Assigning Retainers

[Starkman]

I just got my two retainers, but I'm lost as to what to assign them as. Some say assign one based on your main class (I'm a WM), other says assign them to what you'll be gathering (I will be crafting). It's hard to understand how this works.

Apparently, as I understand it, I'll need skins and the sort, which is why one person told me to assign a retainer to WM (or, I guess, any battle class). However, another person said not to bother doing that because you can always buy the skins.

On and on it goes, and I'm just not sure what to do here. Any suggestions (maybe some sites to read up on as well)?

Thanks,

Starkman

[Enkidoh]

Welcome to Eorzea!

Whichever class you assign to your retainers is up to you, however the class they are set with will only gain exp up to whatever level you yourself have in that class (for instance, your character information says you are a level 34 CNJ - hence if you set your retainer as a CNJ then they will only level up to 34 until you yourself exceed that level. Accordingly if you set a class to your retainer that you have never levelled and is still at level 1 on our main character, then that retainer will also be frozen at level 1 in that class forever and never gain exp). So be mindful of this.

As for setting a Job, you can set a Job to your retainer when they reach level 30, but it doesn't seem to affect their ability to bring back better items (it's mostly just handy for being able to equip high level Job-only gear like Artifact Armour that they can't equip as a class). I'm not sure what you mean by 'skin' as that term is not used here in FFXIV though.

This page has more information on retainers and the retainer venture system.

[Starkman]

Endikoh,

Thank you very much for your response.

More specifically now, why would I want to assign my retainers to White Mage (which I am)? Exactly what am I going to get from them that will benefit me as a White Mage. Further, why wouldn't I want to assign the two retainers to gatherer classes (Min, Bot or Fish)? Wouldn't that make sense; I'm going to get stuff I need for crafting that way (at least, that's my thinking).

As to skins, someone told me that retainers assigned to a battle class will bring back skins and stuff—again, what am I going to do with this if I can't craft with it? And if I need it, can't I just buy it, or is it more beneficial to get this stuff from a retainer assigned to a battle class rather than getting mats from gathering classes?

These are the issues that are confusing me. Oh, and I made note of that site you gave me, and I'm on it!

Thanks.

[Sumizu]

Most people say to assign your adventurer class retainer to the class you currently are because then you can just give your old gear to your retainer instead of getting some new ones. Adventurer classes can gather items that you would get from killing mobs, so I guess that helps if you'd really prefer not to camp a place and kill 100 of the same mobs for drops you need.

EDIT: also, you could always sell it on the market board if you don't need the drops / mats your retainer brings back. I'm not exactly an expert on this, but I'd imagine a high-leveled retainer could bring in a lot of dough if you send it out and sell the mats they bring back.

[Rongway]

The venture benefit of combat retainers is that you can send them on one hour ventures to obtain specific monster parts. Skins, hairs, meats, bones, etc. There are a specific few of these that only drop from monsters inside of dungeons, which means the only way to get them yourself is to go into the dungeon syncked and hope the stuff drops to you. This is time consuming and the expected yield per run is quite low because other people have an equal chance of getting the drops. However, once you have a combat retainer at the appropriate level, you can specify, "I want you to bring back this item." You will then be guaranteed 10 of that item while you go do something more fun for an hour.

[Starkman]

Ah, thanks, Sumizu and Rongway. Thanks very much. That helps a lot.
I'll assign one retainer as a combat class and the other as, oh, maybe a Bot.
Sadly, though, I didn't save any of my previous gear to give to the retainer. Oh well.

Thanks again.

[Hasrat]

To reiterate, retainers can only level equivalent to your own experience in any assigned class.

Unless you level yourself as a Botanist, your retainer will remain a level 1 Botanist, and will not be able to bring back any materials that require a higher level.

[Frizze]

Another thing, your gathering(MIN/BOT/FSH) retainer can only bring back things you yourself have gathered at least once. This isnt an issue too often(its mostly annoying with timed nodes), as most people end up leveling their gatherers(at least miner and botanist) so they can get some of their crafting mats for free. Plus it lets you multi-task. You can go get one thing while telling your retainer to get a separate one you will also need.

[MistakeNot]

As a final piece of advice: Only make a retainer a FSH if you already have all the other options (battle class/MIN/BOT). Fisher is easily the least useful of the retainers - there are many fishes it can't bring back, and of the ones it can catch only a handful are useful.

If you only have two retainers (which is the default unless you pay extra for more) then make one of them your main class and the other either a Miner or a Botanist OR make them Miner and Botanist. (Assuming you yourself level up MIN/BOT of course.)
Both variants are good and useful, and it is pretty much a matter of taste which to use.

Retainers with a battle class/job (such as WHM) can indeed bring back hides/skins and bones and other animal parts that can be obtained as drops from enemies. Nearly all of these are used in crafting - in particular Leatherworkers need all those hides to make leather, Culinarians need meat and eggs for many recipes, and so on.

You can of course buy all crafting materials from the Marketboard, but it can get very expensive to do it that way.

Retainers provide a way of getting crafting materials while you do something else, instead of you going out there and gathering it all yourself.

[Starkman]

Thanks very much, Hasrat, Frizze and MistakeNot. Your information, and the posters above you, gives me everything I needed.

Thanks again!