Please increase crystal sand amounts

[ManuelBravo]

As you guys might be aware there are several options to get sand, hence the list key item. SE has made it super easy to get sand and I feel people just don't want to put time and effort into it. First Umbrites were too many tomes. OK they cut them in half, now sand? WOW people really want it easy. It's call a relic for a reason. Unlike FFXI were it really was a grind the sand item conversion part here probably one of the easiest step out there. Here are a few a tips:


First PLS NOTE The Bonus sand doesn't kick in until half way through it. After the Anima chooses to grow more. The secret is to turn in all sand at once. If you do that you can usually get more bonus sand that way. At least for me it has worked. I have done a total of 5 relics and the only one that took 72 umbrites was my initial one. Afterwards I just saved items and usually end uo only using 60-65 umbrites. as long as I trade items for sand all at once. Experience can vary of course but hey 4/5 isn't that bad for me.

Second I find Airship crafting items to be the easiest ones to get, unless you have no airship access, FC won't give you the items, or you choose not to raise crafting. I prefer the airship crafting items if you have access to them. Farm gear for CS and craft them.

The leve amber farming is a nice way to kill time, raise jobs, make gill ect while waiting for queue as well. It's a longer process but hey knock off a few things at once.

If your doing Palace of the Dead Hoard elemental materia IV can be a good one if your farming weps or leveling as well.

Crafters scripts are a nice alternative IF you have enough materials and retainers constantly farming so you don't waste time doing it your self. I find people who have DoL and DoH all at 60 have an easier time. Otherwise you can level them as you collect items and grow that way.

Lastly Demiteria;

Unless you have plenty of time, High enough desynthesis and gil I would personally avoid.

If after all these tips you still feel it's hard, you may as well just focus on something else. For the time being I doubt they will nerf the sand until perhaps they start nerfing the next step in relics around the time of new expansion. Ask fellow crafters, FC, for assistance to make it easier. Otherwise, not to discourage people you WILL hate the following step after the singing cluster. ***SPOILER***Rune light farming.

[Zojha]

It'd probably suffice to just reduce the amount of poetic items you need per sand.

If you have a gatherer leveled, sands are the least of your issues. It's only an issue for DoW/DoM, because leves are time gated and the other DoW/DoM issues impractical and/or inefficient.

[Mayoyama]

WOW people really want it easy. It's call a relic for a reason. Unlike FFXI were it really was a grind the sand item conversion part here probably one of the easiest step out there.

First of all... I played FFXI for 6 years and did in fact own a relic, as well as several empyrean weapons... so I am full aware of what 'grind' is....

Second, you clearly didnt read the initial post where I stated that I don't have loads of time (anymore) to be sitting grinding shit like POTD for a 'chance' of a IV elemental, of which I need 3 specific ones to get even a single sand.... it's not time effective

Third, airship based crafting is great until you run out of the old mythology mats (aqueous whetstones, etc), have no seals to buy said items and the MB is jacked up ridiculously on my server

I also stated that I have run out of leve allowances in a reply further down. So instead of getting on your high horse about "OMFG ITS SO EASY.. blah blah", try realising that not everyone has loads of time to be online, and that requesting to have the requirements for sand eased too is not such an unreasonable request

[Mayoyama]

If you have a gatherer leveled, sands are the least of your issues

Would you care to elaborate... I see so many comments about "oh DoL have no reason to complain" but no one actually explains properly why this is so (which would be more constructive). Sorry, I dont mean to single you out but its such a common approach for people on here to dismiss ideas without explaining why

[Zojha]

Would you care to elaborate... I see so many comments about "oh DoL have no reason to complain" but no one actually explains properly why this is so.

Well, it's kinda implied - Farming blue scrips is a very time efficient and uncapped way to get the sands. In other words, you have a high sands/minute rate compared to the other uncapped options.

Farming ambers via leves is faster, from what it seems - I can burn through 100 leves in around 40 minutes and get 20 ambers that way (roughly). My DoL colleagues were at around 10-12 sands in the same time IIRC. However, I then had to wait like a month for the leves to recover while they just kept going and had their sands done before the end of the week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCXGp80PPF8
I'm not overly proficient with gathering, but this looks like a daily turn-in to me. If it's representative, that would put gathering to about 10 sands per 15 minutes a day and allow you to finish in a week.

[Nixxe]

Well, it's kinda implied - Farming blue scrips is a very time efficient and uncapped way to get the sands. In other words, you have a high sands/minute rate compared to the other uncapped options.

Farming ambers via leves is faster, from what it seems - I can burn through 100 leves in around 40 minutes and get 20 ambers that way (roughly). My DoL colleagues were at around 10-12 sands in the same time IIRC. However, I then had to wait like a month for the leves to recover while they just kept going and had their sands done before the end of the week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCXGp80PPF8
I'm not overly proficient with gathering, but this looks like a daily turn-in to me. If it's representative, that would put gathering to about 10 sands per 15 minutes a day and allow you to finish in a week.

Nope. That's just one 12 Eorzean hour collectible rotation. You can do it twice per Eorzean day and as many times as you want per real day, limited only by the number of Eorzean days that fit in a single real day.

Diadem is still faster though.

[ManuelBravo]

First of all... I played FFXI for 6 years and did in fact own a relic, as well as several empyrean weapons... so I am full aware of what 'grind' is....

Second, you clearly didnt read the initial post where I stated that I don't have loads of time (anymore)

Look to be frank I have about as much play time as you do perhaps less. Work two jobs and go to school. What I posted were some hints/tips. I use airships do to the time I have hence I recommended that. Being that sand is a grind, if your time restricted it's a matter of patience and go at your own pace.

So lets break down your thoughts... I still play FFXI on and off just to max out when I'm bored with XIV, 3 maxed out relics 3 Myths, hated Empy. So I only compared it as an example.

Second Not having loads of time is up to the player and gave some examples of what they can accomplish on the down time, RELICS take time and dedication. IF you don't have plenty of time it's understandable but complaining to nerf it more is just being spoiled.

Third ; hence I suggested to trade in items while you do your normal runs for GC seals and get them that way. 20k in seals is about 99 of those items = 11 per full stack. MB can fluctuate, use Airships to sell materias and junk. Use gill for low items and use CS on expensive ones , I never buy things more than 1k each which to me is reasonable, then again I don't have a problem making gill being is very easy from years of experience and know how to work the market by having retainers constantly selling, well geared, and selling HQ / normal for weekly turn ins. ( HINT ). ( Business major also so helps to be educated )

As for running out of leves there something call change ups. I'm surprised that being all 60's your complaining about leves. You've done a few unless you just want change your way, take some hints, and want to do one method, can't help you there. My goal is to eventually do them all just for the hell of it and raise relics on the side for jobs I probably won't touch unless it's a light grind. So in other words IT"S EASY if you don't burn yourself out and mix it up. Unless your impatient can't help you there.

[Ama_Hamada]

If you have a crafter at 60, there should be no excuse. My friend spent 550k in materials, lowered to about 450k after the gil she got with turning in 60 odd synths for 40 sands ( was around 180 scripts each) and in the mist of this, sold 2 mistakes of 40k each while selling off the elemental materia. (had huge profit after 2 days despite the initial gil sink) She did that from buying materials for them (miscounted and had go back a bit) and with trade ins, etc, total time was 4 hours. she did it in a single rl day, getting the 40 sands she needed to finish the step after she spent like 2 or 3 days? for umbrites.

Crafting is the best time/gil efficient (as in ratio), matiera is the best pure time efficient, using one of these gets you 70 odd sands faster then umbrites.

[enthauptet]

If you don't have a crafter or gatherer leveled and like actually using leves for leveling then it sucks. I was using leves for crafting leveling when I did my first one so I just spammed the 100 poetics dungeons. It sucks really bad. Even now I still have tons more umbrites than crystal sands.

[Ultimatecalibur]

Would you care to elaborate... I see so many comments about "oh DoL have no reason to complain" but no one actually explains properly why this is so (which would be more constructive). Sorry, I dont mean to single you out but its such a common approach for people on here to dismiss ideas without explaining why

Trading 5 Rowena's Token (Blue Gathering Scripts) (50 Blue Scripts per Token or 4 Tokens for trading 1 Rowena's Token (Red Gathering Scripts) which cost 50 Red Scripts) for sand is one of the fastest methods of gathering sands since Cuprite, Crownbrush and Morel can be turned in for 60 blue scripts base meaning each qualifying collectible is around 1/4 of a sand.

Cuprite is available at 2 am and 2 pm ET in the Hinterlands and every 12 minutes in the Diadem at 2, 6 and 10 ET.
Morel is available at 12 am and 12 pm ET in the Hinterlands.
Crownbrush is available every 12 minutes in the Diadem at 4, 8 and 12 ET.