Del Murder was asking for some Clothcrafting advice so I thought I'd help him out... however, it was getting lenghty and I thought I might as well make a full thread out of it and perhaps more people could benefit from it later. It will be a work in progress and I'll keep adding to it as well as adding other crafting guides from personal experience for sub crafts and such.
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If you're new to crafting just learn to watch the market. Always check for NPCs that sell at a better prices than the AH. Check your guild... if you are lucky RMT won't be camping the item you need and you can get some super cheap.
Here's probably a good way to get started though.
0 -> 3 Grass Thread (Lightning > 2xMoko Grass)
Several NPCs sell Moko Grass so try to get it there. Hold onto what you make.
3 -> 4 Grass Cloth (Earth > 3xGrass Thread)
You can start this recipe early, but I wouldn't suggest it. You'll actually need quite a bit of Cloth soon so go ahead and make as much of that Thread into Cloth as you can (even after you cap).
4 -> 8 Cape (Earth > Grass Thread, 2xGrass Cloth)
These are a pretty bad loss. Depending if you have a lot of mule space and patience you can either NPC them or sell them over a month or so. Save one for your test, which you can do anywhere between 8-10. I'd suggest waiting until you're closer to the cap. Especially at higher levels it seems that once you're the next crafting rank your skill ups start coming slower.
8 -> 11 Hachimaki (Wind > 2xGrass Cloth)
These suck and are a rough loss. If you feel like it you can take them to the cap at 11, but the next recipe is almost worth starting early since you can buy ingredients from an NPC. Don't forget to do your test.
10 -> 19 Linen Thread (Lightning > 2xFlax Flower)
These don't suck too bad. Get Flax Flowers from the NPC. Save the Threads for the next recipe and make sure to do your next test before moving on.
19 -> 22 Linen Cloth (Earth > 3xLinen Thread)
If you want to hold onto your cloth for a much much later, optional recipe you can. However, sell it if you feel like it and need some gil back.
22 -> 29 Kaginawa (Earth > Grass Thread, Manticore Hair, Bronze Ingot) *SMITHING SUB REQUIRED*
These sell really well. These are generally profit to make. There are some other options in this range that don't require Smithing, but these are so good that they are absolutely worth leveling Smithing.
29 -> 34 Shinobi-Tabi (Earth > Saruta Cotton, Grass Thread, 2xCotton Cloth)
This is another potential profit depending on your server. Try to get the Saruta Cotton at the vendor when possible. You may want to stop this recipe early for the sake of materials for following synths or you may want to skip it period for the same reason.
29 -> 35 Wool Thread (Lightning > 2xSheep Wool)
Hold onto this for maing the Cloth. If you skipped Shinobi-Tabi, you may feel like you can stop this early and feel that you have enough thread for the cloths. You almost never will in any set like this so I'd suggest getting very close to the cap.
35 -> 37 Wool Cloth (Earth > 3xWool Thread)
Once you're finally done with this you should be able to sell left over cloth and thread unless you want to save some for future potential synths. I find it dangerous to hold onto materials in that way because the economy can sometimes shift and devalue materials you have sitting around. It's a gamble.
37 -> 42 Bird Flecthings (Wind > 2xBird Feather)
This can cost quite a bit, and farming bird feathers is a pain. Because of the state of RNG, fletchings and arrows are worth very little. I'd still suggest sticking these on the AH in Sandy (on a mule if possible). They will eventually sell to people leveling up Woodworking.
42 -> 52 Insect Fletchings (Wind > 2xInsect Wing)
This is very long stretch, but it's cheaper than the alternatives. Insect Wings are usually pretty cheap. If you can DO NOT buy them in Windy. You can stock up on them for extra cheap in other cities, but you'll need to synth at least the first several levels in Windy with HQ support. Go alllll the way to the cap because you're about to start burning money.
52 -> 53 Silk Cloth (Earth > 3xSilk Thread)
It's a tiny bridge, but I'd suggest doing it anyway.
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There are a lot of ways to go from here and they all suck a lot. Some people like to make Green Ribbons, which are a loss. However, with the economy being bottomed out so badly, they might not be so bad. They NPC for 1kish. You will lose a LOT of gil doing Green Ribbons. I personally did this during a time when Karakul Cloth was pretty hot. I would buy Karakul Wool and turn it into Karakul Thread until 55 and then turn my Threads into Karakul Cloth. This was break even when I did it... but I needed about 3M investment capital to keep it going at the time.
Cap @ 55 Karakul Thread (Lightning > 2xKarakul Wool)
Cap @ 57 Karakul Cloth (Earth > 3xKarakul Thread)
Cap @ 62 Green Ribbon (Wind > Silk Cloth)
If Karakul parts don't sound good to you, you can take Green Ribbons to 62 though you may want to stop earlier than that for the next recipe.
Cap @ 63 Hunter's Cotton (Earth > 3xCotton Thread, Carapace Powder, Distilled Water)
I'd suggest leveling Bone at this point. You'll hit a spot where Carapace Powder is nice for leveling up. Making your own Carapace Powder is almost always better than buying it. Hunter's Cotton is all but useless. It's for upgrading AF to AF+1. However, very few RNGs do this. You can keep this on a mule and try to sell it over the next 3 years or you can NPC it.
You can weight you options as to whether you want to take this to the cap or start the next synth.
62 -> 72 Black Chocobo Fletchings (Wind > Black Chocobo Feather)
This is a recipe best done when the economy is inflated. Right now, it could be pretty nasty. You an buy the feathers at the chocobo stables of whatever nation is in 1st. They are not cheap. Except to spend 1M+ to get to 72. For the same reason as all other fletchings... these are crap and a big loss to sell on the AH. They don't NPC that great either. It's up to you.
Cap @ 78 Rainbow Thread (Lightning > 2xSpider Web)
Get HQ support all the time. It's not worth losing your materials. You should be looking ahead to puk fletchings. You may only want to take this up to 75 or so and then start making Cloth. This can be a very large investment as you'll need to hold onto the threads rather than selling them (which would be around break even). Whenever you decide to stop, move on to making the Cloth from them for a return in your investment.
Cap @ 80 Rainbow Cloth (Earth > 3xRainbow Thread)
At this point I'm only telling you what I'm planning, so I can't give any first hand experience. However, these will sell well. It's generally far better to stick them on a mule and sell them out slowly in singles for maximum return of your investment.
Cap @ 82 Puk Fletchings (Wind > 2xPuk Wing)
This recipe is pretty cheap. As a result of constant meriting going on in ToAU areas, these are pretty easy to come by. If you merit a lot, go hang out with your PT and ask them for all of their Wings. They aren't worth much, so most PTs will be happy to hand them over.
Cap @ 88 Wamoura Silk (Lightning > 2xWamoura Cocoon)
These are currently dirt cheap (by comparison to other cloth things). Doing this will probably be cheaper than Rainbow Thread/Cloth. Hold onto your Threads.
Cap @ 90 Wamoura Cloth (Earth > 3xWamoura Silk)
Can't say much... I'm not there.