Last week, I wrote about the features and updates we can look forward to with Final Fantasy XIV’s upcoming patch 3.1: As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness. There’s a lot coming including a new 24-man raid, a new Gold Saucer mini-game and airship missions. However, based on what the dev team announced this past weekend, we won’t be seeing any of this new content until early November.
I’ve been listening as many FFXIV folks have begun to fall into a between-patch lull in our Free Company and just in general. Now that the newness of Heavensward has worn off, and many of us have reached level 60, running for gear seems to be the only thing left to do. Truth is, while there are three different ways to gear up at end game, which is a good thing, if you want the best the game has to offer, you’re going to be hitting up Expert Roulette dungeons and the Alexander raids.
Right now, Expert Roulette only has two dungeons to pick from, and some of us could do them in our sleep, having run them both day after day. And while Alexander Savage still challenges the hardcore people, not everyone wants to spend their time in game raiding or running a dungeon.
So what else is there to do while waiting for the new patch? Here’s some ideas!
If you’re running your Expert Roulette for Eso Tomes, chances are, you’re going to find yourself hitting the cap on Law Tomes. Oops! Well, I guess it’s time for you to sort through those tomes to buy a set of armor for an alt job.
The path from level 1 to 50 has been sped up significantly since the release of Heavensward. So if you’re still twiddling your thumbs on leveling a second job, and it’s below level 50, there’s no better time to do this than now.
Leveling from 50 to 60 is much more time consuming, however. It’s a little better than it was at Heavensward launch due to recent patches increasing the amount of experience you get from FATES in the new zones. Prior to this, everyone just huddled around in Northern Thanalan to FATE run. While they still do this on my server, you may find better experience in other areas.
If you don’t mind adding another daily dungeon to the list, Leveling Roulette is a good source of experience. Also, don’t forget to do daily hunts in the Heavensward areas, which earn you seals that you can use to upgrade that Law Tome armor!
This goes hand in hand with leveling an alt job. Head back to the older zones and look for any quests you never completed… then, complete them! I know that I’m guilty of having left all kinds of low level quests lying around. So. over the summer, I took one of my low level jobs and went through the quests zone by zone.
Not only is this good experience for alt jobs, but you may just discover some stories, NPCs and quest rewards you had no idea were out there. I know I did.
What? Wait? Reroll? In FFXIV?
Yeah, it sounds pretty crazy to roll a second character in a game where one character can do all battle and crafting jobs. However, it can be fun to do while waiting for the next patch to drop.
You get to design a totally fresh character with a new look, new race, new job, and clean inventory! Bet you never thought you’d see that again.
Not to mention, if you enjoy the Main Scenario story as much as I do, it’s neat to go back through the scenes a second time. You can pick up on things you missed the first time around, and just re-visit places and characters you haven’t seen in a while.
Heavensward has made it faster and easier to level a brand new character through the story, too. Keep in mind that a character who has never entered a story dungeon will get priority in the Duty Finder queue. So if you’ve been putting off leveling a DPS class due to the Duty Finder wait, procrastinate no more! Not to mention the rewards you get for being a first time character doing pre-Heavensward storyline have been significantly improved.
It’s a great time to roll an alt!
Yep, you knew I’d get to this eventually. It’s time to level crafting or gathering if you haven’t already. Heavensward introduced a new scrip system to higher level crafting and gathering, but if you want to check that out, you have to get to the mid 50s.
While I find crafting somewhat hectic with all the inventory management, gathering is a good way to unwind after a long day at work. Plus, if you’re in a Free Company that has a workshop, they are always going to need crafters and gatherers working on building and upgrading airships. This is a great side project to put some time into, especially since airship features are going to be expanded in patch 3.1.
The card game Triple Triad was introduced as a mini-game when the Gold Saucer released earlier this year. It’s a fun diversion that allows you to challenge NPCs and other players to collect new cards. You can also collect certain cards as drops from dungeon bosses, so check and see what cards you might have already collected but may have forgotten about.
Triple Triad isn’t going away. Heavensward introduced brand new cards themed after the expansion characters and enemies. It’s been confirmed that future patches will also add new cards to collect.
Chocobo racing is another mini-game that takes place only in the Gold Saucer. Even though it’s been out for a while, you can still race and raise your chocobos, breeding them to improve your chocobo’s lineage. Future patches will bring better winning payouts in MGP, so it’s a good time to start getting your best chococbo ready for the challenge!
The Lord of Verminion Gold Saucer mini-game will be a RTS that uses the different minions that you’ve unlocked in the game. Some minions you can purchase from vendors for gil or MGP. Some you can only get as drops in dungeons or from special FATES. Some you have to craft. Some your retainers bring back from ventures. Of course, there are some you can also purchase at the market board.
It’s a good idea to go ahead and buy or collect the minions you want because once the Lord of Verminion mini-game releases, it may become a lot more expensive to get your hands on them!
The sightseeing log challenges you to locate a specific spot on the map where you can view the Vistas of Eorzea. You must not just find the location, but it must be the proper weather, the proper time, and you must perform the correct emote once all conditions are met.
You can earn an achievement and a minion from completing 80 entries in the log. Oh, and bragging rights.
As you can see, there’s a lot of activities you can fill your time with while waiting for the next patch to drop in FFXIV. That’s not even touching on gathering armor for glamours, decorating your FC or personal house, completing achievements, or collecting mounts.There’s a little bit of something for everyone in Eorzea.
