Do Retainers Benefit From Materia?

[Pocahawtness]

I have some gear for my Retainers but it has Materia. I am just wondering whether that actually benefits them or whether to just remove it.

[Oberon]

They do not, venture rewards are based only on the retainer's item level.

[Pocahawtness]

ty!

[Oberon]

Originally posted by Shirayuki Z:

Venture rewards are not based on the retainer item level, they are based on the gathering and perception stats, excluding global ventures which requires specific item level but even there stats still apply.

Unless they're not a crafter or gatherer retainer, in which case stats are irrelevant.

[Kiana]

To clarify:
Combat job retainers only care about item level. (Heck, I've put a machinist retainer in all caster gear and they were just as effective as job appropriate gear.)
Non-combat class retainers do benefit from melding gathering materia, at least, since the game checks their gathering value instead of item level. Though they don't benefit from GP melds, near as I can tell.