Retainer gathering requirements

[Lelila38]

I finally decided to level up my DoL classes, naturally resulting in my retainers also being able to continue leveling and I've come across something that really irks me. The stat requirements to allow retainers to gather the new mats are just insane!
A simple lv61 item requires the retainer to have 600!! gathering? Even my own character who is wearing the full set ironworks gear (granted not fully melded but still) doesn't come close to 600 gathering. How the hell am I supposed to give my retainer stats that high? And the item I want to gather is only 1 level higher. This is seriously broken!

[Roth_Trailfinder]

A well-geared retainer at level 60 has enough Gathering to get everything (at minimum or medium quantities) available to a level 70 gatherer (except, of course, the levels).

I’d suggest, when the best Gathering set comes out for 4.x, gear your gathering retainers in that, melded for Gathering and Perception as much as possible (ignore GP, unlike your own gear).

For now, however, check to see what gear you can buy (either off of vendors or off of the board), meld it for Gathering, max spiritbind it yourself, then give it to your retainer(s) for their own use. Alternatively, meld it, give it to them, and then spiritbind it after its been outgrown. You can get left side gathering gear, NQ, from vendors. Right side, just make sure its melded for Gathering and then maybe Perception.

Run some Ixali’s if you need easy-to-get T1, T2, or T3 materia for this.

EDIT- My retainers are better geared than most, for level 60 gear. At 70, without having gotten a single upgrade from his i200 and Gathering/Perception melded i190 HQ, one of my retainers is at 904 Gathering, 906 Perception.

I am very slowly (because so many other things, mostly non-FF14 related, eat up my time) getting i300 token gear for my retainers. I’m almost done with one of them, then I have one more Botanist, 2 Miners, and 1 Fisher to gear up that way. Start doing that sort of thing yourself, and you won’t have many issues come 5.x ...

[TallonOverworld]

My fisher retainer also hit 61 yesterday so we are in the same path.
To reach 600 gathering you will definitely need to buy some additional hq ironworks gear (i bought rod/legs/feet) melded with Vs/IVs to reach gathering cap of each piece.
You can use some of the crafted gear from the markets also hq and melded.
I recommend you buy each piece and meld them independently so you can keep an eye on your gathering to avoid buying more than you need.

[Lelila38]

My point is, it's lv61 so still leveling. Any gear I equip him with now will be obsolete in a couple more lvls. And the requirements jump from 405 on 60 to 600 on 61?? Wtf?
I'm just saying a retainer on lv61 equipped in 61 gear should be able to gather lv61 stuff without having to pentameld. Leave that for max lvl.

[Ksenia]

I get what you are saying. I kind of balked at the numbers myself at first but then I just kind of rolled with the punches and got mine to 63 with whatever 18Hr I could do, then put NQ vendor stuff on them. 65 was the next set, same ceremony and whatever I could gather with it.

[LunaChild]

I think lv60 white gears HQ give you enough 600 gathering?

edit:
my bad, I didn't see it's for FSH venture.

anyway with upto lv 61 HQ gears melded with IV gathering on safe slot is enough for 600, hope it's help.

http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/13AZM <- example

[Lelila38]

I know I could reach it with melding, but honestly I don't want to waste materia on gear I'll trash in maybe 3-4 more levels. Having to meld to reach the stats is fine on max lvl, but during leveling, with the rate you change gear, it's just a waste imo.

[LunaChild]

I understand, just want to help you plan the gear progression for retainer .

btw with set in the link, you only needed to upgrade main hand to lv.62 Rod HQ (no meld) and you will have 687 Gathering enough for lv69 exploration (677 required).

[Lelila38]

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into it and see if I want to invest the materia. Thinking about it, grade IV should be easy enough to come by these days, so I'll probably just do what you suggested.

[LunaChild]

If you don't want to invest the materias, you can continue lower tier exploration until your retainer able to equip better gears, the stats lv61+ gear provided also leap from lv 60 normal gears. It's take time but that's still an option.