New thread for new revisions. Joy! Copy/Pasting stuff from the outdated guide that still apply, with some tweaks to match the new stuff. All abilities now listed because apparently I have nothing better to do with my time.

I want to stress that this is a guide for grinding out levels as painlessly (safely) as possible without having to pay too much attention to what you are doing. While it is possible to get decent quality numbers, this is not a guide to HQ.

CRAFTING LEVEL
The first things to worry about are having the correct crafting tool equipped in your hand and your crafting level relative to the item you are trying to synth. You can only attempt crafts up to 10 levels above your own which are harder to pull off, but reward more base exp. Some dated recipes can require you to level other crafts in order to have a better chance at succeeding. You can still finish these types of synths without leveling other crafts, but it will be much harder to do. Crafting level also effects the crafting gear you can wear.

CRAFTING GEAR
Believe it or not, crafting gear actually helps the grind now. Better gear equals better chance of getting quality high which equals more exp and less synths toward your level. For grinding on the cheap and saving bag space if you level more than one craft, try and stay within 10-15 levels of whatever you are synthing and keep a good balance of Control, Craftsmanship and Magic Craftsmanship. As of this typing, some levels are still screwed out of stat balance, so just equip what you can as you try and keep up with the level. Only the stats of the tool you use is used when synthing, so you can save money/space by not buying/making an offhand. Straight stats like STR and DEX effect quality, so equip some rings if you have them for whatever is appropriate for your craft and the tool your are using. It's not 100% necessary though. Stat list is as follows:

ALC = INT / PIE
ARM = VIT / STR
BSM = STR / MND
CRP = VIT / DEX
CUL = MND / PIE
GLD = DEX / INT
LTW = VIT / INT
WVR = DEX / MND

EXP BUFFS
The rested EXP bonus you get for logging out of an Inn can count toward any job, crafting included. It is not used up by exp given at the end of a leve if you choose to use leves to grind.

All food, no matter if it buffs crafting skills or not, gives a 3% bonus to EXP gained for the duration of the buff. Since you can get crap food for cheap there isn't any reason you shouldn't always have a food buff running while grinding. The sole exception to this is if you are using Hasty Hand, which is piss poor exp so you shouldn't really be using it while grinding unless you are rich.

Company-issue Engineering Manuals which can be purchased from your GC will last for an hour, or until a certain amount of exp has been reached. Unless you go AFK you should hit the cap long before the buff runs out. The rank 1 manual is 200 seals, while the rank 2 manual is 400 and requires you to have at least 3 promotions in your GC to use. The Black Market Qiqirin will also take seals from your Grand Company or gil (10k for level 1 and 100k for level 2) in exchange for the manuals, or anything else they sell.

QUALITY EXP BONUS
Gone are the days of pressing the button while not paying attention at all. This is where most of your exp will come from. The more quality you have by the end of your synth, the more EXP you get for successfully completing it. It only counts for quality earned, so you can't cheat using HQ materials. With good abilities you can get around 300-400 quality frequently which reaches 250-300ish% bonus exp. With average abilities you can expect around 200-250 quality frequently. With no abilities… I am not sure! Probably 100-200.

For a safe way to get the highest quality you can without botching the synth try to standard/rapid(with ability boost) to 50%. Then judge your durability and Careful from there if you can. You get no EXP bonus if you botch, so don't risk it.

For the hardcore crafter willing to grind out god-tier abilities, here's a damn near 100% success way to get a ton of quality with no risk unless you stop paying attention:
1. Byregot's Blessing (CRP 45)
2. Master's Mend (ALC 45)
3. Piece by Piece (ARM 45)
4. By the Book (GSM 45)
5. Insert situational or guaranteed ability of your choice here.
Byregot's Blessing > Careful Synthesis x3 > Master's Mend > Careful Synthesis until your durability is less than 11*. Should take you around 40-50%, sometimes more, but if you are unlucky you might need to do a Standard Synthesis or two. Get to at least 40%. This is a good time to use your optional ability if you have it, unless the conditions are not right. > Piece by Piece > By the Book = Win.
You can replace some of the abilities with other, lesser abilities and get similar results but you might have to work a tad harder. There are also better combinations for more quality, but they really are not as safe.
*If you have an Unstable Element then this number changes to less than 25. The reason is that if the element stabilizes on it's own it can eat up to 25 points of durability, usually about 23.

QUESTS
All story/side quests (not leves) can be turned in by any class, including crafting classes. If you still have these you can get a nice boost by switching to your crafting class before you turn it in. Keep in mind that there is an EXP penalty for turning it in below the recommended level. Repeatable quests, such as Ifrit and Moggle Mog, are great for this. Choco escorts can be used for this as well, if you can manage to switch to your crafting class before the escort ends.

MATERIALS
As stated in the "Quality EXP Bonus" section, the quality received from HQ materials does not count toward your EXP bonus, so don't bother using them unless you are actively trying to HQ an item.

CRAFTING FACILITIES
Do not bother with these unless you are synthing dated recipes. Some dated recipes require "advanced facilities" to make the synth easier. You can check which one it needs under "Recommended Facility" on the synth. Go to the proper crafting guild and select only the one that it needs. Don't go any higher or lower. there are 3 facility types at each crafting guild. The repair NPCs and the crafting NPCs at each camp only offer the lowest type (a bit more expensive than at the guilds). The price is determined by your level and raises every 10 levels. The synths that ask for facilities are doable without, but it is far more difficult and I wouldn't recommend it unless you out-level the synth.

CRAFTING MINIGAME
Just the basics:

Progress - Shows how close you are to finishing a synth.
Durability - Shows how close you are to failing a synth.
Quality - Shows how likely you are to HQ a synth and effects your bonus EXP. The more quality you have the less you can earn.
Synth Orb (Visual on the crafting table) - Shows one of 4 colors which shows the likelihood that you will succeed the next action. White is the best condition, then yellow, red and prismatic (pulsing multicolor). Failing increases the invisible risk stat (makes success harder), decreases durability by the highest amount (amount determined by the synthesis action taken) and has a chance to cause an Unstable Element or Aetherial Sparking. Waiting has a chance to change the color of the ball.

Once the mini game starts you have some options to choose from:
Standard Synthesis - The safest type of synthesis. Can add up to 30% progression. Durability loss upon failure is usually 11-12.
Rapid Synthesis - The type most prone to failure. If successful you can boost your progress up to 40%, though sometimes you can gain less than you would if you had done a Standard Synthesis. Successful Rapids do not cost Durability, so if you are at the end of your synth and you have 9 or less durability left it is usually safer to risk a Rapid than a Standard or Careful.
Careful Synthesis - If you succeed it has a chance of boosting your quality really high. The amount is somewhat random, but is loosely determined by your level relative to the synth, your gear, any abilities you might have used and how much quality you have already earned. It has the lowest potential durability loss on a failure (8-10, usually 9), but it only increases progress by 3-5%. It also always has durability loss, even on success. If you are in a situation where you have 10-11 durability left and 99% progress, Careful is a safer bet than Standard due to the invisible risk factor.
Wait - Skips a turn for a chance to change the color of the synth orb or stabilize an unstable element in exchange for durability loss. The loss starts at 1 and adds 1 each subsequent Wait. So the first Wait takes 1, the second takes 2 for 3 total and the third would take 3 for 6 total. Using any synthesis type or ability resets the durability loss back to 1. With the new changes there is very little reason to use this feature.
Abilities - Up to 5 of the abilities you equip will show up under wait. They are locked in from turn one, so it is recommended you only equip the 5 you want. Never equip Hasty Hand if you are doing regular synths unless you really don't have any other abilities to use.

Unstable Elements
Upon failure sometimes you can get swirly shit around your synth ball related to the type of shards/crystals your synth uses. You can use Wait and hope it stabilizes, use a "Brand of (element here)" to re-stabilize it (using the exact Brand type results in more quality), perform a Standard Synthesis and hope that a success can wipe it away or fail so hard you create another Unstable Element to cancel out the first. The last one is no longer recommended because of the huge durability/quality hit you take, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

Aetherial Sparking
Upon failure sometimes you get little red lines spewing out of your synth ball. It's a visual representation of your invisible Risk stat and is basically a sign that you have a higher chance of failures from there on out, but it is very rare and tend to happen near the end of a synth.

Double Down
Halves your quality for a low chance to HQ an item and destroys the item if it fails. Don't use this if you are grinding.

CRAFTING ABILITIES
The game chooses 5 of the abilities you equip and locks them in on the first turn, so it is recommended you only equip the 5 that you really like. While in my opinion there are better crafting classes than others in terms of abilities learned, SE has balanced them out quite a bit with a lot of repeat abilities so you won't be gimped for choosing one over the other. WVR, ALC and CUL get an extra ability each.

CARPENTRY
Tender Touch (CRP 10) - Reduces durability loss by 25% for 3 turns.
Improvise (CRP 20) - Increases quality gain by 200% for 3 turns, but only during Unstable Elements.
Unerring Hand (CRP 30) - Increases progress by 20.
Grandmastery (CRP 30) - Next action is successful.
Perfection (CRP 36) - Next Careful is a great success.
Byregot's Blessing (CRP 45) - Increases quality by 100% for 3 turns.

BLACKSMITHING
Maker's Muse (BSM 10) - Successful Standard Synthesis for 3 turns.
Brand of Fire (BSM 20) - Ends Unstable Elements and gives a little quality.
Ingenuity (BSM 30) - Recipe difficulty is equal to skill for 3 turns.
Sublimation (BSM 30) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns.
High Return (BSM 36) - Great success for next action during Unstable Elements.
Greater Calling (BSM 45) - Ensures success for 3 turns.

ARMORSMITHING
Sure and Steady (ARM 10) - Next Standard is a great success.
Brand of Ice (ARM 20) - Ends Unstable Elements and gives a little quality.
Great Strides (ARM 30) - Increases progress by 30% for 3 turns.
Resolution (ARM 30) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns.
Eye for Detail (ARM 36) - Increases quality and reduces progress.
Piece by Piece (ARM 45) - Increases progress by 30.

GOLDSMITHING
Pride of Labor (GSM 10) - Increases quality by 50% next action.
Brand of Wind (GSM 20) - Ends Unstable Elements and gives a little quality.
Meticulous Mind (GSM 30) - Reduces durability loss by 50% for 3 turns.
Manipulation (GSM 30) - Increases durability by 20.
Inspiration (GSM 36) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns.
By the Book (GSM 45) - Increases progress by 30.

LEATHERWORKING
Fullfillment (LTW 10) - Next Standard is a great success.
Brand of Earth (LTW 20) - Ends Unstable Elements and gives a little quality.
Bold Endeavor (LTW 30) - Ensures success for 3 turns.
Inner Quiet (LTW 30) - Increases quality by 100% next action.
Clean Slate (LTW 36) - Resets the whole synth to try again.
Determination (LTW 45) - Increases progress by 150% next action.

WEAVER
Masterpiece (WVR 10) - Next Careful is a success.
Brand of Lightning (WVR 20) - Ends Unstable Elements and gives a little quality.
Grand Design (WVR 30) - Increases progress by 20.
Good Measure (WVR 30) - Increases quality by 100% next action.
Flawlessness (WVR 36) - No durability loss next step.
Fit for Kings (WVR 35) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns.
Culmination (WVR 45) - Next action is a great success.

ALCHEMY
Aspect Balance (ALC 10) - White synth ball for 3 turns.
Creative Urge (ALC 20) - Next action is a success.
Tricks of the Trade (ALC 30) - Increases progress by 20.
Innovation (ALC 30) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns.
Comfort Zone (ALC 36) - No durability loss or great success for 3 turns.
Purification (ALC 36) - Increases quality by 125% next action.
Master's Mend (ALC 45) - Increases durability by 30.

CULINARIAN
Make the Most (CUL 10) - Increases durability by 10.
Brand of Water (CUL 20) - Ends Unstable Elements and gives a little quality.
Life's Purpose (CUL 30) - Next action is a success.
Waste Not (CUL 30) - No durability loss next step.
Elemental Appeal (CUL 36) - Prevents Unstable Elements and gives a white synth ball for 3 turns.
Heart and Soul (CUL 36) - Increases quality by 125% next action.
Magnum Opus (CUL 45) - Increases quality by 125% next action if under prismatic glow.

EVERY CRAFT
Hasty Hand (DoH 15) - Either finishes a synth, cuts the durability in half or destroys it. Low level synths are 100% successful. Can only be used on the first turn.

Trying to Save Bad Luck Synths!
Everyone that has ever crafted has experienced getting progress to 97-99% with only 10-11 durability left. As of 2.0 your best bet for saving a Synth at this point, besides using durability cutting/reducing or progress abilities which you should use if you have them, is Careful Synthesis. Careful only costs 8-10 durability on an average/failure, usually 9. While getting a critical success with a Standard or a Rapid results in little to no durability loss, failure exceeds 10. So not only is Careful your safest bet, you also get more quality which increases your EXP. If durability is below 10, risking a Rapid is the way to go instead since Careful Synthesis always results in durability loss even if you are successful. Good luck!



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Below is actually a part of the old guide, but the tips should still work.



GRINDING TIPS
There are many different grinding styles. Here are a few:

Leve Grinding
+ It's free.

+ You get gil and mats for turning them in and a bonus for a high quality turn in.
SOME ADVICE: If you are leveling more than one craft some of the reward mats are nice for that. You can also avoid having to do some pain in the ass leves for that other craft. For example, you can do BSM quests to get ore, then use that ore to rank up ARM.

- You have to use leves. This isn't a huge deal if you don't use them anyway.

- If the dated recipes still exist and if you still have crafting books, DO NOT TURN THEM IN for useless points. The Dev team trolled crafters by keeping leves that still use them in the game. You can still buy the use of facilities to make it easier though. New recipes suppossedly do not use the facilities. There are both new and old recipes mixed in the leves.

- If "dated" recipes still exist by the time you are reading this, your level for other crafts can also determine the difficulty if you choose to rank up on them. Since many leves as of this writing still use dated recipes you might find warnings about how you need to level another craft. You can still complete these leves. They will just be a tad harder than the others.

- The leves granted are random, so you can get stuck with a crap selection. Especially in the 20-39 range which are all lumped together. Not only that, some leves of different rank share the same exact name, so you could accidentally pick the lower rank one if you are in a hurry.
FUN TRICK: Pick up leves you don't like and only turn in ones that you do. They will never appear in the roster so long as you have it in your journal making picking out the good ones much faster. Make sure you don't keep a leve with a higher level version though!

- Travel time really eats into your crafting time and you have to travel to turn in the leve.
FUN TRICK: You can pick up leves that you don't want to travel to and do them anyway. If you succeed in the leve, abandon it to pick it up again. You don't get the final reward, but it saves you time. If you failed it, retry and get more exp out of it without having to move. Failing too much eats away your leves fast though, so keep that in mind.

- The synths for the leves are static, so even if you only do the leves closest to your rank you get less and less exp as you level until you hit the next multiple of 5 (10, 15, 20, 25, etc) to unlock new leves.
SOME ADVICE: When you hit a multiple of 5, do leves that are around your level +5 and save the mats they give you. As you get closer to unlocking the next leve set and the exp starts to tank use the materials you have been hoarding to rank up on higher ranked recipes through the last level or two.

Milking Your Mats
+ The new exp bonus for extra quality allows you to get more exp for less. So you use less material in the long run, saving gil, and save some time gathering.

+You can use your own mats or leves.

+This is currently the fastest way to grind.

- You have to pay attention to get the Quality value high. Try not to fall asleep after the first few hours.
SOME ADVICE: If you are having trouble finishing a high quality synth, try Standard Synthing (Or Perfection(CRP 36)/Blinding Speed(ARM 10) > Rapid Synth) safely to around 50-60% progression. Evaluate how much Durability you have from there then Careful Synth to 100% if you think you can make it.


Spam the Button While Watching TV
+ Not as boring!

- A very slow way to level.

- Have to use your own mats.

- Have to use lower exp gain synths to get the most of it. After all, you are not paying attention!
SOME ADVICE: Around 400exp gain or less per success usually evens out in your favor. The lower the level of the synth the more success you will have. Personally, I would stop when successes gained me less than 200exp. Pick synths that have little mat/shard cost for better results.

Rings to Riches
Equip rings to Spiritbind for materia. You can sell the materia to people who want to try for the Gambler's Crown achievement or you can use it to try for it yourself. If you are lucky enough to be able to do this with Electrum Rings (or any other high level jewelry) without breaking the bank you can get some very nice materia.

Repairing
Repairing gear 10 levels above you is a very easy way to get some guaranteed exp. When you grind, pick a spot that people will go to repair their gear. Repair NPCs are a good spot. Near Ifrit's cave is also good during peak hours. It is not a lot but every bit helps.

Fail to Victory!
+ You can get exp for failing! Hoorah!
SOME ADVICE: Pick really high level synths. If you fail, you'll still get a decent amount of exp.

- With the quality changes failing makes for really slow grinding.

- High level synths take more expensive mats usually.
SOME ADVICE: Eliminate the expense. Use leves.

Not really a part of the guide, but seemed like a good place to ask. I want to do some tests on HQ chance. As some of you already know, I suspect that it's a "WoW 10%" deal, in that the percentage shown is not the actual percent chance. It could be that I am just really fucking unlucky, but ever since the mini patch I've been having a hard time getting anything to HQ. I average at a supposed 80% chance with my current set ups and have had it fail to go off as high as 97%. I have been getting chain failures for the most part. The problem is that in order to properly test it, I need to try for even more HQs. Since getting a hold of HQ mats for this kind of crap is expensive I thought I'd ask for help. If anyone crafting for HQs could tell me the % and whether or not you succeed so I can add it to my data I would really appreciate it.

And before anyone asks, yes, I know how percentages work and that someone could potentially fail to HQ forever even if their chance was 99%. And given my luck with primal drops that is likely. The only way to know for sure is to do the work to see if it is one way or the other. Having data from other people who might have luckier seeds than I have would be very helpful.

CRAFTING STARTER KIT
Just starting out with crafting and looking to make it as painless as possible? Here's a little mini guide for you.

The most important thing when you first start out is to eliminate as much failure as possible. Try and get some abilities that focus on success rather than quality. The first 10-15 levels come quick enough that it is worth delving into some crafts you might have no intention of focusing on just to get access to these types of abilities. As you get better at the crafting mini game to the point where you can consistently get successes, then you want to start adding a few quality based abilities to your plate. As you get up in levels and finally unlock 5 ability slots, eventually you will probably want a balance of 2 quality based abilities, 2 success/progress+/durability+ based abilities and one of your choice depending on what you like. Never equip more than 5 abilities for leveling purposes and don't forget to equip them just like you would a battle class.

When it comes to abilities focused on Unstable Elements, if you are relatively low level Brand of Element abilities are probably the way to go (make sure to equip ones that coorespond to the shard/crystal type in your synth if you can). As you raise in ability/level and get more confident Improvise (CRP 20) is the superior yet riskier ability to use. The effect only lasts as long as the Unstable Element does so if it dissipates during the ability's time you are out of luck, if you have to use it near the end of a synth when you are under quality reduction it might not give much, and if you get 3 failures you might not get a huge amount of quality, but if conditions are right and you get successful attempts your quality will skyrocket. It's an extremely situational ability, but worth the risk if you get a lot of Unstable Elements.


BEST USE OF YOUR TIME Lv10 ABILITIES
When you are just starting out and are looking to expand your ability list, these abilities are great ones to grab before you start to focus on one craft. You don't need them all, of course, but they will give you a decent advantage until you get some of the more overpowered abilities.

- Maker's Muse (BSM 10) - Successful Standard Synthesis for 3 turns. This one is amazing when you are starting out for obvious reasons. They won't be "Great" successes, but it's better than failures.
- Tender Touch (CRP 10) - Reduces durability loss by 25% for 3 turns. Another amazing ability and can save your ass if you are starting to run low on durability toward the end of your synth. Save it for at least halfway through your synth, when risk gets higher and the chance of failure increases.
- Aspect Balance (ALC 10) - White synth ball for 3 turns. Another good one for keeping conditions good for a short time. Not as good as the less generic abilities, but ALC 10 is really easy and cheap to get.


OVERPOWERED ABILITIES
If you want to plan your leveling around getting the most overpowered abilities possible, here's a list of abilities that essentially break the mini game. Note that I don't delve too much into single use abilities other than durability+/progress+ abilities of the highly situational strange ones. These will give you the most bang for your exp.


__GOD TIER__
Remember that just because these abilities are stupidly overpowered does not necessarily mean that you shouldn't dip into other abilities. Having a balance of abilities that you are comfortable with is much more important that using all abilities that are a cut above the rest. Having all 5 of these equipped does not necessarily lead to the best quality gain, but it is very safe.

- Improvise (CRP 20) - Increases quality gain by 200% for 3 turns, but only during Unstable Elements. Situational, but really amazing. And it only takes 20 levels to get.
- Byregot's Blessing (CRP 45) - Increases quality by 100% for 3 turns. The holy grail of quality based abilities. Use it as your first action, when your invisible risk stat is really low, for the best results.
- Piece by Piece (ARM 45) - Increases progress by 30. The more instant progress with no durability loss you can produce, the more time you can spend on Careful Synthesis for quality. Paired with By the Book you only need to hit 40% progress to succeed.
- By the Book (GSM 45) - Increases progress by 30. The more instant progress with no durability loss you can produce, the more time you can spend on Careful Synthesis for quality. Paired with Piece by Piece you only need to hit 40% progress to succeed.
- Master's Mend (ALC 45) - Increases durability by 30. 2-3 more Careful Synths for free and a small buffer in case something goes terribly wrong.


__PRETTY DAMN GOOD__
Once again, this list doesn't mean other abilities are not good for your purposes. make sure you are using abilities that make you comfortable and succeed.

- Bold Endeavor (LTW 30) - Ensures success for 3 turns. I admit I haven't used this one before, but looks decent enough and it 15 levels less to grab than Greater Calling. Not as amazing as the focused abilities, but has really good utility since you can do what you want with it.
- Manipulation (GSM 30) - Increases durability by 20. Free durability is always good. Paired with Piece by Piece of By the Book you only need to hit 50% progress to succeed.
- Unerring Hand (CRP 30) - Increases progress by 20. Durability free progress is always good. 1-2 more Careful Synths or a little buffer in case something goes horribly wrong.
- Grand Design (WVR 30) - Increases progress by 20. Durability free progress is always good. 1-2 more Careful Synths or a little buffer in case something goes horribly wrong.
- Tricks of the Trade (ALC 30) - Increases progress by 20. Durability free progress is always good. 1-2 more Careful Synths or a little buffer in case something goes horribly wrong.
- Resolution (ARM 30) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns. Discount Byregot's Blessing. Also comes 6 levels earlier than Inspiration and Fit for Kings.
- Innovation (ALC 30) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns. Discount Byregot's Blessing. Also comes 6 levels earlier than Inspiration and Fit for Kings.
- Inspiration (GSM 36) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns. Discount Byregot's Blessing.
- Fit for Kings (WVR 36) - Increases quality by 50% for 3 turns. Discount Byregot's Blessing.
- Greater Calling (BSM 45) - Ensures success for 3 turns. Not as amazing as the focused abilities, but has really good utility since you can do what you want with it.

Fun facts for the recent 1.22b mini patch. They made Unstable Elements a lot more common, I think in an attempt to make synthing harder. This is good news for folks who use Improvise(CRP 20) as the change has basically made it easier to get more quality. Hoorah.

>:| I can't get my element to destabilize but 1 of every 5 or so synths

Interesting. Every synth I tried last night destabilized. Could be a gear or level issue. I could use some more info. What was your level, the level of the synth and your gear/stats if that isn't too much trouble?

High Control stat is supposed to reduce destabilize chance. Dunno if that was you issue though.

High Control stat is supposed to reduce destabilize chance. Dunno if that was you issue though.Isleberg

I hadn't considered that. I have jack for Control. I should do some tests on that. Thanks Asche.

I have no idea; I'll post when I log in xD

Bored waiting for movie. Made a correction and added something.

Not sure when they did it, but Hasty Hand exp does get a boost from the 3% food buff now. It's still 3% of almost nothing, but it is there.

Added a point in the "QUALITY EXP BONUS" section about Unstable Elements and safety. If you have less than 25 durability and you are under an Unstable Element it's a pretty big risk to synth from there on, since if the Unstable Element stabilizes on it's own without help from an ability it can take up to 25 durability with it, average is 23. Good thing to keep in mind if you are maxing your quality safely.