Star Ocean: The Divine Force: Item Creation Explained
While "Star Ocean: The Divine Force" earned solid early reviews due to its compelling gameplay, its complicated crafting system can intimidate even franchise veterans. Titled Item Creation and abbreviated to I.C. in-game, the crafting system involves leveling each character in the seven separate crafting disciplines using materials that players can either buy from shops or earn from battles. The action RPG boasts a huge list of usable materials and a corresponding pool of craftable items, accompanied by very little guidance. Each crafting attempt also uses Fol that scales based on the level of materials, so I.C. can get very expensive as you progress.
With all that in mind, it's important to note that I.C. isn't strictly mandatory for completing the game. However, players can only obtain a vast majority of the ultimate gear — as well as a good deal of the side quest objectives — from crafting (per Prima Games), making it a near-essential mechanic to explore if you want to get the most out of your playthrough without spending vast amounts of Fol. For those hoping to navigate the maze of crafting menus and options, here's a rundown on everything you need to know about Item Creation in "Star Ocean: The Divine Force."
How do you unlock Item Creation?
You can unlock Item Creation near the end of "Star Ocean: The Divine Force" Chapter 1, after reaching the Seaport of Rythal (per Prima Games). After a cutscene where you encounter a rather high-energy girl in an ostentatious outfit, you can head back to Delryk to find her at the house with the giant glove emblem (which was empty during your first visit to the village). She'll then introduce herself as Welch Vineyard and assign you a fetch quest for five Roly-Poly beans. If you don't have them on hand, you can find them at gather points around the Del'vyr and Larcasse Regions (per Inverse). Commpleting this quest will unlock the first Item Creation option, Compounding.
From then on, Welch will periodically call you back at certain points in the game for further fetch quests that will unlock the rest of the I.C. disciplines (via Neoseeker):
- Crafting: early in Chapter 2, requires five Fresh Sage.
- Smithing: early in Chapter 2, requires 10 Silver.
- Engineering: midway through Chapter 2, requires two Claidheamh Soluis.
- Alchemy: after arriving at Royal Capital Acendros in Chapter 2, requires five Electromagnetic Bomb (S) (note that the (M) and (L) versions will not count towards quest completion).
- Authoring: near the end of Chapter 2, requires 10 Mithril.
- Synthesis: only unlocks after completing Nihilbeth and returning to Acendros, requires five Fire Incantations.
How does Item Creation work?
The Item Creation system in "Star Ocean: The Divine Force" uses luck and RNG. Each crafting attempt takes a certain amount of Fol and one or two materials that won't always result in the same crafted item. Higher level materials have a pool of possible results of a corresponding level, and it may take several tries to get the right items from any given material's possibilities. As such, YouTuber Primalliquid recommend saving before any big or expensive crafting attempts.
Higher levels means better chances of successful creation attempts and access to some useful utility features like Factor Lock. Every individual party member has their own skill level for each of their possible I.C. disciplines and can only create or work on gear that they themselves are capable of equipping. Note that not every discipline is available to every party member, as the characters each have their own preferences and tendencies: Raymond does not have access to Alchemy while Laeticia is not capable of Engineering, and so on. Each character also has their own crafting Talents that add passive bonuses to their crafting attempts.
While you need to max out every discipline on every character — to a maximum of level 10 each — in order to unlock the achievement for crafting every item, you only really need two or three relevant disciplines maxed out on each party member to craft the best gear in the game (per Reddit).
How does Synthesis work?
Synthesis is where things get somewhat complicated: Instead of creating items from materials, Synthesis has you select a Base and a Material gear item to consolidate their Factors — the extra stats and perks — onto the Base item. This process is also heavily RNG-based, and successful movement of desired stats isn't guaranteed. In addition, gear pieces are restricted to four Factors, and so every Synthesis attempt that has more than four across both items runs a risk of erasing valuable ones in the random selection process.
According to Primalliquid, a way of mitigating this is to use Factor Lock. Unlocked from leveling Synthesis, this skill can lock up to two Factors on the Base item to guarantee their place in the final product. As characters can only work on their own gear types, maxing out Synthesis is a must for every party member so that they can optimize their gear with the best Factors available.
Another thing to consider is that Shuffle Synthesis will put all the non-locked Factors into one pool for equal consideration while Normal Synthesis will prioritize the Factors from the Material item (per GameFAQs). Additionally, it's recommended that you synthesize the pool of desired Factors onto one cheap item and then merge that one with the intended final Base in one go to avoid the high Synthesis fees for advanced gear — just don't forget to save beforehand to roll again if it doesn't work out.
Support Items, Auto-Compounding, Auto-Engineering, and other tips
Collecting Support Items can also boost your crafting chances in "Star Ocean: The Divine Force." According to Youtuber OPTIMUS GRIME, these are passive, non-consumable items collected in the Materials tab of your inventory and can be distinguished by the key icon next to their name. Some can be crafted, some are found from gather points and monster drops, and some are purchased from vendors throughout the game.
Speaking of vendors, it's worth noting that every single crafting material can be purchased — it's just that the high-tier items are very expensive. All of the basic materials are acquired from the Product Management Staff woman on Paladurnia, while the high-end ones are picked up in the endgame from Santa at Ultima Thule (per Primalliquid).
This can be especially helpful if you're using Auto-Compounding and Auto-Engineering. These two processes are the only real uses for the crafting recipes you can find or make in-game — having them on hand allows you to select them through the Auto menu so that those items will automatically be crafted as soon as you have enough materials to do so. This is a good way of keeping a steady supply of key consumables, but it can get quite resource-heavy — don't forget to disable the recipes if you find yourself running low on Fol and materials.