on the crafting information page, it says subcrafts don't effect HQ rate, im assuming that means as long as they're at or above cap. on my cloth char, i tested it before and it was definitely true, i was able to HQ kaginawa at tier3 with smithing 20. however, recently i've tried a few T3 crafts with subs and have been having drastically different results. im maybe 0/30 now on what should be a tier 3.

is this "working as intended" / a recent fix to reflect retail crafting?

Maybe certain day or moonphase puts you below the cap resulting in tierAbsoluteZero? I also came to the conclusion that you have to be above the cap. But if the cap is 21 and im 22 and its new moon darksday well then no HQ.

im +54 on it facing SE on windsday (earth synthesis)
i had an unusually high HQ return on shinobi-tabi right before it (no subcraft) so the conditions were definitely fine
i dont think theres any atmospheric conditions that would result in a 0/30+ on a tier 3 unless it parked me at a zero point, but im way above t3 so it isnt possible

How can your subcraft be + 54 on it?

no, my main craft is +54 on it. my subcraft is 5 over cap, so if the subcrafts now impact HQ tiers, it would put me at 1, which would definitely give these results

It shouldn't. And 5 is too much that you could get a 0 chance on HQ. Weird indeed.

I'll test it real quick now. Crafting anway

My Smithing is 15. I am facing south. (Earth crystal). Its Ice day. I am 4/7 on HQ so far

on kaginawa?

Hm