55.6 Alchemy

I decided to study the skillup theory behind Lokyst's crafting timer, and I discovered that I should really be aiming for a difficulty index range of 2-4, rather than always going for Advanced Support until 1 level below cap and always facing the 'correct' direction for the crystal's element. I had always attempted to lower that difficulty index as much as I could, not understanding that some degree of difficulty will provide more skillups, even if you're straddling that line that will cause you to break synths a little more frequently.

This led to some interesting decisions that I'd never made before (intentionally sabotaging my 'ideal' crafting configuration to boost difficulty), with very good results. I skilled from 52 to 55.6 in about 2.5 hours (including travel and purchasing more ingredients), which isn't bad at all at this stage. I wish I had followed the 2-4 difficulty index before, since I probably would have skilled up much more quickly. Guess I'll be wiser when I start another craft.

I checked the timer, and it looked like Watersday would offer me around 2 difficulty for a 56 recipe (while my level was at 52), if I crafted facing West with no support, so I waited for a few minutes until that day hit, and crafted away in Jeuno, since I didn't need the guild. I'd never done this before and I was surprised at the results; a few breaks here & there but nothing devastating, considering stacks of Sleeping Potion sell for 40k on this server, and I had farmed all of my ingredients. I dinged 53 within 10 minutes. O_O

Unfortunately I started running low on Chamomile, requiring a trip to Bastok, so I had to gauge how much time I could spend crafting before I needed to gather more Poison Flour and get on the Airship, all while taking advantage of Watersday as much as I could. I crafted on the pier and the on ship before liftoff, giving me a few extra points above 53 during idle time. Once I got to the Guild and bought more Chamomile, I crafted some more (no support, facing West) and hit 54 shortly thereafter... At 54, my difficulty index dropped to 1 or less on this day, even without support, and I'd neglected to check this until several synths later (when no skillups were happening). I recalculated and noticed I could get a 2 index if I just waited for Windsday, so I stopped for a few minutes and let Watersday pass.

Since I was so close to the 56 cap, I had to not only forego the Guild's support but face the wrong direction (SouthWest, for the Lightning element opposing Water) to boost the difficulty rating to 2 (give or take some decimals). Again the skillups rolled in, with some breaks but nothing terrible... I dinged 55 a bit after that, and got .6 more points before calling it a night.

Apparently, lowering the diffuculty to 'guarantee' a synth is not always the best option if you want the diffuculty rating to be just barely high enough to actually award skillups. I guess I knew this already in a sense, since I would never use Advanced Support when I was close to the cap, but I hadn't connected all the dots until tonight.

Anyway I'm out of shrooms now, and I don't want to buy stacks (still around 18-20k), so I'm moving on to Glass Fiber tomorrow night: Fire + 8 Flint Stones. This recipe will carry me to the coveted level 60, and a little past that to 61. Guess I'll be farming the mines tomorrow night.

Soundtrack: the hum of the fridge...