The new relic step has created quite a bit of controversy within the community. The copy/paste from Step 1 to Step 2 of just "grab 1500 tomes" has left players extremely disappointed with the hope of a new relic grind! Some players contribute it to "Well players complained so this is what we got!" or "I hate grinds so this is great!", but in reality it is just lazy design.


I believe the concept of the relic should be to bring replayability back into the patch/expansion it is built for. This can be achieved with/or without a new exploratory zone. Funneling players into current content is, in my opinion, a vital piece this game has been missing. Give the player options, but not endless options like a simple tome grind (Which to some was login, turn in tomes already passively gathered in previous patch, done).


How can this be achieved? Lets take this step as an example with the hildabrand format.

Option #1: Since a new exploratory zone is not a thing, instead make this option GATEs from the Golden Saucer. This will give X amount of a particular token we need for the relic step. If this was an exploratory zone, make this option the most optimal to entice players to do the content. Since it is just the golden saucer, balance it around the other options normally.

Option #2: Unlock Savage tier in 6.3 for players to farm. Once 6.3.5 hits, also add an option in this relic step to grab X amount of tokens from the savage fights. Balance them around the other options and the fights themselves (give more tokens for the 4th floor as opposed to the first floor for instance).

Option #3: Current Alliance Raid (Euprhosyne and/or Aglaia) gives X amount of tokens toward the relic for completion. This gives players a reason to go into the raid more than once a week.

Option #4: Criterion/Criterion Savage gives X amount of tokens for completion (more from savage of course!) This gives a reason to go back in if you can do the content

Option #5: Deep Dungeon (for this patch specifically. Just depends on what comes out around the relic step) has a % chance to grant X amount of tokens per floor completed. Give players another incentive to try the new Deep dungeon!

Option #6: Zone X FATEs give % chance to grant X amount of tokens per FATE completed with a Gold rating. Bring players back out into specific zone(s) inbetween queues and PF fills for relic grinding!



All of these options are within the current expansions content, and all are accessible ways of grinding toward the next relic simultaneously. This allows for both replayability while also mixing things up for players who grind out multiple relics. Also, with multiple options outside of an expansion's exploratory zone (in this example swapped out for gold saucer), Relics are more future proofed as many of the options will be unsyncable/soloable/queueable.

Bring replayability to your content!!