Why Gather Food in FFXIV?
Stomach rumbling, gil dwindling, and that pesky raid boss just won’t go down? If this sounds familiar, you might be overlooking a surprisingly powerful and profitable activity in Final Fantasy XIV: gathering food. Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer seeking every edge in endgame content or a sprout just starting your journey, understanding how to gather food in FFXIV can significantly enhance your gameplay, boost your crafting endeavors, and line your pockets with gil. This guide covers everything you need to know about gathering food in FFXIV, from the very basics to advanced techniques that can turn you into a veritable resource mogul.
Why Gather Food in FFXIV?
The benefits of spending time foraging in Eorzea go far beyond just filling your character’s belly. Food provides temporary stat boosts that are invaluable for a variety of activities. These buffs can give you the edge you need in challenging encounters, greatly improve your efficiency while crafting, and even make the process of gathering itself more rewarding. Let’s explore some of the key reasons why you should consider becoming a food gathering aficionado.
Benefits of Food Buffs
Consuming food in FFXIV grants temporary stat increases that can be crucial for success. These buffs are not just minor conveniences; they often provide a substantial advantage. For instance, you might consume a meal that increases your maximum hit points, giving you a crucial safety net against powerful enemy attacks. Other foods might boost your critical hit rate, increasing your damage output in battle, or enhance your determination, a stat that directly impacts the strength of your healing spells.
Beyond combat, food buffs are essential for crafting. Increased control can help reduce durability loss, while increased craftsmanship makes difficult recipes more likely to succeed. Gathering also benefits from food buffs. Enhanced gathering boosts your chance of successfully acquiring items, while increased perception raises the odds of obtaining high-quality materials. The impact of food is clear. Even a small experience point buff from crafted food can significantly speed up the leveling process for any job.
Leveling Crafting Classes
Many crafting recipes require a variety of ingredients, some of which can only be obtained through gathering. By mastering botany and fishing, you can supply your own crafting classes with the necessary materials, reducing your reliance on the Market Board. This not only saves you gil but also gives you a greater sense of self-sufficiency. The cost of materials required for leveling each of your crafting classes is often quite substantial. By gathering many of the items yourself you can save a significant amount of gil. Gathering can also be quite relaxing. Take a break from the endless dungeon runs and try gathering the ingredients you need.
Gil Making Opportunities
The Market Board is a bustling hub of economic activity, and the demand for food ingredients is consistently high. Skilled gatherers can capitalize on this demand by supplying crafters with the materials they need. Market fluctuations can create opportunities for savvy gatherers to earn significant profits. By monitoring prices and identifying items that are in short supply, you can strategically gather those materials and sell them for a premium. Gathering materials that crafters require is always lucrative. You can even gather the raw materials, craft them into food items and sell those on the market board for an even greater profit.
Getting Started: The Basics
Embarking on your food gathering journey requires a few initial steps. You’ll need to unlock the relevant gathering classes, acquire the necessary gear, and understand the fundamental skills and tools at your disposal.
Unlocking Gathering Classes (Botanist & Fisher)
The two primary gathering classes for food ingredients are Botanist and Fisher. Botanists gather plants, herbs, vegetables, and other flora, while Fishers specialize in, well, fishing. To unlock these classes, you must first reach level ten with any combat class. Once you’ve met this requirement, you can visit the Botanists’ Guild in Gridania or the Fishermen’s Guild in Limsa Lominsa. Accept the introductory quest from the guild representative, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a skilled gatherer. The quests are fairly straightforward, so follow the instructions given by the guild master.
Essential Gear and Tools
Gathering is not just about wandering around and picking things up. You’ll need the proper gear to increase your gathering efficiency and success rate. This includes clothing that boosts your gathering and perception stats, as well as a primary tool or weapon specific to your chosen gathering class. For Botanists, this will be a scythe or similar tool, while Fishers will need a fishing rod. Starter gear can be purchased from vendors in the respective guild locations, but you should upgrade your gear as you level up to keep pace with the increasing difficulty of gathering higher-level items.
Understanding Gathering Skills
Gathering involves more than simply clicking on a resource node. You’ll utilize various skills to improve your chances of success and increase the yield of your gathering attempts. The basic “Gather” skill is your bread and butter, but you’ll also learn skills like “Arbor Call” for Botanists (revealing hidden plant nodes) and “Fisher’s Intuition” for Fishers (increasing the chance of catching rare fish). Skills like “Stealth” can help you avoid aggressive monsters, while “Sprint” allows you to move quickly between gathering locations. Two of the key stats to track when leveling your gatherer are Gathering and Perception. A higher gathering stat increases your chance to gather the material, while a high perception increases your chance of gathering a high quality material.
The Gathering Log
The Gathering Log is your best friend when it comes to locating specific items. This handy tool allows you to search for resources by name, location, and type. It also displays information about the item’s rarity, the level requirement for gathering it, and any special conditions that may apply. It also helps you filter materials based on location or item type. By mastering the use of the Gathering Log, you can efficiently target the ingredients you need for crafting or selling.
The Importance of Repairing Gear
Just like combat gear, gathering gear degrades over time as you use it. Maintaining your gear at maximum durability is crucial for optimal performance. When your gear is damaged, your gathering stats are reduced, making it harder to successfully acquire items. You can repair your gear by visiting a Mender NPC in any major city or by learning the Repair skill yourself as a crafter. Repairing your gear frequently will ensure that you’re always operating at peak efficiency.
Leveling Your Gathering Classes
Now that you understand the basics, it’s time to start leveling your gathering classes. The leveling process involves gathering resources in progressively higher-level areas, completing levequests, and fulfilling Grand Company supply missions.
Leveling Strategies for Botanist
For Botanists, the key to efficient leveling is to focus on gathering items that are within your current level range. Consult your Gathering Log to identify the best locations for gathering these items. Levequests offered by the Botanists’ Guild provide a steady stream of experience points and are a great way to supplement your regular gathering activities. You can also turn in gathered items to your Grand Company for additional experience points and company seals.
Leveling Strategies for Fisher
Leveling Fisher requires a different approach. You’ll need to experiment with different baits and lures to determine which ones are most effective for catching specific fish. Consult fishing guides and online resources to learn about the best fishing spots and bait combinations for each level range. Levequests offered by the Fishermen’s Guild are also beneficial for experience point gains. You can unlock Ocean Fishing and increase your level quickly.
Tips for Efficient Leveling
To maximize your leveling speed, take advantage of any experience point buffs you can find. Eating food that grants an experience point bonus is a simple but effective way to boost your gains. Free Company buffs, such as “The Heat of Battle,” can also provide a significant experience point boost. Completing entries in your Gathering Log will reward you with bonus experience points, so be sure to gather a variety of items as you level up. Finally, ensure you’re wearing gear that increases experience point gain.
Advanced Gathering Techniques
As you progress in your gathering career, you’ll unlock advanced skills and techniques that can further enhance your efficiency and profitability.
Gathering Rotations
“Gathering rotations” refer to specific sequences of skills used to maximize gathering yield and success rate while minimizing GP cost. These rotations often involve skills like “Bountiful Harvest” (increasing the number of items gathered) and “King’s Yield” (increasing the chance of obtaining rare items). Experiment with different skill combinations to find the rotations that work best for you.
GP Management
GP (Gathering Points) is a crucial resource for gatherers. Many advanced gathering skills consume GP, so it’s important to manage your GP effectively. Consider using gear and skills that increase your maximum GP or reduce the GP cost of your skills. Skills can require significant amount of GP to use, so it is essential to manage it.
Scrips
Gatherer’s Scrips are a form of currency that can be earned by turning in collectable items to specific NPCs. These scrips can then be used to purchase valuable items, such as gear, materials, and recipes. To unlock the ability to gather collectables, you must complete a series of quests related to collectable appraisal and collectable synthesis.
Folklore Books
Folklore Books unlock access to special gathering nodes that contain rare and valuable resources. These books can be purchased with scrips or obtained through other means. To use a Folklore Book, you must first meet certain gathering stat requirements and then use the “Truth of Forests/Oceans” skill to reveal the hidden nodes. These nodes usually provide the most profitable gathering materials and food items.
Aethersands
Aethersands are special materials used in high-end crafting recipes. They are gathered using skills like “Methodical Appraisal” and “Impulsive Appraisal.” The process involves carefully assessing the quality of a gathering node to determine the best approach for extracting the aethersand. Aethersands provide very high amounts of experience when crafting.
Making Gil with Food Gathering
The ultimate goal for many gatherers is to earn gil. By understanding market trends, identifying high-demand ingredients, and implementing efficient gathering routes, you can turn your gathering skills into a lucrative business.
Identifying High-Demand Ingredients
The Market Board is your primary tool for researching market trends. Pay attention to the prices and sales volumes of different ingredients. Identify items that are used in popular crafting recipes, as these will typically be in high demand. Websites like Universalis can provide historical price data, allowing you to identify seasonal trends and anticipate future demand.
Efficient Gathering Routes
Once you’ve identified high-demand ingredients, research the best locations for gathering them. Create efficient gathering routes that minimize travel time and maximize your gathering yield. Gathering tools and websites can help you find optimal routes for specific resources.
Selling Strategies
When selling your gathered items on the Market Board, it’s important to price your items competitively. Consider undercutting your competitors slightly to attract buyers, but avoid engaging in price wars that will drive down profits. It’s also generally more efficient to list your items in stacks rather than individually. Be mindful of the taxes that are applied to Market Board sales, as these can impact your overall profitability.
Examples of profitable food gathering items
The following items provide high demand and a decent profit when gathering: Chives, for making Chive Blossom, Blood Orange for making Blood Orange Juice, and various Seafood ingredients for making a variety of fish based dishes. Remember to check the market board often to keep up to date on the most profitable foods to gather.
End-Game Gathering Content
Even after reaching the level cap, there’s still plenty of gathering content to explore.
The Diadem
The Diadem is a special gathering area that offers unique resources and rewards. To access the Diadem, you must join a Restoration effort and complete the relevant quests. The Diadem contains a variety of gathering nodes, some of which can only be accessed with special tools.
Skybuilders’ Tools
Skybuilders’ Tools are specialized gathering tools that can be crafted and upgraded through the Ishgardian Restoration project. These tools provide significant stat boosts, making it easier to gather rare and valuable resources in the Diadem. Upgrading Skybuilders’ tools is a long process, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
Conclusion
Gathering food in FFXIV is a rewarding and versatile activity that can benefit players of all levels. Whether you’re seeking to enhance your combat performance, streamline your crafting endeavors, or earn gil, mastering the art of gathering is a worthwhile investment. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different gathering strategies and find what works best for you. Remember that the most successful gatherers are those who are willing to adapt to changing market conditions and embrace new techniques. With this guide, you’re now equipped to excel at gathering food in FFXIV! Enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction of crafting with your own materials, and the sweet taste of gil earned through your hard work!
