Materia Melding
Materia Melding
“No description available.
— In-game description
Materia Melding is an action unlocked by questing at level 19. It is available for Carpenter, Blacksmith, Armorer, Goldsmith, Leatherworker, Weaver, Alchemist and Culinarian.
Related actions
- Main article: Materia#Melding Materia
The easiest way to meld (attach) Materia is to find a 
Materia Melder NPC who will perform the service for a small fee. This method has no level requirement. You can find them near one of the Market Boards in major cities or player housing if the owner has purchased and placed a 
Materia Melder Permit.
To meld Materia yourself, you will need to complete the 
Waking the Spirit quest. The quest giver is F'hobhas, located at The Bonfire in Central Thanalan (X:23.5, Y:13.9). You will need to be level 19 or higher with at least one Disciple of the Hand (crafter) to accept the quest. Once completed, you will unlock the "
Materia Melding" action.
In order to meld actual equipment, you need at least one Disciple of the Hand (crafter) of the same level as the piece of equipment you are trying to meld. Any crafter will work, and you do not need to be equipped as the crafter while doing the actual melding.
Forbidden melds or Overmelding
It is possible to meld more materia to a piece of gear than the available slots. Doing so requires completing the Melding Materia Muchly quest given by Mutamix, also located at The Bonfire in Central Thanalan (X:23.7, Y:13.6). You will need to be level 25 or higher.
The quest involves melding 8 materia to gear in front of Mutamix. To save time, you can use one piece of materia and one gear socket. Simply meld the one materia, then right click on the item and retrieve the materia you just melded. Then, meld that same materia back into the same slot. Repeat for a total of 8 times.
Materia older than the current expansion have a 100% retrieval rate. During A Realm Reborn, all materia in the game at the time were "current" and this was not the case.
Once complete, the "
Advanced Materia Melding" action replaces the standard " Materia Melding" action. Advanced melds are better known as forbidden melds or overmelding.
Forbidden melds allow you to meld up to 5 materia (i.e., "pentamelding") to a piece of gear. However, the chance of success is low, typically starting at 45 or 35%, to 17% for higher grade materia. The probability of success decreases further depending on the number of materia already melded and the grade of the current materia you are attempting to add. Going for a full five melds (pentamelding) typically ends at about 4-8% for the final meld. Players attempting pentamelds often lose lots of materia during the process unless extremely lucky. Materia Melder NPCs cannot perform Advanced Materia Melding.
Due to its high cost, overmelding is not necessary in most gameplay situations, except when attempting savage raid progression in the first few weeks of a patch, for crafters attempting to make Endgame gear and consumables reliably or tackling Expert Recipes, or for gatherers who want to maximize gathering yield and efficiency.
Historical
Carbonized matter catalysts were once used for Materia Melding. This requirement was removed in patch 4.06. Grade 1 Carbonized Matter remains in the game due to class quests requiring its collection, but is useless aside from completing these quests.