Crazy Relic User FEARS the expansion. Are they going to be useless?

Hi dear people of the forum... There's one thing that, I can't keep avoid to still think and fear since the expansion was named, and is that I don't know if it is just a rumor, a realty, if the devs (I'd like to have a response of them) gave some info about it or not...

To the case, I'm a relic fanatic, why? Because I'm an all-arounder, but using uat-soldiery-coil-etc stuffs it's just... cheapy for me, I like to have progress with each of my classes, and since the gear is capped already every week, my unique progress with each class is their relic (And that way, I have been saving soldiery for the weekly armor pieces in 2.2-2.3 and poety in 2.4 and 2.5)

I like also the fact I can choose the bonus like that... My unique fear is... Will all my effort go to trash in the expansion?... I'm not someone with too much time but rather organization, being a relic maniac already makes you know how to farm for three relics at time... (Gain light in fates + take alex for next novus... Or gain light while farming zodiac dungeons... Make a book of an animus book that is also zodiac dungeon waiting for drop... That kind of stuff, you know)

If it'd be like that, this would be what I'd lose in my favorite gear progression of the game (Have to say, would have loved something not gear related, like a system of skills, similar to PvP one but with more options, customization, different skills...)

Zodiac // BLM
Nexus // NIN & LOLDRG
Novus // WHM
Animus // SCH & WAR & MNK & PLD
Atma // BRD & SMN

It is already painful, and I know unavoidable, when they nerf stuff... Four of the atmas were pre nerf... Can't even remember how many of the animus were prenerf also, as well as 2 nexus prenerf...But, the nerfs nevermind, that means I can finally make easier their weapons so they are at least better than the cheapy easy UAT weapons.

What really matters is the fact of.... How will the items handle with the level cap raise? will we have level 60 required for equip items? Will all our stuff, including relics, be useless? Or those are just rumors and it won't happen?



I'll really appreciate some info, especially from devs, or devs replies in other threads, so I'll rather stop focusing in my relics already and enjoy some PvP and crafting or something between raid and raid.

FEARING the possible incoming super skip of relic quest... Really, it's only thing I don't like of expansion, if it is a thing that is going to happen, of course, I want to believe it is not and those are just rumors.

PS: I'd appreciate if you avoid comments such as "Relic is not worth it for alts, it's lose of time, bla bla bla". What would I use soldiery and gil on then?...There's nothing we can do in FFXIV anymore aside of the damn gear progression, and for a true all-arounder, the unique gear progression you can upgrade without weekly caps is relic. (And personalizate it, that's important, for example, I made WHM's novus before SCH, just because my WHM needed urgently that 33 max piety in weapon, my tastes.)

The nature of MMOs is that gear gets replaced. It is only logical that any current gear that you have right now will be replaced sometime during the expansion. As far as relics go, they have made mention that they will not let people's time invested in them go to waste, however there is no other information or hints that could explain what this may be.

I would go into the expansion thinking that all your gear will be replaced with something else and be surprised if it isnt.

A new stage of the relic is coming withing the next 2 patches before the expansion so I don't think it's gonna be replaced soon. It will be upgraded not replaced. That's the reason they changed its name and appearance so close to expansion release.

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Originally Posted by Riardon

A new stage of the relic is coming withing the next 2 patches before the expansion so I don't think it's gonna be replaced soon. It will be upgraded not replaced. That's the reason they changed its name and appearance so close to expansion release.

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the next stage of the relic(zodiac) comes tuesday the 24th.

Expansion will have a 'new' type of relic. Devs have stated zodiac line will end with 3.0. Just as coil will not continue, but l be replaced by alexander, so shall zodiac be replaced by (insert 3.0 relic equivalent).

If you like the relic system, there will simply be a new version of it to start over with. Although yoshi stated there will be some type of bonus or head start on the new relics for having a zodiac. So there's that.

I bet we'll see our zodiac quest tree come to an end. Then, once expansion hits we'll take that finished weapon and start another one. They need to have a weapon that is somewhat on par with the latest raid weapon for the people who don't raid but want something comparable.

I wouldn't be enormously worried about your relic. SE has made a point of keeping it current with its generation of weapons, and I expect they'll continue to do so. It's the only line of weapons in the game that can be considered "continuous" in this way, and they'll likely keep it around simply so that they can point out that they have one, whenever someone levels (rather justified) criticism that all equipment in the game is basically junk after a patch or two.

FFXI had not one, but THREE such weapon types (Relic, Mythic, Empyrean), and every time they lifted the bar on available weapons, they boosted RME to match, and usually exceed them. While Relics in this game have been deliberately designed to NOT be the ultimate weapons, I still expect that they will remain relevant. Even if the Relic questline eventually stops and a new questline takes its place, the Relic will likely segue into that one in some way (similar to how our Relic weapons became Zodiac weapons, but with the difference that newcomers to the weapon questline won't have to start from the very beginning, as we did).

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Originally Posted by Izsha

Expansion will have a 'new' type of relic. Devs have stated zodiac line will end with 3.0. Just as coil will not continue, but l be replaced by alexander, so shall zodiac be replaced by (insert 3.0 relic equivalent).

If you like the relic system, there will simply be a new version of it to start over with. Although yoshi stated there will be some type of bonus or head start on the new relics for having a zodiac. So there's that.

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Can you please show me where the dev said this? Also I think Riardon has it correct. The 2.0 relic ended in 2.4 and the new one/continuation started, ie the new look/name, it was stated in an interview with yoshi that the relic quest will continue in 3.1. SE stand to lose a lot more current player than new players it will turn off at the current relic quest, there is a reason why there are alway different weapon choice to pick from. Relic isn't for everyone. Anther thing to look at is the names of the weapons and their past history in the FF franchise will tell you these weapons aren't going to stay as lvl 50 weapons. I'm a 1.0 legacy player playing from January 2011 till now and I'll drop this game asap if I was to be told my weapons that I have been working on is just a galmore item now, I will more than leave this game I will not buy anther SE game again.

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Originally Posted by ereskigal

it was stated in an interview with yoshi that the relic quest will continue in 3.1.

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This is correct. The vagueness of this comment is why there is so much speculation abound. Some have asserted that this means that the relic, in its current form will continue in 3.1 and will upgrade to a lvl 60 weapon. Then again, there are others whom say that the relic quest line will begin anew at this point. Where all players will get a fresh start on the expansion level weapon.

When I first started doing the relic quest I thought oh...cool, seems interesting. With every stage after the first though I get more and more bored with it to the point now that I struggle to care about finishing when think about how once done what I am on now which is near end of the books, will have to do alexandrites, spend potentially millions on melding materia's, spend a long time grinding light, more time grinding dungeons for loot that apparently has shockingly bad RNG then more phases after that too...all for a weapon which will never be the BiS. So I hope they explain soon how doing the relic chain will impact the ones coming after 3.0 as that may inspire me to finish but at this stage I lost most of my interest in it currently.

Lets not forget they are raising the lvl cap in the expansion so that's going to have a big impact on the relevance of current lvl 50 relics. What I need right now is inspiration to continue doing it rather than dropping it and just picking up another weapon instead, that inspiration I hope comes soon and comes in the form of more information about how the current chain will impact the future version. I am betting the upcoming phases from for example 2.51 will be another large grind-fest and I am beginning to wonder if would of been more worthwhile bothering with coils route at this stage rather than relic route. Essentially both are doing things I do not enjoy very much to get that carrot on the stick, it's not fun though at least the relic chain started off more fun for me than coils did.

I think coils take less time and effort now than relics chain does like forming a static and skipping most coils to get to unlock each set then doing just final one in each set, it may be more tricky to do specific coils but time wise and amount of effort required I think with the current amount of phases and more incoming that relic chain is pushing the pendulum too far. Will probably get elitists now saying the typical 'don't talk about it unless cleared T13 derpy derp derp', but I couldn't care less about such people since there is a difference between difficulty and time/effort. Difficulty and time/effort are not mutually exclusive and I am talking about time/effort being worse for relic chain not difficulty.

Put another way in my opinion if someone was to form a static for example right now with fairly decent (not perfect) players and people equally as skilled started the relic chain from scratch at this stage, both putting as much effort into each, the ones doing the coils I think would clear T13 (especially if they skip most of the coils like doing just T5/T9 then T13 etc) probably before the ones starting the relics get to current final stage. The coils being more difficult but taking less time to clear if both groups of people on either side of the fence were equally competent. Hence why I said I wonder if I should of skipped the relic chain and just stuck with doing coils instead at this stage if going to not enjoy doing either the more beneficial and quicker route might be coils in retrospect.

I suppose could turn around and say well you could do both but then I would be doing two things I do not enjoy very much instead of one, that doesn't seem like a good situation to me. So I hope news about what impact old relic chain will have on new one in the expansion comes soon, that way I will either be more inspired to finish it or less inspired and just go down a different route especially since I would like to have machinist, rogue, dark knight capped at some stage which means need to think about doing relic or not on those too on top of monk and bard which I already have level capped. On a side note I actually like 24-man raids though more so than 8-man raids like coils, it is more fun to me working with alliances of three groups of 8 than just one group.

TLDR: I hope information comes out soon about impact of old on new relics because I need inspiration to continue with the chain (and/or start the chains) on not only bard but also rogue, monk (two of which level capped and one close to level cap) but also future classes such as dark knight and machinist.

Too many people who have done it and tons of people are doing it now. Can't tell you how many in my circles are working on it from ATMA to zodiac. The fact of the matter is if they abandon all that people have done to satisfy those who weren't willing to do it they'll have a lot of upset community members on their hands. I'd personally like to see a definitive link to where they said it wouldn't continue.

I dont think Relic weapons are going anywhere anythime soon. ( go ahead HATE it!! coilheads) What are you going to to do with no weapons?? We'll be enjoying our relics for sometime now.

I'm ok with either direction they choose to go with Relics. I don't believe they will kill relics in the next expansion, rather they will probably give it more upgrades. However, following SE's pattern from the past, they will probably introduce another weapon build system that you can embark on at your leisure. Again, either is fine by me, it's inevitable.

My main worry is that I'll have to re-customize the stats. (That's the main thing I hope completing the Zodiak now will allow us to skip). Secondary to that is that the new relic won't carry a raid-ready ilevel (IMO the half-way between tome and upgraded tome makes relic worth a bunch to people that put in the work while not invalidating raid rewards and I hope it continues) or be really a pain to get.

I'm not worried the work will "go to waste". My zodiac has been really worth it the last several weeks. Let people skip and catch up when the old steps aren't relevant any more. It really just doesn't impact me at all.

Yoshi-P confirmed in an interview that relic weapons will continue to be enhanced in 3.1 after the expansion. There is no info on what state they will be in up until that first patch yet as far as I know.

Somebody else may have said this but I didn't want to read through all the posts.

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Originally Posted by FranSeara

I dont think Relic weapons are going anywhere anythime soon. ( go ahead HATE it!! coilheads) What are you going to to do with no weapons?? We'll be enjoying our relics for sometime now.

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Contrary to weird belief, coil people make relics too. Most of my member static have zodiac on their coil jobs, and a few have multiples. It's not like raiders can't have relics too. We are just as vested in the future of relics as everyone else.

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Originally Posted by Izsha

Contrary to weird belief, coil people make relics too. Most of my member static have zodiac on their coil jobs, and a few have multiples. It's not like raiders can't have relics too. We are just as vested in the future of relics as everyone else.

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This is good to know,thanks for sharing. I was playin' abit there you know.....

I really appreciate all of your comments and info, gaining some hopes about it, but, the fear still... Let's hope SE gives us more clear information about it...

If it is like some people says, just a bonus for a new relic quest if you had zodiac... Damn, I'd only be able to manage at least 3-4 more zodiac before expansion perhaps....Surely by the time expansion comes, the lowest of m relics will be around novus-nexus.

I know that the relic is, let's say, unique continous gear progression we have, and for that I kind of like it, if we have no progression in game but gear progression... I'd rather go weapon progression because shows my love for each class.

Let's really hope that,if there's a new quest, level 60 relic, or whatsoever, you'll still need Zodiac for unlock it, and people won't be skipping all the previous phases... (I know many non relic users, or lazy people, would really love to skip relics and start new one in 3.0... But, seriously...)

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Originally Posted by Izsha

Contrary to weird belief, coil people make relics too. Most of my member static have zodiac on their coil jobs, and a few have multiples. It's not like raiders can't have relics too. We are just as vested in the future of relics as everyone else.

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I second this. Though, I'm not upgrading my PLD (counting as '''main''' for my raid group) with that priority, could have made it zodiac but did BLM instead, the 'switch alt' because I aim to get the dreadwyrm... (Not really wanting to give super priority to my tanks, relic max priority in tankings will be DRK)

90% of my group uses zodiac at the moment.

The new Zodiac forms will continue as glow upgrades through the expansion.

Example. <Zodiac> / <Zodiac> Zenith / <Zodiac> Atma / <Zodiac> Animus / <Zodiac> Novus / <Zodiac> Nexus / ???

Just different names and quests but going to have upgrades over time. These weapons are going to be a constant reminder of the amount of time and the crazy adventures you've had in this game.

Relic questline end at the moment you turn your relic into materia (with a 1.4% success chance ^^).
We have now zodiacs, not relics anymore ^^

So with 2.51 the first zodiac upgrade quest (maybe zenith zodiac?) should come

There will be a new set of quests regarding an evolving weapon.
If you already completed the Zodiac+1 (2.51), you'll have a bonus for the beginning of the new questline.
New players jumping on the extension won't have to go through all the 2.X Relic&Zodiac questline. They'll be able to start the new one without a Zodiac+1, just like every other player who didn't achieve the Zodiac+1.

Now, regarding if the actual Zodiac+1 will be "consumed" for the new questline, nobody knows.

All I'm guessing it that it will be a completly new weapon to match the new AF2 gear.

I hope the stats will transfer if they do just attribute our finishing towards progress in the new relic line... since that alone would make it worth it while the rest will need to buy in with custom stats.

Though I would prefer if it keeps evolving. Imho it should have been evolving since lvl 1 with the weathered lvl1 weapon.

3.0 , new weapon questline , just the ppl with zodiac will have a headstart (maybe avoiding the need of a crafted weapon for the 1 quest)

Still waiting for someone to post where SE said 3.0 will have a new quest line. At vagas fan fest yoshi said that in 3.0 you can play all of 2.0 content. That alone tells me 2.0 relic quest line not going any where!!! Maybe nerf but I don't see them removing the quest.

I just hope 3 4 star crafters don't get a part in any more stuff with relics I got the mats to do most of mine was looking for some one to craft one of them guy tells me there's the crafted items on market board. Told him I got the mats he said just buy it on market board said to him I got the mats you gona help me or not he said just buy it on market board. Getting mattiria was better than dealing with these 3 stat items that had to be High Quality. Please no more crafter stuff please.

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Originally Posted by Izsha

Although yoshi stated there will be some type of bonus

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Maybe the bonus could be to keep our customized stats and the new one is getting fixed stats with correct weight like it was the case for the regular relic at beginning?

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Originally Posted by ereskigal

Still waiting for someone to post where SE said 3.0 will have a new quest line. At vagas fan fest yoshi said that in 3.0 you can play all of 2.0 content. That alone tells me 2.0 relic quest line not going any where!!! Maybe nerf but I don't see them removing the quest.

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Nobody said that the quest 2.X Relic&Zodiac would be removed.
What Yoshi-P was saying is that all the current available content of 2.X will still be available in 3.X.

As for a link about the new Heavensward quest: http://www.famitsu.com/news/201501/20069775.html
Yes, it's in japanese. The english translation given by I-don't-know-who was not giving the exact feeling Yoshi-P answer meant to have.
Basically, he's saying that the "evolving weapon" thingy is planned for 3.1. He's not speaking about the Zodiac+1 especially. He's just saying that a new questline will start in 3.1.

The only hint he gave was the answer to the next question, which was about giving a boost or bonus to players with a Zodiac+1. To which he said "yes of course".
It does mean that the Zodiac+1 won't be required to start the new 3.1 questline... but as for if the Zodiac+1 in itself will continue to evolve? Not a clue.

I hope they are useless, frankly. People who think the obscene amount of grinding needed to create relic weapons is just completely fine need a wake-up call.

I don't think they will be useless but it will be way easier to obtain.

and the next state of them should be available too.

Once there was a time where yoshi-p himself said relict will be the best weapon in game, just not at beginning of the quest... patch after patch it seems he changed mind more and more!
Maybe he ment in FFXIV:ARR v5.0, i am losing interest little by little...

guys get over it. thats the bane of the lazy dev way aka increasing the level cap of a mmo. blame blizz for making it popular and most uncreative way to create the feeling of progression while it is in fact more a reset. imo there were alot of successful mmos out there who never raised thier level cap and it was fine.

the level cap raises means everything WILL beginning a new. everything. they will never exclude relics from that since it makes no sense to force new players trough all that USELESS lvl 50 grind because some veterans did it sometime in the past. i say useless because : currently IF you finish zodiac next week it will be BIS weapon. even better than t13 weapon for some classes because custom stats. but once we have lvl 60 it is not BIS anymore. its weak and outdated. hence the grind is no longer JUSTIFIED. nuff said.

how excatly they will handle the transition is not something anyone will know before 3.1 which is not before august 2015 i am sure of that. so there is plenty of time left till then. yes i own a zodiac weapon myself. but i dont expect it to stay during a cap raise. only thing you can do is blame the devs for beeing uncreative with the expansion and adding vertical progress instead of horizontal one. skills could be adding without a cap raise there is enough examples of it. they didnt choose that way and went the lazy route with a simple max level raise. this means all our efforts until now dont matter anymore the second heavensward is released. thats just how these types of xpacs work. thats also why some people ask to unlock coil at this point because its the last time it will be run and be useful loot wise before it gets so outdated nobody will run it anymore.

My question is "If relic weapon will have no value, then what weapons will relic user use??" Some people keep stating, "Relics are going away" So,where are they going and what happens to ALL the players who all of sudden have no weapons to use?? I wish people would only state FACTS. I really dont think a NEW player who hits 50 after the expansion will get an item level 130-140 weapon to start to upgrade as a "Expansion Relic Reborn" This wouldn't be "catch up", it would hand out.

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Originally Posted by Fyce

Nobody said that the quest 2.X Relic&Zodiac would be removed.
What Yoshi-P was saying is that all the current available content of 2.X will still be available in 3.X.

As for a link about the new Heavensward quest: http://www.famitsu.com/news/201501/20069775.html
Yes, it's in japanese. The english translation given by I-don't-know-who was not giving the exact feeling Yoshi-P answer meant to have.
Basically, he's saying that the "evolving weapon" thingy is planned for 3.1. He's not speaking about the Zodiac+1 especially. He's just saying that a new questline will start in 3.1.

The only hint he gave was the answer to the next question, which was about giving a boost or bonus to players with a Zodiac+1. To which he said "yes of course".
It does mean that the Zodiac+1 won't be required to start the new 3.1 questline... but as for if the Zodiac+1 in itself will continue to evolve? Not a clue.

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Worth pointing out that that interview also refers to the next stage of our Zodiacs in 2.51 as the 'ultimate' form which literally means final. The current relics are ending and a new one is starting in the expansion; there may be some bonus or perk or something for people that have a fully upgraded Zodiac by then but Yoshi makes it pretty clear in that interview that players will be working on a new weapon.

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Originally Posted by FranSeara

My question is "If relic weapon will have no value, then what weapons will relic user use??" Some people keep stating, "Relics are going away" So,where are they going and what happens to ALL the players who all of sudden have no weapons to use?? I wish people would only state FACTS. I really dont think a NEW player who hits 50 after the expansion will get an item level 130-140 weapon to start to upgrade as a "Expansion Relic Reborn" This wouldn't be "catch up", it would hand out.

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A new player won't be hitting 50 though, they'll be hitting 60, at which point all tiers of the current relics will be outright useless for them. Do you honestly expect a new player to spend hundreds of hours running through old content that the rest of the playerbase has abandoned, simply to get a useless weapon so they can start the new tier of the relic quest? We've already had confirmation from the devs that the current questline is ending next week. That means that yes, anyone starting new in the expansion will just start the new 3.0 relic at level 60 instead. If people want the old relic for glamour they're still welcome to go back and grind the old one...

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Originally Posted by Snugglebutt

TLDR: I hope information comes out soon about impact of old on new relics because I need inspiration to continue with the chain (and/or start the chains) on not only bard but also rogue, monk (two of which level capped and one close to level cap) but also future classes such as dark knight and machinist.

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Relic weapons represent the pinnacle of what a player can achieve WITHOUT RAIDING. If you're the type of player who can simply say, "Well, why not just go raid a while and walk away with a better weapon?" then you are not who the relic progression was designed for. Many raiders who strive for relic do it either so that they have a powerful weapon to use as a stepping stone to obtain the ultimate weapon - but that's admittedly a lot of work for only slight improvements over what they could get from lesser raids.

The other reason to obtain a relic weapon is for the sense of achievement (probably the primary reason that a raider would bother with a Relic), and the pride in showing off an item that you worked really hard for. If the extreme grind and huge cost seems annoying and, above all, pointless, then you're probably better off dropping your relic progression and never looking back. Whatever else the relic progression might be, it is a whole lot of work. Folks can argue back and forth all day about the quality of the work (it's not even hard, just a huge grind!) but the fact remains that for many (maybe even MOST) people, it would be LESS work to join a raiding group and get to the point where you have Turn 13 on farm mode. A completed relic represents significant devotion to a task, even if it is a task that you (or even they!) find to be boring, monontonous, and unrewarding.

Well... to be truthful, there IS one other possible reason for sticking with it: Speculation. It's possible that someday in the future SE may "reward" relic users by adding something powerful and/or unique to the weapons, something to make the whole process worthwhile in the end. This would not be the first time SE has done something like this. In FFXI, SE added a bunch of "evolving weapons" through something called the Trials of the Magians. Some of these weapons were particularly grindy, and the end result was nice, but nothing special - at first. As the weapons continued to evolve, though, these grindy weapons got more and more bells and whistles, including extra powerful weaponskills with special buffs tacked on. These eventually came to be known as Empyrean weapons, and were competitive with the most powerful weapons in the game.

Will this ever happen with FFXIV Relics? Will they one day gain something special that propels them into a new league of weaponry? Frankly, I doubt it, but anything's possible.

There are no facts when it comes to Relics and 3.0, just a few very vague comments from the Dev team.

The "new" relic grind will start with 3.1, whether that is a continuation of the current relics, brand new relics or a mix is unknown.

SE is expecting a lot of new players with HW. I'm sure they will want to make the new quest line extremely accessible to new lvl60 characters. If they do continue the current weapons expect them to nerfed to high hell. (like 100% atma drops, 1 Animus book, 5 Alexandrite drop in stacks of 10, 100 lights, 100% drop Zodiac dungeons)

There is also 3 new jobs to consider.

Another possibility is the idea of "character relic progression" instead of "class relic progression".

The very first time you go through the relic-zodiac-w/e progress, you have to go through the entire thing, starting from finding the weathered relic and getting it reforged. Then ATMAs, Animus Books, Nexus Grind, Zodiac Grind, etc.
However, once you complete a particular stage of relic progression, you and all associated NPCs will KNOW how to do it.
So if you now want a 2nd relic, you still have to find the weathered version and get it reforged. Here is where we change things.
Zenith costs 100 of the farmable tomestone.
Atma is 200 + get Gold on any fate in 5 specific zones.
Animus is 300 + clear 5 specific low level dungeons once.
Novus is 400 + a grade 1 materia for every unique stat you want on the Novus.
Nexus is 500 + Clear 5 specific lvl 50 dungeon once.
Zodiac is 750 + 3-5 crafted 3 star items + Clear 5 specific HM dungeons once.

That comes to 2250 tomestones, 5 fates, 5 low lvl dungeons, 5 lvl 50 dungeons, 5 more difficult lvl 50 dungeons, some grade 1 materia, and a bit of 3 star crafting.

It will still take some time, just not months. It will still get people going to lower lvl zones and dungeons, just not for hours on end. And it will make obtaining (catch-up) relic weapons for all of your classes "reasonable". Of course this process would be limited up to the most current relic/zodiac upgrade quest. So you cannot easily get relics 2 through what, 12? up to the newest state in a matter of hours. But you can get everything up to the point that you are ready to start the new quest within a few days.

So....we should ALL stop playing now???

A recent interview, Yoshi P said that relics will continue in 3.1, how, he didn't say. But he did say your hard work will not be thrown in the trash.

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Originally Posted by FranSeara

So....we should ALL stop playing now???

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You'll still need to to through 10 levels to get from 50 to 60.
We still don't know what's the definitive EXP curve is, but it can be pretty long/grindy.
So, in short terms, the better your gear is now, the easier will be your leveling process.

If the first new dungeons are meant to be i120 minimum (for example), having Dreadwyrm/Forge gear will probably help a lot.

So yeah, if you keep doing your Relic&Zodiac quest, not only you'll have a bonus to start the new quest on the 3.1 patch, but you'll have an easier time starting 3.0 content.

However, I get your point. If you don't really want to do coil or some grindy quest for the relic, then yes, you can stop right here... and that possibility is exactly why they are releasing the Gold Saucer now: to keep you busy and entertained until 3.0 hits, since gearing up is not really a priority now.