Advanced botany, what am I supposed to do with all these skills?

So there are literally hundreds of youtube videos on basic gathering, but I have yet been able to locate a single one that explains what they do and what my goal should be when using them. I have leveled up to 51 now and the ONLY skills I had ever used up to now is leaf turn and field mastery. I now have 20 other buttons that I have not used once. And mostly for good reason, most of them will cut my gp in half.

Is there any guide or video that explains what combinations I should be using for plain leveling, collectibles, unspoiled nodes, or any other scenarios I will be utilizing to level up to 80?

Mining and botany are all about budgeting and return over time. What are you budgeting? GP. It's all about GP. Gathering is less about return from a single node and more about return over an entire gathering trip which may be a hundred nodes.

Most of the time when I'm gathering I don't use any abilities. Then I find a node that has extra attempts on it and I hit my Pick Clean (or some other yield+ ability) and rake in. Or if I'm after HQ stuff I'll use those, but I always try to pair them with nodes that will further enhance what I'm already doing.

Let me try to give a bumper sticker answer for your questions here:
Leveling? Evaluation leves are your friend. You'll want to go for the more difficult targets and use your abilities to improve your gathering chance (quality and yield don't matter, only gathering chance). Just remember to budget. It does you no good to ace one node if it means you'll fail the next two nodes.
Collectibles? Milk Discerning Eye procs from Impulsive Appraisal. There are any number of collectible rotations floating around out there. The best return I've found here is to maximize gathering attempts rather than rarity. Get the rarity "high enough" and then gather as many as you can from the node. Because you have to blow basically all your GP on a single node, you want that node to have a return so you're not working on collectibles for f'ing days.
Unspoiled nodes? Know what slot the thing you want is in without having to uncover them first. Websites help here. After that you're either doing collectibles, in which case see above, or you're going for yield. But you shouldn't be wasting GP uncovering first. Also remember that the first time you gather the item you're going to have to spend some GP raising that base 25% chance to something reasonable. Don't expect big returns the first time you gather from one of these. Just every other time.

Also use cordials when they won't cap or overcap your GP. You can buy them for GC seals and you should pretty much just be using them on cooldown during a gathering session assuming you're spending your GP on things.

If you are doing colectables you want 600 GPs, idealy 650.

I forget if that is doable at your level.

71 is vendor gear.

UC > SM > impulsive > SM > impulsive > SM > impulsive > medocal

If 650 sharp vision 1

Collect.

/profit

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Originally Posted by JeffD

I now have 20 other buttons that I have not used once. And mostly for good reason, most of them will cut my gp in half.

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What are you saving that GP for? It's not doing you any good just sitting there.

So, yes, it is in fact true you're not going to use most of those buttons, or you'll use them only every once in a while. However, like Hasrat mentioned, there's no reason for you to sit on your GP. You should be constantly using it and letting it regenerate.

Think about your goals in gathering. If you want more items, then you want to use skills like Blessed Harvest and Bountiful Harvest. (In fact, if you have enough GP, these can stack, further increasing your yield).

If you want HQ items, then Leaf Turn is what you want to use. And if you have a low chance to collect something in the first place, then Field Mastery is your go-to.

A lot of the buttons you have are also for the Collectibles system. If you want to know rotations, I've been following this blog post forever, and it still works for Shadowbringers: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../blog/2596906/

Also, stock up on Cordials, which are GP potions. You can buy NQ versions with GC seals, HQ can be crafted by alchemists, and you can buy Hi-Cordials with scrips.

I tried collectibles and gave up. I spent days going over and testing and finally just said fuckit and grinded and used a few leve's to go from 51-63 in botany and mining... fishing i got to 57 and just no... can't do it. Getting to 600 with HQ gear would cost over 1m gil which I can't justify blowing just to go for 3-4 levels vs using the white garbage at the appropriate level.

The only extra buttons I use are the ones that give 2 extra resources I tend to blow on whatever i'm farming when I get an extra gathering turn. I use the 50% chance increase when i get to new nodes. If I don't really care for the grinding mat i blow the extra items on crystals as lightning and wind ones are expensive AF.

Collectables on fishing get a MILLION times easier at 60 when Patience 2 basically guarantees HQ. Before that it's a literal crapshoot.

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Originally Posted by Highlow

I tried collectibles and gave up. I spent days going over and testing and finally just said fuckit and grinded and used a few leve's to go from 51-63 in botany and mining... fishing i got to 57 and just no... can't do it. Getting to 600 with HQ gear would cost over 1m gil which I can't justify blowing just to go for 3-4 levels vs using the white garbage at the appropriate level.

The only extra buttons I use are the ones that give 2 extra resources I tend to blow on whatever i'm farming when I get an extra gathering turn. I use the 50% chance increase when i get to new nodes. If I don't really care for the grinding mat i blow the extra items on crystals as lightning and wind ones are expensive AF.

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How close to 600 GP are you, and can a cheap food get you over that mark?

Also, have you considered taking up crafting? Gearing (which includes melding Materia) becomes a lot easier if you have a few crafters among your classes; Blacksmith, Leatherworker, and Weaver in particular, Alchemist and Culinarian both support in other ways. If you are already gathering, its no real hardship to use some of the materials you’ve gathered to make better gear for yourself. And, ultimately, its a lot cheaper as well. Additionally, gear that you make HQ and meld will Spiritbonding faster, allowing you to generate even more Materia.

I also remember being very frustrated trying to get collectables pre-600gp.

I can't give much advice other than find a way to get 600gp. Maybe farm the mats needed for the lv 60 or 70 accessories and find someone to craft it for you so you don't have to pay through the nose.

Nearly all the buttons for gatherers serve their purpose; there are some that overwrite each other, but not many. Think of all of these skills as tools like wrenches, and you choose one based on the size of the bolt. You might not use tools like Field Mastery III/Sharp Vision III much, but you still need them when the time comes otherwise you will struggle trying to get a job done with an inadequate tool. I hope that makes sense.

The usability of all the buttons is contingent on the goal of your gatherer on any particular gathering trip. Sometimes you're after yield; other times you want HQ, and other times you are uncovering what a node will give. In any case whatever your goal is, you will want to spend your GP towards that goal. If you are after yield, look for nodes with +1/+2 gathering attempts and exhaust all your GP on that node. If you after HQ, look for nodes with that bonus and apply the appropriate skills to that node.

Excluding skills associated with collectables, you basically can place all those skills into four categories: You have skills that increase yield; skills that increase HQ chance; skills that increase your gathering rate; and lastly are enhancements with a myriad of effects such as granting another attempt, locating nodes, stealth, etc. Yield, HQ, and gathering rate skills are tiered and it is a very good thing they are so you can choose the appropriate increase depending on the node.

Your appraisal skills for collectibles is a bit of a different ballgame. I won't get too much into it, but the simplest way to explain those is you need to get the gathering rate to 100% and still have 600 GP in order to take full advantage of the node.

80 gathering, 70-71 crafting here
Ive just been gathering for crafting leveling lately, and since I can HQ craft (final combine 80 dur) with all NQ starting mats I just gather those. So then I think 730 is the perfect spot for GP. I can use pick clean and up to 5 shots of bountiful harvest 2 for maximum gather of NQ mats. If you cant get 730 then 635 would be good for 4 hits.

IDK Svann, I'm at 831 GPs and even cheap food gets me over 850. Its REALLY handy on those timed nodes.