How do I get scrips?

[Vandril]

Can anyone tell me where I can get these things called favors that are supposed to give you access to special gathering nodes? i really hope this doesn't involve HAVING to be online at a certain hour of the day just to access the gathering node.

You can buy them with Red Gatherer's Scrips. I believe it was at a ratio of 5:1 (Favors:Scrips). You just use them and spam normal nodes in the appropriate zone. Each normal node completely emptied while the favor buff is active has a small chance to spawn a special favour-specific node which grants one of a few items used by DoH classes. Note that the only way to get DoL (Gathering) gear is also Red Scrips, so you need to choose between gearing yourself or buying favors and collecting those rare items.

Unfortunately for your hopes, the only way to get the materials needed to turn in for Scrips (Red or Blue) is to be online for those nodes that only spawn at specific times (unspoiled nodes). If you don't want to do that, you're locked out of dealing with favors, too.

Is there some good guide out there I can read on how to gather the stuff needed for scrips?

Not that I know of. There's tidbits of information everywhere, but I've not found a consolidated guide for it.

Most of it really isn't that complicated, though. Just find out which items are turned in for which scrips, look up the time of Eorzean day/night these nodes spawn, and collect them via the Collector's Gloves ability. The hard part (until you learn how it works) is raising the rarity of these items high enough to turn them in. That's best figured out with some experimentation, but I can at least give some general advice:

• Don't use Toil to reveal unspoiled node items, you'll need your GP to increase rarity. Look up which slot the item you need appears in and just mine it once - that will reveal it.
• 600 GP is preferable at level 60 for collectibles. Seriously, it makes your life much, much easier. You'll struggle without it.
• Discerning Eye, Single Mind, Impulsive Appraisal, and Methodical Appraisal are your best friends. Most of the solid rarity rotations for most items involve those 4.