If you’re looking to improve your stats in Final Fantasy XIV without upgrading your gear, or you’ve achieved a best-in-slot (BiS) loadout and have no idea what to do now, you’re going to have to start melding, and perhaps even overmelding.
Melding and overmelding are pretty straightforward once you’ve figured them out. What’s more confusing is figuring out which type of Materia you need, and which gear can or can’t be overmelded in the first place. Don’t worry, we’re gonna go through this one step at a time.
How to unlock melding and overmelding in Final Fantasy XIV
If you’re not wanting to pay one of the Materia melders to meld for you, you’re going to want to learn the art of melding. To do this, you’ll need to complete a small string of side quests:
| Quest name | Level | Quest giver | Reward |
| Forging the Spirit | 19 | Swynbroes Central Thanalan (X:23.9, Y:13.7) | You learn how to extract materia from gear pieces that reach 100% Spiritbond. |
| Waking the Spirit | 19 | F’hobhas Central Thanalan (X:23.5, Y:13.9) | You learn how to perform basic Melding |
| Melding Materia Muchly | 25 | Mutamix Bubblypots Central Thanalan (X:23.7, Y:13.6) | You learn how to perform Advanced melding, aka overmelding |
These quests aren’t too complex, but you’ll need to have at least one Disciple of the Hand (Crafter) class which is at least level 19 in order to complete the first two quests of this questline and at least level 25 to complete “Melding Materia Muchly”.
Types of Materia in Final Fantasy XIV
You can Meld Materia to any piece of gear, regardless of level or class. Battle, Crafting and Gathering classes each have their own types of Materia, and each type of Materia comes at different levels. I know this sounds confusing, but we’re going to go over it in just a second.
In order for Materia to be effective when attached to a piece of gear, you need to be aware of three things:
- Gear level
- Materia type
- Materia level
There are currently a total of 10 levels for all Materia, with a higher level materia being suitable for higher level gear. While you can meld lower level Materia to higher level gear, you’ll receive far less of a stat increase by doing this.
Here’s all of the Materia levels listed, including which level of gear they’re best suited for:
| Materia level | Gear level |
| I | 1 to 29 |
| II | 15 to 44 |
| III | 30 to 45 |
| IV | 45 to 50 |
| V | 51 to 60 |
| VI | 61 to 70 |
| VII | 71 to 80 |
| VIII | 71 to 80 |
| IX | 81 to 90 |
| X | 81 to 90 |
Additionally, you’ll need to know the different types of Materia in order to judge which ones are most suitable for the piece of gear you’re trying to buff:
| Materia type | Jobs | What it does |
| Savage Aim | War / Magic | Increases Critical Hit Rate and strength of attacks, spells and healing. Improving Critical Hit Rate has the most effect on DPS and healing abilities |
| Savage Might | War / Magic | Increases the overall damage and healing of all spells and abilities |
| Heavens’ Eye | War / Magic | Increases Direct Hit Rate, improving the odds of any attack dealing additional damage |
| Quickarm | War | Reduces cast times and recast timers while increasing potency of DoT attacks |
| Quicktongue | Magic | Reduces cast times and recast timers while increasing potency of DoT attacks and HoT spells |
| Battledance | War | Reduces the damage taken while increasing the amount of damage done by attacks and the amount of health restored via healing. This is particularly useful for Tanks |
| Piety | Magic | Increases the speed at which MP is regained during battle. Specifically for healers |
| Craftsman’s Command | Crafting | Increases control |
| Craftsman’s Cunning | Crafting | Increases CP |
| Craftsman’s Competence | Crafting | Increases craftsmanship |
| Gatherer’s Grasp | Gathering | Increases GP |
| Gatherer’s Guerdon | Gathering | Increases gathering |
| Gatherer’s Guile | Gathering | Increases perception |
How to get Materia in Final Fantasy XIV
There are a few different ways to get Materia in Final Fantasy XIV, but the easiest way to get them is through the Marketboard. Sadly, sellers know that players are always looking for Materia, so current level Materia usually comes at a high price. However, like I said, there are other ways to get your hands on Materia without parting with your hard earned Gil.
If you’re specifically looking for IX level materia, you can currently run any Dungeon after the Aitiascope (level 89) because they’re all a possible drop from these Dungeons. The Lunar Subterrane also provides X level Materia as a drop.
If you’re playing late-game content, you’ll be able to earn Cracked Anthoclusters and Dendroclusters. These can be exchanged for Materia X and IX respectively (specifically War and Magic Materia) by visiting one of the following vendors:
- Auacyn in Old Sharlayan (X:12.6, Y:10.1)
- Khuzhal in Radz-at-Han (X:11.3, Y:8.6)
- Mowen’s Merchant in The Crystarium (X:10.1, Y:11.8)
- Rowena’s Representative in the following locations:
- Foundation (X:10.5, Y:11.8)
- Kugane (X:12.2, Y:10.8)
- Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (X:9.1, Y:11.1)
- New Gridania (X:11.9, Y:12.3)
- Uldah – Steps of Nald (X:9.1, Y:8.3)
You can also exchange Cracked Anthocrystals (which are obtained through Wondrous Tails) for Gathering and Crafting Materia with the same vendors.
Another easy way to get Materia is through extracting it from gear once it reaches 100% Spiritbond. The higher the level of gear, the higher the level of the Materia you’ll receive, but there’s no telling which type of Materia you’ll get. To tell the Spiritbond level of a piece of gear, hover over it and check the second line in the Crafting & Repairs section of the pop up window.
How to meld in Final Fantasy XIV
To meld Materia to a piece of gear in Final Fantasy XIV, find the piece of gear and right-click it, then select “Meld”.
A window will open up listing all of the gear you currently own which can be melded on the left side. Click on the piece of gear you’re hoping to meld, and a list of Materia available within your inventory will appear on the right side of this window.
At the bottom of this window, all of the current stats for this piece of gear will be listed. This is how you’ll know which Materia to attach:
In this picture, for instance, I’ve selected the Augmented Classical Signifier’s Chiton. It currently has no Materia melded to it, and the stats at the bottom reflect this. Note that my Direct Hit Rate is currently 175 / 250. To increase Direct Hit Rate, you’ll need to add a Heavens’ Eye Materia, which I just so happen to have.
In this picture, the Augmented Classical Signifier’s Chiton now has one Materia melded to it, as displayed by the blue light next to the item. The Direct Hit Rate has now increased to 211 / 250, thanks to the addition of the Heavens’s Eye Materia X, which offers +36 to Direct Hit Rate.
It’s worth noting that not all attempts to meld Materia to a piece of gear will be successful. After you’ve selected your Materia on the right side of the melding window, another box will appear for you to finalize your choice. You’ll be told here whether the meld is likely to be a success.
How to overmeld in Final Fantasy XIV
Before you can even hope to overmeld a piece of gear, you’ll need to know if that’s even possible. Thankfully, this is pretty easy. Simply hover over any piece of gear and if there’s a section saying “Advanced melding forbidden”, you cannot overmeld this piece of gear. If this text isn’t in the pop up, congratulations, you can move on to overmelding.
While not all melds are guaranteed to be a success, the likelihood of failure increases dramatically when trying to overmeld a piece of gear. If you want to overmeld, you’re going to need a lot of whichever Materia you’re hoping to attach. You’re free to attach any number of Materia to a piece of gear up to a maximum of five, but remember that you will permanently lose any Materia which isn’t successfully melded to the gear piece.
What is Pentamelding in Final Fantasy XIV?
Pentamelding, is essentially attaching five Materia to a piece of gear successfully. The more Materia is successfully added, the higher the chance that subsequent Materia will be lost due to failure, so pentamelding is not easy to achieve. However, it is possibly the best way to elevate your gear and increase your effectiveness in battle, so if you have the spare Materia laying around and a piece of gear which allows Advanced Melding, why not give it a try?
