Crafting: Quality Matters!

Getting the most out of crafting happens in a few ways, first off you need to look at what materials you are going to craft with and how many shards/crystals it will take per synthesis.

If like me, you gather everything then cost of items won't apply, however if you have cash to burn you will want to make sure you are getting the best deal!

The best tip I can give is Quality Quality Quality! get as much of it on each item as you can! for the simple reason that the more quality you apply to the synthesis, the more the exp multiplier adds to the total exp!

It will take you longer to craft each item, but on the flip side you will gain nearly triple the amount of exp per synthesis.  Increasing you exp per synthesis will help reduce costs & shard/crystal usage.

So always remember, add quality! this also applies to items that cannot have a HQ (Dyes for example).

Happy crafting!

Happy Halloween!

Ok so I know this is early but seeing as the Halloween event has kicked off I figured it would be a good time to mark the return of our little blog.

Version 2.0 was released a little over a month ago and the trio have returned to the game full steam ahead! like many others we are enjoying the Halloween event.

So, without further ado, pumpkins and a scary Melody Kamahi!!!

Harvesting: Logging / Notch Position

Using the same principles as mining and fishing, here are the results in the same way I have been fishing.

Using the wonderful depth gauge notch gauge above here are my results so far. Please note as with fishing and logging you will still harvest items that are not necessarily what you are targeting, just more likely to get what you want.

Grade 1 / 2

Notch +5: Nothing Confirmed
Notch +4: Nothing Confirmed
Notch +3: Nothing Confirmed
Notch +2: Cock Feathers*
Notch +1: Cinderfoot Olives*
Notch 0: Nothing Confirmed
Notch -1: Nothing Confirmed
Notch -2: Ash Logs
Notch -3: Ash Branches*
Notch -4: Nothing Confirmed
Notch -5: Nothing Confirmed

*Not Confirmed

All-purpose Dyes

The following dyes have been added to the game to allow Disciples of the Hand (Crafters) the ability to style the clothes and armor. Currently it appears that by dyeing your items gives you an added bonus in stats.

All-purpose Black Dye, All-purpose Blue Dye, All-purpose Brown Dye, All-purpose Green Dye, All-purpose Grey Dye, All-purpose Purple Dye, All-purpose Red Dye, All-purpose White Dye, All-purpose Yellow Dye.

I have found the following dyes whilst harvesting:-

• a pot of all-purpose blue dye (grade 2 zone) [La Noscea]
• a pot of all-purpose grey dye (grade 1 zone) [Thanalan]

I have found the following dyes whilst quarrying:-

• a pot of all-purpose white dye (grade 2 zone)
• a pot of all-purpose red dye (grade 1 zone)

I have found the following dyes whilst spear fishing:-

• a pot of all-purpose black dye (grade 1 zone) [Thanalan]

Mining: Exposed Ore

Taking a short break from fishing, I decided to try my luck at mining, and recording the results in the same way I have been fishing.

Using the wonderful depth gauge above here are my results so far. Please note as with fishing and logging you will still harvest items that are not necessarily what you are targeting, just more likely to get what you want.

Grade 1 / 2

Depth +5: Nothing Confirmed
Depth +4: Bone Chips
Depth +3: Copper Ore, Rock Salt
Depth +2: Yellow Copper Ore
Depth +1: Nothing Confirmed
Depth 0: Fire Rock, Bloodworms*, Lightning Rock*, Alumen*
Depth -1: Tin Ore, Zinc Ore*, Sunrise Tellins*
Depth -2: Minium, Raw Sphene*, Iron Ore
Depth -3: Nothing Confirmed
Depth -4: Solid Femurs
Depth -5: Nothing Confirmed 

*Not Confirmed 

Fishing: New Hat

While pottering about completing my daily fishing leve's I came across a chest; low and behold it contained a Yellow Fishing Hat. I have always wanted one of these, just refused to pay the current market ward prices.

Fishing: Grade 3

Currently fishing for grade 3 fish, just outside Camp Horizon, using Moth Pupa's as bait. Getting quiet a few Box Turtles, River Crabs, and Black Ghost fish. My depth gauge is reading -4 from the mid point, or +1 from the bottom.

Have just completed some fishing leve quests, sadly my connection to the lobby dropped. Even though I was able to get back into the game quickly the leve quest was marked as failed. I would have thought this would have been fixed by now.

Anyhow, I have just received my first dark matter fragment from fishing, and yes I have been fishing lots, but this is still the first one. So I guess it is possible to get your repair materials from fishing.

Finding Some Free Time! ... cont

I mentioned in my last post that you require Dark Matter to repair items, however apart from the local NPC I was unable to source any. I have just managed to gather some Dark Matter from mining and harvesting. I have sadly had no joy in getting any from fishing, but that does not mean that it is not possible. The drop rate appeared low compared to the other items you get when gathering. But then again how often do you need to repair your equipment. I was able to gather one piece of Dark Matter for approx 2-3 harvesting spots. So I would imagine if you were harvesting for a few hours you could get enough to repair a full set of tools and armour.

Finding Some Free Time!

Its been almost 8 months since I last ventured into Eorzea, so whats new or more likely what have I missed. While listening to some soothing background music provided by the auto-updater, I thought it might be wise to read up on some of the recent changes.

I find things such as: visible quest characters and the odd reference to something called Dark Matter. The music fades, the screen widens... I instantly notice an updated user interface, a bit more colour / depth. I also notice some of my skills have been replaced with others. Eager to test then out I head towards the town gate only to find another character beckoning me over. After a short exchange, I am asked to head south and seek out some local wildlife for research. I agree, for a small sum naturally.

The forest is teaming with animals, but no signs of any adventurers perhaps there are all tucked up in the local tavern. With a few swishes of my sword my wildlife research is complete, and I have bagged a few teeth for my would-be researcher. I return to town hand in my quest and the much needed reward, as I notice that my gloves are wearing a little thin. I prepare my tanners workbench only to find that I am missing a new ingredient, something called Dark Matter. I make some inquiries around town, where I am pointed to the local market row. A tall man stands before me offering his wears, which also include the Black Matter I am after. After concluding my business to start repairing my gloves, in a quite literary a flash my gloves are good as new, and ready for my next fishing trip.

I wonder if I can find some of this Black Matter out in the forest...

More on leveling... What the behest!?

Talking about levelling from my previous post was all about grinding and how at 20 it was like hill a SP wall.  This time I'm going to talk about Battle Warden Behests, which for us, is the new way to level.

What is a behest?

A behest is a request, that request comes from a battle warden which appears at each crystal at a camp or out in the field.  The battle warden npc will spawn every hour, on the hour at which point you can sign up by talking to them.  There is a player limit of 15 so you will need to be quick if the camp is pretty busy!  Once signed up the event will begin at 5 minutes past the hour.

So what happens?

Hopefully someone will start group, but if not I would recommend that you just invite all the people with the paper icon next to their name just for the sake of getting things going.  

When the event starts, the battle warden will start moving towards areas where the mobs are.  The even is just like a leve quest and you can see areas on the map where the mobs live.  You run around killing everything listed on the screen.  Once done more appear (usually 2 mobs), after they are delt with, the behest is complete!  Talking to the battlewarden will give you some gil, plus a chance to port back to the camp/area you started in.

Mmmmkay, sounds okay, but how does it make for good levelling?

During the behest, all the mobs that are killed net you SP as if you had just solo'd it.

Yeah, so?

If you get the maximum amount of people (15) sign up, the amount of mobs increase, which at level 20 is around 40+ mobs.  The mobs die so fast and furious in the space of 10 minutes that you can get around 4-5k SP.  In effect your getting SP from grinding roughly the amount you could in just over a hour, but in 10 minutes.  Leaving you about 45 minutes to kill which you could grind some more, or like me switch to crafting.

Conclusion

Levelling by behests will most definitely make the best use of your time, not only does it give good SP, but it also gives you a chance to break up the grind.  Take a break, craft, whatever you like in between!

As always, there is a downside.  As there is a limit to the amount of people who can join, you are not guaranteed a spot, turn up early, keep an eye out, and click fast to get your spot!

Happy levelling!