This initial section has links to a few static pages, generated from a small database, to show where the money's at, in crafting. So far, there's an anonymous mix of goldsmith and blacksmith crafting. You'll have to use a separate list (Allakhazam list) to figure out items in your skill range, then come here to figure out which are worth your time.
List of items in the database so far
Note that the "costs" in the above links are somewhat flexible. They are
based on averages, usually. So something that is listed as a borderline
loss, can actually turn a profit for you, if you get the materials for
cheap. (or vice versa if you are too hasty in buying materials).
Make sure compare the prices given with what you are actually paying.
Similarly, you can often get silver ore from the goldsmith guild for just under 400g. If you are in the right city, this can save you a bunch of money over the auction house.
At least, I think that was the key. Then again, I'm having similar difficulties even at 40% moon. But gains kicked up after 17:00 hours on darksday. So.. guess it has to be "dark" !
[prior to 22 is easy. just go for whatever ingot is "next"... copper, brass, silver. first from beastcoins, then from ore to make it more difficult]
22-24 : silver hairpins
At lvl22 on earthday, I gained a level by going through a single stack of silver ingots -> silver hairpins. I only lost one ingot, at which point I stopped for the day. [remember: earth is weak to wind, and this is a wind synth]
Only trouble is getting rid of them without losing too much money.
24-25: silver chains
These STACK, and can actually be sold to break even sometimes. But only individually, and only if you choose where and when you buy your silver ore carefully. Selling stacks of silver chains loses you major money at the moment.
27: rings
level27 was ugly. I decided to go for a few rings, since chains are so costly to make. You can make it work out to "only" lose around 500g per synth, if you buy your silver rings for 1000g or less.
28: mythril ingots
It's the big time! Time to start turning mythril beastcoins into ingots! This is playing with Real Money now, so you'll probably want to be facing "the constellation of Ifrit" for this fire synth(no joke!). Ifrit is to the NorthWest. Although... mythril seems to be really difficult to work with sometimes, even on firesday. Due to the cost of failures; if you are very slow about your pace of leveling, it will probably be more economical to level on ring making (onyx ring, etc) to maybe 33 or so.
level 30 seems fairly easy for mythril beastcoins -> ingots
34-35: mythril ingots, from ore
I finally went for mythril ore -> ingots (level 40 cap)... it worked, with synth aid! And on only iceday, not even lightsday or fireday!
Be warned... at this point, I have now also spent the 100k on a bookshelf, which in conjunction with the cupboard quested in sandoria , gives Moghancement: Fire . This helps tremendously in reducing lost items in fire synths, which is most of goldsmithing.
35-41: mythril sheets
Started doing mythril ingots->sheets. High success rate on lightsday, and actually break even, or slight profit. Got all the way to 41! Facing N.E. gave best skillup/nobreak rate on lightsday, it seems. With a low failure rate (with Moghancement), and a slight profit, there is no reason to risk doing anything else until you cap out.
41-47: silver bangles, or ....
After 41... the plan is silver bangles, to 47-ish. Then maybe finally gold ingots?49-51: gold ingots
silver bangle crafting is just No Fun (major money loss, and no fun farming *12* silver coins for one synth). HOWEVER, if you save them up, then switch to Moghancement: Desynthesis.. you can get some silver ingots back, and then make those into bangles again. PLUS.. you can actually get skillups from the desynths !
Alternative plan..... Mythril Rings.
Got them confused with mythril earrings. but unlike the earrings.. mythril rings are actualy worth something! (Can't buy em at NPC store, that's why). Still a moneyloser, unless you get your mythril ingots cheap. but nowhere near as bad as earrings. But will lose a lot per synth still, since 2x8k in mythril ingots per synth... == net loss of almost 5k per successful synth, and much more if you break.....
Ugh! lost major money on gold coins->ingots for a while. Now level 47. Stupid... forgot my plan about mythril rings, and used gold coins instead!! Went with silver bangle synth/desynth to get to 49.
I used gold coins to get to 51. sigh. Lost major money, because I bought them from AH. They're even MORE expensive now than when I originally wrote this. probably most people do it this way, but if you are high enough level, you're better off farming gold orcmasks in Davoi/Oztroja/otherplaces and desynthing them.
Note: I lost around 500k, getting from 43-ish to 51. You REAAALLY want to have a free source of gold coins, if you want to get goldsmith to level 51.
| Element | Direction |
|---|---|
| Fire | NorthWest |
| Water | West |
| Lightning | SouthWest |
| Earth | South |
| Wind | SouthEast |
| Ice | East |
| Light | NorthEast |
| Dark | North |
Cheezy elemental chart
| Rock | Gem | Gem Price |
|---|---|---|
| Purple_Rock | Ametrine | 3k |
| Yellow_Rock | Sphene | 3k |
| White_Rock | Moonstone | 2k |
| Translucent_Rock/ Sparkling_Stone | Goshenite | 5k |
| Green_Rock | Peridot | 6k |
| Red_Rock | Garnet | 12k |
| Blue_rock | Turquoise | 11k |
| Black_Rock | Painite | 30k |
warcry.com's goldsmith minimum skill requirement listkoolaid linkshell has a good beginner's goldsmith guide as well, but only to 36.
Detailed info on theories of HQ Synths. Moon phase, day, and skill level covered.
Useful site for finding out Upcoming guild point item from the guild (has values for all crafts, not just goldsmithing). Also another site
Way Cool Synth Database
ffxi.somepage.com is currently better than anywhere else I've found for high-level goldsmith synth lists, because of one thing: it lists the gardening recipies for some of the pricier goldsmith items . Like... Elemental Ores
PS: If you're on Odin server, how about sending Filip some free gold beastcoins? ^_^