Deep guide
Expert Crafting Guide: Conditions & Mechanics
Understanding Conditions: The Core of Expert Crafting
Conditions are the primary source of variance in expert crafting. Rather than every craft following an identical path, conditions create windows of opportunity that you must recognize and exploit.
What are conditions? Conditions are temporary status effects that appear randomly during your craft, active for 2-3 actions. Each condition provides a specific advantage. Your skill lies in recognizing the condition, evaluating your current state (durability, CP, quality), and deciding: “Should I use this now, or save CP for something better?”
How often do they appear? Conditions appear multiple times per craft, usually every 3-4 actions. You’ll rarely see a condition window go completely unused, but you also won’t have a condition active 100% of the time.
Why they matter: Conditions create challenge and reward skill expression. Understanding when to use conditions is what separates experienced crafters from those who just follow pre-planned rotations.
The Five Conditions: Detailed Guide
1. [Item] — Control Enhancement â
What it does: Your next quality action gets a control boost. [Item] increases the effectiveness of control-based actions like Focused Synthesis.
Effect: Increases control rating by approximately 20%. This translates to more consistent quality gains and higher potency on quality skills.
When to use: Early to mid-craft, when you’re building your quality baseline. Centered is best paired with other quality boosters (Great Strides, Byregot’s Blessing).
Example in practice:
You have Centered active and 50 CP available.
You use Focused Synthesis (normal potency: 150%).
With Centered, it becomes ~170% potency.
Combine with Great Strides (doubles potency), and
Centered + Great Strides becomes ~340% potency.
Pro tip: Save Centered for times when you can stack it with other quality multipliers. Using it alone wastes its potential.
Strategic use: Centered is most valuable when you’re far from your quality target and need consistent gains. Use it mid-craft when durability is still healthy.
2. [Item] — Durability Preservation 🛡ï¸
What it does: Your next action consumes less durability. [Item] reduces the durability cost of your next move, letting you extend your craft or take more actions.
Effect: Reduces durability consumed per action by approximately 30-50% for one action.
When to use: Mid to late-craft, when durability is declining. Use Sturdy when you have actions still needed but durability is running low.
Example in practice:
You have 25/70 durability and need 3 more actions to complete the craft.
Normally each action costs 10 durability (25 total, leaving you at 0).
With Sturdy active:
First action costs 5 durability (normally 10).
You now have 20 durability left instead of 15.
Those extra 5 durability extend your craft window.
Pro tip: Don’t panic when durability drops. Sturdy gives you breathing room. Plan ahead for when you’ll need it.
Strategic use: Sturdy is often used defensively—when you’re unsure you’ll finish and need extra durability safety. It’s less glamorous than condition-stacking but incredibly valuable for consistency.
3. [Item] — CP Conservation 💨
What it does: Your next action consumes less CP. [Item] reduces the CP cost of expensive actions, letting you cast high-impact skills without draining your pool.
Effect: Reduces CP cost by approximately 50% for one action.
When to use: Late-craft when CP is limited. Save Pliant for high-impact, CP-expensive actions like Manipulation or Waste Not.
Example in practice:
You have 40 CP remaining and need to cast Manipulation (costs 88 CP normally).
Without Pliant, you can't afford it (insufficient CP).
With Pliant, Manipulation costs 44 CP.
You can now cast it and still have 0 CP left (tight but viable).
Pro tip: Combine Pliant with high-CP actions for maximum value. Using Pliant on a cheap action is wasteful.
Strategic use: Pliant is your lifeline when CP runs out. Hold it for critical moments where you need a big action but can’t afford the normal cost.
4. [Item] — Progress Modifier 🔄
What it does: Affects the effectiveness of your next progress action. [Item] can increase or decrease progress efficiency depending on timing and strategy.
Effect: Varies by action, but generally multiplies progress gain for one action.
When to use: Mid-craft when you need progress momentum. Malleable is useful when you need to accelerate your progress toward durability phase transitions.
Example in practice:
Standard progress action costs 80 durability and gains 100 progress.
With Malleable, you gain ~120 progress for the same cost.
This extra progress pushes you past a durability threshold faster.
Pro tip: Malleable is an advanced condition. Beginners often undervalue it because the boost isn’t as obvious as Centered’s control gain.
Strategic use: Use Malleable when you need progress to hit a phase transition or escape a durability trap. It’s less common than other conditions but highly effective when you need it.
5. [Item] — Maximum Impact Multiplier âPrimed
What it does: Multiplies the next quality or progress action by 1.5x. [Item] is the most powerful condition—a true force multiplier.
Effect: Your next action has 150% potency (1.5× normal).
When to use: Late-craft for finishing moves. Stack Primed with Byregot’s Blessing or other high-potency actions for massive quality gains.
Example in practice:
Byregot's Blessing (normal potency: 300%) with Primed becomes 450% potency.
This is the single highest-potency action available to crafters.
Pair it with Great Strides (doubles again) for 900% potency.
Primed + Great Strides + Byregot's Blessing = massive quality.
Pro tip: Primed is the finisher condition. Hoard CP when you see it coming. Save your heavy-hitting skills for when Primed is active.
Strategic use: Primed is what you build toward. Your entire craft strategy often revolves around getting enough CP to use a high-potency action while Primed is active.
Condition Window Management
What is a condition window? A condition window is the period during which a condition is active (usually 2-3 actions). During this window, you can use the condition’s benefit once.
How long do they last? Most conditions last for 2-3 actions. Some conditions may extend if you use them efficiently.
How to maximize windows:
- Plan ahead — Before using a condition, know what action you want to pair with it.
- Don’t waste them — Using Primed on a basic action wastes its potential.
- Stack when possible — Combine conditions for multiplier effects (e.g., Centered + Great Strides).
- Stay focused — Condition windows are short. Distraction costs you the opportunity.
Common mistake: Panicking when you see a powerful condition (like Primed) and using it on the first available action. Instead, take a breath, decide if this is the right moment, and execute with intention.
Phase System: The Durability Journey
Expert crafts are divided into durability phases. Understanding phases is critical to managing your action economy.
What are phases?
Phases are durability segments. Each phase has different conditions, different spacing, and different expectations. Understanding phase transitions helps you plan ahead.
The Three-Phase Model
Phase 1: Setup (Durability 70/70 → 30/70)
- Goal: Establish baseline control, build quality foundation
- Actions: Focused Synthesis, Observe, basic repairs
- Conditions: Random, mostly introductory
- Strategy: Don’t panic. Get comfortable with the rhythm. Build 20-40 quality points.
Phase 2: Boost (Durability 30/70 → 10/70)
- Goal: Exploit conditions for quality/progress gains
- Actions: High-impact quality skills, condition stacking
- Conditions: More frequent, higher-impact conditions
- Strategy: Use Centered, Primed, Great Strides combinations. This is where crafting scores are made.
Phase 3: Finisher (Durability 10/70 → 0/70)
- Goal: Close the craft without waste
- Actions: Final progress, quality insurance
- Conditions: Sparse; you’re in the home stretch
- Strategy: Use remaining CP wisely. Aim for quality or progress as needed. Don’t overextend.
Common Action Patterns
Pattern A: Setup Phase
Durability: 70/70 → 30/70 (40 durability consumed)
CP Budget: 60-80 CP available
Actions:
1. Focused Synthesis (control-based quality)
2. Observe (preparation action, no durability cost)
3. Focused Synthesis (repeat)
4. Repair (as needed to extend durability buffer)
Goal: Establish rhythm, build quality, don't run out of CP
Pattern B: Boost Phase
Durability: 30/70 → 10/70 (20 durability remaining)
CP Budget: Limited; must allocate carefully
Actions:
1. Wait for Centered or Primed condition
2. Use Great Strides (doubles next quality action potency)
3. Use high-potency quality action (Byregot's if Primed available)
4. Repeat if conditions allow
Goal: Maximize quality gains through condition stacking
Pattern C: Finisher Phase
Durability: 10/70 → 0/70 (1-2 actions remaining)
CP Budget: Minimal; last ditch effort
Actions:
1. Use final quality action if available
2. Use progress action to complete craft
3. Finish
Goal: Complete craft without waste; secure quality target
Troubleshooting Common Issues
“I ran out of durability before finishing.” → You advanced progress too quickly in phase 1-2. Use Sturdy to extend your phase windows. Repair more often when durability drops below 50%.
“I didn’t see the condition window in time.” → The UI might have been obscured or you were distracted. Ensure your condition notifications are visible. Play with notifications enabled initially.
“My craft failed even though I did everything right.” → Some failures are inevitable due to RNG. Expert crafting isn’t about 100% success—it’s about consistent, high-quality crafts. Even 90% success rate is excellent.
“Conditions seem completely random and unmanageable.” → They’re not actually random—they follow a pseudo-random seeding pattern. As you craft more, you’ll develop intuition for condition spacing.
Next Steps
Master these mechanics with Advanced Strategies for optimization techniques, scoring strategies, and competitive crafting tips.