Of Relic Weapons and the Heavensward Pause

[Steel Wolf]

So. Warrior. Freakin...LOVE the class. Love it's tanking style. Love it's rotations. Love LOVE how I feel in group action. I'm running with a couple of new and very fast friends who have gleefully shaken me loose from the worries I'd built up around myself about group content and my time away from game.

 

That said..."THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!!" /swoosh

 

As a Dark Knight To Be, I've been juggling whether I should even attempt to pursue my WAR's Relic Weapon or not. On the one hand, it seems like getting a weapon that, ultimately, will be simply tossed aside entirely in a few months' time isn't worth the effort...and I still have an eye twitch from the first time I had to face Titan HM. On the other hand, I don't want to gimp my friends and be less of a worthy tank as a result of clutching an iLevel 70 Axe.

 

So, I turn to you, RPC. What do you think--should I just wait it out until Heavensward to get my Greatest of Greatswords, or am I doing my friends a disservice by not chasing A Relic Reborn?

[Zetchryn]

Would you enjoy yourself better once you had the weapon? How long we talking about to grind, compared to how long it takes to get Heavensward (I have no idea when it comes out)?

[Gar]

If you don't plan on sticking with Warrior, I'd say it would be a waste of time. The Relic chain is a really big time commitment. Its perk is that you get to choose your stats, but unless you're doing regular raid content it doesn't matter that much.

 

Here is what I would suggest: Save up 1300 soldiery. Get an unidentified allagan tomestone out of Syrcus, and a sands of time. Turn those in for the i100 weathered axe, use the sand to upgrade it, and voila. You have a i110 axe.

 

If past patch patterns stay the same, then you'll be able to do the same thing with the Magitek axe come 2.5. Eventually you'll be able to do the same thing and get into the i120-130 area.

 

With the level cap increase on the horizon, starting a relic now, in my opinion, would mostly be for glamour. If you were sticking with Warrior and really liked the look of things, then I'd say go for it. But in this case you can save yourself a lot of time by just getting alternatives.

[Martiallais]

So. Warrior. Freakin...LOVE the class.  Love it's tanking style.  Love it's rotations.  Love LOVE how I feel in group action.  I'm running with a couple of new and very fast friends who have gleefully shaken me loose from the worries I'd built up around myself about group content and my time away from game.

 

That said..."THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!!" /swoosh

 

Psha. We're fine with whatever you choose to do, silly. Not to mention we'll probably have to do the relic/zodiac stuff at least 1-2 more times once the expansion drops anyway.

 

I'm mostly doing it myself now because Monk is Zarek's main class but otherwise I wouldn't be bothering hehe.

[Altitis Acquired]

In most MMO's, I feel a certain satisfaction when finally reaching a goal or getting a certain item I have had my eyes on... but then afterwards, I'm rather "So... what now then?".

 

More importantly, if you enjoy the journet to get what you want, then I say it's worth it. If you feel like its alot of unnecessary work and hate ever moment of it... I'd advice you to just not do it.

[Titor]

Relic Weapons are not needed to clear any endgame raid content, if that has any weight to you.

The whole grind is not worth it to me to get an extra stat point over the best non-relic weapon. It is a stupidly long grind.

[Kage]

I know Titor and myself are in endgame and both of us right now will tell you zodiac is nonessential. Relic is nonessential. Just do it for your DRK if you want but don't worry about it.

 

The furthest I got in the line was getting a curtAna atma and bleh. Lol

[Steel Wolf]

I know Titor and myself are in endgame and both of us right now will tell you zodiac is nonessential. Relic is nonessential. Just do it for your DRK if you want but don't worry about it.

 

The furthest I got in the line was getting a curtAna atma and bleh. Lol

 

Seeing as how I consider you one of the primary authorities on endgame stuffs, I will definitely defer to yourself and Titor's experience.

 

Thanks for the input, RPC. <3

[Warren Castille]

As a counterpoint, it does make for a pile of attainable goals to occupy your time. If you're the sort of accomplishment-find-new-accomplishment type it's a series of hurdles that will certainly give you something to do up until 3.0.

 

The ST axe is certainly an alternative.

[Gegenji]

I've actually felt the same way about Astrologist on my "main." Not sure why I keep referring to him as that considering I've been spending more time on Chachan as of late than him, but Gogon is much further along on 50ing all the classes and has several more... things on him than his younger brother.

 

That includes the Zodiac quest, where he's currently collecting Light for his Scholar book. I really like Scholar, and feel it fits him as a character, but I can also see him using Astrology as another facet of his character. So I find myself wondering if I should start saving up Alexandrite and the other things in order to start the grind anew with Astrologist...

 

Then I realize that beyond their unique titles for getting the base relics, you only get the achievements for the first time you hit each Zodiac marker, and that there's plenty of easier alternatives to get a weapon that's as good or better without the horrendous grind and headache. I remember how obnoxious the earlier steps were and how I certainly don't want to retread them (or the gil that was sunk into them). So I'll probably just stick it out with the Scholar book and go the routes everyone else is suggesting for when the expansion drops.

 

But my situation is, obviously, very different. I'm already quite far into my Zodiac chain while you've just started. Though, I still think I can pass along the sage words of: "Go with whichever one you want, and don't feel too upset about it if another class pops up that you really like since there's plenty of alternate, non-Zodiac weapons available." It's pretty wordy advice, though.

[Warren Castille]

To address a point that sort of feels like it's being brought up (here and on other boards, linkshells and forums):

 

It is unlikely the new jobs are going to use the current relic process to get their "class" weapon. With the release of Heavensward we're getting ten more progression levels added to our characters, not to mention a wealth of new equipment and content to chew through. It's safe estimation that Zodiac weapons will be completed at either 130 or 135 and while that's plenty shiny for right now, it's going to lose some luster once our gear starts approaching higher item level. Compare the difference of any item set spaced ten character levels apart and you'll see what I mean: level 30 weapons don't hold a candle to level 40 ones, and it's reasonable to expect level 60 equipment to completely outperform Coil stuff.

 

Beyond that, the cost of entry would be too high for new classes. Congratulations, you've slogged to 60 and have a whole expansion to- wait, no, you need to go kill level 50 primals, do level 50 dungeons and grind out level 50 currency before you can do any of this new tasty stuff.

 

I think it's not unreasonable to say we're going to get a new "relic' chain in 3.0, probably something about the Thousand Years' War artifacts or similar. Keeps the content topical without handicapping new classes and more importantly it would keep everyone on the same footing from the outset.

[ArmachiA]

Since I'm planning on maining Machinist once Heavensward hits, I just decided not to do my relic for my Bard.

I am considering doing it for my Warrior since it will always be my alt class, but I haven't really decided yet.

I mean... I don't have a lot more to spend my soldiery on... I have most of my WAR stuff and recently picked up a bunch of gear for my soon-to-be level 50 SCH.

 

Ugh, I keep waffling back and forth.

[Kage]

I know Titor and myself are in endgame and both of us right now will tell you zodiac is nonessential. Relic is nonessential. Just do it for your DRK if you want but don't worry about it.

 

The furthest I got in the line was getting a curtAna atma and bleh. Lol

 

Seeing as how I consider you one of the primary authorities on endgame stuffs,

Oh god, please don't. You're making the worst decision ever. @_@

[Aaron]

If you actually calculate a relics stats to something of similar item level of the same class.

 

The stat increased is negligible. If you sneeze, you can waste that little extra dps a relic gives you.

 

On Exodus I had a friend with the Relic since 2.3 upgraded to the max always and I realized this.

 

Regardless of the max you get the relic pre patch, it always gets outdone with a new easier to acquire weapon next patch. Now with the Novus, it raises to third place, but the unweathered weapon and High Allagan weps are still both better than it. Again comes the rebuttal of "Yeah, but the Novus will continue to be upgradeable!" Yes, but every time there has been a tier upgrade in weapons, the Relic path still isn't top tier. Ramuh may even drop weapons that are comparable or better than Novus. 

 

SHIVA drops ilvl 110 weps that can turn into ilvl 115 weps, that's already higher than animus and on par with Novus.

 

Patch 2.5 you'll be able to easily get the 120 - 130lb weps easier probably. Even if you can't change the stats, 1 or 2 extra stats in one area isn't gonna significantly change or break your dps or aggro holding.

 

Much less work for higher game.

 

Relics just seem like a time killer. Tbh.

[Gegenji]

Since I'm planning on maining Machinist once Heavensward hits, I just decided not to do my relic for my Bard.

I am considering doing it for my Warrior since it will always be my alt class, but I haven't really decided yet.

I mean... I don't have a lot more to spend my soldiery on... I have most of my WAR stuff and recently picked up a bunch of gear for my soon-to-be level 50 SCH.

 

Ugh, I keep waffling back and forth.

 

Haha. My best suggestion is if you're going to go the whole hog, just make sure to pick ONE job and stick with it. I can see doing just one Zodiac the entire way pretty casually (heck, that's what I'm doing and I managed to get to Lights somehow)... but the idea of doing more than one just makes something in my gut squirm something fierce.

 

Heck, I kinda want the titles for all of them on my "main" just for the sake of having them, and I still recoil at having to do all those trials and Primal fights... what, eight more times?

 

(I've already done SCH and DRG, you see. Totally thought the uncolored lance looks cooler, though...)

 

Imagining farming for Atma or Alexandrite a second time or more makes me scream internally. Then I remember I'd have to do all the books over again and [screaming intensifies].

[Warren Castille]

Once I was silly enough to think I'd do a second relic. My long-abandoned Dragoon has a spear and... That's it. I don't think I could do this again.

 

I know of some random japanese player who has already completed four Zodiac weapons. Kill me.

[Kellach Woods]

I never viewed the Relics as something you did because of the stats unless you just want an i90 weapon to start doing some higher grade stuff off the bat (since that chain is easy as pie now).

 

You do it because you want the Zodiac, whether for looks, because you want a Zodiac with a precise set of stats, or just to say you have the friggin' thing.

[Eva]

Might as well throw my 2 gil in here. My own opinion on this is sort of tenous lately. I've seen how many hours that could have been spent enjoying RP have been instead thrust towards the various relic grinds. My time to play FFXIV has more recently been scaled back, so I've felt a bit more pressure as a result with these past two relic steps (specifically Nexus and Zodiac). I was usually pretty competative with my peers (I consider those in my more relaxed coil static group to be about on the same pace, though lately I've been the last in our group to finish). A lot of it has been finding time, and having to give a certain amount of priority towards progression with it. For me that sometimes means it comes at a cost, and I'm hesitant to forsake RP or other stuff for the sake of a grind I don't truly enjoy. In short, I want to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, and if that means I don't have my shiny new before my friends and peers, so be it.

 

As others have said, I think it's more of a status thing than anything really important. I think I'd do just fine with the i110 UAT+Sands staff instead of my Thyrus, and the few stat boosts and iLevels is not - by itself - game-altering. I'm not one of thos relic-holders that totes that "omg must have to be the best". I don't have time for that.

 

What the relic quests do give me is something to do with my time when there's no RP or anything else going on. Combined with my own decreased time for playing the game, I've also been trying to reach out a little more and RP with different groups and broaden my horizon, which in turn narrows down my time even further for this.

 

I would say if you're extremely passionate about your job (and for my part I'll confess I do love White Mage) it may be worthwhile to you to undertake this process, if you're willing to sacrifice that time - and it is a timesink. If you're considering another job with Heavensward on the horizon, I'd just scrape by with whatever alternatives you're able to get your hands on (Shiva EX or Soldiery or w/e) and save your energies for what you are really passionate about. Of course if you find yourself with an abundance of free time and nothing better to do with it, I say go for it. Just realize that all of this stuff is probably going to be rendered obsolete a few months in the future.

 

I tend to think of the relic process as appealing more to the people who have been around and working on it all along. It's paced steps with each relic update patch which, individually, isn't terribly overwhelming. However when you look at it from the scope of a new level 50, having to get the atma, and do the books, and get the alexandrites, and farm the lights, and do the dungeons, etc... it's pretty ridiculous. I suspect - as others have also suggested - Heavensward will bring us another sort of "relic" tree which we can climb a branch at a time, or a way for some to continue the first. Final Fantasy has always been good about giving lots of variable options for this sort of thing.

[Zyrusticae]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the entirety of the relic quest nerfed considerably come 3.0. 100% Atma drop rate, Animus FATEs changed to pop independently of other FATEs every 15 minutes like Beast Tribe FATEs and mob kill requirements cut down to 3 of each enemy type, Novus nerfed to require 10 Alexandrite, Nexus nerfed to require 200 Light, the following step nerfed to have 100% dungeon item drop rate and much lower soldiery, gil, and seal costs for required items...

 

I don't foresee them simply forking it off into an entirely different relic weapon branch when they can just nerf the previous steps to near-irrelevance and let people catch up that way. The whole point of the relic quest is to serve as a massive timesink in the first place. That intention is transparently obvious just looking at the various steps as they stand.

 

I, personally, started working on a second relic out of obsessive compulsion (because I was doing my Alexandrite daily on a regular basis and that Alexandrite just keeps piling up....) but eventually stopped after realizing I actually don't give a toss about having ALL THE RELICS. There's already too much for me to do as it is; wasting time with this stuff is not much in the way of fun or productive.

 

I say just work on one Relic at a time, at a casual pace unless you just want it RIGHT NOW, let it work as a long-term thing for you to just build up over time. You'll burn yourself out trying to do it fast anyway, so I don't recommend it.

 

(It does kind of suck that I'm going to just throw that bow away when Machinist comes out, but, eh...)

[Warren Castille]

That's certainly a possibility, but I don't think a blanket nerf is coming. Well, right now. I'm very wishy-washy on my opinions about this.

 

Could SE nerf the crap out of it and make it so anyone with a passing interest could have every job wielding a zodiac weapon? I suppose, but with presumable 130 weapons being accessible from CT3, I'm leaning towards them not adjusting until after 3.0 is live. Yoshi's said previously that they're meant to be bragging rights rewards given to those who stuck with the content, and I think that will remain the hallmark for now. The game already hands out gear towards the end of a patch cycle, and I don't expect relics to become any more easily grabbed from the door than, say, folks who never set foot in coil wanting Dreadwyrm stuff.

[111]

That's certainly a possibility, but I don't think a blanket nerf is coming. Well, right now. I'm very wishy-washy on my opinions about this.

 

Could SE nerf the crap out of it and make it so anyone with a passing interest could have every job wielding a zodiac weapon? I suppose, but with presumable 130 weapons being accessible from CT3, I'm leaning towards them not adjusting until after 3.0 is live. Yoshi's said previously that they're meant to be bragging rights rewards given to those who stuck with the content, and I think that will remain the hallmark for now. The game already hands out gear towards the end of a patch cycle, and I don't expect relics to become any more easily grabbed from the door than, say, folks who never set foot in coil wanting Dreadwyrm stuff.

 

I think they will remain status symbols. Compared to coil nerfs, Relic's have hardly been touched at all. They only lowered the soldiery requirement for the books, and increased Atma drop rate. I don't forsee them lowering the bar that much.

 

However as others have said they are completely not needed. FCOB up to turn 11 can easily be beaten with Soldiery and High Allagan weapons, and once you get there you get the tomestones for the magitech weapons.

 

So I would suggest just doing the relic on your favorite class, even if you might not use it. Worth it to look cool.

[Kellach Woods]

I think they will remain status symbols. Compared to coil nerfs, Relic's have hardly been touched at all. They only lowered the soldiery requirement for the books, and increased Atma drop rate. I don't forsee them lowering the bar that much.

 

However as others have said they are completely not needed. FCOB up to turn 11 can easily be beaten with Soldiery and High Allagan weapons, and once you get there you get the tomestones for the magitech weapons.

 

So I would suggest just doing the relic on your favorite class, even if you might not use it. Worth it to look cool.

 

I plan on doing it on MNK because I like the look of it. That's it. Same with WAR.

 

Besides, you KNOW people will wanna glamour into the Zodiac.

[TheLastCandle]

I just want Longinus and Excalibur/Aegis Shield, then I can retire from Zodiac hunting forever.

 

And maybe Ragnarok because it looks metal as fuck.

[Kellach Woods]

I just want Longinus and Excalibur/Aegis Shield, then I can retire from Zodiac hunting forever.

 

And maybe Ragnarok because it looks metal as fuck.

 

You know the best part about the Zodiac relics?

 

YOU CAN DYE THEM.

 

and yes Ragnarok is metal as fuck and I need it on Kell just to add to the metal factor kinda.

[ProvaDiServo]

Meh, I'm not really bothered to continue the relic until MNK weapon is like, barefisted or something...Then and only then, will it be on.