Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward just released, and with it has arrived all-new endgame content. You may be wondering what methods there are for acquiring gear upgrades. If so, you're at the right place. Below I'll go over what content is available at 60 and how to best upgrade your gear to become stronger and/or prepare to take on the expansion's first raid, Alexander.
Complete the Story First
Before you can move on to most of the endgame content, you will need to finish your main story quest. The final quest is called "Heavensward", and you'll know when you complete it because credits will roll after you defeat the final boss. You can see the full list of Heavensward main story quests for reference here.
Run Level 60 Dungeons
The first order of business is running the level 60 dungeons. In order to enter them, you will need to be at item level 145. If you are short of this number, you can consider buying items off the Market Ward, or heading to Azys Lla where a vendor just east of the Alpha Quadrant aetheryte crystal will sell you item level 150 items. Be aware that these items are actually worse than the item level 145 equipment you are provided from quests, but will at least allow you to enter the level 60 dungeons to obtain better gear.
Once you are item level 145, proceed to the following quests to unlock each of the two level 60 dungeons:
- Neverreap: Reap What You Sow
- The Fractal Continuum: Do It for Gilly
Obtain Tomestones of Law
As with previous eras of Final Fantasy XIV, tomestones are the main means of upgrading your gear to a high level. Currently, Tomestones of Law are what you're looking for. You can acquire them by running Neverreap and The Fractal Continuum. You will also receive a bonus when you complete these dungeons and someone in your group is running them for their first time.
Duty Roulettes are a great way to mix things up. Able to be run daily, rewards for completion are the following:
- Duty Roulette: High Level - 100 law
- Duty Roulette: Low Level - 100 law
- Duty Roulette: Expert - 80 law + 80 law from boss kills
- Duty Roulette: Trials - 60 law
Upgrade Your Gear with Hunts
Hunts are once again a big part of endgame in Final Fantasy XIV. There are two flavors of these, daily/weekly hunts and A/S rank hunts. The daily and weekly hunts can be obtained from a board outside of The Forgotten Knight in Ishgard. The weekly hunt offers 100 Centurio Seals, while the daily hunts come in a variety of three ranks each offering varying amount of Centurio Seals.
The second way to hunt is to join a party (the Party Finder is helpful for this) and search both Heavensward and A Realm Reborn zones for rare spawns. These can either be A or S rank, with S rank offering a more significant bonus of Centurio Seals. The rewards are:
- 100 Centurio Seals - S Rank, Heavensward zones
- 40 Centurio Seals - A Rank, Heavensward zones
- 35 Centurio Seals - S Rank, A Realm Reborn zones
- 15 Centurio Seals - A Rank, A Realm Reborn zones
- 395 Centurio Seals/900 Tomestones of Law - Doman Whetstone (Upgrades Weapon)
- 300 Centurio Seals/700 Tomestones of Law - Doman Urushi (Upgrades Armor)
- 150 Centurio Seals/350 Tomestones of Law - Raw Doman (Upgrades Accessories)
Also Read: Heavensard Elite Rank Marks Guide
Face the New Primals
There are two new primals that you can battle in Heavensward. While you combat both during the leveling experience from 50 to 60, there is an Extreme variant for both Bismarck and Ravana at level 60.
Bismarck is the easier of the two, and drops a single item level 175 weapon for each job. Meanwhile, Ravana is very challenging and drops an item level 190 weapon.
You can unlock these two Extreme battles at the following locations:
- Bismarck Extreme - God of Eld (Foundation 11,11)
- Ravana Extreme - Thok Around the Clock (Offered after Bismarck EX is completed)
Time for Alexander Normal
Once you're item level 170 or higher, you will be prepared to take on the new raid that is Alexander Normal (you can read my guide here). This dungeon drops a variety of bizarre currencies that you can trade in for item level 190 armor and accessories. Obtaining several pieces of this gear is an a critical element of gearing up for Alexander Savage, the true Heavensward 3.0 challenge.
The Search for Tomestones of Esoterics
In the 3.05 patch a variety of new gear options were added to Heavensward. Your end goal is to be able to run Alexander Savage and obtain its item level 200+ weapon and armor, but to be able to do that first you need a powerful set of gear. Upgrading Tomestones of Law gear and obtaining an item level 175+ weapon is a good start, but you'll want to supplement that with Alexander Normal items as well as those obtained from Tomestones of Esoterics.
Tomestones of Esoterics aren't granted in large sums, resulting in a large sum of time investment needed to acquire the AF2 gear you can purchase with the currency. That said, you should consider running Duty Roulette: Expert and Trials every day in addition to clearing Alexander Normal at your own pace. Without stepping into Alexander Savage, these options will allow you to buy an item at an average of every two weeks. Given some time, you will become powerful enough to have success in Alexander Savage and further increase your daily Tomestones of Esoterics earnings.
Entering Alexander Savage
Alexander Savage is a hellish place. You will need a full group of eight players to enter, and all players should be at a minimum of item level 180. Although the raid is challenging, it contains the greatest rewards available at this time. Before entering I would advise looking for the best group that you can be a part of, and making sure that voice communication is efficient. You won't clear this raid without a great deal of effort and coordination.
