Are relic weapons ever going to be useful?

[Vid]

In my personal opinion this option was meant for those who do not have a static raid group. Anyone with a static raiding group can get the Item Level 100/110, and 115 weapons with enough effort and practice put in. In fact it's probably the better option for the more casual types. You log in, raid for about 1 to 2 hours, and you're done.

However the Quest Weapons (Relic, Novus, Nexus, whatever) will take considerably more grinding time. RNG is involved, many dungeon runs, lots of spiritbinding involved. It basically becomes a full time job from when you log on, until you log off. Not my personal idea of fun, but I know some people who have enjoyed it. Is it worth it? That's based on the players opinion.

While I agree the last weapon in the quest series can be the best in slot item for your class, I personally don't feel like spending the time, effort, or money on it. I have my ilvl 115 Weapon already from 2nd Coil, and while the stats aren't what I would prefer, 30+ extra determination isn't going to make or break my ability to heal through current content. If anything, I tackled most of the content without the Quest Weapons, I think the only time I used them was during the 1st Coil, and trying to get them upgraded through the various objectives it had me doing.

Right now the most fun I have in the game is raiding. Everything else to is me a mindless grind. Keep in mind though this is just my opinion. I don't feel they should change the current quest line for these weapons only due to the fact it's completely optional, and not at all required for anything in the game other then a status piece of equipment. That and some of them do look pretty awesome won't lie. You don't need these weapons for Dungeons, Trials, or even Raiding. This has been proven by just about everyone out there completing 2nd Coil.

Will the weapons help? Sure of course they will, but actually completing the quest is up to the player, and for them to decide if it's worth it. Me personally, no it's not worth it, which is why I'm casually doing the quest. I have yet to start inserting Materia on the scroll for whichever part of the weapon quest I'm on. I refuse to pay absurd amounts of money for it on the market boards, and spiritbinding is so mind-numbingly boring to me, I'd rather be doing something else. I may eventually get the weapon, but it's by far not in my top 10 priority list.

Just my 2 cents, take it with a grain of salt.

[SeraviEdalborez]

In my personal opinion this option was meant for those who do not have a static raid group.

Up until Novus you would have been right. Nexus makes HA weapons slightly less optimal. Whole relic process, in terms of time spent, is also way less casual than raiding.

It's hard to say who this is "for" because of the many extreme turn-offs of the long time investment.

[LaylaTsarra]

I love my relics. I had the hardest time getting my first Zeneith way back when. For me personally they're worth the time. I don't have a static group and coil 2 isn't something really practical for me right now. Lots of things I can't get but I'm not going to complain because I can't run around with second coil gear or weapons. This has been work but I work on them as I feel I want to and then spend time doing other things. Relics shouldn't be that easy to get. Not everyone should have to have one in my view.

Stardust Rod Nexus


Artemis Bow Novus


Bravura Animus

[Vid]

Up until Novus you would have been right. Nexus makes HA weapons slightly less optimal. Whole relic process, in terms of time spent, is also way less casual than raiding.

I agree, the Nexus is essentially the "BiS" for most classes in the game right now, which is what I mentioned in my long post. However, I would disagree in the time spent with a STATIC raiding group. Unless the group in question has a really steep learning curve and can't even down 2nd Coil's first boss after the first 2 months of it being out.

Coming from a casual perspective myself, my static raid group typically spends 3 days a week, roughly 2 and a half to 3 hours each night on current raid content when we're actually learning the fights (so a total of 7.5 to 9 hours a week). Once said content is down, we finish it in roughly 1 night, spending maybe 1 to 2 hours total. I know raid groups who spend a lot more time then this just learning the fights and progress even faster then we do.

For those in my group, our schedules vary wildly, so for any one of us to log on and try to get something done outside of normal raiding time is typically limited to a couple of hours a day, if that. Now insert Novus Weapon Quest, from the beginning, and you're spending all your time grinding a portion of that quest for extremely little gains.

As I've said, I'm not arguing the weapon can be the best for you, I'm just saying the time, effort, and money spent is personally not worth it for me. If it's worth it for you, that's all that matters when it comes to getting your weapon.

[ATEX]

Ultimately, If this holds true to most ff games it will be the premier weapon. The gap between Raid weapons and Relic weapons has been narrowing every patch.

[Lemuria]

Basically if you like your weapon to act as a beacon for all and sundry, then Relic is the way to go. It's flashy, glowy and otherwise utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Nexus is the highest it gets so far, and it's only barely stronger than the ilvl 110 weapons which are much, much easier to obtain. The one benefit is you get to 'customize' your stats, but gathering the right materia for the job and applying it to your weapon is a chore which will give you nightmares trying to min/max everything you want.

Is it worth it? No, not really. But on the other hand, you do get something unique out of the deal. A shiny golden glow all of your own!

[Ecks007]

OP wait. You're kidding right?

Completely customizable weapon that is (at the moment) possible to be better than even the Second Coil of Bahamut weapons.

I mean, I understand that it's quite an undertaking if you are just now or maybe in the last months have joined the game.

But for people who have been playing and keeping up with this, it's amazing.

It is a timesink for sure, and partly a gilsink as well. But that's our price to pay for perfection. Relics are likely to continue on for a while and have many stages. We've already gone through 2 appearance changes (technically 1) since relics were obtained. They can easily continue this trend for the life of the game. Not only a simple retexture or recolor, but a completely new appearance/form. Relics have a lot of potential for players willing to devote the time needed to improve them, and I for one, and hoping they don't cease the relic weapon enhancements.

[RiceisNice]

It is a timesink for sure, and partly a gilsink as well. But that's our price to pay for perfection. Relics are likely to continue on for a while and have many stages. We've already gone through 2 appearance changes (technically 1) since relics were obtained. They can easily continue this trend for the life of the game. Not only a simple retexture or recolor, but a completely new appearance/form. Relics have a lot of potential for players willing to devote the time needed to improve them, and I for one, and hoping they don't cease the relic weapon enhancements.

You also described obtaining a new weapon from the next raiding tier, which you use to replace HA weapon from second coil (in otherwords, upgrading your weapon). Relic is gated by a linear progression of the quests, while other options can be obtained provided you can complete the encounter (which may or may not be gated by a numerical requirement on DPS).

Whether or not the time spent on upgrading each step of the relic is up to debate (looking at you, Atma). Sure they have nerfed the amount of time it'd take for each step at some points (myths being incredibly accessible which speeds up zenith, animus and novus), which also applies to the other options (unweathered weapons since ST drops UAT, and hunts dropping logs). That's supposed to be a way for players to catch up to current content or something...which makes it all the more confusing when they leave Atma unchanged with the RNG gate.

Nexus requires the entire relic questline up to now (again, looking at Atma here), while HA would require you to clear T9, in which case you'd step in there with unweathered at the very least (requiring a minimal time of three weeks for the soldierly tomestones). That's how I see it anyway with the amount of "time investment" required for each weapon and what role they play in current content.

[Mini_Me]

The entire quest line is uninspired, mind numbingly boring, repetitive, and the absolute epitome of everything an mmo should never be. Final Fantasy in any mmo form has never been more than the training mmo for all other mmo's. It survives by low expectations and by everyone that is to intimidated to play what everyone else is playing. In a poor economy it is the lowest common denominator.

[Zumi]

Here is how long it took me, I did everything when it first came out
Base Relic - 2 days
Zenith - 3 weeks to get 900 myth due to myth lockout
Atma - 1 week to get 12 atmas form fates
Animus - 4 weeks to get all the books with brayflox farming, killing mobs, dungeons, fates for the books
Novus - 1 and half months - did daily alex quest with some fate farming on the side
Nexus - 3 weeks - grinded whatever was bonus light at the time.

About 4 and a half months total to get the most current version of relic.