(Information is based on stats and systems in Beta Phase 3. It's possible Phase 4 or retail could bring significant changes. Post will be updated as needed.)
The goal of this guide will be two-fold. It's intended to be general information to help any player get started and understand the gathering system in FFXIV, but it is also focused on helping players of 1.0 transition to the new system. I expect much of the information here will lean towards the later, and as such often presumes a player is coming into ARR with an already-leveled gathering class and basic knowledge of how the system worked in 1.0.
A lot of the time I’ll put things in from the standpoint of Miner, but everything applies to Botanist as well. For those unaware, Fishing will be significantly different from the other two DoL in ARR.
In general, gathering is simplified but more heavily stat/gear/math based. It is significantly easier to target specific items, quantity or quality depending on which abilities you choose to use. GP regeneration time is the biggest determining factor in gathering productivity.
Stats Overhaul
Equipment from 1.0 will have different stats and sometimes a slightly different name as well. It's possible a piece of gear may no longer have any DoL-relevant stats. Overall it is pretty straightforward... higher level gear always has more of the relevant stat for that slot.
Here are the stats for DoL:
Gathering – Chances of obtaining an item.
Perception – Probability of finding HQ items.
GP – Points used to trigger abilities. GP regens slowly outside of gathering, taking about 1 minute to regen 100 GP. A small amount regens during gathering after each successful swing/chain (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5).
Base Stats – While STR and MND do not seem to have any direct effect on the gathering process, I have seen Gathering Point Characteristics that use STR and MND to trigger a bonus. It also looks as if the MIN and BOT classes have switched their use of STR and VIT.
Abilities Overhaul
Abilities cost GP to use and GP regenerates slowly over time. Just a point of reference, in my 1.0 gear I have 480 GP. Some abilities have cost of 300-500 GP.
Prospect: Must be on to see gathering points both on the map and in the game world. There's an ability that makes this automatic when switching to the class. Seems a little strange to be a toggle-able ability, but whatever.
Lay of the Land (I/II): V1 of this ability shows you the closest gathering point within your level range and puts it on your mini-map for a short period of time. V2 shows you the highest level gathering point you can use in the zone.
Sharp Vision (I/II/III): Increases the chance of a successful gather for the remainder of that gathering point.
Stealth: Same as in 1.0. Reduces movement speed but lets you avoid enemy aggro.
Preparation: Shows you the how much perception is needed to start having a chance at HQ items.
Unearth: (I/II): Increases the chance of gathering an HQ item. Doesn't work if base chance for HQ is 0%.
[Guardian's] Ward: Increases the yield of shards (specific wards for specific elements). Traits extend this to also work on crystals and clusters at higher levels. Miner gets water/fire/lightning wards. Botanist gets earth/ice/wind.
Deep Vigor: Increases gathering success rate to 100%, but only useable after chain 5. It would take a bonus characteristic or use of Solid Reason to have any practical effect.
Solid Reason: Grants an additional gathering attempt at the current gathering point.
King's Yield (I/II): Increases the yield by 1 or 2 at that gathering point.
Toil of the Mountaineer: ???????
Materia Overhaul
Gear from 1.0 will give around 12-15 materia slots. Materia can add Gathering, Perception and GP. Technically STR and MND could also be used to hit Characteristic bonuses, but I’m doubting that will ever be a serious strategy.
Tiers I-V of Gathering and Perception give 3/4/5/8/10. GP is 1/2/3/4/5. This means you could add around 150 Gathering, 150 Perception or 75 GP to your base stats before trying forbidden melding. At the moment I’m not seeing a great use for GP materia when the returns are so low.
Gathering Point Characteristics
Many gathering points have a target stat listed under them, and reaching that target grants a small bonus to gathering rate, HQ rate, or number of attempts.
Bonuses I’ve seen at the highest level nodes are Gathering at 264, Perception at 264 and STR at 211. In addition to gathering stats or base stats, elemental resistance can also trigger a bonus.
These bonuses come from traits that are learned between levels 11 and 26.
Miscellaneous Notes
- 6 hits exhaust the node.
- Regain 20 GP over the course of 6 hits.
- Gathering Log gives a full list of what can be gathered from which zones.
- For class quests, you can buy the mats. You don’t have to actually gather them yourself.
- Once you get to level 10 items, they will be “hidden” (only a 10% chance to gather) until you are successful the first time. Then their rates will be normal.
- Zoning seems to reset/randomize the nodes.
- Hamlet headpieces have really good perception and two materia slots.
- HQ rate seems to cap at 15% before abilities or bonus.
- Zones have multiple areas within that zone that have different levels of gathering points, each with different loot lists.
- Each gathering area may have approximately 4-8 gathering points, a portion of which will be active. Exhausting a node immediately causes another of the points to become active. Each of these areas are very small and usually falls completely within your mini-map.
- There is a sizable XP bonus given the first time you gather a particular item, adding it to your Gathering Log.
- Chaining gathering attempts give bonus XP. The higher the chain, the higher the bonus. There's a large additional bonus for gathering an HQ item. [ Data from Rocl ]
- You should be able to gather from a gathering point 5 levels above your currently level.
Statistical Breakdown
This section is educated guesses based on limited testing.
PERCEPTION: Every item has a perception threshold that needs to be reached to have any chance to gather an HQ item. Preparation, a level 12 ability, shows you this number in the gathering interface. Reaching that number gives you a 1% chance at an HQ item. As your perception increases over that, the HQ chance goes up. It appears to cap at 15% before abilities or characteristics are factored in. It looks to take 100 perception over the Preparation number to hit the 15% cap. These values seem to be predetermined based on the items level, going up roughly 6-7 points per level of the item. (Tested between levels 36-50).
GATHERING: The chance to gather an item is a function of the items level versus your gathering skill. It appears character level has no effect in this equation. Unfortunately the game does not give us a base number like it does for Perception.
With 271 Gathering skill, the level 50 ogre horn has a 72% success rate. Items level 40 and below have a 100% success rate.
Back to the level 50 ogre horn, here’s a chart showing how different gathering stats change the success percentage. There does appear to be a sweet spot for increasing success followed by diminishing returns.
Some random thoughts on specific equipment…
Pick of the Luminary: Luminary should add about 8% success rate compared to next best gear OR about 3% to HQ rate (assuming the comparable materia is committed to the Cobalt Dolabra).
Hamlet Digger’s Helmet: Adds about 2% to HQ rate compared to next best gear