Hello fellow adventurers of Eorzea :D ,

we all know, that all 6 elements intensively affect our crafting synths (but FFXIV game developers dont wanna tell us, how exactly :P).

Well, lately I found out better way to know, how elements work, is to read some books like "The Dusty Tomes".

And surpisingly, I located something interesting:



Somehow, it looks to be connected to:


Source


So long, on the way to find out more, it was necessary to read more, too …



After heaps of time while improving theories into practice and testing some balance between crafting tools and elements,
something remarkable was mapped out:



Edit: How that exactly works:

usually, in a top right corner you can see something like:
4/5
-> left value stands for Moon stage, 1-12
-> right value is representing Sun cycle, 1-32

So, first, you look on the data chart and then equip respective elemental earrings for actual Moon and Sun phases.

-> umbral Moon core (>> 'change of hearts' theory) =>
- right ear is for current Sun opposing element,
- left ear works best with ongoing Sun period
-> astral Moon core (>> 'change of brains' theory) =>
- right ear is for actual Sun phase,
- left ear works best with current Sun opposing element


… so, at least it works well for me and hope, it does same way for you ^^ …

Because that concept is in beta phase, critique and suggestions for improvement are sincerely welcome :D.

Edit: looks like direction you are facing while crafting is kind of important, too …

… like sitting in direction of 'backup' element of your left ear and looking into backup (!) direction of element on your clock map o_O
For reference on clock, looking straight for:
Fire - 2:00, 14:00
Earth - 4:00, 16:00
Ice - 6:00, 18:00
Water - 8:00, 20:00
Wind - 10:00, 22:00
Lightning - 12:00, 0:00

2nd set: same with ears, but sitting in opposing direction of left ear, clock: opposing element.

If type != element => look in type's opposite direction.
(days 7-8ish 1x-4x as usual)

3rd set: looking into element, +6, +12, +18 respectively:
Ice 0:00
Water 1:00
Wind 2:00
Lightning 3:00
Fire 4:00
Earth 5:00

(source: somewhere from Lodestone forums …)