I just came back to FFXIV, Do I have to do Hunts?

[SLOWTWITCH]

I hit level 60 and joined a hunt LS. The whole hunt thing seemed cool at first. But after trying it for 2 hours and only getting credit for 1 NM I feel like it is a waste. I upgraded 2 pieces of gear to i180 and with the daily reset of rank 1-3 I can get an i180 piece every several days.

I do not play the game 8-10 hours a day and so to spend 2-3 hours ( my typical playtime) doing these hunts where monsters get pulled before you get there, afking in town etc.. I feel it isn't justified.

Also I see people doing hunts in the old zones. What is the benefit of this? I am quite happy to be i168 atm and have started hating the game when I realized how much time I would invest if I wanted to be the top geared (+20 int 20 crit and 20 spell speed really doesn't make or break the game imo). What do you guys think?

[FifthDarkrum]

As far as I'm concerned, forcing players to do hunts to get the best gear is the worst decision they could have made. I'm very displeased, I've always hated doing hunts, and now I have to do them, or wait until better gear comes along through another means. The whole expansion has all these arbitrary gates that funnel the content down to one way of playing, and I don't understand at all why they went that path with it.

[T2teddy]

My question is are we actually going to NEED such high ilevel gear? Certainly didn't need 130-135 stuff to do the first few HW dungeons or the trial...I only wandered in to HW in i110. I'm 125 even currently.

I plan on doing the Clan and weekly hunt bills. Screw the vipers' nest that is the A/S zerg...

BUT perhaps we really will have no need to worry about such a massive leap in ilevel being necessary.

[Sessurea]

I upgraded law weap to 180 just to get throught the extremes but ill stop there. Alex nm ( I assume i180 )and eso tomes ( i190? )soon, why bother to hunt?

[StateAlchemist]

iLv180 gear will make Alexander significantly easier. Similar to how iLv170 (vs iLv160) makes Bismark(Extreme) significantly easier. Not saying it can't be done, but with constant inclusions of DPS checks, going in with less then (ideally) the best gear creates frustration. We all knew iLV180 was a place holder set for 3.1, but with the lack of iLv160 crafted gear available and Tier V materia all but unobtainable (the spiritbond rate on iLv150 Lv60 gear > T5 materia is dismal) this forces everyone into the hunt system for gear upgrades, with no viable alternative. I had a lot of classes maxed out in 2.0 and am only really maining BLM currently (until I level Machinist) but the fact is when you force the whole server to do one thing and then frustrate them all with low HP hunts and instances (that you can't choose when TPing) it compounds the problem even further. I have completed my set of 170 for my BLM and am now forced to rely on dailies for upgrades because hunts are nothing more then a gamble. People using 3rd party software to find hunts doesn't help the situation either when other players who know that 3rd party software is a ToS violation are stuck missing out because they want to follow the rules. I shouldn't have to cheat to make reasonable progress. This could all be fixed by raising A and S rank HP levels and giving A and S rank hunts a 5 minute invulnerability buff that starts counting down as soon as it spawns. In addition allowing players to select instance on teleport will allow groups to stay together, and individuals to respond in a reasonable amount of time instead of teleporting, walking/riding/flying to zone, and then manually re-entering, and THEN going to the already dead hunt target.

[Whiteroom]

You don't have to, but you will get better gear quicker if you do. It really isnt so bad. Four A ranks will upgrade an accessory for you, which is so, so much quicker than previous sets.

[SendohJin]

Also I see people doing hunts in the old zones. What is the benefit of this?

old A Ranks give 15 seals and old S Ranks 40, i think. i've only gotten full credit on an old S Rank one time.

[Reinfeld]

If you aren't a masochist, you can just do your daily hunt log. 110 seals for 20-30 minutes of wandering around to kill the trash mobs, + 100 for weekly. If you're not desperate to rush i180 just do those and you'll get it soon enough.

I'm not sure how the Dev's didn't learn their lesson with the 2.0 hunts. They really want to shove their non-content down our throats.

[Frowny]

If you want i180 you sadly must do hunts (brilliant choice...). Dailies are more than sufficient, though. Only time I've done A ranks were if I happened to be in the area.

I too hate hunts and touched them once when they released. I too question locking the best gear (besides drops) behind this wall...

[Dualblade]

They will be adding in other ways to do hunts in patch 3.05 I believe, what I remember from the live letter. That will be in a little under 2 weeks from now.

Ilvl 170 is enough for the current highest level content, which you don't need any hunting for. You can get 110 seals per day with normal dailes, an extra 100 for the weekly. You can get 190 gear with Alex tokens, and the 190 weapon from Rav Ex (both of which will probably take you longer then getting the 170 gear though, depending on groups.)