New Player: Does Category Value Matter For Ingredients?

[Amarantamin]

I'm not sure the ingame terms so I am probably wording it wrong. Each material that goes into a product has a category value, which raises the little bars on the right side. For some crafted materials, there's no bars on the right, so it seems that ingredients chosen & grid formation only contribute their size & traits.

Is it worth choosing high-category-value items if the item it's producing doesn't gain any bonuses from category value? Similarly, is there any reason not to just toss all those ingredients onto the board with no regard for scoring high, as the end score doesn't appear to contribute to the item?

[Rei Scarlette]

For those types of items, the ones without any effects that are available on the right side, there is no need to use a high category value and additionally no need to pay attention to the colors and bonuses in the cauldron. In this case, you may wish to just use high quality items without regard for the category value, if the end result is an item you will be using later. The quality of the ingredients you put in and also the number of panels filled in the cauldron both affect the quality of the end result.

Of course, if you are going to give the item away right away (say, you are just making it for one of Horst's requests or something) you can freely make it by just tossing a bunch of things into the cauldron at random.