Project Chaos - the story of Obi Bun Kenobi

I wanted to test out a Viera, without going fantasia and so one plus I was thinking about rolling an alt for quite some time to test out few things like how much out of ARR bounds can you go if you know the game or actually trying gil making using niche and low level items vs my omnicrafter main and so on....

So that how General Obi'bun Kenobi or Louisoix/Chaos was born (with main on Light):

https://i.imgur.com/jgRJ0vd.jpeg

What was my initial reaction was that Viera run animation is "slow". To tall to reach lalafellin speeds. They also don't have as "strong" emotes animation as Lalafells... but they look good so it makes kind of obvious why combining both gave way to superiorway race ;)

I started as Gladiator with the intent of being only a tank with some gathering and selected crafting later on for various niche gil making options. Starting in Ul'dah instead of Gridania had the benefit of not having my name questioned...

Started quite standard with initial job quests, MSQ quests. Without flying or mount at all this wasn't as quick as leveling alt jobs so I only got near few fates and also had to look at side quest rewards early on to fill in some gear slots (just to have that ilvl power).

Finally a lvl 5 Fate:
https://i.imgur.com/qJZS4Cf.jpeg

But a higher one is good too if someone is doing it as well:
https://i.imgur.com/BkuZVwt.jpeg

No gear reward? You'll be looking like that for eras:
https://i.imgur.com/KtyRRem.jpeg

Level 9 ring? This is HUGE:
https://i.imgur.com/HtRuyV7.jpeg

I badly need those pants:
https://i.imgur.com/dn9UUdQ.jpeg

If I hover my hands over this wall I'll get paid:
https://i.imgur.com/GmUMjz7.jpeg

Early quests weren't anything special, but they did take time due to travel time needed (and those early teleportation fees! ;). The auto-equip best gear feature is being tricked by few unusually stated items though:
https://i.imgur.com/o475cZM.jpeg

If those right-side items have 1 of all stats or 1/1 on defenses the system will tend to ignore anything that is higher ilvl with more matching stats. This could be fixed to remove the confusion...

On day one I got the Gladiator to 30 and had to wait for Sylph Management to be able to do Pala, but instead of doing MSQ I went to do some actual endgame, Oceanic Fishing:
https://i.imgur.com/19WAn0H.jpeg

As the force is strong with this one this happened:
https://i.imgur.com/DI97ZvD.jpeg

So I got the mount at my first trip (no DH/IC/cordials/gear):
https://i.imgur.com/RYtSFPU.jpeg

But apparently you have to have a bird license to operate sharks:
https://i.imgur.com/tePjg5O.jpeg

to be continued...

After 12h of playtime General Kenobi was level 30 GLD, 35 FISH with 40k gil from passive income.
After 1 day of playtime that was 162K gil, Chief Flame Sergeant, 51 Fish and 46 Pala
After 1d 8h of playtime it was 130K gil (some investments made), Second Flame Lieutenant, 56 Fish, 52 Pala (with MSQ somewhere around level 25)
After 1d 15h with hard MSQ push it was 356K gil (lots of allagan tokens) and level 55 Pala with MSQ pre-Garuda.

At level 50 you with MSQ so far behind there is only access to Wanderer's Palace from all level 50 dungeons and it gives very little poetics. Mor Dhona vendor offers poetic gear and special items. ARR job set vendor doesn't allow upgrading the set (dyable version) but allows exchanging dungeon tokens for similar set (and you can't get them due no access to said dungeons).

The sad part is that Gerolt doesn't have the relic weapon quest unlocked (You get a sprout for a low level instance, with first timer bonus... and the sprout has a relic weapon - so much lost opportunity there).


That's how Generals roll:
https://i.imgur.com/PtKxLbZ.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/7hgwCBo.jpeg

Grand Company can be ranked pretty quickly but when you get to squadrons part you need to wait for the 4-th member which likely needs some point in MSQ + time to trigger:
https://i.imgur.com/4BYzSV4.jpeg

This may not be the best dungeon but I really need that GC log for grand company seals:
https://i.imgur.com/vKgIgbG.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/4xu6HBE.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/ejxlvwl.jpeg


This is a Viera:
https://i.imgur.com/KSRZ9va.jpeg

To level to 50 and few levels above rather quickly some dungeons have to be run... mostly Aurum Vale (much LOS, much fun):

https://i.imgur.com/L7d1Cjs.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/dLAjUpc.jpeg


From dungeon runs as a "sprout" tank:
* Haukke Manor: had one MSQ run, only sprout in the group - never had such melt speed, but I also managed to stun every trash caster and bosses (like the aoe from double-mob boss). Last boss got an interrupt and a stun and died on first lights... (and no one reacted to sprout shenanigans :( )
* The Aurum Vale: multiple runs, pretty fun... LOS/backward a frog or plants in the first room prevented any escalations.
* The Wanderer's Palace: few runs. One with pro group that melted everything, but few sprout heavy groups had problems, like on the final boss multiple mob waves, even one wipe due to to hard enrage from those mobs dying.
* The Stone Vigil: one run, pretty fast. On some trash pulls no mitigation or sheltron... so running in a circle dragging ads and hoping AST keeps derpadin alive, but the group was strong so it was done.

Miner waiting for a fisher:
https://i.imgur.com/WTI3BuR.jpeg

Stone Vigil time:
https://i.imgur.com/Rt2G3Hx.jpeg

So for the gil making plans to test: I'll be doing a gladiator and fisher retainers combined with gathering and bit of crafting (CUL with some Alch/GSM) to try to list lower tier stuff and more valuable animal parts (like some HW stuff) on the board and see how long it will take to sell it and at what price/congestion/undercutting.

Started early on with Diremite web and sinew:
https://i.imgur.com/Dm2NLfv.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/65blWEC.jpeg

Some of ARR mats do see constant but not groundbreaking use so without being a "god tier" crafter and alike using some retainer list slots for this can be profitable. One-shotting some mobs while waiting for queue to pop, etc. There were some sales but it did take a bit to sell all of that web:

https://i.imgur.com/LSiaPhy.jpeg

MSQ can also give nice income, not only from the quests but from selecting allagan tokens when you heavily outgear the content:
https://i.imgur.com/8myGRQN.jpeg

For gearing, as poetics are to far away with MSQ being behind... there is HW gear but on the board there only was overpriced gear, way above vendor sell price even. But over two days I got ilv above 100 using whatever bargains I could find:

WOOTZ, ilvl 110 for 1K, that's a steal!
https://i.imgur.com/hQCrs9M.jpeg

Retainers started leveling, although from habit I've resent one of them on lower tier exploration (lvl 1 instead of 5) so he is now 3 levels behind:
https://i.imgur.com/DooxkEH.jpeg
The question is will they start bringing back Bom Bokos if I send them on quick explorations on low levels? Will the Bom Boko to Alpha ratio differ from the max level ratio?

And even if someone isn't into crafting can use first 2-3 quests of each job to get crystal shards and sell them on the board:
https://i.imgur.com/ReU3qoV.jpeg

Lord Vader
https://i.imgur.com/bxVdmiv.jpeg

No relic till MSQ is done:
https://i.imgur.com/hpfZuoA.jpeg


Bit spoilery or story related screenshots:
- https://i.imgur.com/IFsCusl.jpeg - she actually does shows this thing (ARR-SHB)


To be continued with more gilmaking and more MSQ/instances unlocks :)

And some "beginner" gold making tips/showcase or as it would be called on social media: "Lord Lolorito Nanarito doesn't want you to know this gil making ideas". This is some examples I "tested" on my ARR alt as well as on main toon... multiple posts incoming due to 3000 characters limit...


Combat Jobs (and combat retainers)

So on a combat job you can make a gil in few ways:

* Farm drops from open world mobs: if the item has wide enough usage and limited supply then the price will be reasonable and not 1-2gil.
* Farm EW/SHB fates for bicolor gems that then can be exchanged for said mob drops - this was quite good early on but as market saturated it may be harder to find a good option. Waiting for a crafting-intensive patch may be required
* Hunt trains, expert roulette - for combat materia. Prices and demand rise on gear patch and then quickly drop down.
* Farm old instances unrestricted for valuable pets. Crafters can also desynth old gear for potentially valuable demimatiera (ARR mostly)
* Overgearing MSQ to then always pick allagan tokens instead of useless white gear for extra gil

https://i.imgur.com/rc6iTQX.jpeg
Even at ARR and bit above level ranges Obi'bun Kenobi could easily farm Diremite and other beasts as they are quite low level. If you are waiting in queue as DPS you can use this time to farm specific mobs in ARR, HW and up. The goal is not to go all in on one items but to have diverse listings. There can be days or weeks when given mob item will be in oversupply.

Combat retainers can be send to bring mob drops that are more annoying for farm yourself due to for example low quantity / slow respawn (or high demand on the mats). This could be like Yak Milk that is used directly or indirectly for wide range of cul crafts. Also depending on current expansion patch there can be opportunities to farm and sell something specific suddenly needed for crafts.

https://i.imgur.com/2MfR6gr.jpeg
Allagan tokens are often given as optional quest reward. IF you overgear and overlevel MSQ (which is really easy to do) then you can easily pick it for extra income. If you play as a tank/healer and do a lot of roulette as job is need you can get like 20k for a random dungeon or even 4-man primal ;) At max level the expert roulette dungeons also drop materia.

https://i.imgur.com/ebFMDC9.png
Old mob drops that have little to no use and/or are very easy to get have no value so usually you will vendor junk you get during ARR MSQ... with some exceptions. But as a early crafter such 1gil items can be handy if you have a levequest for an item that needs them to craft.

https://i.imgur.com/KWNjsoM.jpeg
Farm-worthy mobs start at quite low level so even in ARR if you aren't on free trial and have retainers with MB access you can start selling Diremite and Aldgoat stuff really quickly moving to higher bat blood/skins later on.

Old instances can be farmed for pets or valuable crafting components as shown on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5RLufhwbRw but also HW ones for loot that can be turned into GC seals which then can be exchanged for boxes containing random pet/mount which also could be listed on MB.


Gathering Jobs (and DoL retainers)

Gathering jobs can be used to just gather stuff when you are waiting for a queue to pop but also if you want to spend some time in more "simple" way gathering from either nodes that spawn at specific Eorzea hours or when you want to farm larger quantities.

Compared to crafters gathering jobs are more straightforward are relatively easy to max out. Core is just go out and gather things. Due to popularity, botting etc prices on a lot of stuff will be rather low, but there are still options to make some gil here and there. When a patch comes out that adds new resources on timed nodes they will be high price, likely high demand, but crashing down soon thereafter. If there are legendary nodes prior to patch they wlll be needed for you can gather a lot and try to sell but prices will quickly be botted/flooded down - but gathering from current legendary nodes give a lot of spiritbound so you will albo be production DoL materia.

Fisher is kind of separate form Min/Bot. FSH can be used via spearfishing to collect collectible fish that then can be converted into aethersand used in crafting (Aetherial Reduction). If aethersand is available prior to patch the prices won't be great ;) Also some food or CUL collectibles may require fish either from normal or spearfishing which may have "good" prices justifying getting a bit wet.

Any DoL will unlock gathering treasure maps (1 per day) that can be done or sold on MB. Current max level maps sell rather well as they can spawn a treasure dungeon that with luck can be profitable. Treasure dungeons need some sort of a party and often have groups forming in the Party Finder. Old maps sometimes are still worth doing on your own if they can drop a rare glam/crafting component. Any DoL will also unlock DoL related beast tribes and custom delivery NPCs. Beast tribe will have a currency associated to it which can be used to buy mounts/pets etc but also some crafting component that may be in demand.

It's hard to list what MIN/BOT items would sell well, you can check MB for prices and sale history. Mithril ingot in ARR is just after steel and iron ones but has no vendor selling it so ore or ingot itself will overall sell from MB. More realistically hidden mats (like say titanium ore in HW) or mats needed in large quantities (like sands) will sell due to quantity needed. The question is do you want to spend your time getting said quantity. Some ARR legendary nodes like darksteel ore and spruce logs are still in use by FC vehicle system so you can also look into that.

FSH, but more likely FSH retainer can target fish needed by ALC (like sharks for Shark oil) or as a turn in or crafting component for some quests or GC (some corals and so on). Shark Oil is old item but still sees some uses in old crafts that are needed. FSH can also be handy if you need a specific fish in larger quantities that isn't available via sperfishing. FSH can be leveled to 90 via Oceanic Fishing easily.

Also crafting crystals/shards will sell as crafters constantly need them. With levels MIN/BOT will get tools to farm bit more crystals from a node but you can also get them from Aetherial reduction and desynthesis (FISH for example will give a lot of ice crystals/shards). DoL retainers can aso be assigned to bring them. Check MB prices and sale volume to determine most sought after types (some are more common than other).


Crafting Jobs
Crafters can be approached in few ways from high to low dedication. If you aren't into omnicrafting and pentamelding there are still more chill options:

* Omnicrafter: all DoL/DoH jobs, bis or alike gear with melds, all mastery books...
* CUL-only: Culinarian doesn't need crafts form other jobs so can be leveled as a singular crafter easily
* Furnishing-low-level jobs: to unlock crafting most of "basic" furnishing/housing items - ARR level range on CRP and few other. No need for refined gear and macros
* QoL/Novelty crafts jobs: GSM and ALC are partially independent for some crafts that are used for other crafts or novelty items like restored orchestration roles.


One DoH job will unlock DoH beast tribes and will add options for Custom Delivery NPCs. It will also unlock DoH scrip and based on patch DoH/DoL scrip may have crafting mat in need you could list on MB. In SHB and EW crafters also have bigger "delivery" quest chains that are fun and provide extra scrip - either to buy mastery books, scrip gear or materia.

CUL + BOT with optional Min/FSH can craft food and also collectible food used to get crafter scrip. Depending if there are fresh instances food can sell quite well but it won't be groundbreaking in prices. It may turn out you will be just crafting for yourself to save gil. CUL usually can be quickly leveled via levequests - pick those that give good exp while the craft is easy to gather materials (no expensive or rare mob drop items).

ALC/GSM have some common intermediate mats (ALC mostly) that other jobs will need. You can level them with leves or Ishgard Restoration (and Grand Company daily deliveries) but without MB you won't be able to craft for example grimouirs used by Scholars and Summoners. GSM may need BSM/ARM/CRP as well but you can use this job to only craft those intermediate components other jobs use. Also GSM/Alc unlock some housing/furnishing items/mats.

CRP, even on relatively low levels (ARR sub 50) can craft a lot of furnishing/housing items. If housing isn't frozen like after EW launch things do sell. 6.1 Ishgard and Island Sanctuaries will revive the market. You make a lot of wood and then craft things like 1-2 of each furnishing that has a reasonable price (some are to worthless to craft) on the MB and list them. The downside is that you quickly run out of retainer listing slots - so you can have a stock of given furniture but list only 1-2 at a given time and re-list as things sell. You should have a wide listing so that so you won't get locked with overstock for long.

With EW changes to no HQ gathered items it seems much easier in the ARR level range to craft 100% HQ and turn it it for a levequest or GC delivery.


https://i.imgur.com/hjuzsEB.png
Restored ALC orchestration rolls can sell, but as a novelty items they will sell slowly and freeze your MB listing slots for quite a while.

https://i.imgur.com/uLUtf7u.png
ARR job sets can be made dyable by an upgrade in Mor Dona with ACL mastery crafted boxes (20-80K) but it's a niche novelty that can sell after weeks (unless some glam contest makes it mainstream)

https://i.imgur.com/yhQVHNY.png
ARR relic weapon quest chain starts from providing a crafted weapon with specific materia attached - some sell such weapons ready for turn in. Others sell "perfect" items need in one of last steps ( https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Relic_Weapons ) This sells better than novelty items from above, but some realms have hard undercutters that want to control given niche
https://i.imgur.com/J4kVaBq.png
ARR relic "perfect" items do sell, but market can be volatile due to oversupply or people wanting to control the market. Niche markets work only for a very limited amount of sellers after which they crash.

For going full omnicrafter mode there are already guides and ideas for gil making. What EW showed though is that there won't be millions of gil flowing to everyone on gear patch day. Few will get some profits but then the prices will crash down and you will get very little. There is a lot of crafters right now and for example it's quite common for them to craft 580 gear for personal use and not for sale due to low profit margins. It becomes more profitable (or reliable) to sell things needed by crafters (tomestone mats, intermediate HQ 35 durability crafts etc).

Note that if you want crafted gear while not being an omnicrafter you can gather mats needed and then find a friendly local crafter. The market board prices are what they are due to limited mats (and pentamelding costs) so if you gather all of required mats you can avoid using gil directly. And if things are to time consuming you can focus on making gil with combat jobs and just buying with gil saving a lot of time that would have to be spend on content you don't enjoy.

https://i.imgur.com/oygk0hW.jpeg