Bonecrafting Guide 0-60 by Ctownwoody

Category:Bonecraft
Bonecraft Guide 1.0
0-100+
By Ctownwoody of Asura
Disclaimer: This worked for me and is based on my research and efforts on Asura. Prices have increasingly normalized in the last 18 months, but I still suggest going to ffxiah.com to research your particular server.
*Of note: Bonecrafting is irritating because there are fewer profitable skill-up synths, but a ton of great ones for higher level crafters.
*2nd Note: This is being expanded to 100 as I level a Mule to that point.
*3rd Note: Mog Satchel should be a life-saver for all the unstackables you'll have, either if farm them or if you just buy them at AH.
== Bonecrafting Tips ==
1. Learn to drool over Bone Chips; they are the back-bone of this craft (pun intended).
2. Search for recipes that use stackables. Bonecrafting has a lot of recipes that use unstackable ingredients which will clog up your inventory and keep you stuck at the AH for long stretches of time, bidding on individual items.
3. The Guild store's prices are rarely better than the AH, so check the AH first. Bone Chips and Seashells are the only thing that you'll find at guild cheaper than AH prices.
4. Some popular crafting items that don't stack, like Crab Shells, Scorpion Claws, Scorpion Shells and Giant Femurs, greatly vary in price depending on whether someone has recently made a run on them. Experiment with the prices you pay at the AH, but set firm limits. Except for the Scorpion Shells, I never paid more than 1k for any of the above and often started as low as 300 each; for the shells, I paid 2k tops, but tried to keep it below 1.5k.
5. Farming materials can stink, even if you have a good job for it: unstackable items, long re-spawn times, and/or fierce competition. I don't suggest it generally. Scorpions consistently drop goodies but will drop 2 types of items that will fill you up fast (typically, 2 claws and 1 shell). Rams and Dhalmels are found outside but both require Leathercraft skill plus certain supplies to deal with the hides that they drop in large quantities than the Bonecraft items, and Rams can have competition (2 mobs, 10 minute re-pop).
*Caveat: I will farm Tremor Ram and Battering Ram but I do that mostly to earn gil from Ram Leather and Ram Horns, or what I can make from them, and not for skill.
*Caveat #2: Scorpions do make good farming during multi-purpose trips, i.e. if you can make use of both shells and claws. And even then, crafting in the field will take a lot of supplies. But the new 5-minute re-spawn for a lot of scorpions does make for easier times.
*Caveat #3: Dhalmels are low level, can be massed farmed in some spots and do drop up to 2 items required for this craft: Dhalmel Hides and Giant Femurs. The Femurs are one of the three most used items in this craft (up to 100, the others are Bone Chips and Coral Fragments). However, drop-rates are bad on hides and femurs.
6. Woodworking helps because of the large number of Arrowheads you'll make. Half the time, it's better to sell the arrowheads and the other half, it's better to make arrows with them, depending on your skill and the profitability.
7. Excavating isn't worth it. It's like Mining but the points are farther apart and the items crappier. I'd say the same thing with Chocobo Digging but there is a skill-up progression involved with Digging, and the items you'd want most, Bone Chips and Giant Femurs, are pretty common in areas where few people dig.
== The Guide Itself ==
==== 0-10 ====
*Shell Earring (3)-Wind Crystal, Seashell x2--Cap on these. Buy the Seashell at the Guild for super-cheap; making these and Shell Rings are almost the only time anyone buys them.
*Shell Ring (7)-Wind Crystal, Seashell, Fish Scales--Cap these; you can sell a lot of them back to guild at almost the price you paid for the ingredients. For 0-7, your costs will be 80-90% the price of crystals and breaks. Save one as this is the first TEST ITEM.
*Power Bow (7)-Wind Crystal, Elm Lumber x2, Coeurl Whisker, Scorpion Claw, Wool Cloth--Woodworking 28, and the NQs sell better than the HQ because this is a Moghouse Quest Item. Pointing this out as a profitable synth more than for skill...
*Fly Lure (8)-Wind Crystal, Chocobo Feather, Animal Glue, Bat Fang--Clothcraft 30. These are typically made for Clothcraft, but I'm trying to point out profitable synths as they occur because there are so few of them on the way up.
*Bone Arrowheads (9)-Wind Crystal, Bone Chip x2-- Consider capping on these too; Bone Chips are relatively cheap and a bad hump is ahead. They make much better Arrows than arrowheads and are easy arrows to make.
==== 11-20 ====
*Cornette (14)-Wind Crystal, Bone Chip, Brass Ingot--Goldsmithing 14 as well. These are useful in Windy fame but you can techincally buy them at 250 each in Bastok when it's not 3rd place in Conquest rankings. However, make 1-2 levels of them as a bridge if needed and then put them in your Bazaar overnight for a slight profit.
*Bone Ring (17)-Wind Crystal, Sheep Tooth, Bone Chip--The teeth are cheap and readily available at the guildshop (best price is 150ish), Cap on these. They're incredibly cheap. Save one, as again, this is a TEST ITEM.
*Bone Armors (19-26)-Varies, but Sheep Leather, Giant Femur and Bone Chips are common ingredients--Make a set for yourself or friends. They sell at a profit (best crafted armor for level 16-20 Melee jobs) but too slowly to power through these levels. 
==== 21-30 ====
*Carapace Powder (21)-Wind Crystal, Beetle Shell x2--After a lot of debate, I'm putting this item into the guide. I did this for both my Mule and my Main to get from Bone Ring to Beetle Ring. The shells are cheap, usually plentiful, but this doesn't NPC for the cost of one shell, so it is a bit of a loss. However, it beats 7+ levels of synth/desynth, I suppose.
*Beetle Ring (25)-Wind Crystal, Beetle Jaw--Synth and desynth these up to cap if possible. Beetle Jaws can get pricey at AH, though they have dropped a lot lately. You want to cap on these, as there are tough times ahead. Any lucky HQs can be sold on the AH to RNG and/or COR.
*Gelatin (28)-Fire Crystal, Giant Femur, Distilled Water--I capped on these but that was a different market then. There are better uses for Giant Femurs these days. However, Gelatin does sell well on AH to crafters making pet-jugs. Use discretion. 
*Horn Hairpin (29)-Wind Crystal, Ram Horn--You can synth/desynth these, but Ram Horns are better used in Horn Rings for a higher skill-cap. These are used in a Jeuno quest that leads up to Sleepga II scroll quest, so they can sell profitably if not quickly.
TEST ITEM: Beetle Earring: Earth Crystal, Beetle Jaw, Silver Earring: Most often made for the HQ version, you can get these for cheap on AHs. Usually cheaper that way that but Earrings are cheap in the Jewelery Shop in Lower Jeuno.
==== 31-40 ====
*Beetle Arrowheads (33)-Wind Crystal, Beetle Jaw, Bone Chip--Pretty good, but even better if you have the woodworking to use/level on them. Otherwise, you'll just lose gil under most circumstances.
*Beetle Armor (28-36)-Varies, but Beetle Shells, Beetle Jaws, Lizard Skins commonly used--Best crafted armor for 21-24 for most non-mage jobs. Sells for a bit more profit and a bit better rate than Bone Armor but still not fast enough for serious high-speed crafting. 
*Turtle Shield (35)-Earth Crystal, Turtle Shell, Beetle Shell--Decent sales, decent profit. Maybe consider making a few if there are Turtle Shells on the AH to use; they aren't the most common item.
*Horn Ring (37)-Wind Crystal, Ram Horn, Fish Scales--Farm the horns, espcially if you can make Ram Leather, for good gil. Alternatively, if you get the horns for 1k or less, these can NPC for a profit. On rare HQs synths, save those for the AH. Between this and the Beetle gear, try to cap at 37 somehow. The next part stinks more. Save one for a TEST ITEM.
*Fang Arrowheads (38)-Wind Crystal, Black Tiger Fang, Bone Chip--A bridge of variable value. The ingredients, unlike most of the items in this area of the guide, do stack, which is a plus, but the arrowheads aren't the best sellers and the arrows they make don't quiver, which makes for a very large supply in the end. If you are using these arrows for your current job (better than Beetle Arrows but not as good as Horn Arrows), then having the supplies to make more in the field makes sense.
==== 41-50 ====
*Bone Knife (41)-Wind Crystal, Giant Femur, Walnut Lumber--If you farm Dhalmel for hides (See Carapace Mask below) and Giant Femur, this will be much less painful than Horn Arrowheads (43) would be. Sell a few on the AH as profitable, but for the most part, be ready to dump/desynth the rest. If you get really lucky and make an HQ, they are weapons of choice for THF and DNC for a number of levels.
*Skeleton Key (43)-Earth Crystal, Carbon Fiber, Chicken Bone, Glass Fiber, Bat Fang x2, Animal Glue, Hecteyes Eye, Sheep Tooth--This is profitable, stackable and can sell okay (1-2 stax a day for good gil) in Jeuno. However, Chicken Bones and Hecteyes Eyes are not the most plentiful of items at any AH. Also, Alchemy 34 required, so I’m throwing this in as an alternative.
*Carapace Mask (45)-Earth Crystal, Dhalmel Leather, Crab Shell--Cap on these. If you farmed Giant Femurs, you should have a large supply of Dhalmel Leather (and you shouldn't have been farming without making the leather anyway). Crab Shells are usually cheap and plentiful on the AH. Farming is easy but drop-rates aren't worth mentioning.
TEST ITEM: Carapace Gorget: Earth Crystal, Iron Chain, Crab Shell x2: The Iron Chain may make this cheaper to buy at the AH. It takes 2 Iron Ingots, but the price could range up over 6000.
==== 51-60 ====
*Scorpion Arrowheads (53)-Wind Crystal, Scorpion Claw, Bone Chip--Claws are cheap at AHs, used for little else and in decent supply. You will make a ton of them because it's after 50, but Woodworkers will buy these at a decent price, if you can't make Scorpion Arrows on your own. If you absolutely MUST farm these, the good news is that most Scorpions have great drop rates on everything.
*Blood Stone (57)-Wind Crystal, Giant Femur, Grass Thread, Fiend Blood—I skipped these as a waste of time. Only do this if you don’t care about gil at all; then synth/desynth to cap and don’t tell anyone (they’ll want the gil you don’t care about)...
*Scorpion Ring (60)-Wind Crystal, Scorpion Shell--You will want to cap on these from mid-50s towards 60. Scorpion Shells are more expensive than claws but are the best way to get to 60. Just synth + desynth, or synth and sell to an NPC, and don't expect to make gil. While Demon Arrowheads might look tempting, you'll need a large supply for just 60-63 and that can get expensive.
TEST ITEM: Astragalos: Wind Crystal, Giant Femur, Black Ink, Beastman Blood-Some people make these for skill, as four are required for an SMN AF quest, and this test item, but frankly they sell too slowly relatively to up-front costs to be made for skill. Buy one and move on.
====61-70====
*Demon Arrowheads (63)-Wind Crystal, Demon Horn, Bone Chip--If you have Woodworking 63+ on another character (like I do), Demon Arrows are incredibly profitable and a standard for getting Woodworking to 69. These are high-risk, high-reward once again, after a brief respite (i.e. Demon Horns were cheap for a while, not anymore). Just try to finish off this with stacks of 99, to match either the fletchings or so you can sell their entire stack on the AH.
*Bone Patas (68)-Fire Crystal, Crab Shell, Carbon Fiber, Giant Femur x2--Appears you can make these for about what NPCs will pay, which is always a plus. However, the use of 3 unstackables (2 Crab Shells and a Giant Femur) is concerning (Crab shells and Giant femurs now stack to 12). Also useful for people adding Mythril Plating to these (which allows for fast turnover if you find a buyer). Finally, the Test Item.
** Crab Shells and Giant Femurs now stack as of Sept 2014, making this a much more viable option.
*Beast Horn (69)-Wind Crystal, Ram Horn x2--I farm Rams for their drops. And I have two mules with Leathercraft at 70, which involved Ram Skins for at least 50 cumulative levels. This is not the best use of the horns that are a by-product and I think I've persuaded such a large percentage of my linkshell of the virtues of ram-farming that I may never see another one, but "Oh well, what the hell" as McWatt used to say.
*Demon's Ring (70)-Wind Crystal, Demon Horn, Fish Scales--NPCs cheaply but if you can get the horns, it's a good way to finish your skill. Everything stacks, which is a vast improvement over Bone Patas.
==Post-70 Guide==
I should point out that if you are taking your skill above 70, take it to 100. Also, start saving GP after you hit 28 (see below for why).
===71-80===
*Vivified Coral (71)-Wind Crystal, Coral Fragment, Water Anima, Light Anima, Lightning Anima--Yeah, not gonna be happy about trying this because of cost. However, RR items from Bonecrafting will be a major portion of how I fund this craft. The coral doesn't sell so bad either, as a direct sale.
*Coral Hairpin (77)-Wind Crystal, Black Pearl, Coral Fragment, Pearl--Base item for RR Hairpins, pretty simple to make but both both types of pearls are a pain to get. Either lots of HQing off of Shall Shell, or just lucky with AH. The Vivified Coral is where the cost is, overall, though, and the RR Pins do very very well. Test Item
*Tigerfangs (79)-Fire Crystal, Black Tiger Fang x2, Carbon Fiber, Scorpion Shell--These are like Bone Patas but people will actually buy them (for PUP, but the ingredients are more plentiful. So this'll be a huge deal because they also NPC for about break-even. You want to cap on these, and frankly, use them instead of Coral Hairpins because the hairpins use rarer ingredients.
*RR Hairpins (80)-Wind Crystal, Vivified Coral, Coral Hairpin--Both ingredients aren't cheap for a skill-up synth but this is slightly profitable and incredibly fast selling (Reraise II). The Hairpins don't stack, so if you do make Hairpins for skill, I'd wait until 75 or so, so you don't have dozens and dozens clogging your Inventory.
===81-90===
*Marid Ring (82)-Wind Crystal, Marid Tusk x2--A bridge. Tusks aren't common, and the rings don't sell well enough to count on. But close to break-even.
*Eremite's Ring (82)-Earth Crystal, Hermit's Ring, Sheep Tooth--Decent bridge, hope for HQ (A BLM can use two until level 50 and one until 54 or 72)
*Saintly Ring (82)-Earth Crystal, Ascetic's Ring, Fish Scales--See Eremite Ring.
*Dragon Cuisses (82)-Earth Crystal, Leather Trousers, Silver Thread, Wyvern Scales x2--The base, base item for Crimson Cuisses, so Alchemist will want the NQs in order to spam synths looking for Blood Cuisses. Also, these tend to NPC for a profit, which makes this is the real way to get from mid-70s to 82.
*Dragon Finger Gauntlets (84) Earth Crystal, Leather Gloves, Silver Thread, Wyvern Scales x2--Same as above but for Crimson Finger Gauntlets. NPC for a profit, somewhere between Cuisseses and Masks.
*Wivre Hairpin (85) Wind Crystal, Wivre Maul--Bridge for the mid-80s now that Wyvern Scales are more expensive. There's a sporadic supply, mostly from people farming Wivres in Abyssea - Grauberg. Nothing great but fairly easy. Either NPC or desynth to get it back to go again.
*Hellish Bugle (85)-Wind Crystal, Imp Horn, Colibri Beak--A bridge for when Wyvern Scales are unavailable. The unstackable drops from the results of top-tier XP parties.
*Dragon Mask (87)-Wind Crystal, Wyvern Scales x2, Sheep Leather--Base item for Crimson Mask but these, more than the others, would be for NPCing at a profit. The use of stackable Sheep Leather, rather than unstackable Leather Vest Set pieces, enables this to be in large quantities more easily, and when Windy is in 3rd place (Leather Vest Set is only available in Windy when it is 1st or 2nd).
TEST ITEM: Coral Bangles: Wind Crystal, Giant Femur, Coral Fragment x2-Last test item. Not cheap, not available on AH, but uses materials you can get easily (or else you wouldn't have gotten to Bonecraft 88).
===91-100===
*Carapace Gauntlets (92)-Earth Crystal, Leather Gloves x2, High-Quality Crab Shell x2--Desperate bridge here because the HQ Crab Shells aren't easily farmed, mostly, and are never on the AH because they NPC for 3.5k (going AH price is 3k but AH-bots and others buy them for a quick profit). If you get the shells for 3k, this is barely break-even. And the stretch to Trumpet Rings is barren enough.
*Mammoth Tusk (94)-Wind Crystal, Giant Frozen Head--A cheap bridge synth but not great for large stretches due to supply. It's a treasure dropped in Dynamis, Sandy and Beaucedine only. But there really isn't much between 87 and the mid/late 90s in Bonecraft.
*Trumpet Ring (96)-Wind Crystal, Trumpet Shell x2--The new gold standard for Bonecrafting up to 96. 9 level jump is a big deal but hopefully I'll have +2 from Guild Items and +3 from Advanced Support making it more manageable.
*Scorpion Gauntlets (96)-Earth Crystal, Leather Gloves x2, High-Quality Scorpion Shell x2--Same as the Carapace pair, these are even harder since even fewer Scorpions drop the shell than the crabs, and fewer people either skill or do ToM quests on scorpions. But it will help, I guess. 
*Cerberus Ring (98)-Wind Crystal, Cerberus Claw x2--Cheap to do, no clue on NPC price, but there is a supply of the Claws and let's face it. If it doesn't cost you a net of 5k or more at this point in a craft for skill, count your blessings... 
*Chronos Teeth (100)-Wind Crystal, Colossal Skull--The Dynamis Drop. Eat the loss...
*Gavial Mask (100)-Earth Crystal, High Quality Pugil Scales, Titanictus Shell, Sheep Leather--"Tastes like burning" as Ralph Wiggum so famously put it. Hopefully, other items that are profitable will keep me sane...but the basic idea is that this uses 2 desynths from Fish, but avoids the use of Rainbow Thread that the other Gavial armors require.
==Guildpoint Items==
After some consideration, I'm adding a section on the various Guild Point items that you can purchase for Bonecrafting. The item is followed by a (comment) with the minimum rank needed. If you are taking a craft to 100, sign up for Guild Points when you hit 28-30, because you will need them. Remember that you can only sign up for one type of Guild Points at a time. Oh, and I'm not mentioning High Quality Crystals because they're a nice bonus but not something to worry about. 
*Boneworker's Belt (Novice)--Don't get it. If you need the Advanced Support it offers, go to a Guild. 25 charges for 10k GP isn't worth it. 
*Filing (Novice)--Use 1 Wind Crystal + Shagreen File to do 3 synths worth of arrowheads at once. As you can stack the effects of HQs, this could be worth it if you make arrowheads for profit, but only after you've skilled past them. 
*Bone Ensorcellment (Novice)--Don't bother. No one buys what this can make, for good reason. 
*Bone Purification (Novice)--More than a few guides recommend this for skill-ups because this can make the base item (Vivified Coral) for 2 items that give Reraise II. Regardless of if you get this for skill or just for profit, get this and get it early.
*Protective Spectacles (Journeyman)--The first Skill+1 item for Bonecraft. This raises your effective Skill by 1. It operates like Synth Support while equipped and is 100% golden. Get it. It will help at all stages, especially in large jumps. 
*Boneworker's Apron (Artisan)--The second Skill+1 item, the next thing to save for. Same applies down the line. 
*Bonecrafter's Ring (Craftsman)--This costs 80k Guild Points, which is not cheap. However, a lot of top-level items you'll be making for profit and/or skill can be ruined by HQing and each also uses very expensive base ingredients. 
*Drogaroga's Fang (Veteran)--The Skill+1 Furniture. Very very nice. However, the Aura required is Darkness, which if a pain to build aura on, even if the best storage furniture is now Darkness aura as well. 
*Boneworker's Signboard (Veteran)--A newer Furniture, this, when combined with the other Veteran-level Furnishing, grants Moglification: Bonecraft, combining Skill+1 and reduces the chance of losing items on failed synths. 
*Boneworkers' Stall (Veteran)--Newest addition is to get a 15k Emblem and create a Synergy 75+ item that has 20 storage and 11 Aura (which helps on some crafts for cheaper/better options for aura).
== Comments/Suggestions/Complaints ==
*Feel free to add them in here as you like! --Ctownwoody 05:57, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Tigerfangs (cap79) are used in the Valoredge frame upgrade quest for puppetmaster, so there is a small market for them. --Nymande 14:15 15 May 2009
*Yeah, there's a similar market for Bone Patas at 68, with using them for Goldsmithing, but the sheer number required (I figure on roughly 36 synths per level after 50) means that I can't count on either of them. If they didn't NPC well, I'd only put them down as a bridge. But I will definitely acknowledge the small market when I do a more formal write-up...--Ctownwoody 18:36, 15 May 2009 (UTC)
* At the beginning of the guide you list bone arrowheads to cornettes to bone rings. This method does work and is effective, don't get me wrong but as a goldsmith I didn't want to use the brass. I just got adv. synth support and moved straight from the arrowheads to the rings with great success. -- Spiriel 19:46, 10 March 2010
**That's a legitimate beef. On the other hand, for Goldsmithing 3-9, that's all Brass Ingots for cost-effectiveness, which means that using them to get from 9-14 makes sense as well. I try for such Synergy combinations like that, but this guide is only a list of suggestions. --Ctownwoody 17:16, March 13, 2010 (UTC)
* Level 17 - 19 you can try "Shall Shell + wind crystal" or "Istiridye + wind crystal". Note that the normal synth will create a pebble which sells for dirt. 
MATH BREAKDOWN
The shells on my server cost 8k a stack so 8k/12 = 666 Gil a shell. Resell price? Probably 1 Gil unless you HQ a pearl, 1000 Gil, or a black pearl, 3000 Gil.
Beetle shell cost 400-500 Gil so 450x2 = 900 Gil. Resell price? Around 110ish.