works best on Earthsday and Darksday, although this may be a result of the increased rate of HQ on these days (as evidenced by Eruntalon's earlier work (http://www.spielmansmog.com/guides/hqsynth.php) not involving equipment).

[Kitalrez]

Are you sure? I only got light crystals while I was learning Bludgeon.
Golems drop them too.

Yup, Mysterytour lists the crystal drops as follows for Cardians:

Batons (BLMs): Earth
Coins (RDMs): Light
Cups (WHMs): Water
Swords (PLDs): Fire

[DieselBoy09]

also, it is said that skill ups, hqs and synth completions have a tie into what direction u r facing when u synth (idk if its been technically proven, but it doesnt hurt) try checking out this website http://www.iluvitar.com/sections/ffxi/craft/compass.html

For cooking, I find that facing West increases your change of a successful synth.