18 hour ventures & lv 50 Retainers

[Adoxx]

I have gotten Tawny Latex, Taffeta Cloth, Minute Mindflayer, Mist for Zenith, Steel Plate, and Saurian Leather. I have two Level 50 Retainers and I have only been sending them on the 18-Hour for a week now. I would say that is well worth it.

[TomTom1968]

I wonder how they made the tables of items they can get. For me they bring 99% of the time:

Miner - Goldsand or Coccoons
Botanist - Dzemael Tomatoe
Combat - Couerl skin
Fisher - Hippogryph skin

Besides this a light steel plate, tafetta and other crafting goodies here and there. But that's pretty much it. And receiving 3 HQ items of any of the above items in a period of 18 is more than meh lol. Where are the useful items from unspoiled nodes? Why are there never any Poly crystals available? Or other Level 50 items?

I like the idea of sending them out not knowing what I will get. But on the 18 hours ventures, I know exactly what I will get. It's really not more than what I have mentioned. Takes a bit of the Sunshine away from the system. I only send them on a 18 hour tour when I close the Game in the evening and know I will be at work the next day. Otherwise, I rather send them away for specific items or for a quick venture where it's really a lottery what they bring back.

I would like to hear some insights from SE about the mechanics of the 18 hour ventures. They told us NOTHING so far besides what you can see in the Game. Is it worth it to go beyond the cap needed? Will an ilevel 90 combat class bring back better stuff than an iLevel 70 one? Does perception count anything on DOL? Does it raise HQ chance at all? Many questions, zero answers.

[Kaaylryn]

My botanist is only geared enough to do the XII ventures. I simply refuse to use expensive materia to get her to the gathering required for the XIII level. And at least doing the X or XI ventures, she sometimes brought me a grade 2 or 3 materia. Working on getting the forager hat and hatchet for her, if she still does not make the requirement, then so be it.
I have been brought the mindflayer minion and a light steel plate by my ILV 80 DOW. Other than that only HQ Coerl meat and Hippogryph skins. The poor returns just further solidifies my decision to not get the 2 additional retainers for 4 bucks a month.

[Riixie]

Update by OP:

Based on relpies here, from other threads, and input from friends in game: I am not going to bother melding my BTN retainer. I may on occasion give her my fully melded gear (like when I am too busy to sit down and play on a weekend)...

Combat retainer: Love him to death. Hate the lottery of rank XIII exploration. He brings me back HQ items that would other wise take me more than hour to get thanks to RNG. I took the suggest of another post and I send him out on 18hour run before I go to bed. Nothing nice yet, mostly mossy items that don't sell even when upgraded and meat that just doesn't sell...

I would be interested in more of a lottery in the allagan coins associated with the rank XIII exploration.

[Niurok]

Any ya get anything better than a HM Primal weapon from a quick exploration?

[Aeora]

it seems really random, can get coerl skin off XIII 18 hours - or Garuda's beak off of a quick exploration around level 10 . . . . balance?

[ROFL-kopter89]

I don't bother with the 18 hour ventures, I just always do quick ventures. Had some good stuff brought back; 2 Darklight pieces, another iLvl.70 gear, a few minions and loads of furniture.

[Kyana]

I have yet to get something great from the 18h ventures.
Taffeta, Light Steel, and the Mindflayer go for 500g-3000g.
Not really worth giving fully melded gear and Foragers items to my retainers.
My DoW retainer got ~ilvl75-80 and didn't bring me anything special either.

Can someone confirm that Glazenut (Seeds) can be aquired from XIII ventures?

[NaliaBrown]

I haven't gotten any Glazenut (or glazenut seeds) yet from my Lancer retainer. Best thing I got was the taffeta cloth. Light steel plates I've gotten, too, but those seem to be more common based on the number of them on the market board on my server. Haven't gotten the minion yet. Most days it's just couerl meat.

From my botanist retainer, I haven't sent her on the highest ventures yet because I'm not willing to invest that much in materia. It really bothers me how easy it is to get the DOW retainers up to ilvl70, but it's nearly impossible to get the DOL retainers up to the gathering level necessary to do the XIII ventures. Especially because they seem to bring you the same stuff.

[Bushido_Brown]

I can confirm glazenut seeds from my BTN retainer, as well as a piece of Titan's heart...
I do the same as everyone, while playing, send her on quick explorations, then send her on an 18hr before logging off.

I heard from a PUG member that one of their FC mates got a mirror of the whorl on a lvl50 quick exploration... I took it with a grain of salt, of course, but one can always hope, right?