How do I get good gear without spending money?

[Super_Bee_Brian]

I usually just buy off gear from the market board for three reasons: Number one... It's convenient. Number two... I have a lot of money. Number three... I support crafters.

If I remember correctly, it barely cost me 100k to gear up my level 60 monk. But now that I'm so close to level 70, it's time to get level 70 gear. I went to the market board to buy a good level 70 fist weapon expecting it to peak at 200k and BOOM. The level 70 monk weapon they have was almost one million...

And now, I am looking for other means to gear up my character. Exactly what are my options here?

Thanks.

[Frizze]

And now, I am looking for other means to gear up my character. Exactly what are my options here?

This isnt as hard as you might think it will be. Once you get level 70 do your class quest. This will get you a full set of i290 armor and a weapon(no accessories). This is your starting point. It sounds like this will be your first time getting to the current cap, so there are a few things you havent experienced yet. For awhile now(ever since 50) youve been getting Tomestones of Poetics for completing certain content. Those "legacy" tomestones can be exchanged in Revanents Toll and Idyllshire for level 50 and 60 gear(respectively). At the current cap there are 2 newer tomes you can get. These are Creation(low) and Mendacity(high). Almost all level 70 content will give you some of each, as will most roulettes if completed by a level 70 class(typically more of the creation then the mendacity). I labeled the tomes as "low" and "high" because of their function and age. Creation has been around longer, and is used to buy lower level gear(i330). Theres no weekly cap on how many you can earn, though you can only hold 2000 at a time. Mendacity is newer, is used to buy higher level gear(i360), and you can only earn 450 per week(and still only hold 2000 total). Each currency has a piece of gear for your class in every slot(armor, jewelry, weapon) available for sale from a vendor in Rhalgrs Reach(you must complete the 4.0 storyline to access this vendor), and most you can just outright buy. The weapons you need to do a bit more work for(as the others mentioned). Now it is important to know that when 4.4 comes out in september the Creation tomes will be retired. An NPC will offer to buy them off you for mendacity tomes(4 creation for 1 mendacity) for a patch or two, then they will be removed from the game entirely. When that happens a new "high" tome will be added to the game(we dont know its name yet), and the Mendacity's will take on the "low" status. At that point theyll also add a higher tier of gear(i390 upgradable to 400) that is bought with those new tomes.

So if tomes are a "main" way of getting gear, what are your other options? There are 7 level 70 dungeons currently, and they drop gear ranging from i300 to i345(depending on how hard the dungeon is). If you have a lot of Centurio Seals from hunting, they can be used to buy i310 gear. As you saw on the marketboard, there are crafted pieces up to i350 but they can be expensive(rare/difficult/annoying mats on hard combines) - theres also a merchant in rhalgrs who will upgrade the 350 crafted stuff to 360. If you get into Eureka you can upgrade your class quest 290 gear up to 350(355 for the weapon - this will have a higher option in august), and Heaven on High has a way for you to get a 365 weapon. You also have raids. The deltascape(normal) raid series rewards tokens you can exchange for 320 gear(and the creation weapon) with no limit. The sigmascape(normal) set offers tokens for 350 gear(and the mendacity weapon) - im not sure if this set still has a weekly limit on(if it does youre limited to one token per level per week). The first level 70 alliance raid(rabanastre) drops 330 armor(no limit) and an upgrade coin(one per run). The second one(ridoranna) drops 360 armor(limit 1 piece per week) and a seperate upgrade coin(one per week - resets on tuesday morning). Just the raba coin lets you turn any piece of 330 creation gear into a 340. A raba coin and a rido coin lets you turn a 360 mendacity piece into a 370(anything but the weapon as of now). And then finally if you like a bit more challenge, the non-alliance raids have higher difficulty "savage" versions where you can get gear a little better(340 in delta, 370 in sigma). Additionally all the trials at level 70 have "extreme" versions that drop gear as well(lakshmi is 320 accessories, everyone else is weapons with them going up in level from older to newer trials - the current one dropping 365 weapons).

So with all those options, whats your best bet? Do your class quest. As soon as you hit 70. Interrupt the flow of the story to go back and get that gearset. It helps a lot. If you get to 70 before you finish 4.0 and open up the vendors(not to mention the optional content) you can start hoarding some Tomes early. Run a few roulettes(alliance, 50/60, trials, leveling, frontline) so that when you DO get those vendors open you can get a few pieces right away. Then once 4.0 is done you can start by running the dungeons and hoping for a few lucky pieces. A few of them are available immediately at 70(these are the "optional" dungeons), the rest need you to continue the story until you get sent to them. Everything at 70 has a minimum ilvl to participate(280-350 currently), so you can use those minimums to estimate how hard they will be and how good the rewards are. As you gear up you will naturally start to meet these higher thresholds, and can use that as ques to step up to the next content level. When youre high enough to run Delta do all 4 floors(and if you can, the last floor 3 extra times for the weapon). That probly gets you enough gear to get into Raba. A couple drops from there(along with a few tome upgrades) is enough for Sigma, and one or two upgrades past that puts you in Rido range. From there you are at or approaching the minimum to attempt any other content available. And while all of this sounds like a lot, going from just the class set to a functional mix of pieces that gets you over the minimum of any content you want to play can be done in a week or so. You can have a set approaching BiS within 4-6 weeks. It really starts to snowball once you have all the options open to you.

Best of luck!

Also...

Rabanstre + Ridorana to augment one piece a week to i370 (minus weapon, this will come with 4.4).

The weapon upgrade will probly be available with 4.36 in august. Thats what happened with the 330 weapons a few months back. Gives you a bit of time to enjoy the upgrade before the next tier comes out, while still giving the savage guys an advantage for a LONG time(theyve had the option since 4.2 afterall). Besides, if they wait til 4.4 then we'd be getting the upgrade at the same time Alphascape drops and we're chasing 390+ weapons.

[Reinfeld]

So you start out with the i290 gear that you get from level 70 quest, then you do your first level 70 dungeon for drops/tomes and go from there.

You forgot to mention doing daily/weekly Centurio marks. He can get the full 310 Ala Mhigan for like the 3.0 and 4.0 weekly + 2 days worth of daily marks.

[Seig345]

The above suggestions are good. Just whatever you do, don't manipulate people into giving you more gil, because that would be bad.

Daily roulettes and basically anything I can do for tomes are my preferred non-money method, personally.

[Super_Bee_Brian]

The above suggestions are good. Just whatever you do, don't manipulate people into giving you more gil, because that would be bad.

I earned 145k doing exactly that a week ago.

[KaivaC]

I earned 145k doing exactly that a week ago.

*blinks*

You manipulated people into giving you gil, and are openly admitting it? Or people are just giving you gil? One is pretty bad and could earn you quite the reputation on Mateus, the other means that you've run into some good Samaritans.

[Seig345]

I earned 145k doing exactly that a week ago.

Not exactly lucrative if you're balking at nearly 1 million for a weapon :x

*blinks*

You manipulated people into giving you gil, and are openly admitting it? Or people are just giving you gil? One is pretty bad and could earn you quite the reputation on Mateus, the other means that you've run into some good Samaritans.

Oh he had his own thread offering to share tips on how to do it. It got deleted though.

[Super_Bee_Brian]

*blinks*

You manipulated people into giving you gil, and are openly admitting it? Or people are just giving you gil? One is pretty bad and could earn you quite the reputation on Mateus, the other means that you've run into some good Samaritans.

Good Lord...

Stop. I got temporarily banned after I created that thread weeks ago. Let's just focus on the topic please.

I'm a brilliant social animal with the kind of skills that gets results. Let's just accept that and move on.

[MistakeNot]

Why would you do that? there is creation tomes for 330. I did not forget it, I left it out because it seems very nonviable.

Because one can earn the Centurio marks before even hitting level 70 - and thus before being able to earn any creation tomes.
With a tiny bit of planning it is actually a very viable option for the first steps - and it does not take long to earn the needed marks.

[Vstarstruck]

Good Lord...

Stop. I got temporarily banned after I created that thread weeks ago. Let's just focus on the topic please.

I'm a brilliant social animal with the kind of skills that gets results. Let's just accept that and move on.

Lol, now i can see why one of contacts does not hand out gil willy nilly, I was wondering why she was complaining about people giving her a hard time about having lots of gil. Because you seem proud of this without remorse, I do not want anything to do with you. You are exactly what my contact complains about her and the stress acts like this can add to someone's mental health. (trying to figure out who is being shady and who really needs help can be taxing and saying no to everyone makes you look bad, no just don't, stop it)

The above suggestions are good. Just whatever you do, don't manipulate people into giving you more gil, because that would be bad.

Daily roulettes and basically anything I can do for tomes are my preferred non-money method, personally.

Thank you for that point out, since he is proud of such things, I will delete all my advice here. I have no tolerance such things. just because you have power like that, does not mean you should be using it. Also you can earn much more gil without doing shady things.

Because one can earn the Centurio marks before even hitting level 70 - and thus before being able to earn any creation tomes.
With a tiny bit of planning it is actually a very viable option for the first steps - and it does not take long to earn the needed marks.

Not replying to this due to stated above. He can go farm Centurio marks, I do not care anymore.