Endgame Discussion and Speculation

[Burningthought]

Howdy folks, I figured it was time we had a place to sit down and discuss how Endgame is going to look in A Realm Reborn.

Right now we have next to zero solid information about how it's going to work so much of this post is going to be speculation until the actual launch of the game.

A Gearset Reborn

So to begin, lets take a look at the current endgame equipment. I think its fair so far to say that the AF armor we have now will be Tier 0 equipment. Basically the bare minimum required to pass Level 45-50 duty finder instances.

My idea is that through the level 50 duty finder dungeons we will earn Tier 1 equipment which should be Darklight equipment (ilvl. 70).

The link above will show how many tokens will be needed to buy it from the NPC in Mor Dhona. Basically if you have any melded equipment from 1.0 you'll be able to trade it in for currency that will allow you to use that npc to buy the armor. Otherwise the currency will probably drop from chests inside the dungeons just like how Allagin Pieces drop right now.

Based off 1.0 we know that Darklight/Explorer's equipment came from Cutter's Cry and Aurums Vale and chances are it'll probably drop there just the same.

Tier 2 equipment would most likely be the AF2/Relic Armor(or whatever you want to call it) that we saw from the video below:



The Labyrinth of Bahamut is going to be one of the first endgame activities available at the launch of FFXIV. My guess is that the AF2 armor will drop from the Labyrinth. The Crystal Tower when it releases in the 2.1 patch will probably have its own loot pool with different iLvls.

Spoiler: show

A Relic Reborn

As far as weapons go we will probably end up using either crafted equipment or the Aetherial weapons that drop from the duty finder dungeons(Level 45~, Dzamael Darkhold for example.) as far as Tier 0 is concerned.

Odin and Behemoth both drop Item Level 50 weapons. Since the FATEs will be open world and can be completed by any one, this will most likely be a bridge between T0 and T1 equipment. Based off what i've seen from the NPCs in Mor Dhona and XIVDB the primal weapons will definitely trump these free ranging FATE item drops.

Tier 1 will most likely be primal weapons. This includes Ifrit, Garuda, Moogle, and Titan. These weapons should be fairly easy to get as long as you are properly geared with AF or at least Aetherial Gear from the Level. 45 dungeons. My guess is that these primal weapons will be needed for any Level 50 endgame activities.

Lastly are Relics and Relics+1, these will be the Tier 2 weapons. They will most likely just be a luxury, however Yoshida as mentioned that they made the Relic quest a lot easier. Depending on how easy the Relic Reborn quest is the NQ Relic may be a necessity that everyone will need to complete and the +1 will be a luxury for hardcore players. We will simply have to wait and see what happens.

Another note is that we have Dalamud weapons. From the datamine information it looks like they're going to be iLvl 90, just like Relic+1's. With that information chances are that the Dalamud weapons will be pretty rare drops or drops that will take quite a bit of effort to earn.



Well what about crafting?

Yoshida has mentioned that crafters will be able to meld some of the level 50 equipment with materia and that it'll allow players who have the means or money to get closer to the next tier of equipment. A bridge between tiers basicallly.

My idea is that the endgame activities will drop crafting materials for iLvl 70 and using materia they'll be able to get closer to those iLvl 90 equipment or get past DPS/DEF checks in harder content.

Right now it looks like there's caps on the amount of one stat you can meld to a piece of armor or weapon. This is going to keep the Unique/Untradeable gear more desirable while keeping crafting somewhat relevant.

The Wrap Up

Basically this is my idea of what endgame gear tiers will look like and a rough idea of how endgame progression is going to go. This is all speculation and I could be 100% wrong. I fully plan on updating this post once we have some concrete details on how endgame will work at launch. For now, I figured we should have a general discussion post just to be able fire off ideas without having to worry about getting hit with the banhammer for spamming the Advanced section. Also i'm super drunk so if there's any glaring flaws in my post i'll fix them when i'm sober.

[Cantih]

For those of us not familiar with 1.0

iLvl?

[Godsleftsock]

For those of us not familiar with 1.0

iLvl?

more like not familiar with recent mmos

it means item level. Highest seems to be 90 while stuff like GC gear was 65 or so

[Cantih]

more like not familiar with recent mmos

You've got me, all of my info for MMOs is just Gemstone, FFXI, and EVE. (Some dicking around with Dragonica and Spiral Knights when I was really bored, but stopped when the pay hurdle hit. Oh, and the free part of Dofus.)
So basically nothing post-2004.
I'm used to thinking of gear in terms of the level of the job needed to equip them, not the item itself.

[Datonare]

Yeah, item level is used to differentiate the "tiers" of quality of same level gear. AF Body VS AF2 body or what have you.

As far as the post goes... depending on materia and all that, I think 2 star crafted gear will be just a tinge better than Darklight, and best until AF2. If not better, then extremely close. Anyways, I'd count both darklight and 2* crafted gear as the same tier (which makes sense, having identical iLvl)

The difference between Darklight and AF2 is pretty significant, mainly because iLvl80 stuff doesn't exist (crystal tower, presumably). I guess that will make Bahamut a little harder until iLvl 80 becomes available.


Side note: I thought both Bahamut and Crystal Tower were going to be 24 man content, but I guess I missed the memo. By the SS it looks like Bahamut is 8 after all? Has me more excited about it now

[Kelenae]

Side note: I thought both Bahamut and Crystal Tower were going to be 24 man content, but I guess I missed the memo. By the SS it looks like Bahamut is 8 after all? Has me more excited about it now

Bahamut was always going to be 8 man.

[Carth]

Bahamut's Lab is 8-man content. I'm not sure how the rumor spread that it was 24-man, but it's definitely 8-man.

As for Relics, Yoshi-P said they'll be easier to obtain, but we don't know how easy. On that note, I remembered him saying they'll be upgradable when the level cap raises. I got the link just to make sure I remembered correctly.

http://ffxiv.jeuxonline.info/article...the-japan-expo

JOL : About the relic weapons, we didn't hear about them for a while. Let's say, one day, you raise the level cap, and then weapons will become useless. Will they be upgradable?

Yoshida : [himself, in English] Yes. *laughs*

Especially because we ask players to go through such a huge challenge to get the weapons, so we don't want to introduce something new and make your efforts go away. We will definitely have an update, it really is a special item.

So I get the feeling they'll still be something similar to the Relics in FFXI.

[Kelenae]

Well, There wont be Hamlets. So that alone makes it "easier" lol. Not saying they were hard or anything.

[Godsleftsock]

You've got me, all of my info for MMOs is just Gemstone, FFXI, and EVE. (Some dicking around with Dragonica and Spiral Knights when I was really bored, but stopped when the pay hurdle hit. Oh, and the free part of Dofus.)
So basically nothing post-2004.
I'm used to thinking of gear in terms of the level of the job needed to equip them, not the item itself.

Haha hope I didn't come off as an ass. Cuz we actually didn't have ilevels in 1.0 either


Edit: Nice little write-up for a drunkard.

[Burningthought]

Haha hope I didn't come off as an ass. Cuz we actually didn't have ilevels in 1.0 either


Edit: Nice little write-up for a drunkard.

I work in tech support and the company I work for pretty much fires anyone who doesn't show up to work unless they use their medical leave act stuff, so I learned how to type/talk under the influence of all sorts of shit. I've had my practice.

[Aldon]

pretty much fires anyone who doesn't show up to work unless they use their medical leave act stuff, so I learned how to type/talk under the influence of all sorts of shit.

You should work tech support for the government. It's a sweet gig.

[Godsleftsock]

I work in tech support and the company I work for pretty much fires anyone who doesn't show up to work unless they use their medical leave act stuff, so I learned how to type/talk under the influence of all sorts of shit. I've had my practice.

To stay on topic. Does anyone else think Yoshi-P made it sound like they would make Crystal Tower easier and then the gear that drops from there would possibly make it easier to grab the ilevel 90 stuff from Bahamut's Labyrinth? Like DL is only ilevel 70 that would mean crafted gear with ridiculous materia could be near 80ish and Crystal Tower would be 80-85?

[Burningthought]

To stay on topic. Does anyone else think Yoshi-P made it sound like they would make Crystal Tower easier and then the gear that drops from there would possibly make it easier to grab the ilevel 90 stuff from Bahamut's Labyrinth? Like DL is only ilevel 70 that would mean crafted gear with ridiculous materia could be near 80ish and Crystal Tower would be 80-85?

I'm expecting the Crystal Tower to be entry level for real endgame so iLvl 80-85 would fit assuming that AF2 is going to drop in the Labyrinth of Bahamut(LoB? I'm tired of typing this).

[Kelenae]

Ya lets go with LoB

But ya, Crystal Tower looks to be entry level for the real endgame raiding. Then when a new raid comes they'll open up more floors, more bosses, and add new gear thats better then AF2. Lets call it Dark light +1 . This is what I think'll go down raiding wise.

[Carth]

To stay on topic. Does anyone else think Yoshi-P made it sound like they would make Crystal Tower easier and then the gear that drops from there would possibly make it easier to grab the ilevel 90 stuff from Bahamut's Labyrinth? Like DL is only ilevel 70 that would mean crafted gear with ridiculous materia could be near 80ish and Crystal Tower would be 80-85?

I never got the implication that Crystal Tower would be easier persay, but it's the first 24-man raid the game will have, and we have no idea how it's going to work besides the tidbits about DPS phases and splitting up. I can see it having higher level gear just on the basis that it requires 24 people.

[Burningthought]

As far as the lower tier stuff goes, Darklight is actually meldable, so not only is it a decent bit of equipment when you are starting out, you can make it last by melding it. I would go as far as to say that you'll be required to gear up with Darklight+melds until people start getting AF2/iLvl 80-90 equipment. It's kinda weird that we're missing a tier of equipment though.

@Carth There was a Live Letter saying that the content was too hard to release and they're looking into easing the difficulty so people can queue for it in the duty finder. Now it could still be challenging content, but most people are taking it at face value. I was going to source the transcript but the Lodestone forums are down lol.

[Sigmakan]

As far as the lower tier stuff goes, Darklight is actually meldable, so not only is it a decent bit of equipment when you are starting out, you can make it last by melding it. I would go as far as to say that you'll be required to gear up with Darklight+melds until people start getting AF2/iLvl 80-90 equipment. It's kinda weird that we're missing a tier of equipment though.

@Carth There was a Live Letter saying that the content was too hard to release and they're looking into easing the difficulty so people can queue for it in the duty finder. Now it could still be challenging content, but most people are taking it at face value. I was going to source the transcript but the Lodestone forums are down lol.

Darklight is meldable?

[Burningthought]

Darklight is meldable?

I take that back I was looking at darksteel on xivdb. Disregard my last post.

[rina_inverse]

OK, so it is safe to trade all my meldable gear for token?
and did anyone try high level crafting in phase 4? something like those fancy craftable minions?
and did anyone try farming some beastmen currency? since its tradeble in Rowena's shop

[Fievel]

OK, so it is safe to trade all my meldable gear for token?
and did anyone try high level crafting in phase 4? something like those fancy craftable minions?

Yes, and yes.