Final Fantasy XI: Correspondent - Quests for the Gil Seeker
MMORPG.com Final Fantasy XI Correspondent Herbie Grate writes this guide for players looking to make a quick buck (or gil as the case may be)in FFXI.
Few other MMORPGs on the market today have as much of a rigorous system for the acquisition of wealth as Final Fantasy XI. Gil (the game’s currency) is difficult to collect and is very quickly spent on equipment that is essential to advancement. In fact, for jobs that aren’t as combat savvy as Dark Knights or Warriors, farming items to sell for gil can be incredibly time consuming or almost seemingly impossible. Indeed, collecting a large amount of gil in Final Fantasy XI can sometimes seem like the old conundrum; "Can't get a job without experience, can't get experience without a job."
Fortunately, there are ways of getting a good amount of gil without having a level 75 job to collect tree cuttings from Elder Goobbue in The Sanctuary of Zi'tah. There are various quests, some of them repeatable, that are an excellent way to collect gil at minimal risk!
“A Feather in One's Cap" Started by Baren-Moren at (H-7) in Windurst Waters
This cute little Tarutaru is apparently in desperate need of some Giant Bird Feathers. Baren-Moren asks you to bring him three of the aforementioned Giant Bird Feathers which can be obtained from Tabar Beaks and Axe Beaks in the Meriphataud Mountains and the Sauromugue Champaign. Once the feathers have been gathered, return them to Baren-Moren for a reward of 1500gil. This quest can be repeated as many times as you want, and is a decent way to get some gil in your spare time.
"Gifts of the Griffon" Started by Louxiard at (G-7) in Southern San d'Oria (S)
Louxiard is on guard duty, watching over what appears to be a host of Orcish prisoners. One of the prisoners has been claiming to be a member of the San d'Orian royal family and seems to have convinced an Elvaan to believe him and has enlisted his help. After the Orc asks you to help him escape, zone out of San d'Oria and go back to Louxiard. After some additional chatting you need to run off to Rholont of the Young Griffons. After some cut scenes you'll be required to deliver a "Plume d'or" to various NPCs to finish the quest. The following are the NPCs and their locations:
Louxiard, (G-7). Illeuse, (H-9). Rongelouts N Distaud, (I-9). Elnonde & Loillie, (K-9). Sabiliont, (I-11). Machionage, (C-6).
Once you're finished playing delivery-boy, you return to Rholont to receive a "Deathstone" as a reward. This is an incredibly valuable stone used in Goldsmithing and sells for anywhere from 70-100k or more (currently 100k+ on the Cerberus server, for instance.) This is a very good quest that a lot of people aren’t fully aware of but is absolutely worth completing. The only requirement for this particular line of quests is that you be enlisted in the army of one of the three nations.
"Claws of the Griffon" Started by Rholont at (E-7) in Southern San d'Oria (S)
The second in the Wings of the Goddess line of San d'Oria quests, and just as rewarding too. After completing the previous quest and waiting until the next game day, return to Rholont in order to initiate a cut scene in which the Young Griffons will bluster about running off to fight Orcs near Batallia Downs (S). After the cut scene, disregard the mention of Batallia Downs and head through East Ronfaure (S) to (I-6) in Jugner Forest (S). Once you've reached (I-6) you should see a ??? on top a stump. Select that to watch a cut scene involving Excenmille, leader of he Young Griffons, and one of the Orcs you released in the previous quest!
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Once the cut scene ends, prepare for battle, because once you click the ??? a second time you'll spawn a Notorious Monster (NM) named Fingerfilcher Dradzad, and he's not an Orc to be messed with. For lower level players this is an impossible battle to win, so you should bring along a couple of friends to deal with him. Fingerfilcher Dradzad can be defeated by two 75s and safely by three to four characters in their 70s.
After defeating Fingerfilcher Dradzad, you'll be drawn into a lengthy cut scene revolving around the Young Griffons and the squire in charge of watching over them, rushing to Excemille's aid. Shortly after the cut scene begins the Young Griffons will depart and you'll have a chat with Altennia, where you'll be given an Angelstone as your reward. This stone has roughly the same value as the stone you received in the previous quest, netting you a potential sum of 200k combined with only roughly two hours of work involved.
"Seeing Spots" Started by Wyatt at (L-6) in Southern San d'Oria (S)
Similar to "A Feather in One's Cap", this quest concerns gathering a certain amount of an item and trading it in to the quest NPC for a gil reward. "Seeing Spots" is a quest that my linkshell leader actually repeatedly did over the course of a couple weeks to obtain enough money to buy a Vermillion Cloak, a valuable piece of high-level mage equipment.
Wyatt, a Hume NPC located at (L-6), asks you to bring him four Ladybug Wings, which are dropped from Ladybugs in East Ronfaure (S) and Biddybugs in Jugner Forest (S). I strongly suggest sticking to the Ladybugs in East Ronfaure (S) due to the fact that Biddybugs are much more powerful and the drop rate is not noticeably different.
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Once you've gathered the appropriate amount of Ladybug Wings, return to Wyatt to receive 3000gil as your reward. This is quite possibly the best quest any person could do in their spare time to accumulate gil, and is not widely recognized.
"Tiger's Teeth" Started by Taumila at (E-9) in Southern San d'Oria
Inside Taumila's Sundries in Souther San d'Oria, speak with Taumila and she'll ask you to gather three Black Tiger Fangs for her.
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One of the best upsides to this particular quest is the fact that there are so many areas to collect Black Tiger Fangs from. You can kill tigers in Jugner Forest, Batallia Downs, Beaucedine Glacier, Sauromugue Champaign, Carpenter's Landing, and various other high level areas. The best place to collect tiger fangs though would be Batallia Downs, simply because of the sheer amount of Tigers in the zone, more than fifty spawn points! Upon returning to Taumila and trading her three fangs, you obtain 2100gil as a reward. The only problem with this quest is that it's more widely known than Seeing Spots, and because of that there is occasionally some competition from other players in Batallia Downs.
Though gil is swiftly spent on various pieces of armor, weapons, tools, or even food, there are always ways of making money if you’re willing to search the corners of Vana’diel. No player should ever buy into the misconception that the only way to obtain large amounts of gil is by seeking out and farming items (sometimes rare) until you die of old age. There are always quests out there, repeatable or not, that yield great rewards at minimal risk, and can be done in your spare time. I sincerely hope this assists players, new and old, or at least shed some light a quest or two that is not widely recognized.
If there are any players out there from the Cerberus server, feel free to look up Marokii. Safe travels, Vana’diel!
