Alchemy Guide by Ctownwoody

Alchemy Guide 1.1 0-100 By Ctownwoody Asura Server, Sons of Valkrum Linkshell Disclaimer: I did my research using ffxiah.com and have taken most of my crafts up to level 60+ and am in the process of taking an Alchemy mule up to 100. Prices and availability varies by server, but I tend to focus on easy-to-farm items or ones you can buy from NPCs for mass-producing.

Alchemy Tips
1. Ingredients for Alchemy fall into 3 general categories--Farmable Items, Cheap Groceries/Herbs, and Fish.


 * Farmable Items : Range from easy to difficult to farm (unless you have a 75 THF), but all can be bought at AH.


 * Fish : Easy to catch and you can buy them at Fishing Guilds, including Windy, Selbina and Bibiki Bay.  Learn what the price range at guilds are for maximize value.


 * Groceries/Herbs : Bought from Raimbroy’s Grocery in South Sandy or from Regional Vendors, so watch Conquest results.

2. One general formula is Ingredients -> Powder/Dust -> Potion -> Weapon or Boltheads. Most of your Guild Points will be made through the end result weapons and getting up to 3 separate synths for one item is a great way to skill-up without busting your bank or clogging your inventory.

3. The first time I started Alchemy I had a Goldsmithing 41 and a Smithing 39, which makes it a lot easier. There are some recipes that take Goldsmithing up to 24 and Smithing up to 15, and they make the process easier. The second time, I started from the ground up, but Smithing 14 and Goldsmithing 20 are your first benchmarks and are easy to get. (If you aren't a Bastok citizen, you should consider basing your operations out of Bastok for a bit anyway.)

4. Work in Bastok, Sell in Jeuno. Aside from stuff to buy from Raimbroy’s or Regional Vendors, you can farm or buy what you need in Bastok as cheaply as in Jeuno, which is great because of synth support. Double-check on ffxiah.com though.

5. Bullets and boltheads can make your life easier. Bullets can be “pouched” (quivered) for 36 synths in one stack and with boltheads, you can either make into tons of bolts for sale or stacks of 99 heads, at 6 heads a synth.

6. Boltheads are good, but bolts are better. Boltheads sell okay, but Bolts can be quivered (36 synths in one stack) and made cheaply and easily (Woodworking 15) and sell so much more quickly than the boltheads alone.

0-10

 * Tsurara (6)-Ice Crystal, Distilled Water x2, Rock Salt--Get the salt at Raimbroy’s, mass-produce the Tsurara until you hit the cap, and either sell them cheaply at Jeuno’s AH (under Ninja Tools), use them with your NIN or NPC them. Quick and easy.


 * Deodorizer (10)-Wind Crystal, Sage, Chamomile, Olive Oil--The sage is at Raimbroy’s and the Chamomile is either at the Jeuno Flowershop in Upper Jeuno or from Vollbow RV. These are really cheap, and, between these and Poison Dust, you want to cap out with Poison Dust.

TEST ITEM: Animal Glue: Fire Crystal, Distilled Water, Rabbit Hide, Bone Chip x2: Get used to making this recipe, especially if you intend to take Alchemy beyond 60, because this is a crucial ingredient for applying various potions to weapons. You will often make your own once you can reliably HQ these (51+ above cap)

11-20

 * Poison Dust (12)-Lightning Crystal, Yellow Globe x2--Yellow Globes are fish caught in various areas, especially in the Sandy and Kazham airship waiting areas in Port Jeuno, or in Mhaura. If you decide to farm these yourself, which I recommend if you are going for Fishing skill, Mhaura will isolate the Yellow Globes, but Port Jeuno will also catch Cobalt Jellyfish, which are used in Mercury below.  You want to make enough Poison Dust for Poison Potions later.


 * Mercury (16)-Lightning Crystal, Cobalt Jellyfish x4--Caught in almost any saltwater area, they can be found at the Windy, Bastok and Jeuno AHs, plus Alchemy and Fishing Guilds. Make as many as you made Poison Dust.  If left alone for a RL day or so, Fishing Guildshops will sell Jellyfish for as low as 15 each and in gigantic quantities.  Be warned that this is common knowledge and you'll rarely find the Windy guildshop selling below 100 each.


 * Poison Potion (18)-Water Crystal, Mercury, Poison Dust--Use the dust and mercury you made to make a stack or two. These are your TEST ITEM as well. They sell very well at the Jeuno AH because 1 HP/tic Poison generally negates more powerful poison effects and can cancel out Sleepga spells and effects from mobs (Nightmare aside). Use up all your Poison Dust.  This is a very profitable use for those fish, but it takes a lot of fishing, especially for Jellyfish.

21-30

 * Silent Oil (24)-Water Crystal, Beeswax x2, Slime Oil--If you farm your own beehive chips or have a high level crafter (60+) make it for you, you can almost pull even on these. However, on most servers, high-level Alchemists use this to make gil.  A good bridge if you have to.  Sells extremely fast, fortunately.


 * Blinding Potion (27)-Water Crystal, Sleepshroom, Poison Flour, Crying Mustard--Crying Mustard at Raimbroy’s, Poison Flour from the Gobbie shop in Jeuno and Sleepshrooms from the AH. Since the flour doesn’t stack, I made these in Jeuno. Make as many as you can and save them, with one as a TEST ITEM. It is a 9-level jump from Poison Potions, so be careful and expect a lot of breaks.

31-40

 * Blind Bolt Heads (31)-Wind Crystal, Animal Glue, Blinding Potion, Bronze Ingot--This requires Smithing 14, which is easy enough to get. Make a ton and sell them at Jeuno AH. Make sure you get to at least 30 with them. The next big recipe is at 40. (You can make bolts, which sell much more quickly but that takes a lot longer as you will have made between 3-4 stacks of boltheads; that made around 300 stacks with a Woodworking of 75+2.)


 * Artificial Lens (34)-Fire Crystal, Glass Fiber x2--This doesn't stack and is only for people worried about the 9 level jump. Mixed with a Light Crystal and two more Glass Fiber at level 41, they make Prism Powder (minimum guild price is 600), a HIGHLY profitable and fast selling synth but again, they do not stack and making enough for 30->34 will clog even a mule's inventory.  Make what you feel comfortable with, both skill and invenory-wise, and save for later.


 * Firesand (40)-Earth Crystal, Bomb Ash x2, Sulfur--Check the AHs for these items first, as they are usually cheaper there, but in a pinch: Bomb Ash in the Metalworks area of Bastok and Sulfur from the Gustaberg RV in Port Bastok.  Tandem with Bullets to work your way closer to 35-36.  Also a TEST ITEM.  I'd advise selecting either this or the Artifical Lens/Prism Powder path and sticking to it as much as possible.

41-50

 * Bullet (41)-Fire Crystal, Firesand, Brass Ingot--Goldsmithing 18 as a sub-craft. These sell pretty well in stacks or pouches (Bullet equivalent of Quivers or Toolbags).  If you made Firesand, this is a good way to use it.  The bigger advantage is that with a full stack of pouches, you can get 54 (54) synths into one AH sales slot: 36 for the Bullets themselves and 18 for the Firesand.


 * Prism Powder (41)-Light Crystal, Artificial Lens, Glass Fiber x2--These are profitable, easy to make (4 glass fiber, 1 fire and 1 light crystal), and sell extremely rapidly. They are also made in by the ton for gil by higher-level Alchemists because of the profitability.  You'll have to undercut prices a little, but even then, you should be able to make good profits.


 * Vitriol (43)-Water Crystal, Treant Bulb x2--Make up to the cap of this stuff, especially if you want to make a ton of gil later on making Acid Bolts. Treant Bulbs are very farmable and you can farm Grain Seeds (worth 7k/stack on Asura) at the same time. If you don't end up making Acid Bolts in the end, you'll still want to save these if you are taking your Alchemy beyond 60 and/or getting Key Items because a lot of GP items are made by adding Medicines to weapons.


 * Acid Bolt Heads (45)-Wind Crystal, Animal Glue, Vitriol, Bronze Ingot--These sell so much better (as more gil-per-synth and as return on investment) as Bolts than as Boltheads, so I suggest making these into Bolts, Quiver them, and sell them while twirling your mustache in glee. I took this to cap because I made a lot of vitriol and because I had a Woodworking at 69+2 at the time. I recommend it as well.


 * Shrimp Lure (48)-Fire Crystal, Silver Ingot, Crayfish, Glass Fiber--These are little profit-monkeys just sitting there, waiting to be mass-produced...except they don't stack. Extremely competitve to sell, so don't try to get more than a level or two of skill.  Be careful of flooding the market and also, these require Goldsmithing 21 to make.


 * Steel Bullets (49)-Fire Crystal, Firesand, Steel Ingot--Sub-craft of Smithing 30. These sell okay and can be profitable, depending on Firesand and Steel Ingot prices.  Mostly, I'd use this as a way to level your Smithing if it's between 25 and 30.

TEST ITEM: Fire Sword:  Earth Crystal, Iron Sword, Firesand, Slime Oil:  These swords are popular because they have better DPS that the Iron Swords, but are often made for GP or the HQ version (best DPS Sword until Centurion's Sword for almost all Sword-using jobs). Buy one or make one depending on the cost of Slime Oil and Iron Swords at the AH. Don't make for skill because the market is too flooded and there aren't enough Iron Swords to support more than 1-2 of these at a time.

51-60

 * Holy Water (51)-Light Crystal, Distilled Water--Light crystals crashed since the first time I was in this range (from 10k/stack to 4k/stack), making this a much better synth. You can save some to make Holy Bolt Heads (recepie below), but the real secret is that Holy Water sells to NPCs for 350-390 each, which is profitable if you got the light crystals for 4k/stack or less.  Mass-producing items and then selling them to NPCs at a profit is the best way to increase your skill for any craft or level.


 * Silver Bullet (52)-Fire Crystal, Silver Ingot, Firesand--After a back-and-forth debate, I have re-added these. They take Goldsmithing 24, are profitable, and can be "pouched" to fit 36 synths into 1 big stack.  My Goldsmithing Guide does suggest this as a way to level your  Goldsmithing from 21 to 24.


 * Holy Bolt Heads (53)-Wind Crystal, Bronze Ingot, Holy Water x2--These make incredibly profitable bolts, but don't sell well as simply Boltheads. It's one way to use up your Holy Water if you don't want to NPC them.


 * Sleeping Potion (56)-Water Crystal, Chamomile, Sleepshroom, Poison Flour--Just like Blinding Potions, only you can get everything for this synthin Jeuno or its AH! The Chamomile's in Upper Jeuno's Flowershop and the Poison Flour's in Lower Jeuno’s Gobbieshop.  If you plan to go past 60, save for boltheads, otherwise sell them for a nice profit.


 * Cermet Chunk (59)-Fire Crystal, Golem Shard x2--This was the best way to make Cermet Chunks on Asura. Alternatives include Magic Pot Shard x4 (56) or Doll Shard x2 (60), but the one is more expensive/synth and the other is much more rare on the AH. Save a stack or two for Porcelain Flowerpots, if you just going to 60.  Sell these on the AH or to your friends, or use them yourself if you want to try some Gardening.


 * Porcelain Flowerpot (61)-Fire Crystal, Cermet Chunk--Good way to finish off Alchemy, especially if you made the Cermet yourself. The standard pot for gardeners (who can't afford Arcane Flowerpot x10), so there's a strong demand, if streakish, but these don't stack.  I suggest finding people (LS-mates, friends, and/or total strangers) who are starting up Gardening.  If you aren't gardening yourself, I'd suggest starting up, as there are plenty of profitable seed/pot/crystal combinations; it's a great way to earn money for nothing (Mithra are still free).

TEST ITEM: Hi-Potion: Water Crystal, Sage x2, Distilled Water, Malboro Vine: Frankly, some guides recommend making these but the competition is incredibly fierce, they don't stack, and the profit-margin is incredibly slim. However, this is a good use for any randomly-dropped Malboro Vines. Just buy one off the AH IF you plan on taking Alchemy past 60 (and to 100).

POST 60 Recepies
This is for going past 60 in Alchemy. Only do this if you want to take Alchemy to 100 (or 75 for Animas). The jump from here to 75 (Animas) is hard on the wallet and I spent a long time selling Shrimp Lures before starting it. Key Item: Anima Synthesis is a must.

61-70

 * Venom Dust (62)-Lightning Crystal, Ogre Eel x2--While you can fish for these in a variety of places, I've always disdained salt-water fishing. Find them on the AH, mostly in Jeuno but check Windy and Bastok.  You want to make around 1 level of skill to help with Venom Potions later.  Buying the Venom Dust directly is usually cheaper but consider taking the hit for some skill.


 * Sleep Bolt Heads (67)-Wind Crystal, Bronze Ingot, Animal Glue, Sleeping Potion--Smithing 14 as a sub-skill, same as the other boltheads you've made. Profitable to sell but don't expect to sell them as quickly as you can the bolts themselves.  Because it is after 50, expect to make a few stacks (x99) of the boltheads.  Find a WW friend to pawn them off on if possible, or do the several hundred synths yourself when the first place nation controls Norvallen at the same time (easy access to quivering and Ash Lumber).


 * Venom Potion (68)-Water Crystal, Mercury, Venom Dust--By now, you should be regularly HQ1-3 on making Mercury, so it will probably be cheaper to make your own. That doesn't mean you shouldn't raid the Fishing Guilds, but it does mean that you don't have to raid the Guilds to break-even.  Save these for bolt heads or for Guild Point items.


 * Hi-Ether (69)-Water Crystal, Bat Wing x4, Dried Marjoram x2, Dryad Root, Distilled Water--Doesn't stack but sells quickly. Tag-team these with Remedies to get about 1-2 levels, to get closer to Animas.  The number of Bat Wings required means you'll want to start saving far in advance.  Doesn't stack, so beware of doing too many at once.


 * Remedy (69)-Water Crystal, Chamomile, Sage, Wijnruit, Dried Marjoram, Distilled Water, Boyahda Moss, Mistletoe, Honey--The last three are the only things you can't buy from a vendor (crystals aside) and can be the limiting factors here. Generally, though, they should be available and these resell for a slender profit, minus breaks.  You can no longer HQ them for profit by selling them to NPCs, but that's a good thing for lower-level crafters.

TEST ITEM: Acid Kukri: Water Crystal, Vitriol, Animal Glue, Mythril Kukri: By now, the recipe should be so familiar you only need to know what the base weapon to be modified is. Buy on the AH, most likely, because Corrosive Kukri, the HQ version, is a THF favorite.

71-80

 * Halcyon Fishing Rod (72 & 76)-Light Crystal, Broken Halcyon Rod or Fire Crystal, Cermet Chunk, Glass Fiber x2, Carbon Fiber x4--This is the best alternative to Animas I have found. Check here and here for where to break the rod.  Suggestion : Make 12, then break and repair until you run out of rods or you hit 72 and sell the rest, plus however many it takes to hit 76, slowly at the AH.  It is profitable and you should be getting some HQs on the materials.  However, this strategy doesn't work well with mules because the best places to break rods aren't the best places/easiest places to take a level 1 mule.


 * Anima Synthesis (75)-Elemental Crystal, Memory x4, Rock Salt, Sulfur, Mercury--These are a bulkwark in Alchemy crafting because the Animas are used to craft certain Enchanted items in other crafts, most notably Reraise Earrings and Warp Cudgels. There are a few more miscellaneous items that can be crafted from them.  If you decide to make these, decide in advance what Enchanted items you will be making (remember: you need a key item bought with guild points to make animas and another key item to craft with them) and then make a ton of those.


 * Venom Bolt Heads (76)-Wind Crystal, Venom Potion, Bronze Ingot, Animal Glue--I accidentally left these bolt heads until recently, but only because I didn't craft these. All I do know is that if you made Venom Dust, you made Venom Potions, and, if you made Venom Potions, this appears to be a profitable to get rid of them if you are willing to make the bolts.  However, subsequent dealings with Bloody Bolts have led me to urge extreme caution as the higher the level of the craft, the slower the skill-ups; you can end up with more bolt heads than you'd care to make into bolts.


 * Paralyze Potion (78)-Water Crystal, Mercury, Paralysis Dust--Same recipe as all negative status potions, but these don't sell nearly as well. I had a supply of the Dust from break-fishing using Three-eyed Fish, so I used this as a bridge and spent a decent bit of effort selling them off.  Only throwing them out as an idea because it's a long way to 100 and not everyone has a Woodworking mule with the ability to HQ bolt synths for massive profit.

TEST ITEM: X-Potion: Water Crystal, Sage x2, Distilled Water, Hecteyes Eye, Reishi Mushroom:  Buy on the AH. I tried making these to help bridge the gap but these aren't really profitable, the mushrooms are hard to get, and the potions don't sell quite fast enough to make up for not stacking.

81-90

 * Bloody Bolt Heads (81)-Wind Crystal, Bronze Ingot, Beastman Blood, Revival Tree Root--Great synth for this high up. While the Beastman Blood and Tree Root are limiting factors, these bolts sell quickly and are very stackable for a Level 81 synth.  This is especially nice if you've gotten your Woodworking up past 47, so you can reliably HQ.  WARNING:  6 levels (or 5 if you made Halcyon Rods) will take a lot of synths and leave you with tons of boltheads to synth.  Also, I am biased because this is based on my Alchemy Mule when my main character had a Woodworking of 81+2, but these are profitable without having Woodworking that high.
 * Update: See Discussion page for a note on this.


 * Polyflan (83)-Lightning Crystal, Flan Meat, Chimera Blood--A bridge, not profitable, for those not making Photoanimas. Considering the drop in Photoanima, I would seriously considering capping on these.


 * Photoanima (85)-Fire Crystal, 1 of each Anima--While these originally were worth a good amount of gil, because the Promies were considered incredibly hard, subsequent changes in Chains of Promathia has made the Promies easier, relatively, and have crushed the market for these. I am down-grading this to a bridge-synth, to make if you have the gil or time to burn.


 * Holy Leather (87)-Light Crystal, Holy Water, Ram Leather--Only because all the other cool kids are doing it but this is a bridge and a source of gil-hemorrhage. However, you should be getting around 10-20% HQs from the Holy Water and if you can make your own Ram Leather (assuming you can easily farm Rams), you can minimze this lose.  The only reason I have used it is that I was farming Ram Horns for Kabura Arrows and always bring along Leather-synthing ingredients when I farm Rams.


 * Gold Nugget (88)-Fire Crystal, Gold Leaf, Panacea--Pretty good profit if you can get the ingredients. Vital if you are taking your Goldsmithing from 51 to 54.


 * Super Ether (89)-Water Crystal, Ahriman Wing, Treant Bulb, Distilled Water, Dried Marjoram x3--These are also a bridge to consider using alongside Gold Nuggets as needed. As I plan to tag-team on Urushi with my Woodworking main, I've got a strong level 91 synth ahead, but if you don't have that possibility, I'd suggest getting to around 88 or so.

TEST ITEM: Bloody Sword: Dark Crystal, Bastard Sword, Revival Tree Root, Beastman Blood: You might be able to make this cheaper, but there's a few floating around because HP Drain on a Great Sword helps reduce a DRK's need on healing...

91-100

 * Urushi (91)-Fire Crystal, Lacquer Tree Sap x4, Iron Ore, Honey--This and Animas are what prompted me to make an Alchemy mule. These are essential for helping get Woodworking from 91 to 96 and above.  The sub-crafts are Woodworking 59 and Smithing 21.  Read that again, just to be sure.
 * Update: Tenshodo buyers in Lower Jeuno, Norg, and Nashmau will buy up to 15 a time for 4595 each. That's almost 70k in sales per day.  Not sure how fast they get back to that point, though, because I've only tried to sell once every Real-Life day.  But it is a great way to get rid of the stuff.


 * Icarus Wing (93)-Wind Crystal, Giant Bird Feather x6, Beeswax x2--Giant Bird Feathers availability aside, these are incredibly cheap and easy for Level 93 synth (you should be able to kill at making Beeswax by now and you may have picked up Trituration from the Guild). Sold singly, they clear quickly and at a large profit.  Stacks don't sell as well, though, so clearing all you've made to reach 93 will take a long time.


 * Platinum Nugget (96)-Fire Crystal, Platinum Leaf, Panacea--Same as Gold Nuggets but for Platinum-level Goldsmithing at 60+. The Leaves come from attempts to Gardening Elemental Ores, so let your friends and LS mates know you'll buy them and, hopefully, once a month, you'll get a bunch.  Otherwise, it's hit or miss at the AH because most people will sell them to NPCs rather than sell on the AH.


 * Panacea (98)-Light Crystal, Philosopher's Stone, Mercury, Sulfur, Rock Salt--Great tandem synth with Platinum Nuggest after you finish off Icarus Wings. Only 2 more levels after this.  Getting the stones will be hard, as others snatch them up quickly from the AH (either really really fast as singles, or at a ridiculous premium in stacks; there are evil people who buy singles to sell in stacks).  I would say that, at this point, your ability to farm is essentially nil; only jobs capable of farming level 60+ Ahrimans AND DC-EM Wyverns (aka BSTs) have a shot at farming by this point.


 * Cantarella (99)-Dark Crystal, Venom Dust, Mercury, Distilled Water, Paralysis Dust, Fresh Orc Liver--Like all crafts, this is the Level 99 Receipe for Relic Weapon Upgrades. Orc Offal drops from Dynamis zones, sells relatively cheaply at the AH, and this NPCs for a loss.  On my server (Asura), the liver is 3k, total cost is about 5k, and these NPC for 2.7k.  However, every point of skill is hard now.


 * Pro-Ether (100)-Water Crystal, Ahriman Wing x2, Treant Bulb, Dried Marjoram x3, Distilled Water, Wyvern Wing--Only level 100 item that sells well. But the Wings are the expensive part.  Farm the Ahriman Wings if you lack a life or have the time and/or friends to save around 10k each synth.  As is, expect a slight loss due to competition from other crafters.


 * Sun Water (100)-Light Crystal, Philosopher's Stone, Mercury, Beastman Blood, Cactuar Root--After some consideration and cajoling from friends, I included this because, at the end of day, these do sell singly at a profit, albeit a small one. By this point, however, you should be +3 with Alchemy Moghancement if not +3 with Moglification.
 * Update: These are on my watch-list for removal. Frankly, they are selling for 10k each now, and cost almost 22k to make, which is horrible for skilling up.  The ability to get Beast Affinity merits up to x5 to cap Funguar Familiar and raise level 63 jugs to level 73 pets has deflated the old uncapped jug market.

Restocking Gil
There are five (5) broad categories you can use for Restocking (aka getting back) your gil that may have been lost during the skill-up process. With my Cooking Guide, I did this section as higher-cost items that both are profitable and sell well but are not good for skilling up. Here, however, you'll find that restocking your gil will often depend on your ability to HQ. Learn what you need to HQ to make a profit and learn what you don't need to HQ, and work accordingly. I won't be listing the recipes, check them yourself, but I will try to give tips or notes on each as needed.

Medicine
The truest consumables in Alchemy; so long as people play non-WHM jobs, these will be needed.
 * Antidote: Grapes in Sandy, Winjiruits in Jeuno, cheap as anything and second-lowest Alchemy recipe, bar none.
 * Echo Drops: Beware the price of Honey, but otherwise, these are golden.
 * Silent Oil: HQ ONLY. Also, beware that this market may relatively dry up now that Ninjas have Sneak.
 * Eye Drops: NPC these. They don't sell well, but they do NPC at a profit.  HQs are just whipped cream on top.
 * Prism Powder: Watch for cheap Glass Fiber when visiting the Guild in Bastok (600 is lowest possible price and often below the going AH rate)
 * Holy Water: Good use for cheap (3k or less) Light Clusters or stacks if you NPC them, but also makable for a good profit as a ward against Curse.
 * Remedy: SE nerfed Professional Remedy Crafters and their associates, Professional Mistletoe Farmers, and nerfed them hard. As a direct consequence, you can once again craft these for skill and profit.

Base Components
The building blocks for so many recipes in all crafts.
 * Black Ink: My preferred way to deal with Cone Calamary that I catch, but any Cephlapod you catch is good for these, except maybe Gigant Squid and Grimmonite, which are better used in Cooking.
 * Beeswax: I often mega-farm (kill everything that moves) in Konschtat Highlands and get lots of these. Other people farm these as part of their gil sources, so go nuts.  On Asura at the moment, each HQ is worth 1k/extra block of wax.
 * Animal Glue: Both the Bone Chips and the Rabbit Hides are cheap and usually plentiful as a low-level drop and higher level Alchemists need them for Guild Point items. Enjoy playing middle-man.
 * Mercury: One of the fastest selling components, used in well over 100+ recipes. Raiding the odd Fishing Guild may help or just keep them from random fishing trips.
 * Bast Parchment: This is actually a Woodworking 45 synth, but a lot of Alchemy items, Fireworks and Ninja Tools, require these as the base component...
 * Firesand: The sulfur and bomb ash is best bought on the AH, but enough people buy these for bullets and adding flames to weapons that there is a good market. Don't count on HQs unless you are truly leet, though.
 * Carbon Fiber: Bomb ash from the AH again, but healthy profits if the sales rate isn't as stable as you'd like, but these are used in enough other recipes that there is at least a few stacks sold a day.

Fishing Gear
Or, God Bless Fishing Bots. Seriously, they exist for a while, buying tons of your materials, sell fish cheap, then periodically get reset, only to repeat the cycle. Sucks if you are fishing for income, though.
 * Shrimp Lure: The market for selling these gil-puppies is highly competitive, but if you can get cheap silver ingots and glass fibers, you can fight hard to sell lots of these at a profit of 2k+ each.
 * Halcyon Rod: Alchemy 76 is up there for a restocking item but these sell around 5-10/day and are profitable in the extreme as the rod of choice for anyone not fishing up large fish or possessing Lu Shangs.

Ninjas
They are your best friends, /NINs in Sky aside.
 * HQ Katanas: A variety of status-effect potions can be added to Katanas by the formula Water Crystal + Animal Glue + Shinobi-Gatana + Status Potion. The HQs are highly desired by NINs of all levels.  Cheap and plentiful Shinobi-Gs are bought from the Tenshodo.
 * Tsurara: Cheap and easy to make but for some reason, people will buy them from the AH instead of making them for themselves. When you take 300 worth of items and crystals and make a 2k stack in one synth, you'll be wowed.
 * Kodoku: Not the best seller but highly-profitable if the frogs are for sale cheap (or at all). Taking 20k, making 12 stacks of tools that sell for 50k and selling them over the course of a week or two keeps the gil rolling in, if not quickly.
 * Sairui-Ran: Bast Parchment, Bomb Ash and then a bunch of items sold cheaply by NPCs. Gotta love it, especially if you HQ these.  Ninjas just love Blind when trying to tank.
 * Jusatsu: Confession: These are incredible but the market is occassionally saturated and usually competitive with high-level crafters, but each HQ can make you a 1-2k+.

Miscellaneous
What the name implies; they don't fit in with the others
 * HQ Guild Point Items: A major component of GP Items is weapons; see Tip#2 at the top. The HQ versions will often sell for a good profit and much more quickly than the NQ version, Katanas and Daggers especially.
 * Poison Potion: You can HQ the two basic components, Poison Dust and Mercury, before you can HQ these (HQs have no effect on the # of potions), so these can be even cheaper to make for profit than they were for skill.
 * Sleeping Potion: HQs will be rare for a 56-level synth, but they sell well and HQs create extra potions. A good use for cheap Sleepshrooms.
 * Bullets: RNG and COR will use these in large quanities and HQing them will make you a lot of money.  Brass, Iron, Steel, and Silver Bullets are known profit-monkeys and popular, but your ability to HQ will depend as much on your Smithing or Goldsmithing skill as your Alchemy.  Check your server for any others that are profitable.

If you have any other suggestions or ideas, feel free to add to the Discussion Page or add into the above section (just make sure to sign your addition). Enjoy!