Spiritbond

Not to be confused with "soulbound", which in other MMORPGs refers to gear that cannot be traded to other players. In Final Fantasy XIV that is called Binding.

Spiritbond, or Spiritbonding, is the process of creating Materia. Weapons, Armor and Accessories will acquire spiritbond as you gain experience points from defeating monsters, completing Duties or FATEs, crafting items, or gathering resources. Once equipment reaches 100% spiritbond, a piece of materia can be extracted from it, returning it to 1%. Players can view spiritbond progression by hovering over the equipment and reading the spirit bond percentage from the items information details. Once the Spiritbond is complete, the player will be notified by an audible "pop" sound, a visual flash of light, and text notification in their chat log. Additionally, the gear indicating pips (in the bottom right by default) will change from green to white.

• Note that when a piece of your gear reaches 1% Spiritbond, it becomes permanently bound to your character. As a result, it cannot be traded to other players or sold on the Market Board. Gear will immediately bind to you if you gain any experience while wearing it, or if it is used to glamor a different piece of equipment.

Spiritbond Mechanics

High Quality gear and DAetherial gear will spiritbond 20% faster than regular equipment. Additionally, each materia melded into the gear will increase the Spiritbonding speed by another +20%, and each +1 from consumables is approximately an additional +20%. Spiritbonding rate is cumulative. For example, a piece of HQ gear (+20%) with two materia melded (+40%) will spiritbond 60% faster than a piece of NQ gear with no materia.

Despite HQ gear bonding faster than NQ gear, extracting NQ gear nets the same results as HQ gear. In short, the quality of the extracted item will not affect the materia gained.

Equipment will acquire spiritbond regardless of the class of the player – all that is required to gain spiritbond is for you to receive EXP points while wearing the item. Due to this, players can wear crafting or gathering gear as a Disciple of War and spiritbond it through combat experience, and vice versa. This will be catastrophically bad for your performance in those tasks, however, since you will have none of the relevant stats.

Spiritbond speed correlates to the level difference between the equipped item and the enemies slain, the level of items gathered, or level of the item created by a crafter. Based on research, items that are 8 to 15 levels below the experience giving object will spiritbond the fastest. 10 Levels below is about the perfect spot. If you are striving to spiritbond level 40 gear, you want to craft level 50 gear, gather from level 50 nodes, run level 50 dungeons, or kill level 50 enemies.

• Note that a piece of gear with 0% Condition will not gain Spiritbond points.

Consumables

Item	Effect
Better Crowned Pie	Increased Spiritbond Gain +2
Spiritbond Potion	Increased Spiritbond Gain +3
Potent Spiritbond Potion	Increased Spiritbond Gain +4 / +5
Superior Spiritbond Potion	Increased Spiritbond Gain +5 / +6
Squadron Spiritbonding Manual	Increases spiritbonding speed. Spiritbond Bonus: +3

The pie ( Well Fed), a potion ( Medicated), and the manual ( That Which Binds Us III) can all be stacked. The different potions will overwrite each other as they all apply Medicated.

Gear

Item	Level	Item Level	Effect
Patriot's Choker	26	27	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Patriot's Bracelet	30	31	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Meteor Survivor Ring	34	36	Increased Spiritbond Gain +3
Gambler's Crown	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Lily and Serpent Earrings	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Crimson Standard Earrings	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Tipping Scales Earrings	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Lily and Serpent Bracelet	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +2
Crimson Standard Bracelet	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +2
Tipping Scales Bracelet	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +2
Aetheryte Ring	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1 / +1
Lily and Serpent Ring	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Crimson Standard Ring	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1
Tipping Scales Ring	50	55	Increased Spiritbond Gain +1

Achievements

Main article: Materia Achievements

Tips and Tricks

• Use   Spiritbond Potions! The benefit is especially noticeable during lower level spiritbonding sessions. If you are in danger of being killed, beware – the potion gives the Medicated status, not Well Fed, meaning it wears off upon death.
  • For consumables, each +1 is roughly equivalent to an additional materia melded, or about 20% faster bonding.

• Due to spiritbond rate being higher, only use High Quality gear in your spiritbonding sessions.

• Each meld increases the rate by 20%, so adding materia is very beneficial. This is particularly relevant for spiritbonding gathering gear.
  • The identity of the materia is not relevant, only the number of materia melded. Therefore, for gathering gear in particular, it is recommended to invest in cheap, low-quality combat materia for the purpose of spiritbonding to "farm" gathering materia.