Final Heavensward Preparation Tips

I’ve been working through a to-do list for personal goals and achievements I want to complete before 3.0 comes, but I’ve also got a more general, last week to-do list to get prepped for when Heavensward hits. I thought I would share it and see if it helps anyone else. Some of it is based on speculation, but it is better to be prepared than not. If anyone has any more tips or thoughts on things to get prepped on, please post it :)

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#1 - Cap what Allagan Currency you can. Soldiery and Poetry will probably be converted to the new tomes [2 weeks into heavensward] so you can get as much of the new gear/currency as you can then while seeing if there is anything new to buy after patch.

#2 - Cap other currencies - You never know what new hunt mark gear will come out. Also there may be GC promotions to look forward to, so capping seals can help you promote or buy new gear/items. Also filling up on Wolf Marks if you are into PvP can give you an edge on the next tier of items.

#3 - Prep your challenge log - After the reset, prime your challenge log so you are like a few items away from completing things like dungeons and leve log entries that will give EXP to your classes once you unlock them. (Logs with EXP bonus are: Dungeons, Guildhests, Fates, Levequests, Commendation & DoH/DoL)

#4 - Prep your leves - Pick 16x lvl 30-40 leves and get them all completed but not turned in so you can turn them in on your new classes straight away for exp. Alternatively do some lvl 45 leves in Mor Dhona to level one of your lvl 50 jobs. Do this early enough that your 16 level allowances will refill to the 100 max for Heavensward.

#5 - Prep your beastmen quests - Pick up 6 beastmen quests for some quick crafting class EXP on Ixali, or pick one of the other beastmen for some exp on your lvl 50 battle class (beastmen quests are lvl 43 so they won't work on the new lvl 30s for a bit)

#6 - Questing – Make sure you are 100% complete with the Story quests. Also if you have any residual side-quests left in the different maps, pick up as many as you can hold, and complete their objectives so you can turn them in and gain fast exp on the class of your choice (quest level permitting).

#7 - Complete Weekly things - Take care of any weekly stuff you might not get to later like weekly Crystal Tower quest if you still want carbon items, and weekly primal quest if you use the tokens to get weapons for desynth. You also might want to work on other things you might not get back to later, like primal pony farming or old achievements that might get set aside for the new content.

#8 - Get some low level gear - Once you hit lvl 30 in the first jobs, you stopped getting gear from job quests, so it is likely that you will not get much to wear when you first start the new jobs. So you might want to craft lvl 30 gear to level your new classes in. Some gear suggestions are;

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Machinist - lvl 30 Steel Sallet (ARM), lvl 30 Toadskin Jacket, Toadskin Brais, Toadskin Armguards, Toadskin Leg Guards, Toadskin Voyagers Belt, (LTW), lvl 28 Flourite Accessories (GSM).

Dark Knight - lvl 30 Steel Celata, Steel Cuirass, Steel Gauntlets, Steel Plate Belt, Steel Sabatons (ARM), lvl 30 Padded Velveteen Trousers (WVR), lvl 28 Sphene Accessories (GSM).

Astrologian - lvl 28 Silver Circlet (GSM) and lvl 24 Cotton Robe (WVR) OR lvl 27 Velveteen Cowl, Velveteen Tights, lvl 26 Velveteen Rope Belt(WVR) lvl 26 Goatskin Ringbands, Toadskin Boots (LTW), lvl 28 Danburite or Malachite Accessories (GSM).

You could also invest in some lvl 27 GC gear if you have seals to spare. And if you saved up dungeon sets, then the lvl 32 Brayflox (Calvary, Infantry, Battlemage) gear should see your through a bunch of the mid-level leveling. If you don’t have them, you can try farming them in the few days remaining.

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#9 - Gardening - If you have a house make sure any crops you have will be completed before maintenance otherwise they might die. You might also want to stock up on seeds and soil for any new harvesting recipes coming out.It is unknown if there will be a chocobo level increase, but maybe plant some quick chocobo food in case you want to use him as a leveling buddy.

#10 - Stocking up on items - if you are a crafter or a gatherer, spend time gathering items that might become profitable like high end crafting mats, and stuff for mid level gear (see point #8) you might need to craft. You might also want to grab a bunch of food (dat 3% bonus exp when fed) and Gysahl Greens to summon your chocobo while out leveling. Also Stock up on Dark Matter and Ventures using whatever currency is best for you.

#11 - Tidy up your armory chest and retainers - with new classes and gear sets to think of, you might need to make room in your armory chest for new gear items. Try spiritbonding old stuff for materia or turning stuff in for seals that you won't be needing. And while you are at it, get all your gear fully repaired.

#12 - Work on your retainers - coming off points #10 and #11 make sure there is some room on your retainers for any new important items while still keeping things that you might need. Also look at their gear, as there will likely be new levels of ventures coming out. Try putting some ilvl 120-130 that you aren't using in your gearsets onto them to boost their ilvl. Remember to send them off on ventures before the maintenance. You never know what you might get back if they reshuffle the venture rewards.

#13 - Clear outdated items - If you played in 1.0 and you have some primal tokens or some cracked materia still left, you should exchange them (tokens for Soldiery and Materia for real Materia) as the items wil be deleted/removed in 3.0

#14 - Get Potioned - If you want to change your race to Au'Ra, then drink a Fantasia before you log out for the last time before maintenance.

#15 - Pick a logout place - Choose a place to log out in (preferably a sanctuary for rested bonus). One probably popular place to log out is Camp Dragonhead as it is where you will most likely be starting story quest from and gaining access tot he new areas. However there are some pros and cons to think about. While it would be good for starting to unlock stuff, it may very quickly suffer from congestion either causing a zone crash, zone maintenance or just making it impossible to log into or teleport to if the zone is full. You could potentially be locked out of progressing or just plain locked out of accessing your characters. On the other hand if you do log out elsewhere, you probably will have a better chance at logging in and doing other things like leveling existing jobs via fates and being able to access a market board. ut you would still have the issue of not being able to progress story. So either risk it to get ahead, or play it safe and start in other areas and see what they have to offer first.

New allagan tomestomes of Esoterics will not be available at launch.
http://i.imgur.com/iUzjsJB.png
New PvP gear will likely be locked by rank 46+ requirements so you'll save enough Wolf Marks by that time.
I'd also suggest stocking crafting and gathering materia, with 11 new meldable sets for each class they'll rise in price quickly.

Good point ... but it remains to be seen if the items available to be purchased with sol/poe will change, so if you don't need the tomes for gear just yet, there is no harm in capping. Plus it will make capping later for when we can exchange easier.

Materia is pretty much a good investment, but I don't know what the effect of tier V materia will have on prices. You could make a loss if you blow a lot of gil on IVs only for their rarity to decrease/value to weaken.

I think V materia will be cheap initially because it'll be rewarded in new main scenario quests, and thousands non-crafters/gatherers will just sell it. IVs will likely massively drop in price because spiritbonders will use cheap lv.60 vendor sets. But IIs and IIIs will be as valuable as ever.

yeah right. rush to 60 asap and then come to forums and complain about lack of content since alex is not out and there is no ex primals at launch XD since they are staggering the content release there is simply no point to rush. by the time alex normal comes out everyone is lvl 60 and geared either way. beeing so before has basicly no point.

normally i would rush myself but since of the staggered schedule and no weekly capped tomes available till 4 weeks later (which some people still havent heared off somehow) i fail to see the point of a rush on this expansion unlike other mmos that do cap raises.

Isn't it better to leave dungeon challenge after the expansion? Won't you earn more exp when you are doing those dungeons as well?

Best prep before Exp pack , is Chill/Relax , gather ur body & mental strengh in order to PLAY HEAVENSWARD 3 DAYS IN A ROW lol ;D

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Originally Posted by Neri

Isn't it better to leave dungeon challenge after the expansion? Won't you earn more exp when you are doing those dungeons as well?

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it's been said lvl 50 arr dungeons will not yield exp

Ah, this one is for job at 50 right? I was thinking about leveling the 3 new jobs, haha.

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Originally Posted by Neri

Isn't it better to leave dungeon challenge after the expansion? Won't you earn more exp when you are doing those dungeons as well?

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indeed.
we'll do plenty of dungeon/fates/leves, anyway.
and the guildhest thing is rather pointless, unless you're doing it on the new jobs; you prob cleared them before on current char, and don't get any XP from it. So you'll do 10 guildhests for 82k XP, which is 8200xp each, which is less than a lv45 leve.
if you want, you can do the hests on new jobs, and do the 2 hests for clearing logs, on your main. that way you get 40k xp/hest (more if you do it at higher lv)
the challenge bonus' go up with higher lv, so you waste XP, if you clear them on lv 50, rather than later.

why stock up on crafting mats? all the new recipes will likely only include new gathering items from HW areas.

the only reason to cap tomes, is if items drop in price. there won't be new tome items, until 2 weeks later, when there's new tomes.

new jobs will get their own starting gear, so there's no point in crafting stuff for them now. it will last until 50.

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Originally Posted by Neri

Ah, this one is for job at 50 right? I was thinking about leveling the 3 new jobs, haha.

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yeah the job you have at 50

Just wanted to thank for you this post.

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Originally Posted by Radacci

why stock up on crafting mats? all the new recipes will likely only include new gathering items from HW areas.

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There are base items like Alumen, Effervescent Water etc, which may or may not be needed to craft base items. And there may bee a spike in the need for mid level gear for those leveling the new classes. And you may need a few of the higher level items like Darksteel and Spruce which could be required. Not to mention you can also gather crystals and shards as a part of saving up crafting mats.

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Originally Posted by Radacci

new jobs will get their own starting gear, so there's no point in crafting stuff for them now. it will last until 50.

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Where does it say this? I assumed that the gear you see in pictures of DRK/AST/MCH is AF gear and won't be available until lvl 50 or 60. None of the new classes released since 2.0 had gear sets given to them. And in the very least, you won't have accessories, so prepping lvl 30 gear seems sensible.

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And yeah, this kind of preparation isn't for everyone. Depending on whether your focus is on the new classes, leveling your current main or getting into other aspects of Heavensward, the level of preparation will be different and not all of these points will be something you want to do. But everyone plays this game differently. Some people just wanna take it as they come and other want to be as prepared as possible. There is nothing wrong with either style of play if that is what is fun for you. I just created a list of everything I could think of that someone could do to get right into leveling and stuff.

I thought the L50 or lower content didn't give EXP for L50+? Doesn't that apply to leves?

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Originally Posted by Cynthis

I thought the L50 or lower content didn't give EXP for L50+? Doesn't that apply to leves?

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Lv50 dungeons
Lv17-49 dungeons and every MSQ quest will give you exp

I'm preparing by going outside and getting my vitamin D because next week i'm going full hermit.

An important point that I just remembered: For European players, Wednesday (ie: Tomorrow) is the last day until Friday that we can play.
Maintenance starts at 9.00 AM GMT. Means we'll get the full day on Friday, but we should ensure we are ready tomorrow night, rather than Thursday.

Remove or up price items on auction especially expensive ones. If you are prevented from logging in timely to adjust prices after you are in for heart ache.

If you are a crafter I can't stress this enough, make sure to get loads of shards and crystals. Nothing stinks more than running out when you're on a good leveling streak. I spent the last 2 weeks getting over 2000 shards and crystals of each type. I was only able to get about 130 clusters of each type (which I don't think are going to be used at all or much from 50-60).

Am I the only person who's not doing any prep-work and just going to go at my own pace and enjoy things? o.O

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Originally Posted by Vladislav

Best prep before Exp pack , is Chill/Relax , gather ur body & mental strengh in order to PLAY HEAVENSWARD 3 DAYS IN A ROW lol ;D

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That's pretty close to my actual plan.

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Originally Posted by Azper

Am I the only person who's not doing any prep-work and just going to go at my own pace and enjoy things? o.O

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Yes, yes you are.

But we still mostly love you.

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Originally Posted by Magnesium02

#4 - Prep your leves - Pick 16x lvl 30-40 leves and get them all completed but not turned in so you can turn them in on your new classes straight away for exp.

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I always thought that it wasn't possible :s How do you do that ? The Experience always go to the class with which i did the levequest.

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Originally Posted by Miril

I always thought that it wasn't possible :s How do you do that ? The Experience always go to the class with which i did the levequest.

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That's correct, you cannot prep leves for DRK, AST, or MCH as the XP from turning those in goes toward the class you completed the leve on. Though the Challenge Log XP will, which is about a 3rd of a level I believe.

I still have the vast bulk of story quests to do and am wondering if i should bother trying to get them done before the expansion goes live or if i should just leave it and enjoy the exp? they will give.

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Originally Posted by Azper

Am I the only person who's not doing any prep-work and just going to go at my own pace and enjoy things? o.O

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how dare you, you are not meant to enjoy yourself. Get back to work lol jk

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Originally Posted by Azper

Am I the only person who's not doing any prep-work and just going to go at my own pace and enjoy things? o.O

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I'm the same. :)

Something which occurred to me entirely too late; the Primal Focus quest.

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[2.0] The following items are now available from the NPC Aelina in Mor Dhona at Revenant's Toll (X:22 Y:6):
Weathered Arondights / Weathered Quicksilver / Weathered Sirius / Tidal Wave Fausse / Tidal Musketoon / Tidal Torquetum / Ironworks Magitek Claymore / Ironworks Magitek Repeater / Ironworks Magitek Orrery / Diamond Breaker / Diamond Musketoon / Diamond Astrometer / Balmung / Peacemaker / Aldebaran

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Well... I have three Rowena's Tokens... Hope only one of them looks good...