why do you get relic upgrade materials from crystal tower?

[Packetdancer]

I have to admit, "I want a Bozjan relic weapon tied to the Bozja storyline without having to do the Bozja storyline" strikes me a little like a tank going "I want to play PLD because I like the aesthetic, but I don't want to have to actually ever tank or do my job quests to do it."

I don't mean that to be insulting, but rather to illustrate that sometimes, bits of content are inherently intertwined.

They never said people wouldn't have to interact with Bozja to do the relic weapons. They said they would provide a way to grind the materials for the relics outside of Bozja, and I think they have done that. People have complained you couldn't do things in Eureka like level jobs while you worked at a relic; Bozja allows you to take in a job at 71 and earn XP while you do level 80 content, and the materials can be farmed outside of Bozja. Which, it seems to me, is a genuine effort to address those.

I admit I think they could've made it more clear from the beginning that you would need to progress the storyline to pass a certain step of the relics because the Bozja storyline and the relics are inherently intertwined, just like you have to have completed the 5.3 MSQ in order to do the current raid tier (because story in 5.3 affects impacts story happening after it in the raid series). Because while they never said that wouldn't be the case—and in fact, did explicitly say in previous live letter content that relics would be tied to advancing the Bozja story—they were vague enough that I think some people feel like they were misled because they didn't realize the Bozja story content was tied to the Bozja instance duties.

If you want Edenmorn gear, you need to do savage. If you want the shiny Ultimate weapons, you need to clear Ultimates. If you want the Eureka weapons, you need to do Eureka. If you want the crafter relics, you need to do crafting. And if you want the final form of Bozjan Resistance weapons, you need to engage with Bozja.

Now, that said... Bozja isn't without some serious flaws. For instance, I really, really wish that the Bozja content had a better balance on getting those materials. Having the better drop rates for the materials be outside of Bozja is frustrating; have the mats available outside of Bozja, but have the drop rates better inside. Make Castrum drop 3 per run upon clear! That would keep Castrum active for people who need it to advance the story anyway. (And also Castrum should've been moved to a queue-in-to-it duty like Delubrum Reginae is, so you don't have people wait 45 minutes for a shot at Castrum that never fills.)

Bozja ain't perfect, though I do rather enjoy it. But the relic weapons are part of Bozja, just like Edenmorn weapons are part of savage.

[Ryaz]

I did 3 ARR relics pre nerf, like 4 or 5 heavensward ones pre nerf. Trust me, these see the easiest relics have ever been.


People just want to be able to do nothing and get good gear

The relics in ARR were as strong or stronger than Tome/Savage gear. The relics in ShB are objectively worse than even Tomestone weapons and are currently only good for the glamour. And I think Eureka was easier. You could literally AFK that place and get your crystals.

And your last line is such a bad cliche. People don't mind the grind when it's fun an interesting. Running Syrcus 15 times in a row, Void Ark 15 times and Rabanastre 15 times isn't exactly fun. It's just a mind-numbing slog. The only part I'm looking forward to is the Reginae section as I enjoy the fights there despite the mettle loss.

They really need to do something about Castrum, though. Tying to relic grind to the story is fine and all, but when people started late and literally can't clear the story because no one wants to do it, there's a problem.

[Hausti]

I admit I think they could've made it more clear from the beginning that you would need to progress the storyline to pass a certain step of the relics because the Bozja storyline and the relics are inherently intertwined, just like you have to have completed the 5.3 MSQ in order to do the current raid tier (because story in 5.3 affects impacts story happening after it in the raid series). Because while they never said that wouldn't be the case—and in fact, did explicitly say in previous live letter content that relics would be tied to advancing the Bozja story—they were vague enough that I think some people feel like they were misled because they didn't realize the Bozja story content was tied to the Bozja instance duties.

I think the better solution would have been binding your "first" relic weapon to the bozja instance, like the whole grind and all that (even castrum). And once completed allowing the fatefarming outside of bozja for every other ALT job.

[YuyuZ]

One thing I liked was the weekly quest that gave you mettle and 3 gold coins for doing the new bozjan raid. Imagine if they had a weekly quest for Castrum where the reward was mettle and 8 memories of your choosing from the different memory categories. At least Tuesdays would give people a chance to do Castrum, contribute to their relic over time, and if people wanted their relic sooner they could grind for it.

[Ryaz]

I think the better solution would have been binding your "first" relic weapon to the bozja instance, like the whole grind and all that (even castrum). And once completed allowing the fatefarming outside of bozja for every other ALT job.

Yeah, I feel they dropped the ball by making the Bozja memory drop rates so terrible compared to FATE farming. A lot more people would have toughed it out in Bozja if it had more equal odds. The problem is that they gave a completely alternative way for the first steps and then took it away. Not the best design decision.

[van_arn]

I like the idea of requiring 24mans as an alternative, but it really should've been Heavensward/Stormblood/Shadowbringers 24-mans (no fates) rather than give any additional incentive to run Crystal Tower.

I'm perfectly fine with relics requiring so much work you'd be mad to do more than one or two.

[Seraphor]

It's nuts that the CT raids are the easier alternative (to Bozjan CE's) while the HW and SB raids are the harder alternative (to FATEs).
Just cements Alliance Roulette as the CT roulette even more.

[LisSquid]

Bozjan relics are just glamour. Is there a single job that uses the relic as their BiS?

People just want to be able to do nothing and get good gear

Edit: SE PLEASE STOP USING CT FOR YOUR FILLER CONTENT. So many other instances to choose from!

[Dogempire]

Snip.

Eh, I think the bigger issue is that Bozja is hot garbage that the devs hit all the wrong notes for except for maybe the 24 man content that nobody wants to run past the initial clear. If they really wanted people to do Bozja they should have tied one of the steps to fate grinding in Bozja before forcing us to delve into the new 24 man raids, instead of what they're currently doing where you're forced to play catch up when previously there was absolutely no reason to ever set foot in there.

They should do the smart thing and either increase rewards for the 24 man raids, or create a single player Castrum and Delubrum instance that you can do after hitting rank 10 that you have to do for the relic quest while keeping the 24 man content as optional, or both.

If I wanted to do open world fate grinding-esque content I would play GW2 since that game blows Bozja out of the water with its open world content and meta events. Bozja is just bad and it's like they just ignored everything anyone's ever done with Eureka style content and copy-pasted a bunch of fates and pseudo-instances bosses into a zone and then cut it in 3 while adding barriers between the zones

[MeiraStarborne]

Now, that said... Bozja isn't without some serious flaws. For instance, I really, really wish that the Bozja content had a better balance on getting those materials. Having the better drop rates for the materials be outside of Bozja is frustrating; have the mats available outside of Bozja, but have the drop rates better inside. Make Castrum drop 3 per run upon clear! That would keep Castrum active for people who need it to advance the story anyway. (And also Castrum should've been moved to a queue-in-to-it duty like Delubrum Reginae is, so you don't have people wait 45 minutes for a shot at Castrum that never fills.)

Bozja ain't perfect, though I do rather enjoy it. But the relic weapons are part of Bozja, just like Edenmorn weapons are part of savage.

^^ This.

I enjoy Bozja. I like the Skirmish and Critical Engagement grind. But why are memories so much harder to get inside of Bozja than out? Why incentivize what is (I thought) the alternate method over the intended method for acquiring the upgrade materials?

I'm sadly only Rank 10 because I didn't have the time to rush grind to 15 in a day like many people did. I could do a little at a time, and by the time I hit Rank 10 it was very difficult to find a group running Skirmishes. Thankfully I did manage to get to Rank 10, unlock and run Castrum. I feel really bad for those who still need it and are having a hard time getting a group to fill. It's just awful the way that raid functions. Waiting for it to pop, then hoping to find enough people within your Bozja instance is brutal.

I love the new raid. I'm also desperate for the new hairstyle, so I'll be spamming it until I get that drop. I wish random, rare drops weren't the only incentive for doing that raid more than once (since I don't think 510 gear is really enough to keep people coming back for more, though I could be wrong.

Overall, I don't mind that SE gave alternative methods to farm the relic materials. But I'll never understand why the methods outside Bozja are guaranteed drops while the methods inside have such a low drop rate. As others have said, it's like SE doesn't really want us to be in Bozja at all....