In the last Final Fantasy XIV article, we talked about leveling up alternate jobs and other things we could do to fill the time while we wait for Patch 5.1 to drop tomorrow. Did you guys take part in the All Saints’ Wake content? I wasn’t a fan at all of this weird ass version of Hakune Manor cause it was trickier than it should have been and basically gave like no experience for the time. I’m not really one for the house decorations so farming Pumpkin Cookies wasn’t my thing, but you know your boy got his spooky witch Ahriman glider.
I’ve been trying to level up my crafters since I haven’t had a lot of time to spend trying to level up or raid this week, and I’m finding myself hitting a brick wall pretty hard. I’ve gotten almost all of my crafters to level 60, but I’m still trailing behind on Mining, Fishing, and Botany all sitting somewhere in the 50s. Even at level 60, I find myself struggling to find anything worth making. I know that Botany and Mining are highly recommended to supplement my crafting expenses, but I feel guilty for using my sweet rested EXP on something so bland as gathering ore and chopping up logs.
Some people seem to find the gathering skills relaxing. While I was working on Fishing, I ran into several people who really seemed to enjoy how in-depth fishing skills go as opposed to something like fishing in WoW where you just click the bobber as it’s exposed. There’s a lot of stuff to keep track of in FFXIV’s crafting game, and fishing is certainly no exception. Knowing when to use your abilities that increase your chances of a better catch, mooching (using a smaller fish to catch a bigger fish), or even knowing what weather conditions will yield which catches can be extremely frustrating. I know while working on the level 50 fishing quest, I had to have like four different websites open just to track where to catch these elusive fish - and since they can’t just be bought like a bunch of other quests, it quickly went from enjoyable to annoying.
I feel like Botany and Mining are even worse, because it’s so bland to just run around and click on stuff for hours at a time. The scenery can be changed as you’re not always locked into one specific area, but it’s just so damn boring. Not only is it boring, but few things actually sell for a decent price that it makes me wonder if I’m wasting my time leveling my crafters up at all.
How do you guys feel about leveling crafters? I know their biggest appeal seems to be crafting the sets of gear that can bump your gear score just enough to get you into the end game raids, but aside from that (and obviously casting items that people want for Glamour) is there any real reason to keep going with it? Sometimes I feel like it’s easier to just farm the gil or play the markets to buy anything I need than it would be to invest resources into leveling up to make stuff for my alt jobs.
I can’t wait to take on the YoRHa Raid and New Game+ this week. I'm super excited to see the changes to Ninja, cause I’m anxious to blow the dust off this guy:
Let me know about your crafter thoughts in the comments below, or just let me know what you’re hyped about in 5.1!