Poll of the Day > Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensthread

(+) Yeah! (+)

Lali-ho, Adventurers! Whether you're a seasoned Warrior of Light and Darkness, or a potato sprout, this is the place to discuss all things FFXIV! Want to discuss the latest and greatest raid? We got you covered! Or you're grinding out a relic weapon? Tell us about it! Oh you want to be a master crafter, but you don't know your touches from your syntheses? Don't worry, we're here to help!

What is Final Fantasy XIV? It's an MMORPG in the long and storied Final Fantasy series!

Do I need to play any of the previous FFs? Nope! Aside from some references and homages, FFXIV is a standalone game and story in its own world called Eorzea!

What can I do in Eorzea? Lots of things! You can hunt monsters, mine ores and minerals, or harvest plants, you can fish, race chocobos, play card games, gamble your life away in the casino, raid, delve dungeons for loot and gold. The list goes on!

Sounds fun! What's the catch? Yes, it's true, FFXIV is a paid subscription game. $12.99 a month minimum.

I don't know... is there a free trial? Absolutely! https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/ They just updated the free trial to include all of A Realm Reborn and Heavensward. Yes, really! You can play 2 entire games, completely free, at no cost, no time limit! Every quest, class, dungeon, raid, everything between 2.0 and 3.55, completely free! Forever!

You said something about raiding and fighting monsters? FFXIV follows the "trinity" school of design for MMOs. There are broadly three roles, Tank, Damage(DPS) and Healer. And under these there are currently 17 Job classes to play as. There's something here for just about anyone! https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/jobguide/battle/ There's also over a hundred dungeons and raids in the game, it's teeming with content!

This game sounds pretty big. Are there resources? Sure, tons of them!
For general info on items and dungeons and quests try Gamer Escape https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Main_Page
Or perhaps you prefer the wiki format, try Console Gamers Wiki, it has much of the same info! https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/FF14_Wiki
Or maybe you're looking to raid or optimize your performance. Try The Balance! https://thebalanceffxiv.com/
Or maybe fishing is more your thing? https://ff14angler.com/ has all the information you'd ever want, and more!
What's that, you'd rather craft or gather? http://garlandtools.org/
Oh you want game news and character data? https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/
You want to find out how you're doing in battle? Try FFLogs! https://www.fflogs.com/ (But don't tell squenix!)

And I got more where those came from, just ask!

I hear everything is locked behind the story? Yes, absolutely everything in this game requires you to follow the story, or MSQ. And over the years the MSQ has expanded and expanded and expanded. There are hundreds and hundreds of quests to get through at this point. And every 3-4 months they add even more. But if story isn't your thing, you can purchase level and story skips in the game's real money store, the mogstation. Though personally I like the story, especially later on in Heavensward and Shadowbringers and the journey is really something to experience, so I would not recommend doing so.

In fact the most recent patch 5.3 Reflections in Crystal wrapped up the Shadowbringers story line, and what an ending it was! 5.4 and 5.5 will setup the story for 6.0, and we even got a teaser for what a new 6.0 Job class might be. And in addition to wrapping up the 5.0 story, 5.3 also cut out a bunch of old quests to make the earlier parts of the game more streamlined. And now after you complete the 2.0 story, you can fly in 2.0 zones! The game is changing in some big ways.

And feel free to discuss FFXI as well! I've never played it, but it's something I've often thought about jumping into.

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tag for future ffxi discussion!

Man, I want to get back into it and finish Shadowbringers...

But I totally forgot my DRG rotation. I need a graph with pictures.

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Does the free play matter if the account is new or old?

I haven't played the game pretty much since launch and I was wanting to try it again, I quit before heavensward released.

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MacrossSpecial posted...

Does the free play matter if the account is new or old?

I haven't played the game pretty much since launch and I was wanting to try it again, I quit before heavensward released.

I think if you spend any money at all on your account you can't take advantage of the ftp.

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Is it hard to solo like 11 was?

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FrndNhbrHdCEman posted...

Is it hard to solo like 11 was?

Well as you work your way through the MSQ, all of that is done solo. But occasionally you are asked to do a dungeon or a trial, and that requires you to queue with other players.

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papercup posted...

Well as you work your way through the MSQ, all of that is done solo. But occasionally you are asked to do a dungeon or a trial, and that requires you to queue with other players.

Is it hard to get players for a dungeon or trial? I used to hate the punishment that was 11 and dungeons.

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FrndNhbrHdCEman posted...

Is it hard to get players for a dungeon or trial? I used to hate the punishment that was 11 and dungeons.

Nah there's a duty finder system and a party finder system. Shouldn't be too hard to get into a dungeon. If you're a dps the queue might be 20 minutes, but you'll get in.

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I was having fun with my summoner for a while then I just kinda stopped playing.

FrndNhbrHdCEman posted...

Is it hard to solo like 11 was?

Heyyyy its not anymore and I've got a huge linkshell that always does stuff

that goes to everyone. COME PLAY

Been helping my FC clear the BLU raids for their morbols. Took 4 months but we cleared a8s tonight. I am NEVER doing this fight again. lol And we still have to clear a12s. x_x

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/675151305425289232/755244018933170377/ffxiv_09142020_214901_848.png

I'm the Viera on the left!

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Oh, yes! If you want to share your lodestone, feel free!

This is me! https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/9511421/

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dis me: https://www.ffxiah.com/player/Lakshmi/Avereith

whats a lodestone :p

papercup posted...

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/675151305425289232/755244018933170377/ffxiv_09142020_214901_848.png

That Miqo on the right should know better than to bend over in front of Velo like that. lol

papercup posted...

Oh, yes! If you want to share your lodestone, feel free!

My main:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/9038736/
My leading alt (RP daughter of my main and boyfriend's main):
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/15294261/

My viera alt hasn't progressed enough yet to have an active Lodestone, but she's called The'aster Bunny.


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It's the cover we deserve...

https://youtu.be/9UlzucZR4DU

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Well, time to level Thf from 70 to 99 in FFXI. That should take a few days with how I've been doing the leveling. I think, also, that the Thief's Testimony is the only one of those items I don't have at the moment, because Stealing has not been kind to me in this game. I have most of the AF gear for the class, and will try again to steal the Testimony when I have enough levels for that difference to, itself, make a substantial difference.

Then I will level Rdm and at least two others, beat Maat the five more times for his Alter Ego, and call it good.

Weekly reset having happened for XIV last night (or this morning), I have a few things to do today. That's to say nothing of running to the store, through the moist smoke outside--thanks a million, Washington--for a carton of almond milk. <_<

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papercup posted...

Nah there's a duty finder system and a party finder system. Shouldn't be too hard to get into a dungeon. If you're a dps the queue might be 20 minutes, but you'll get in.

Thats better than hours of waiting in town.

ReggieTheReckless posted...

Heyyyy its not anymore and I've got a huge linkshell that always does stuff

that goes to everyone. COME PLAY

Gotta say this would be the biggest draw for newbie like myself. Working my way up was always hardest if someone wasnt there.

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FrndNhbrHdCEman posted...

Thats better than hours of waiting in town.

Much. Some people still wait and do other things while their queues pop--leading to "fun times" when people miss their queues going off during those 45-second windows--but some people will do stuff like questing or FATEs while they wait for a dungeon that will level/progress them.

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Entity13 posted...

Much. Some people still wait and do other things while their queues pop--leading to "fun times" when people miss their queues going off during those 45-second windows--but some people will do stuff like questing or FATEs while they wait for a dungeon that will level/progress them.

I guess I can try it on PC. Im sure I need PS+ to use on my system?

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FrndNhbrHdCEman posted...

I guess I can try it on PC. Im sure I need PS+ to use on my system?

Nope. It doesn't need you to pay extra into that service or anything; just have an active PSN. PS4 handles the game fine this way.

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XI talk: There, I have acquired a Thf Testimony and beaten Maat with that job. Four to go to his Alter Ego. Whm is leveled, so I should do that one soon, and Rdm might be next after Thf to hit 99. I have no idea what the next two jobs will be after Rdm.

Meanwhile, I am doing Shantotto's Foiled quests so she can give up her Alter Ego, which will finish the three cities and open the next four Trusts, followed by I think five more of them before the big 86 wall? I'll have 71 Trusts by then. It's not like I need i120 Trusts for my goals, but it could still be nice. lol

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So in XI there's this Records of Eminence Limited Time Challenge thing that changes its objective every four hours. I finally bothered to look and see if there's a way to predict that. It turns out there's a scheduled rotation by day of the week and particular hour, and the one coming up in a few minutes is "Gain Experience" - my favorite one.

Especially at higher levels, that's an additional 1500 experience earned, plus Sparks and Accolades to be spent on whatever, for every 5k experience I gain from combat in non-Abyssea areas. I do have a couple quic errands to run, but when I get home I will be hitting those crabs hard in Mount Zhayolm so I can get to 86. One of my daily bonuses, btw, is to defeat 20 Aquans, so those crabs will count. Then I have the crawlers after that, made better by the Vermin bonus from yesterday I hadn't completed, which will last to 90 or 91. Then it's the home stretch... just in time to return to work tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in XIV, I should consider joining a hunt train or two so I can sooner upgrade one of my dex accessories. Doesn't that just sound exciting? <_<

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Naoki Yoshida is producing FFXVI!

https://twitter.com/FF_XIV_EN/status/1306327636226928646

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tBnBAkHv9M

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Entity13 posted...

Nope. It doesn't need you to pay extra into that service or anything; just have an active PSN. PS4 handles the game fine this way.

Alright then. Think my cousin had the PS4 game and never played.

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FrndNhbrHdCEman posted...

Alright then. Think my cousin had the PS4 game and never played.

It is tied to a PSN account, iirc.

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https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/13852796/

aw i logged out as red mage, was hoping to show drg glam, unsubbed atm

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I feel like I should drop my friend code in here, just in case, I mean, people do get such good rewards by using one when they register...

... on the other hand it would mean people here being able to talk to me in there.... that's a risk I don't really want to take.

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papercup posted...

I think if you spend any money at all on your account you can't take advantage of the ftp.

correct

i tried, said i couldn't, got sad.

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DishSoap posted...

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/13852796/

aw i logged out as red mage, was hoping to show drg glam, unsubbed atm

It would be nice if Lodestone let us swap available jobs/glams if only to show off what that looks like (and not to affect in-game), but ah well.


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Entity13 posted...

It would be nice if Lodestone let us swap available jobs/glams if only to show off what that looks like (and not to affect in-game), but ah well.

yeah, ill return in 5.4 lol

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Entity13 posted...

It is tied to a PSN account, iirc.

Luckily its still sealed!

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I have reached the seventh Fame/Rep rank with Adoulin in XI. Two ranks remain, but really I should do enough of the story to allow for "Waifus of Vana'diel" progression. Then I can get from where I am to the Sin mission (or beyond) before continuing with the WotG story until completion. BTW, WotG's story so far has been kind of predictable, right down to who the xpac's waifu will be and what her story is.

Now that Strength is as high as it'll go before better gear, and some abilities are improving with Merits and Job Points, things are getting even easier for me. I should probably raise Int some more before I level Blm, which will happen . . . eventually (but is the next job after Rdm I'm getting to 99). If I still like Rdm at 99, I may grind the Int using Rdm so that one can get some Job Points as well. We'll see.

My i119 War, plus Trusts, has been wrecking those campaign battles, which is nice. I want to save up Allied Notes and be able to acquire a better ring than the Chariot for when Echad is on cooldown, and make a few areas of leveling go a bit faster. I am also keeping an eye out for which quest or mission I'm doing so I can grab the four Trusts with that bad of scrolls quest or whatever it is.

Anywho. It's reset time in XIV. Time to do weekly hunts, actual hunting as necessary, and another run each of Factory and Bunker. This is the week my Brd and Mch (and I guess Dnc) get to upgrade some pieces of gear. I'm curious to see how these upgrades all at once will impact my Mch running FATEs in the Tempest, especially when I use Reassemble and Drill on an unsuspecting monster. It currently hits for between 58k and 62k, so... *shrugs*

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XI sure does love to make you wait before you can talk to a given NPC to progress a quest or mission. ToAU had it bad, and so does SoA apparently. It also likes to have you do side objectives to the umpteenth degree in order to progress. I'm still half a dozen quests/missions from getting to the point I need to return to Waifus of Vana'diel unhindered. Progression on that is nice and all, especially with the bonuses the Rhapsody items give, but I mean to get to a point in that so I can get through WotG without worrying about what mission bars what mission in any of the game's eight major stories.

Seriously, for a victory lap story, Waifus of Vana'diel seems to cause more trouble for the others than it attempts to solve.

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I find myself only logging in to do Expert roulette in the morning. Still need 111 dungeon runs on my PLD to get my last tank mount. >_>

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papercup posted...

I find myself only logging in to do Expert roulette in the morning. Still need 111 dungeon runs on my PLD to get my last tank mount. >_>

If you put an all-tank group together to run O3n unsynced, you can get that mount sooner. Each fight, with seven or eight tanks, takes under two minutes as long as people do bare minimum rotations or better, and no one stands in the way of Ribbit.

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I'm sort of liking the Wings of the Goddess main story, even though 1) it's super predictable, and 2) it's broken up periodically with the need to progress in a nation's story during that era. Like, it was super obvious Lilisette had come from our time or would be a major character for the expansion, that a certain knight and dancer would be her parents, or that Lilith would be an alternate reality version of her (and grown up a bit). Also, I feel life the Waifus of Vana'diel story was written by someone who didn't actually play or understand the game's main stories. *shrugs*

Right now I am working to raise my Allied rank so I can hopefully get that Exp ring. I say hopefully, because I had looked forward on the list of wares for the rank it's supposed to become available, and hadn't seen the ring there. I don't know if the ring appears there after I progress more in the story, or if it had been taken out? That would suck if the latter is the case, because then this ranking up would become a waste of time and energy that could be put towards finishing the other nations' stories (for Trust reasons).

Also, my Warrior in XI has passed 55 Job Points on the capacity-related Gifts, meaning I basically receive nothing of value from that, only the ability upgrades themselves, until I hit 95 or 100. Magic accuracy? Uhh... Fencer? Uhh... lol no. The boosts to Capacity rate at 55 and 95 are nice, though. All this while raising Merit Points daily so that attributes and weapon skills are raised to decent levels. Also, Upheaval is a beast.

Which brings me back to the campaign battles I've been doing, and also some battlegrounds/NMs for story purposes. When I have a reasonable amount of TP, my War is hitting the target for 15k damage or so, which is a lot in this PS2-era game that still runs on five-digit numbers for coding reasons. lol

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And now I halt progress on those Allied ranks, because I learn why the ring hasn't been appearing on the vendor's list. A specific place has to be controlled by one of the three nations, and that hasn't happened on Levi server since Campaign Battles were a thing, years ago.

Back to WotG story and Merit/Job grinding, I guess, and getting all remaining jobs to their mid 50s since that's always so fast. <_<

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Entity13 posted...

Uhh... Fencer? Uhh...

You'd be surprised. Fencer war properly geared out just wrecks.

With max jp and another +2 fencer from blurred shield +1 and hq jse neck and moonshade on ws, you're adding something like 1080tp to every naegling savage blade you throw out. It's basically gonna stomp on every other setup that doesn't have a chango or isn't piercing weak for shining one.

ReggieTheReckless posted...

You'd be surprised. Fencer war properly geared out just wrecks.

With max jp and another +2 fencer from blurred shield +1 and hq jse neck and moonshade on ws, you're adding something like 1080tp to every naegling savage blade you throw out. It's basically gonna stomp on every other setup that doesn't have a chango or isn't piercing weak for shining one.

Except I'm not interested, and I do not like being pushed into a build that doesn't interest me. Great Axe is damned good for War, and would probably be even better if they doubled down on that instead of turning around and giving bonuses to a weapon with lower skill points. In fact, it is such a match-up, War uses it solely in XIV, as well we should. Fencer should have been given to either Rdm or Pld, just like Rdm should have a Bayld 119 sword (and doesn't) after so many levels of the sword being best for it. It's one thing to try for variety, but the variety needs to be baked in at earlier stages rather than screw with the already-poor balancing that has led to things like METAs. "Do this build or else!" or "We aren't taking your class at all!"

XI and WoW have this problem in spades, as is, and backhanding the Great Axe builds after so long to provide for single-wielding swords and ONLY single-wielding swords is rubbish design. So no, I'm not giving two shits about that, and calling the 55-90 range for Job Points useless for War, no matter how good you think those Fencer builds might be.

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Yeesh, no one told you to do anything. You don't have to react so defensively. I was just spouting info

Sorry, it's not your fault. I just grow so frustrated with XI, which is why I'm trying to beat it and call it done. Seeing such an inherent flaw, and seeing someone defend it with "Oh, you'll be surprised" sets me off worse than it ought to.

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Not a problem

Getting FFXI story done great. Anything else in the game is just for the addicted mooks like myself that can't help but play because it's more interesting than their real life, ha.

I'm actually surprised you didn't play dancer for all of your solo story stuff, given how self-sufficient they can be

ReggieTheReckless posted...

Not a problem

Getting FFXI story done great. Anything else in the game is just for the addicted mooks like myself that can't help but play because it's more interesting than their real life, ha.

I'm actually surprised you didn't play dancer for all of your solo story stuff, given how self-sufficient they can be

It took a while to unlock Dnc, and I still need to level it.

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So I beat the last boss of CoP last night and saw I needed to wait until Japanese Midnight to finish up the story. So I double-checked by waiting for an in-game day to come and pass, and nope, had to wait. So in ten minutes I should be able to go to those places, including one that requires taking a boat to go to an island in the middle of nowhere, and wrap up the story's ending.

Then I will have access to a handful of more Trusts, which will get my count to the mid 70s.

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I now have two of the Ark Angel Trusts in XI; three to go. This means I finally have a good tank Trust to work with while I run content. Meanwhile, I've started leveling Sam and making it my War's sub, so now I'm learning how to skillchain off my own weapon skills, which will of course mean wrecking stuff as long as I play on War/Sam. And making macros for it.

While job mastery is not really a goal of mine, I still want to earn enough Job Points to get the first boost to cure potency for Whm and to top off one of the War abilities - in this case the attack power for double attacks. I could do more, but... leveling alt jobs, doing remaining stories, capping off all the Merit Point bonuses all come front and center. Assuming I can get to 86 Trusts soon, then I will also want to do the thing to raise my Trusts' iLV for when I attempt the finale of Rhapsodies or Adoulin. haha

Meanwhile, in XIV, Bozja is coming in a couple days. I will do my Whm staff first since I tend to use that job more in relevant content. It will be fun to see the difference this makes during weekly runs of Copied Factory and Puppets' Bunker, though that assumes I get enough competent people in those runs that I can focus more on my green DPS ways. I keep hoping to see mechanics skipped in the Factory, but I feel like it hasn't been happening much with current groups or gear. Likewise, it would be neat to see* the slight boost to my DPS during EX Trials when I run them with the FC.

*Note that I do not have a parser. I just see the numbers as my abilities hit things, look at what phase or mechanic is going on versus the time that has passed, and judge accordingly.


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The new Eureka is interesting. A giant robot fell from the sky and challenged me to a duel in front of the entire instance. It's like a solo duty fight, but it's a FATE for 1 person and everyone else can watch. I didn't do very well. lol

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papercup posted...

The new Eureka is interesting. A giant robot fell from the sky and challenged me to a duel in front of the entire instance. It's like a solo duty fight, but it's a FATE for 1 person and everyone else can watch. I didn't do very well. lol

After beating the Scorpion robot, I too was challenged by some robot to a duel. I said "lol no."

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Well, I have one of the i500 relics in its glowing form. That was too easy, especially after Yoshi had promised the second step would be a grind. I mean technically it was, but it's 60 FATEs in HW zones and six level 60 dungeons.

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Right now, my Sam in XI is 91, which is two or three short play sessions from cap. I need to get its testimony if I want to beat Maat with it. I also should consider beating Maat with Rdm since that's 99 and has a testimony ready to go. Then comes the decision of what the sixth class will be for the Trust. I also still need to be the lv99 version of the Ark Angels, or rather the latter three of them, to get those Trusts.

As for XIV, I am still only Rank 9 in Bozja, and intend to raise that some more so I can progress in the story and run Castrum fairly soon. For now, I am grabbing more memories off of the HW FATEs, and will have more than enough to upgrade relics three through five - Brd, Mch, and one other. I'm going to experiment with the Bitter Memories on the following step of this phase to see if I can put some in my Saddlebag, get to a separate, required six in the inventory, complete that quest, and still have those extra in said portable storage. See, once I've figured out what I want to figure out with the Bitter Memories, I'll have that particular quest open for the fifth relic, the main memory quest open for number six, and then finally continue with Bozja until I'm done with that place.

Then I will return to FATEs and lv60 dungeons as time and energy allow. I expect roughly a month to be how long this all takes me, and I will be done with Bozja, Castrum, and all seventeen relic upgrades.

Next week, too, will be when I will be done upgrading Crystarium gear for my tanks thanks to coins from NieR raids. I hope to get decent groups during those raid runs so I can focus on my Whm DPS, at i492. Other healers will be there as well, physical ranged jobs will be 491 after Dnc has its weapon upgraded, and upgrading the tanks' gear and weapons--War is already done with its i500 relic axe--will get them to 491.

I guess, besides all this, I should fill in some slots for the other jobs so their glamour will be fully restored. Yeah... I'll do that with my Phanta tomes since the Skirmishes in Bozja give those. I'll worry about getting them better geared when it's expansion time. Glamour is important, yo. xD

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