The ilevel 70 weapon makes all the difference. I gave my Fisher the level 70 rod, the ilevel 55 HQ AF gear and HQ accessories (the old stuff not the ilevel 55 1 star ones) with only 1 or 2 melds using grade 1 / 2 materia and i was able to send them to do the XV explorations. The fishing rod is a pain to get, but the second one is ALOT easier to get since you have the upgraded rod. Took me like 30 hours to get the first Rod, (spent a weekend or two getting it) and it only took about 10 hours to get the second one. Just get a controller with vibrate and watch netflix.