Preparing for Dawntrail: in-game prep

Samson Grey has some good suggestions in his latests vids (https://www.youtube.com/@SamsonGrey26/videos) but I thought of a fewmore:

Right Now:

If you are going to try Viper and/or Pictomancer, start building a L80 Poetics gearset for those jobs (SCOUTING/DEX for Viper, CASTING/INT for Picto). If you're like me, you're capped on Poetics, and this will be the best possible gear to start the new classes on. If you're short on Poetics, get the right-hand side (accessories): you'll probably be given the weapon and left-hand side when you pick up the class. (Save your current LVL80 through LVL90 Scouting/Casting gear you have as well -- hat tip to VistorSpoils)

DoH/Dol: Unlock and get to max rep as many Custom Delivery targets as you can: Custom Delivery gives massive amounts of XP for minimal effort, and that XP is even larger if the delivery target is offering a bonus, which are only offered once you get max affection. Having more delivery targets at max affection gives you a better chance of getting a bonus for the crafter or gatherer you are trying to level.

DoH: clean up your inventory to make room for the new mats you'll need.

Rank up your Adventurer Squadron and run Priority Missions to get Squadron Manuals: you can run one Priority Mission a week, and the rewards for success can be 5 or 10 Squadron Battle, Survival, or Engineering Manuals (among others). These give a 15% XP boost for combat (Battle) or a 20% XP boost to crafting (Engineering) or gathering (Survival) for two hours. They do not stack with FC buffs like Heat of Battle II. Hat tip to NekiUno.

If you do hunts or Masked Carnival, stock up on Aetheryte tickets so you can teleport for free: teleporting to and from the New World will probably be a huge gil sink. If you don't do hunts or Masked Carnival, save on teleport fees by stocking up on Priority Aetheryte Passes you can get from Adventurer Squadron missions. Hat tip to JoJoya.

Immediately Pre-launch/Pre-Early Access:

In the week before whichever marks your starting point, get, complete but do not turn in a Wondrous Tales book: These books can be turned in the week after you get them, and then you can get a second book. So if you are getting Early Access, sometime in June 18-24, pick up a book, get it complete, turn it in on June 28, pick up another on June 28, complete it and turn it in before July 2, and then on July 2 pick up a third book, complete it and turn it in. This should give you 1.5 levels of XP on a combat class of your choice.

Or you are overdoing it and collect all the gearsets from the 81-89 dungeons for leveling the new job. I know that the 81 and 83 sets are useless when you have the poetics set BUT then you can get the new weapon skins from the dungeons in your first run from the guaranteed loot at the end :O

And to look hot in the Fate farming parties you could collect weapon tokens from Palace of the Dead and / or Heaven on High. What's with Orthos? Nobody has cleared it so the second weapon glamour is unavailable. Also these weapons aren't that shiny anyway...

And what you also need is a level 90 set for your new job! And of course the coins from the alliance raids to upgrade it.

You're forgetting the biggest prep of them all, start hoarding jet black/pure white dyes.

Two dye slots mean each set of gear takes two dyes.

That is good information, and I can drop a few knowledge.

Do you know the Grand Company Squadrons Missions gives some of the most powerful manuals for leveling. Leveling gives you 15%
and Crafting/Gathering is 20% for 2 hours. You can get 10 of them and it will help out with the leveling.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NekiUno

That is good information, and I can drop a few knowledge.

Do you know the Grand Company Squadrons Missions gives some of the most powerful manuals for leveling. Leveling gives you 15%
and Crafting/Gathering is 20% for 2 hours. You can get 10 of them and it will help out with the leveling.

---

Good info, I've updated the first post accordingly. Thanks,

If you've got your Island Sanctuary set up and haven't already acquired a large stockpile of cowries, time to start getting them, They'll be useful for the dyes plus DoH/DoL IX/X materia. Most players won't be looking to use the new grades right away, and even if they are most of the IXs should still be desirable based on past experience. Don't buy anything with the cowries yet, though. Wait until you see what you need and where prices go on the marketboard after Dawntrail's release.

If you do hunts or Masked Carnival, stock up on Aetheryte tickets. You're going to be moving around a lot - who wants to pay all those teleport fees when they can teleport for free?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NekiUno

That is good information, and I can drop a few knowledge.

Do you know the Grand Company Squadrons Missions gives some of the most powerful manuals for leveling. Leveling gives you 15%
and Crafting/Gathering is 20% for 2 hours. You can get 10 of them and it will help out with the leveling.

---

FCs with houses and workshops should also start making and priming Grade 3 action wheels. Those have the same level of effect as the Squadron manuals but will affect all FC members for 24 hours. That would allow FC members to then also use the Squadron manual of a different buff type for additional maximum buffs. Be sure to look up how the wheels work first, they're a bit annoying when it comes to advance preparation and storage.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bun_Vivant

Samson Grey has some good suggestions in his latests vids (https://www.youtube.com/@SamsonGrey26/videos) but I thought of a fewmore:

Right Now:

If you are going to try Viper and/or Pictomancer, start building a L80 Poetics gearset for those jobs (SCOUTING/DEX for Viper, CASTING/INT for Picto). If you're like me, you're capped on Poetics, and this will be the best possible gear to start the new classes on. If you're short on Poetics, get the right-hand side (accessories): you'll probably be given the weapon and left-hand side when you pick up the class.

DoH/Dol: Unlock and get to max rep as many Custom Delivery targets as you can: Custom Delivery gives massive amounts of XP for minimal effort, and that XP is even larger if the delivery target is offering a bonus, which are only offered once you get max affection. Having more delivery targets at max affection gives you a better chance of getting a bonus for the crafter or gatherer you are trying to level.

DoH: clean up your inventory to make room for the new mats you'll need.

Rank up your Adventurer Squadron and run Priority Missions to get Squadron Manuals: you can run one Priority Mission a week, and the rewards for success can be 5 or 10 Squadron Battle, Survival, or Engineering Manuals (among others). These give a 15% XP boost for combat (Battle) or a 20% XP boost to crafting (Engineering) or gathering (Survival) for two hours. They do not stack with FC buffs like Heat of Battle II. Tip of the hat to NekiUno.

Immediately Pre-launch/Pre-Early Access:

In the week before whichever marks your starting point, get, complete but do not turn in a Wondrous Tales book: These books can be turned in the week after you get them, and then you can get a second book. So if you are getting Early Access, sometime in June 18-24, pick up a book, get it complete, turn it in on June 28, pick up another on June 28, complete it and turn it in before July 2, and then on July 2 pick up a third book, complete it and turn it in. This should give you 1.5 levels of XP on a combat class of your choice.

---

"Let's rush the entire new expansion in 2 days just to be back at Limsa and complains about no new content for the next 4 months"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AnnRam

"Let's rush the entire new expansion in 2 days just to be back at Limsa and complains about no new content for the next 4 months"

---

"Be prepared."

Besides, why not rush the MSQ if that's what you enjoy? Play the game your way, let others play theirs.
And many of us have nothing better to do right now than prepare anyway.

As for me, I have 6 characters at End-of-Content right now, so I'm going to be playing Dawntrail at least six times.
Sometimes rushed, sometimes relaxed -- depending on my mood.

Hopefully it'll be worth it. I saw the original Star Wars in the theaters over a dozen times back in 1977, and do not regret it. (Some of the later movies in the series, though, I regretted watching even once.)

The job starts at level 80. You can start getting the Augmented Cryptlurker gear now for both jobs. That will see you through to level 90.

Bit more of a grind, but you can get your level 90 gear sorted out now by capping your Comedy tomes every week. The level Augmented Credendum gear will get you through to level 100 (though you can get better gear from dungeons starting at level 95).

Optional, but absolutely not required. If you have done the latest savage tier, if you have a weapon coffer or 8 books, they will add weapons for Pictomancer and Viper. You can stash those now and hang onto them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bun_Vivant

If you are going to try Viper and/or Pictomancer, start building a L80 Poetics gearset for those jobs (SCOUTING/DEX for Viper, CASTING/INT for Picto). If you're like me, you're capped on Poetics, and this will be the best possible gear to start the new classes on. If you're short on Poetics, get the right-hand side (accessories): you'll probably be given the weapon and left-hand side when you pick up the class.

---

Save your current LVL90 Scouting + Casting gear too

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrForester

The job starts at level 80. You can start getting the Augmented Cryptlurker gear now for both jobs. That will see you through to level 90.

---

If you got BLU to max level, you’re one step ahead. :)

Quote:

---

Optional, but absolutely not required. If you have done the latest savage tier, if you have a weapon coffer or 8 books, they will add weapons for Pictomancer and Viper. You can stash those now and hang onto them.

---

That I had forgotten about… might want to stock up on totems and/or coffers for the 90 Extremes too, if only for future glam! lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oizen

You're forgetting the biggest prep of them all, start hoarding jet black/pure white dyes.

Two dye slots mean each set of gear takes two dyes.

---

Mao just buys dyes from Mog Station. Is WAY cheaper for Mao in long runs.

save current lvl 90 tomes
they all get converted into poetics and you will be able to buy augmented tome gear with poetics so its a bit of a waste preprepping this soon to expac and wasting time augmenting them with materials
same will hildibrand relic all the items will cost poetics once dawntrail starts (Picto and viper will not have any older expansion relics)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AnnRam

"Let's rush the entire new expansion in 2 days just to be back at Limsa and complains about no new content for the next 4 months"

---

Well you have to remember that raid tier will be coming out around a month (?) after release, maybe sooner. We DOL and DOH has to level up really fast, so we can get to make that crafted gear (I am already dreaded it) for raiders.

Another tip, Superior Spiritbond Potion/ Better Crowned Pie is a good combo if you want to Spiritbond your gear faster to get materia for you to sell or use during your leveling.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NekiUno

Another tip, Superior Spiritbond Potion/ Better Crowned Pie is a good combo if you want to Spiritbond your gear faster to get materia for you to sell or use during your leveling.

---

Pentamelding your gear, even if it's with cheap Piety I materia, will also speed spiritbonding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bun_Vivant

If you are going to try Viper and/or Pictomancer, start building a L80 Poetics gearset for those jobs (SCOUTING/DEX for Viper, CASTING/INT for Picto). If you're like me, you're capped on Poetics, and this will be the best possible gear to start the new classes on. If you're short on Poetics, get the right-hand side (accessories): you'll probably be given the weapon and left-hand side when you pick up the class.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tint

Or you are overdoing it and collect all the gearsets from the 81-89 dungeons for leveling the new job. I know that the 81 and 83 sets are useless when you have the poetics set BUT then you can get the new weapon skins from the dungeons in your first run from the guaranteed loot at the end :O

---

I think it's more useful to collect the dungeon sets than the the level 80 poetics set, assuming you want the glamours. The starter gear will be good enough at 80.

You'll need to provide your own jewellery, of course, but if you plan to level to 81 by running the 79 dungeon then you can really make do with any 70+ jewellery you've got on hand, then equip the 81 jewellery once you get there.

Even if you do want to start out with poetics gear, once you hit 83 you can upgrade to that gear and ditch the poetics gear. While it isn't technically an upgrade IL-wise, it does mean you've got one gearset doing two purposes (providing best IL and making it more likely that the weapon will drop from the dungeon).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Khryseis_Astra

If you got BLU to max level, you’re one step ahead. :)

---

Double check that blue gear though, in case your blu gear set is like mine and has a handful of blu only pieces in it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NekiUno

Well you have to remember that raid tier will be coming out around a month (?) after release, maybe sooner. We DOL and DOH has to level up really fast, so we can get to make that crafted gear (I am already dreaded it) for raiders.

---

Plus your DoL will only be able to get resources from areas you've reached by completing some amount of the MSQ.

In light of your remarks, I think I'll:

• do the MSQ and level Gatherers (and retainers) on a first character, and
• level my crafters on a second character,

to get the most benefit from time-rationed opportunities like rested XP and Custom Deliveries. That's assuming they don't throw some kind of crafter-gating into MSQ progression.

(Any of you who don't have two or more omni-crafter character might want to consider creating one.)

Didn't see anything new here that hasn't been known by people who have been around for an expansion launch before, but always a good reminder to look into being prepared.

One other thing that could be added is to save up your rested Experience bonus.