Welcome to Milo's not so comprehensive guide to General Crafting.

1.Intro
2.Crystal Chronicles
3.Farming "Not just for those with big belts"
4.Price Watch
5.Auctioning
6.Skill ups and you
7.Knowing when enough is enough
8.Guild policies
9.Knowing the days of the week
10.Diplomacy

1.Intro
Sick and tired of going to the market only to find prices inflated? Having trouble getting that extra boost out of you character? Always wanted to be a 99,999,999,999 gilionare? Hopefully this guide will send you off to the Mog house of your dreams.
1.a What this guide is not.
This guide is merely an accurate way to craft smartly. This guide will not give you miracle recipes, or any recipes for that matter. It will however, show you a simple method to getting the best gain out of your crafting sessions.
1.b Choosing your craft
Choosing a craft is entirely up to your own goals. When choosing a craft ask yourself the following questions. Is there something i purchase from this craft on a regular basis? Would it be beneficial for me to start now in my game? What is my AVG income? Am i willing to invest time and money? Somethings you should know about the guilds before picking any. Woodworking, nets more profit from ninja tools and arrows than from any furnishings or weapons. Goldsmithing is costly, with few benefits until HQ synths can be achieved. Clothcraft is basic and slow, unless you like monotony, and living in windurst are your bag, think this over. Fishing is time consuming, although very profitable, it really isn't a craft, and depends highly on alchemy(lures), cooking(bait), and woodworking(rods), but it can be relaxing and fun, or something to do when a party has alot of down time. Smithing has alot of the same drawbacks as goldsmithing, its expensive, and HQ synths are where money is made. Leathercraft is a wise choice for anyone looking to keep there inventory free from clutter. Seeing as how most Mobs drop a hide of some sort, and hides fill up one inventory slot, a logical correlations can be derived.
2.Crystal Chronicles
Ok so this might not have been the best title. Crystals are a crafters life force, without them you can't Synthisis (1a). Crystals are all obtained by killing Mobs in FFXI, the catch is you must have you countries signet in order for them to drop, and the creature must net you at least 1 exp. as well. You certainly can get crystals without meeting either of these requirements, either through the auction house, or by killing elementals. The beauty of killing elementals, is that they always drop one cluster... ok so a cluster looks like a crystal but it certainly isn't a crystal. Actually Clusters are like super crystals, simply by going into your menu and opening the side text, then clicking use will shatter the cluster into a full stack of crystals of that particular cluster element. Now before you go and get cluster happy, please please pleas note that clusters have additional functionality in the game, like the completion of certain quest goals, and crafting high level items. In section 5 i'll inform you of something most over look concerning clusters.

3.Farming "Not just for those with big belts"
Farming is important to the economy as well as your investments into becoming a high level crafter. Depending on your typical income, and how well you micro manage your funds will determine how long you farm for. Some items are REQUIRED to be farmed by crafters, these are Rare Ex items such as Mandagora Buds (used in cooking and alchemy), so pay attention to this fact as well. Farming to may help boost your income, so you can afford that other bee hive chip on th AH. Note: Always keep only what you need, sell what you don't.

About the author: Milotheshort has been part of the FFXI experience since a month after its U.S. release. Drawing other well known and respect names on Pheonix such as Durraur the BRD, Malkier the Taru Mage, and Golagres the Redmage. Although Milo's career extends over a year, his calling has always been the mechanics of crafting in FFXI