Many Questions: New Adventurer, Squadron, Triple Triad & More

[kwsapphire]

I talked to all of the people in the Ishgardian restoration area. I also checked out the Diadem. Please can yall let me if I correctly understand how this works?

1. Gathering jobs go into the diadem to collect "grade 2 ishgardian" versions of various crafting materials.
1a. You get XP for gathering in this way, but there's no big bonus.

2. These materials are inspected, some of them are stamped with approval
2a. Approved materials can be traded.
2b. Materials that didn't get approved cannot be traded, can't be used to craft anything, but can be sold to NPCs for gil.
2c. None of these types of materials stack, meaning the space needed to hold all your crafting materials could double in size.

3. Crafting jobs can use approved materials to craft the items currently listed as needed.
3a. You get a big crafting XP bonus for turning in these items.

4. The group events only spawn once enough materials are donated, you won't know how long this will take, so you have to keep checking back to see if that's done and then when the event will be.

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How is all of this better than the Grand Company daily requisitions? I can get a level or two per day (in most cases) by turning in "normal" (i.e. not grade 2 special doesn't-stack) crafting materials and/or items crafted with them.

That is, this restoration thing seems like a lot more work and a lot more inventory space. Is it that much more XP, to make up for it? And how do gatherers make good XP with restoration?

[Frizze]

1. Gathering jobs go into the diadem to collect "grade 2 ishgardian" versions of various crafting materials.
1a. You get XP for gathering in this way, but there's no big bonus.
To my knowledge, this is correct. My gatherers hit 80 well before this was an option, so i cant speak to the exp being awarded here.
2. These materials are inspected, some of them are stamped with approval
No materials are rejected, the issue is that they are approved in multiples of 10. Each node has 5 or 10 swings, so the best use of GP(provided you dont need to improve chance to obtain) is for the skills that give you +1 or 2 per swing for the entire node. That way your mats are always in multiples of 5.
2a. Approved materials can be traded.
And sold. Yes.
2b. Materials that didn't get approved cannot be traded, can't be used to craft anything, but can be sold to NPCs for gil.
You can vendor them off or you can stash them until next time. I tend to stash greens(there are only 4) and vendor anything else. Personally, i use the vendor IN the diadem near the exit for this so that my inventory is still ok when i leave. My non-greens are always in multiples of 5, so at most i have to sell 5 of a few stacks.
2c. None of these types of materials stack, meaning the space needed to hold all your crafting materials could double in size.
Correct. Approved and non-approved mats arent the same thing, so they dont stack. Hence my vendoring off extras before turning them in.
3. Crafting jobs can use approved materials to craft the items currently listed as needed.
The items listed as needed wont change until the next big patch(5.3), but this is accurate.
3a. You get a big crafting XP bonus for turning in these items.
Yes. Ive seen people gaining as many as 5+ levels at a time. Probly from crafting a few, then turning them all in rapid fire style. And as there is no limit, this could easily get you all the levels in very little time. The mats mostly being cheap doesnt hurt either.
4. The group events only spawn once enough materials are donated, you won't know how long this will take, so you have to keep checking back to see if that's done and then when the event will be.
You can look at the gauge in firmament to see how close it is to being filled(it is also viewable on the official website, but that one is only updated hourly). Once filled, it sets off a 30 minute countdown until the group event starts. Anyone anywhere in ishgard can see the timer on their screen. After 30 minutes, a group event spawns. Usually once the event is completed(or apparently failed, as a couple euro servers learned last week), it sets a second 8 hour timer that spawns an additional group event(not every stage has 2 group events, but most seem to). Once this second event is done, the next one doesnt spawn until the gauge is filled again. The event is worth roughly a level of exp for whatever crafting or gathering class you complete it as.

As for the overall inventory issue, my advice would be to work on one class at a time. You would therefore only be doing one recipe at a time, and only needing 3 or 4 mats at a time. Any extras others can be sold off. And honestly, if your gil situation is ok most of the mats are fairly cheap so you can just buy what you need(and only what you need) to craft with. Not as self sufficient, but if you only have 4 stacks of mats at a time your inventory is mostly free to fill with collectables before you turn them in en masse. None of this is better or worse then GC daily turn ins. Its quicker(as it has no daily limits), but takes more time and inventory space. Doing both(add whatever beast tribe quests you have available too!) is a quick way to zoom through the leveling process.

[Hasrat]

In all honesty, most crafter/gatherer content isn't terribly concerned with the experience gain part. Pretty much everything you do and everything available is easy fast levels. Once you're capped, there's not really much reason to continue doing GC turn-ins. Even beast tribes and custom deliveries won't have much to offer. But Ishgard does offer significantly more rewards that take much longer to grind out. It's effectively "end game" crafting and gathering content.

[kwsapphire]

Ahh, really excellent info. Thank you both!

[kwsapphire]

The Duty Roulette for Leveling Dungeons says that you will get additional exp and gil based on the discrepancy between your level and the dungeon. However, I can't seem to find this additional gil. The amount of gil awarded at the end (for doing the duty roulette) matches the amount shown in the queue window. An additional amount is awarded for being an adventurer in need. Where's the bonus gil? The mobs don't drop additional gil, and I can't find a line in chat showing any type of bonus awarded for level discrepancy. What am I missing?