(07-30-2014, 05:07 PM)synaesthetic Wrote: For Ifrit sure, but you can actually obtain Titan and Garuda-egi before completing the Titan and Garuda story mode encounters.
It has admittedly been a while since I did them, but I do recall needing to complete The Navel and The Howling Eye before you get the respective egis. You can certainly get to the level of the job quests, but I don't think you can take them until you've beaten the proper primal. And the Eorzea Database seems to agree.
Tristan is certainly an outlying case, but as you say the Ascians likely have something to do with that.