Where are the hardcoded (non-MB) gold "faucets" in FFXIV?

[Omedon]

I just ran into my first "I need WHAT?" moment since my return to the game this month, and while it didn't last long (for reasons I'll explain in a moment) it did raise a new question that I'd like to ask here.

So I'm late in Heavensward, leveling and loving how the "road to 70" makes the MSQ a one stop shop for all the XP I need and, until now, all the gear I need so long as I focus one class at a time. "Until now" I say because with a quest-reward (and some lucky dungeon drops from my singular runs for story advancement) item level of 130 I ran into an item level block of another 12 average levels to run the next dungeon in the story.

Now this is where my head exploded because, up until now, the MSQ-dedicated approach to leveling has been a curated, self sufficient fun time of mostly questing and the odd low-responsibility (I am ranged DPS after all) dungeon. Fine stuff, totally fair. Running into the ilvl block I was momentarily shocked, but only until I got back to town and checked first the market board, and then more importantly the NPC vendors right next to them. The NPC vendors were selling like... over-100-level ilvl upgrades for about 15k. The MB had HQ versions of the same items for... five times the amount for the same items.

"Ok then," I said to myself, "never buying gear from players." I bought some jewelry from one of the NPC vendors, and it put me well over the needed ilvl to proceed. All was well.

Except for... one remaining question, and the reason for this post.

I've hoarded about 400,000 gil at this point, having bought not very much on the way up because, again, the MSQ was gearing me just fine, but the 15k price tags on this NPC had me wondering if there's a game-side gold faucet that I might take note of in the future. I felt kinda poor as I realized I could actually spend like half of my life savings jacking my ilvl up over a hundred points through just this NPC gil-based merchant alone.

Now maybe the answer is "to save money, make it yourself," and yes I plan to level some crafting classes. If that's the answer, ok, I accept that... but I find that in other games, for every gold/gil expenditure that isn't meant to actually be a long term sink (and we can't really call leveling gear a long term sink, can we?), there's a faucet somewhere, a place where the game provides gold through quest rewards or something similar, so the player can work their way to get all the minor game-level sinks like... well, NPC vendor gear.

Where are these repeatable faucets in FFXIV? Leves? Dungeons? Something else? Or is the answer indeed "don't want to spend? Make it yourself!"

To be clear, a gold faucet does not touch the market board, which is a product of the community, not the game (thus the inflated "PC economy" prices). So before anyone says "make things and sell them," that's not a faucet, that's moving money around between players.

Thanks in advance for any and all helpful replies

[Kidria]

18hr retainer ventures--which ventures can be gotten via GC, dailies, etc--will typically result in Allagan pieces. Bronze, silver, and gold depending on level, and those are purely for money.

You can also open a craft and work on desynthing, which is when you break down old gear/some materials/fish for either base components or some rare items. Arguably you can say this isn't a "facet" but at times you can get clear demimateria which is purely for the sake of selling to NPCs for raw gil, so its half-n-half.

Otherwise I can't think of much else that's a natural 'facet' for money outside of marketboard manipulation and watching.

[Omedon]

18hr retainer ventures--which ventures can be gotten via GC, dailies, etc--will typically result in Allagan pieces. Bronze, silver, and gold depending on level, and those are purely for money.

You can also open a craft and work on desynthing, which is when you break down old gear/some materials/fish for either base components or some rare items. Arguably you can say this isn't a "facet" but at times you can get clear demimateria which is purely for the sake of selling to NPCs for raw gil, so its half-n-half.

Those are both good starts for where to look, thank you!

To speak WoW-ese for a second: Overall, the returns from certain access-level repeatable activities in WoW give "respectable" coin. Not the levels an auction/marketboard baron would call respectable, but the kinds of values where unless you're buying an actual gold sink (the 5m G mount that's available right now, or game time for gold) you're pretty comfortable and not thinking of the day to day expenses like repairs or transportation.

That's kind of what I'm looking for in FFXIV, so I can get over my newly found STARK TERROR of parting with 500 Gil for an apartment. If that 400Gil level 60 MSQ hoard can never be duplicated... well, that kind of sucks.

[Limecat]

The game was mostly designed without them. There are very few genuine vendor trash items in the game, and you don't get those with any kind of useful frequency or quantity. There are lots of little trickle-charge type things though, as you've already noticed; the weekly challenge log entries can account for teleport gil, if nothing else. The closest thing to what you're after would probably be treasure map portals, though those require a party and some RNG to get much done. Your other option is to not worry about the HQ gear, since the few extra points don't really matter for combat gear while leveling.

[Hasrat]

You've only been playing a short while. Gil just comes naturally the longer you play, the more you do. The challenge log alone usually throws a few piles of gil at everyone every week. Some of the daily roulettes and grinding dungeons result in a trickle of gil. The tomestones that are rewarded are also often just traded to items to sell for more gil when players don't need anything anymore. The further you get into the game, the more opportunities there are.

Personally, probably the easiest source at 70 is unlocking Eureka. Lockboxes dropped from all the bosses you'll be fighting will have more materia than you'll ever need.

Additionally, for your ilvl boost, you'd be better served heading back to Mor Dhona to pick up the i120 Ironworks gear sold for Poetics tomestones. These can be further upgraded to i130 if you have a pressing need for it as well. After 50, this will be the common thing until you reach end game. Every ten levels, at the end of each expansion's content, you'll be able to get the best gear for that expansion's level cap by trading in your Poetics. It's gear that will mostly serve you through at least half of the next expansion.

[Omedon]

Additionally, for your ilvl boost, you'd be better served heading back to Mor Dhona to pick up the i120 Ironworks gear sold for Poetics tomestones. These can be further upgraded to i130 if you have a pressing need for it as well. After 50, this will be the common thing until you reach end game. Every ten levels, at the end of each expansion's content, you'll be able to get the best gear for that expansion's level cap by trading in your Poetics. It's gear that will mostly serve you through at least half of the next expansion.

This is a great tip, thank you for that!

[Kidria]

Those are both good starts for where to look, thank you!

To speak WoW-ese for a second: Overall, the returns from certain access-level repeatable activities in WoW give "respectable" coin. Not the levels an auction/marketboard baron would call respectable, but the kinds of values where unless you're buying an actual gold sink (the 5m G mount that's available right now, or game time for gold) you're pretty comfortable and not thinking of the day to day expenses like repairs or transportation.

That's kind of what I'm looking for in FFXIV, so I can get over my newly found STARK TERROR of parting with 500 Gil for an apartment. If that 400Gil level 60 MSQ hoard can never be duplicated... well, that kind of sucks.

There's no real repeatable 'respectable' coin quest like WoW. As others mentioned, as you progress you naturally get quite a bit of gil. If you do dungeons and get those sets, and take the quest gear, you TYPICALLY are high enough ilvl to continue. Sometimes there are throttle points, but I feel after HW they become a lot less gear-throttles and more level-throttles.

The retainer ventures however are pretty good about getting you money. The allagan pieces add up quickly, and sometimes they do return with useful items you can sell on the MB. They're easy to level, too. When they are higher in level you can do hunting ventures (if they are adventurer classes) for mats that sell well on your server, or do quick ventures and they can bring back gear you can break down/turn in for GC seals (which you can use to buy mats to sell as well) or even rare dyes.

Typically tho, almost all methods of obtaining gil require the market board tho. But honestly unless you're an end game raider or own a house, you kinda don't need a lot of gil to begin with, as the game's at tier gear at level caps are gotten from tomestones or raids themselves. FF14 is pretty friendly in that regard.

GLAMOUR however. That's it's own game LOL

[LaylaTsarra]

I've personally found that making gil is pretty easy as you progress through story especially with hq quest gear you can sell that isn't related to your role. Gil from dungeons and quests adds up as well. If you spend a lot of gil on gearing from NPC's and MB you'll not amass a lot of gil by endgame in my opinion unless you take the time to level gather/craft and sell things on the MB.

Buying an FC room or apartment or house is a gill sink but that is only the beginning of the expenses given that furnishing those will cost a lot more in the end that the room itself.

GLAMOUR however. That's it's own game LOL

Glamour prices have sky-rocketed since the start of Shadowbringers in my opinion. Lots and lots of new players buying it and it's hard to say if prices will ever return to pre xpac pricing.

[Kirsten_Rev]

So I'm late in Heavensward, leveling and loving how the "road to 70" makes the MSQ a one stop shop for all the XP I need and, until now, all the gear I need so long as I focus one class at a time. "Until now" I say because with a quest-reward (and some lucky dungeon drops from my singular runs for story advancement) item level of 130 I ran into an item level block of another 12 average levels to run the next dungeon in the story.

Methinks you may have forgotten to do your Job Quest series. The level 60 concluding quest gives a coffer that provides i200 gear for your left-hand side slots (not counting your weapon). That's what bumps you up for the next step.

More on-point, as others have mentioned, there aren't really Gil 'faucets' in XIV: it's just really easy to accumulate Gil over time. Challenge Log entries, dungeon runs, selling items Retainers bring back on the MB... it'll accumulate surprisingly quickly. If you level DoH / DoL classes, it'll go even faster, because you won't have to spend hardly anything at all on leveling gear for other jobs. Slow and steady wins the race for most players in XIV.

[LauraAdalena]

Not gonna lie, since I'm not used to anyone who calls the currency of FFXIV "gold" I thought you meant you needed faucets for your house and I was immensely confused by your post until i realized what you meant. (not a big MMO player outside this one lol)

There are other ways not mentioned here that don't involve crafting. If you are really desperate for gil or gear you can desynthesize (which someone else mentioned) or more. But you can't really make good gil/gold without the Market Board in this game sadly. I think the easiest way to make lots of gil without the MB are treasure maps, but the ones you want can't be obtained until level 60+. And once you can get them you can get a party together and see how far you can get in the treasure map dungeons. If you get at least 2 levels down each run it's like 20k per run minus whatever you get in there you can sell on the Market Board. At least I think so.