Some help on gear path

[Tiva]

I'm new to the world of gathering and my friends in game haven't been able to offer me much advice besides "just buy the crafted gear". Wondering if anyone else can give different advice..

So I got to 60 btn basically just turning in old world fig over and over... nothing that I can remember in game directed me that I should have been getting scripts while leveling.. the other collectable stuff I could turn in seemed so hard to get because of the high collectability requirement so I just stuck with figs... So I got to 60 without getting any scripts... but now I'm trying to get collectible items to get gear and I can't collect anything...
I'm trying this "get one" rotation I found online
Reveal with hit
Discerning Eye
Methodical Appraisal
Discerning Eye
Methodical Appraisal
Utmost Caution
Methodical Appraisal
Utmost Caution
Methodical Appraisal
Collect


But I mostly get nothing or it doesn't actually put the collectability high enough to turn the item in. Really not sure what I'm doing wrong here. My gear isn't very good, sure. Is the only option to buy the crafted set? It is pretty expensive and I don't gather enough that I'm confident I will get return on my investment. Is there anything I can gather at lower gear levels to make some money before I invest in the crafted gear? I'd feel better if I could make the money I need to buy it first instead of just gushing out the money and trusting I'll gain it back.

ELI5 if you can please. I really know nothing about gathering. Didn't even know what scripts were until my friend said I need them for gear... I'm just a poor raider here trying to figure out a way to make a bit more cash to afford my raid food, pots, and melds. ;__; Sorry if my questions are annoying. I have tried to look up guides but most of them I've found are just the rotations but with no explanation of what to try and gather, what is easier, what gear you need to get it, etc... So i'm lost.

[Alien_Gamer]

This thread has some useful advice for collectible rotations.
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ring-rotations

Appraisal for collectibles is based off perception. If you can't do a collectible with that rotation then your gear is just too low. Buy some lv 60 crafted gear, the serpentskin set (http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Se..._Gathering_Set) runs about 100k-200k per piece.

Also, you'll need 600GP to do the collectible rotations. Use the accessories from the trailblazer set (http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Trailblazer%27s_Set), you may need to meld on a couple gp materia to break 600GP.

Do the quest for aetherial reduction and gather the lv 58/60 items, as collectibles, from the ephemeral nodes. Reduce them to get landborne/leafborne aethersands. Those sell between 50k-200k depending on your server. I can get 2-4 every hour, more if I'm lucky. In a week you'll have everything paid off.
Also, if you don't craft, you can sell the crystals/clusters you get from the reductions.

I think that will be the easiest way for you to make gil quickly. Maintaining some earnings with aetherial reduction doesn't take much work either. Good luck.

[RojGardoth]

Here's a good guide: http://ffxivrealm.com/guides/ff14-he...e-tsukino.157/