Last week’s Eorzea Reborn column about prepping for Heavensward threw many commenters for a loop it seems.
A lot of people did not think my advice was worth looking into because there’s so much (or perhaps as little as you feel) you can do in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
Some thought my not mentioning it was an affront to the game, or that my advice was too simplistic.I disagree with that, primarily because it was meant to ease people into the idea that there was at least one road they could take to prepare for Heavensward. But I didn’t mean for it to be the only progression path.
While last week’s column was meant to be more of a starter guide for people to get acquainted with some of the endgame systems, as well as the means of powering up and completing the story, it also meant I left a lot of other stuff out for the sake of focus.
To wit (and thanks to ThunderC for being very expressive about the need to have a second article up regarding pre-Heavensward preparations) here are seven optional goals that players of the game can keep as a mental checklist should they complete the story.
Goal 1: Become a Gil-zillionaire
As in a lot of other games with complex economies, buying, making, and selling goods and making a profit off of them is one possible end game for many people.
If there’s something you desperately want to afford, such as the millions of gil needed for personal housing (assuming you can find a free housing slot), then go ahead and flip items on the market, craft items and sell them through your retainers, or spiritbond items and sell the materia for money. Making money is one of the major goals that will always be there for gamers, and Final Fantasy XIV has some outrageously high prices for some of the things they want to sell you.
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Goal 2: Level up your crafting and gathering skills
Related to becoming a gil-zillionaire, one of the activities you can do to pass the time and earn money while you’re at it is to level a crafting and gathering class. If you improve all your crafting and gathering classes, that might be even better.
To start, however, try to level Mining, Botany, and at least one of the crafting classes to 50 so you can get materials and items for any additional things you want to make. You can also consider giving your retainer a a botanist or miner class and send them out on expeditions using ventures to farm for elemental shards, crystals, or high value items that can sell for coin or use in your crafting. Provided you’ve harvested that crystal or shard for yourself on your character.
Goal 3: Master a second Job type.
Assuming you’re tired of running around harvesting and crafting, you may want to consider leveling a second job class to 50, one that might help you get into certain types of content more readily.
For instance, if you fight as a DPS now, running around and learning fights as a tank might become a nice diversion. There’s also healing as another possible profession to take to 50.
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Goal 4: Raise your Free Company Chocobo.
Keep buying Gysahl Greens, using your chocobo in fights, and maybe stable it in your free company housing if you have it, and you’ll get a level 10 Chocobo eventually. Good stuff, that.
You can make it do DPS, heal you, or (attempt to) tank for you, and by fighting monsters and training it, you can get it to level 10 or beyond that.
Goal 5: Complete the Postmoogle and Hildibrand quest lines.
These two sets of sidequests are tons of fun to do, and also open up some extra titles, glamor items, or trials that can be done via the roulette function in the Duty Finder. In Hildibrand’s case, you get tons light-hearted banter and amusing fights courtesy of, to paraphrase an old detective show called Monk, the “defective detective.” In the case of the Deputy Postmoogle quests, you get to look into the lives of characters you’ve gotten to know or places you’ve been to in the story. Both require a level 50 class/job to complete.
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Goal 6. Devote your life to Gold Saucer
With 1 million MGP, you can earn yourself a cool mount. With less than 1 million MGP, you can also buy a ton of other cool stuff though it’s not as cool as owning a Sleipnir mount
Play minigames, run the jumbo and mini cactpot, master Triple Triad and raise a racing Chocobo. This is basically a church of fun opportunity and frivolity to which you can easily devote your days.
Goal 7: Fishing is the True Endgame
If there’s any example of a complex minigame in FFXIV: ARR, fishing is likely it. With tons of rare fish, different mechanics and types of bait, and a number of conditions that make catching certain fish less likely or more likely.
Final Fantasy XIV’s Fishing gathering class is likely what one would consider endgame from level 1 onwards, with the ability to fish in deserts and the sky what I would call a bonus to the endgame insanity. If Gold Saucer is the church of fun opportunity and frivolity, FFXIV is the Primal upon which many linkshells and websites devote considerable resources to being a master.
Also, it’s relaxing as all hell. Just lounge around in your chair while watching a bobbing pole, picking up fish from the many locales around Eorzea. In any event, that’s all I have time for this week. Check back next week for more Eorzean craziness. Cheers!
