Two and a half hours. That's how long I've spent trying to get new gear for my BTN and MNR -- both of which are 30.

The majority of that time has been spent combing through the Lodestone recipes list and sites like ZAM/Yellow Gremlin/FFXIV-DB.

Honestly, XI was my only other MMO, so I'm not too sure what the standard is, but this can't be right, can it? If SE is qoing to leave it up to fansites to list the where and how of basic equipment acquisition, shouldn't they at least give those sites the information?

I mean, it seems these sites have no idea about certain changes like what NPCs sell things. So I need to look up on a fansite what items are good for my character, then on the forum 1.19 patch notes to see if it's sold by an NPC if it's missing from the wARDS -- because god forbid if there was a complete listing of potential items there -- then over to the Lodestone recipes list to see if I can make it. But even then I'm not sure if I can make it because the recipes may be 21 or they may be 30, who knows?

Sad thing is, after all that time, I still can't find some equipment dated or new for some slots, so I have to go back to wearing items which are "optimal" for between 7 and 18 until I get to 38.