Crafting?Follow

It's very similar to starting a new DoWM class: go to the guild, ask to join, get a starter tool and equip it. And yes, you can max every craft.

Nice. I never thought to do that with crafting. Cross class abilities I always just associated with DoW and DoM.

The level of these have been changed for launch. Each Hand class gets a cross-class ability @ 15, a 2nd @ 37 and a 3rd @ 50. The 15 & 50 ones are linked thematically usually, sometimes the 50 is a "II" version of the 15 one. Most of the 37 ones (GSM & CUL aside) are effectively double-progress abilities AS LONG AS you are using that element's shard/crystal/cluster. E.g. CRP gets Brand of Wind @ 37. If you use this on a craft that uses Wind crystals, you get double your normal progress.

WVR is probably the best one to take to 15 straight away. The ability is a guaranteed progress (100% hit chance) (here is the link) - great for ekeing out that last bit of durability from the craft. Also, you can craft the lower-level crafting gear to get you started on your other crafts, plus gathering gear as well.

Careful Synthesis is truly amazing to have at low levels. I used it exclusively once I hit 15 in weaver. That 1 point of progress you lose isn't really going to matter 98% of the time. After that Manipulation was pretty great. It costs less than Masters Mend, and you can use it whenever you want, so long as you have more than 10 durability (if you use it on 10 dura the next action you use that takes durability will break the item).

I agree that Tricks of the Trade is a strong ability but if it can only be used when conditions are "Poor" then it isn't the best for leveling. Excellent condition doesn't come up often enough to warrant taking it over another ability at low levels. I have a feeling this is more of a "going for HQ" ability that will get much more use later on. I suggest taking Cooking's Hasty Touch over it for level 15+. There are multiple times where I've been forced to finish an item with 20-30 durability left. This would be a great opportunity to spam Hasty touch, especially if you still have Steady Hand stacks up.

Oh, and I must mention Rumination from Carpentry. once you get enough CP to warrant using Inner Quiet it becomes quite strong.. I only used it a couple times when making a staff for my CNJ, but i think it gave me back around 40 CP.

For leveling purposes I suggest a skill order such as this: lvl 1 Careful Synthesis, lvl 10 Manipulation, lvl 15 Hasty Touch, lvl 20 Rumination/TotT/Waste Not. I haven't tried out waste not but it could be a strong ability to have.

The description for Tricks of the Trade is horrible and doesn't describe what it actually does. That's the same description it has had since Phase 3. How it worked in Phase 3 was every time a Good pops up, you can use Tricks of the Trade get back 20 CP. That means you can potentially be getting it back as frequently as every other turn.

Grandmomma: She meant this one.

Edited, Aug 20th 2013 1:43pm by Ravashack

Sorry, lazy work from me (and long day at work!). Linked the search results for the class, but yeah, seems linking xivdb.com has had issues ...