Retainer venture question

I am unsure about the equipment of the retainers. One of mine is naked besides the main hand and the other one is partially equipped. But the results when they come home after one hour is the same. So do we have to equip them at all? And why can't they share the items with my other chars? I thought when my DOL become Level 50, I can equip them with my 1 star items I use for my normal DOL. But everything I hand over to them is gone from my armoury. Is that how it is supposed to be?

Bottom line: 2 questions: does equipment matter and do we really need separate equipment for them?

Im sure I clicked a button that made the venture retainer level up on completion.

The equipment question is a good one, in the mini tutorial it only said to equip a weapon, so maybe that will change on key levels 5-10-15-20 etc

You can equip gear in all slots regardless of the retainer's level, so long as your retainer meets the gear specifications like race and gender (if applicable), class, and level.

Does equipment matter? I'm not entirely sure about this one actually. The venture system may just be a shiny way to display your old gear, or gear may actually have some effect on the results. The system hasn't really been out long enough for people to test this though because :

Ventures require 18 (real life) hours to complete. If you assign your retainer more ventures before their current venture is complete, it simply abandons the previous venture and you have to pay for a new one.

You can obtain the rewards of your retainer's venture only after it is complete by clicking "read venture report" (or something similar) in your retainer's command menu. This will award both your retainer the exp, and you the items gathered during their venture.

I don't know about anyone else but at least for the early levels I'm gearing out my retainers with HQ gear. It's easy as anything to make (even for people with low crafting levels) and the materials only cost single digits from tradescraft supplier NPC's in each city. I figure why not? My HQ reward items might have been due to the perception I slapped on that miner retainer with the HQ vest. If it didn't come from that, I still haven't really lost anything and I can just be happy that I'm treating my NPC right (I'm one of those quirky people that thinks inanimate objects seem to have feelings ;P ) so it seems win-win.


Edit:

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Originally Posted by Kiroh

[Snip]Ventures require 18 (real life) hours to complete. If you assign your retainer more ventures before their current venture is complete, it simply abandons the previous venture and you have to pay for a new one.

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Actually there are 1hr ventures too but they'll eat through your tokens REALLY fast and are a waste unless you send it back out every hour.

Unique items will only be found in the 18hr ventures but the 1hr ventures do provide items of your choosing.

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Originally Posted by TomTom1968

I thought when my DOL become Level 50, I can equip them with my 1 star items I use for my normal DOL. But everything I hand over to them is gone from my armoury. Is that how it is supposed to be?

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Yes. this is how it is supposed to be. The moment you give a retainer an item (in his inventory, bazaar or equip window) your character don't have it anymore with him until he take it again from the retainer.

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Originally Posted by mbncd

Go into the screen that allows you to equip gear to your retainer. You'll see their experience listed there to the left (I think it was near the bottom or the top, can't remember off the top of my head, not the middle anyhow). See how much experience is needed to level up and it could just be that they haven't reached that point yet. If that number doesn't change after sending them out for experience again, bug report it.

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i gotta report it i guess

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Originally Posted by Rapoza

anyone know why my retainer not gainning experience, she went out on 3 ventures already that supposelly rewards exp.

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What level is you character for the Class that you have your Retainer selected to use currently? Your Retainer's Class max level is a lower, relative level based on your character's level in that same class.

For example: My Character only has Botanist up to Level 4. So, I was trying to level one of my Retainers as a Botanist, but she is stuck at max level 1 for now. I need to get my character's level up in that class to increase my Retainer's max level.

The max level is displayed on your Retainers Class/Character window (the one where you can equip gear on them). Its in yellow on the top right I believe.

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Originally Posted by Kiroh

Does equipment matter? I'm not entirely sure about this one actually. The venture system may just be a shiny way to display your old gear, or gear may actually have some effect on the results. The system hasn't really been out long enough for people to test this though

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According to the patch notes, equipment should have an effect. For the battle classes it looks at the average iLevel. For the gatherers it takes into consideration the Gathering and Perception

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Retainers can be equipped with gear befitting their assigned class and level, which will in turn affect items procured on their venture. Items will be procured in increased quantities by increasing either average item level for Disciples of War and Magic, or gathering rating for Disciples of the Land. Moreover, for retainers set as Disciples of the Land, increasing perception will result in a higher likelihood of obtaining high-quality items.

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Originally Posted by Starkiller

Your Retainer's Class max level is a lower, relative level based on your character's level in that same class.

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Also, on a related note.. You cannot have your retainer gather any specific item that you have not gathered yourself.

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Originally Posted by Mordermi

Also, on a related note.. You cannot have your retainer gather any specific item that you have not gathered yourself.

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That's right. FYI we are also having a disussion about Retainers gathering items over in the Markets & Retainers forum:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...tainer-Venture