Rarity

[Vidu]

You forget the real obstacle before starting the grind:
How to unlock Mentor-roulettes.

->One must have completed all dungeons / normal trials / 8-men-raids / 24 people-raids and all old Ex-trials (which is at the moment everything from ARR up to Stormblood) to have access to the roulette.

EDIT: Or, in short, you need to complete everything that isn't Savage-, Ultimate- or current Ex-content.

I kinda assumed that someone whos looking for things to keep them entertained that requirement wouldnt be to much of an obstacles, to be honest. Unlocking and clearing all of that content seemed like something one would do before looking for rare stuff to grind out - and even if OP doesnt have everything unlocked, they said they dont mind a grind. They did mention though that they usually restrict their characters to specific jobs/roles - something you cant do if you want mentor-status. So that might actually be the bigger problem here, before we even talk about the other conditions involved - like the 1.5 commendations and the 1k of completed duties or, in the end, the requirements to unlock the mentor-roulette.

[DrWho2010]

I think Japan/Asia got the book out early in May if I am not wrong.

jp square enix store released it at the end of march. so those people that ordered from there had it before mid-april and all the covid stuff really hit.

[MelodyCrystel]

[...]Unlocking and clearing all of that content seemed like something one would do before looking for rare stuff to grind out - and even if OP doesnt have everything unlocked, they said they dont mind a grind. [...]

Not necessarily, when you consider people were already complaining in the past because some trials needed for Mentor-roulettes are locked behind sidequests. (Hildibrand's battles are a common example for fights players like to not complete.) Several optional dungeons are also falling into that category.

To add from my personal experience, I find the work one has to put into the Astrope-grind these days kind of overwhelming.
->Reflecting on all factors involved, I had it fairly easy when I picked the challenge up in the last winter of Heavensward a ka before Stormblood got released. Not as many recs needed to become a Mentor in first place; not as many completed instances to unlock the roulette; not as many troublesome trials possible to happen on the road.

[Lissandra]

you can bot the crafting too, just get back from your tv break every few hours to deliver all the items unless someone has made a bot program for that too.

Why though? It's not as good as doing manually and getting max collectibility reliably. Can you even with macros? I am working towards this mount and have not resorted to botting. I hate that stuff.

[KageTokage]

Why though? It's not as good as doing manually and getting max collectibility reliably. Can you even with macros? I am working towards this mount and have not resorted to botting. I hate that stuff.

There are reliable minimum collectability macros and it's entirely feasible to get all of the achievements with a quantity > quality approach.

It doesn't help that many botters are already filthy rich and can afford to mass purchase mats off the MB if they still need more after their lengthy gathering sessions.

[Espritduo]

Yeah, the bots may only be able to bang out an expert craft with half the collectabilty as a real crafter, but when they can do it 24 hours a day, every day, with infinite mats, as opposed to your 8-16 hours a day, it doesn't matter.