Clothcraft Guide by Ctownwoody

Clothcraft Guide 1.0 0-60+ By Ctownwoody of Asura Disclaimer: This worked for me and is based on my research and efforts on Asura. Prices have increasingly normalized in the last 18 months, but I still suggest going to ffxiah.com to research your particular server.

Clothcrafting Tips
1. Raw Materials -> Thread -> Cloth is your friend. With 3 threads to your average cloth, each cloth really represents 4 synths total. Making a stack of 12 clothes with be 36 synths for thread and 12 for cloth, or 48 total. That’s usually a lot of skill-ups. 2. Selbina is your friend; one or two persistent campers aside, it's less frequently camped than the Windurst Guild. The selection isn't as extensive, but they carry most of what you would buy there anyway. 3. Fletchings are your friend; they use very cheap materials and have lots of synths per stack. They aren’t profitable, but offer the quickest path between profitable synths. 4. Fletchings aside, the general pattern is Thread to cap, Cloth to cap, then Thread + Cloth + Earth crystal to make clothing. The end product isn’t always profitable, though, so watch out for when making the thread or cloth only is the best option. 5. There are times when you will need to make your own thread and cloth as it is cheaper than the Guildshop or AH. They are other times when the Guildshop or AH is much cheaper (and easier), though. Keep your eye out for bargains and try to prepare for major projects by shopping around. 6. Cross-crafting is great here. Leathercraft, Bonecraft and Smithing all can team up with Clothcraft at times for very profitable items and/or Armor Sets. 7. Cotton Thread and Saruta Cotton are too valuable to synth into Cloth or Thread respectively. Sell them for a good profit in Jeuno, or use them in other recipes.

Guide Itself
Key: Item (cap)-Crystal, Items (where to get materials)--What to do with the products and how much to make.

Chocobo Fletchings (2)-Wind Crystal, Chocobo Featherx2 (any Chocobo Stable)—Feathers are cheap, 8 gil tops. These won’t sell because they are so easy to make, but that’s why you should get your first two levels this way.

Grass Thread (3)-Lightning Crystal, Moko Grassx2 (Airship Shop or Guildshop)—Make stacks up to cap because you will be using grass thread and cloth a lot until you reach the 20s. If you can buy for cheaper than you can make, do so. You can also make thread with Yagudo Necklaces and Wind Crystals (Cap of 1), but the necklaces are usually worth more than the thread.

Grass Cloth (4)-Earth Crystal, Grass Threadx3 (make thread yourself or buy at guildshop)—Take to cap. Don’t sell this stuff, as you will be using a lot of grass cloth between now and the 20s.

Cape (8-TEST ITEM)-Earth Crystal, Grass Thread, Grass Clothx2 (make yourself or buy at guildshop)—NPC these back to the guildshop in large chunks, saving one for the cap test. This is usually best done in Selbina, as the guildshop there is only camped for cotton and silk threads, usually. Make until level 6 or 7 at most, as there is a cheaper synth you can use at 11.

Hachimaki (11)-Wind Crystal, Grass Clothx2 (same as Cape)—Make these until 11, NPC them to guildshop. This gap sucks because nothing in the gap from grass cloth to linen thread makes any money consistently.

Red Grass Thread (15)-Lightning Crystal, Red Moko Grassx2—This is a bit risky because Red Grass Thread and Cloth don’t sell that quickly, as it is only used by high-level crafters to make a few HQ items. Also, it is an expensive and rare harvest item from only a few zones. However, it is generally profitable.

Red Grass Cloth (16)-Earth Crystal, Red Grass Threadx3—See above, but getting to 16 is a big deal considering the lack of good item from 11 to 19.

Bronze Bed (19)-Fire Crystal, Cotton Clothx2, Saruta Cotton, Grass Thread, Bronze Ingotx4--This requires Smithing 19, but they fairly profitable. They sell pretty well, but the market is prone to over-saturation. You can use this to make up for lost gil.

Linen Thread (19)-Lightning Crystal, Flax Flowerx2 (airship shop or guild)—Only buy when they cost under 200 (187 is lowest). The airship vendors only sell them when your nation is in first place. This can be a huge jump (8 levels) so get Advanced Support. Believe it or not, this and Linen Cloth are just bridges to get your skill up to around 16 or 17, so around 6 stacks of thread (2 stacks of cloth) should do it.

Cotton Headband (20)-Earth Crystal, Carbon Fiber, Cotton Cloth—Headbands have made a comeback thanks to Dancer and parties built around hate-sharing rather than straight tanking. Carbon Fiber is a mid-40s Alchemy synth, but can usually be found on Jeuno AH. Make a few for profit, as profitable.

Linen Cloth (22)-Earth Crystal, Linen Threadx3—You don’t need to take these to 22, just until about 16 or 17. They sell better singly than in stacks, but you might want to save some for later synths.

Yagudo Fletchings (22)-Wind Crystal, Yagudo Featherx2—You will want to take this one to 22. These don’t sell, but you can NPC them just the same because Yagudo Feathers are cheap and easy to farm around Windurst.

Moblinweave (23)-Earth, Moblin Threadx3—This is a quirky item because the thread is farmed from Moblins in Movapolis and the cloth is only used in a gobbiebag quest. Still, profitable and decently selling. Make a stack of cloth to help reduce the amount of Heko Obi or other loss-synths you have to make later on.

Seer/Noct gear (24-26)—This stuff uses the Linen threads and cloths, along with other items, like sheep leather. You’ll need a leather of 20+ to make them, and this stuff is entirely optional. The supplies needed vary a lot and can be a hassle to assemble, so it’s up to you on this one.

Heko Obi (27)-Earth, Grass Thread, Cotton Clothx2-Buy the cloth at the AH or a guildshop, whichever is cheapest and NPC these puppies to the guild. This is part of a long bridge to 35.

Kaginawax33 (29)-Earth, Bronze Ingot, Grass Thread, Manticore Hair—You’ll need Smithing 15+ to do this recipe. Be careful; Manticore Hairs are expensive (if dropping). This costs A LOT to do but it deals with ninja tools, which are usually somewhat profitable and sell incredibly fast. Again, ONLY if you have Smithing 15+!

Fly Lure (30)-Earth, Bat Fang, Chocobo Feather, Animal Glue--Profitable and sells well, plus usable for fishing up some good stuff (trout and salmon for low-level fishers and Elshimo Frogs for those brave enough for jungles). Doesn't stack and uses Bonecraft 8, so be careful but pretty cheap to make.

Shinobi-Tabix33 (34)-Earth, Saruta Cotton, Grass Thread, Cotton Clothx2--NIN tool, so sells very quickly. Cotton can be touchy, but this will still be a good money-maker, especially if you grow your own. Since wool has tanked in recent months, this is a better alternative...

Wool Thread (35)-Lightning, Sheep Woolx2 (stolen from sheep, bought in Windy for 675, or made from 2 sheepskins)—This has tanked seriously and dangerously. Frankly, on Asura at the moment, don’t even consider this. Just buy the thread and turn it into cloth, which is profitable.

Wool Cloth (37)-Earth, Wool Threadx3—Take this to 37. Sell them in Jeuno. As they are used in Gobbibag II, you can sell them singly for more gil than in stacks, but you will be making a lot of these. The prices have recently tanked, so be careful about selling in stacks.

Flax Headband (39)-Earth, Carbon Fiber, Linen Cloth--Decent speed and good profit. Maybe make 12 of these if you are skipping Wool entirely as a bridge into Bird Fletchings. Mohbwa Thread (41)-Lightning, Mohbwa Grassx2—Another quirky item because the thread is profitable and sells modestly, but the cloth doesn’t even come close. I’m listing it because it is pretty profitable and sells around 2/day.

Bird Fletchings (42)-Wind, Bird Feathersx2—Take these to 42. I was literally competing with another crafter (Jessimay) for feathers at this point and we ran the price of them way up. Still, incredibly cheap and easy to farm if needed.

Velvet Cloth (45 or 51)-Earth, Wool Threadx2 (45) Cotton Threadx2 (51), Silk Thread—The wool version is break-even at best because so many people make and sell these cloths. The cotton version, however, is highly profitable. Used in a lot of clothcraft-related synths and a gobbiebag quest, so sells better and faster as singles.

Insect Fletchings (52)-Wind, Insect Wingx2—Start these puppies right away and make a crap load of them. Insect Wings are infinitely cheaper than feathers, they sell slowly but profitably in Sandy (Scorpion Arrows, Woodworking 59; at 50+, people use more of them per synth). Seriously, you can get away with farming them (and beehive chips at the same time), but they are in a huge supply and dirt cheap. Watch out for hitting the wall at 50…skill-ups slow down considerably.

Silk Cloth (53)-Earth, Silk Threadx3—This is a very profitable synth, as they are for Gobbiebag IV. You should be getting a small profit on them in stacks or singly. I never pay more than 1k for each thread. Some guides say to save them for the upcoming bankruptcy that is 53-62, but I say squeeze the profit out now.

Scarlet Linen Cloth (54)-Earth, Linen Threadx2, Bloodthread--Very profitable, if not quickly selling at times. Bloodthread is a drop from Kuftal Tunnel spiders, so it's hit or miss at the AH for supplies. Good for that extra level before trying to work with gold ingots.

Gold Thread (58)-Earth, Silk Thread, Gold Ingot--WARNING: Hugely expensive and it requires Goldsmithing 41. Not for the faint of heart or wallet. These are somewhat of a losing synth in stacks but can be profitable singly. You want to balance the two, but try to make a good profit overall (after breaks, which can set you way back).

Green Ribbon (62)-Wind, Silk Cloth—9 level gap is HUGE! Prepare to lose a TON of gil, almost literally. You can NPC these if you want, or try to desynth them to get some silk thread back. Expect this sucker to hurt really badly either way. I’m not even starting this until I get most, if not all, my other crafts to 60 or 100. The only good news is that unless you intend to hit 100 with Clothcraft, you can quit at 60, saving you 2 levels of torture.

Good luck! --Ctownwoody 11:00 am, 19 January 2008 (PDT)