If you have multiple characters you can avoid the "stop every time to craft" thing by keeping items in the pool and/or having one character craft while the other character is killing. That said, most of the items are semi-rare drops off enemies which sometimes have long respawns or spread apart spawn points.
Will depend which elements you want to farm, but it's all kind of a PITA. FWIW with 2 characters (or a friend who can AFK for you) I find Porphyrion to be an EXCELLENT source of Reverb/Distortion/Darkness, hence the route I took for my shields.
Escutcheon Final Phase - My Experience
Escutcheon final phase - my experience
Beating formors in inner rakaznar probably can net you decent CP and all sort of cards.
The only problem is competition i guess
The only problem is competition i guess
Asura.Buffyslyph said: »
Outside of buying spheres, what is the most time-efficient way to obtain spheres?
If you want activelly play and not bot, i guess picking a THF, go to gates zone second map, pull dozens of mobs and starts aeolian edgeing them
With 2 characters and very set routes it takes about 3-4 months and 200m to make a shield. I shared how I did most of mine with a friend he's made 4 or 5 in the last year with the method.
Farm crystals in sky
Get cards in old cp apex zones (mob types no one likes are huge)
Fun fact you can use the lotting Lua to relot on ex items in pool (5mins for it to drop)
Some ex items have really good drop rates (thf/Rdm 1 shots alot and moves very quickly though mobs)
That's enough hints GL
Farm crystals in sky
Get cards in old cp apex zones (mob types no one likes are huge)
Fun fact you can use the lotting Lua to relot on ex items in pool (5mins for it to drop)
Some ex items have really good drop rates (thf/Rdm 1 shots alot and moves very quickly though mobs)
That's enough hints GL
Necro Bump Detected!
[103 days between previous and next post]Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
Just finished my third shield; as you might predict, I used the same method more-or-less. Here are my results:
Spheres used: 2403 Compression, 2396 Detonation, 2368 Distortion, 2313 Induration, 2302 Reverberation, 2302 Fusion, 194 Darkness, 1 Scission, 1 Gravitation (those last two were keying mistakes on my part...). This time I did not use any food the whole time. Fails went up and absorbed some of the HQs, but that's probably just random *shrug*
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no rusk):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%
I also updated the Google sheet again with the full data if anyone wants to look at it.
Spheres used: 2403 Compression, 2396 Detonation, 2368 Distortion, 2313 Induration, 2302 Reverberation, 2302 Fusion, 194 Darkness, 1 Scission, 1 Gravitation (those last two were keying mistakes on my part...). This time I did not use any food the whole time. Fails went up and absorbed some of the HQs, but that's probably just random *shrug*
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no rusk):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%
I also updated the Google sheet again with the full data if anyone wants to look at it.
Updated stats for shield#4
Spheres used:
2338 Rever, 2325 Indur, 2315 Fusion, 2301 Dist, 2293 Compr, 2287 Deton, 212 Darkness, 6 each Lique, Scission, Trans, Frag, Impact, Gravit, and 1 Light
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no rusk, no rusk):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%
Google Spreadsheet updated again.
[+]
Necro Bump Detected!
[65 days between previous and next post]Finished another one, updated the Google Spreadsheet again, here are some stats if anyone cares
Spheres used:
2379 Det, 2370 Dist, 2369 Compr, 2361 Indur, 2353 Fusion, 2348 Rever, 110 Darkness
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx3):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%
Spheres used:
2379 Det, 2370 Dist, 2369 Compr, 2361 Indur, 2353 Fusion, 2348 Rever, 110 Darkness
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx3):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%
Necro Bump Detected!
[125 days between previous and next post]Next shield done, updated the Google Spreadsheet again, here are the stats:
Spheres used:
2389 Indur, 2374 Disto, 2365 Det/Compr, 2355 Rever, 2351 Fusion, 129 Darkness, 17 Frag/Impact, 16 Scission/Lique, 15 Gravi/Trans/Light
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx4):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%
Fails seemed kinda high this time, not sure exactly why, I didn't make too many mistakes. Got kinda squirrely at the end and had to scramble a bit.
Spheres used:
2389 Indur, 2374 Disto, 2365 Det/Compr, 2355 Rever, 2351 Fusion, 129 Darkness, 17 Frag/Impact, 16 Scission/Lique, 15 Gravi/Trans/Light
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx4):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%
Fails seemed kinda high this time, not sure exactly why, I didn't make too many mistakes. Got kinda squirrely at the end and had to scramble a bit.
Necro Bump Detected!
[65 days between previous and next post]7th shield done (one more to go!), updated the Google Spreadsheet, here are the stats:
Spheres used:
2459 Indur, 2436 Rever, 2424 Deton, 2414 Fusion, 2401 Disto, 2398 Compr, 6 Lique, 5 Frag/Impact, 3 Sciss/Trans/Gravi
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx5):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%/4.66%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%/4.94%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%/1.27%
This is the first shield I've done with 0 T3 spheres used. It was definitely tight in the end, had fewer than 10 spheres of my main chains left, but I managed to juuuust make it work. Looks like 2400 of each is a bit risky, 2450 of each would be quite a bit safer. I did have a few bad explosions in this one which didn't help matters.
Spheres used:
2459 Indur, 2436 Rever, 2424 Deton, 2414 Fusion, 2401 Disto, 2398 Compr, 6 Lique, 5 Frag/Impact, 3 Sciss/Trans/Gravi
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx5):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%/4.66%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%/4.94%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%/1.27%
This is the first shield I've done with 0 T3 spheres used. It was definitely tight in the end, had fewer than 10 spheres of my main chains left, but I managed to juuuust make it work. Looks like 2400 of each is a bit risky, 2450 of each would be quite a bit safer. I did have a few bad explosions in this one which didn't help matters.
jesus
Would you recommend someone without a shield at this point still pursue one?
[+]
Why not? Its a trophy like a Prime or any other.
Unlikely you gonna compete in a market so obscure as crafting, but if you partake events enough to get drops without investing gil, I guess you can even try playing with gamble if you have the balls for it.
I have 2 finished shields, and never had them to try burning my mats for a weapon
Unlikely you gonna compete in a market so obscure as crafting, but if you partake events enough to get drops without investing gil, I guess you can even try playing with gamble if you have the balls for it.
I have 2 finished shields, and never had them to try burning my mats for a weapon
But I can see better converting like dozen of mats in one single item instead of selling those dozen mats in AH and flooding it
I would say if they were still adding things to buy, it'd be worth it, but as it stands gil is absolutely worthless and the only reason to make a shield, is make (or save) worthless gil.
Time better spent on literally any other pursuit. If you question it, there's no world where it's worth it for you.
(Advice to a normie anyway)
Time better spent on literally any other pursuit. If you question it, there's no world where it's worth it for you.
(Advice to a normie anyway)
Manque said: »
Would you recommend someone without a shield at this point still pursue one?
It is an absolutely unfathomable amount of work (and/or botting) and gil to complete one, but you can definitely make gil off them. I track all my synthesis materials and all the stuff I make and I've made a profit off all my shields thus far. Some more than others, mostly because of the volume/type of stuff I make with each.
Cloth: 4,471,253,535
Alchemy: 830,716,213
Gold: 1,358,630,191
Wood: 1,229,520,232
Bone: 27,404,271
Cooking: I haven't tracked, but all cooking synths are profitable. I also made 2 Altana's Repast+2 which was pretty nice.
Prices are generally reasonable for most things to where you can make a profit (on average) and the customer is getting a decent price on the final item.
Sometimes you'll lose 100m+ and make nothing, sometimes you'll make 150m in 10 minutes. Gotta be ready to dig deep but over time it will pay for itself.
Plus it's nice to make signed stuff for yourself/your friends, and to have the option to make something without having to worry about whether or not someone else felt like doing it and putting it on the AH for you.
Better than ever, morons always going to make more weapons that they'll never use. But that's not a useful thing they should be doing (don't tell them that)
See, when gil has no value they're more inclined to piss it away on something pointless, instead of save it for something they might need later. It's not that gil is "useless" it's "worthless" it has no value so it spends easy. No ones hanging on to a billion praying for a kc+1 they're actively looking for ways to waste it.
Necro Bump Detected!
[121 days between previous and next post]Just finished my final shield and updated the Google spreadsheet; here are the stats:
Spheres used:
2,469 Indur, 2,459 Reverb, 2,422 Disto, 2,412 Deton, 2,411 Fusion, 2,410 Compression.
This time I made a conscious effort to only use my "main" spheres, as a fun little sendoff. Despite having tons of Darkness spheres which would've made it much faster, I also saved gil by sticking to the cheapies.
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx6):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%/4.66%/5.09%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%/4.94%/5.42%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%/1.27%/1.28%
In the end after doing 8 shields I'm not REALLY sure if the rusks did anything. I guess my best HQ2 results came from the rusks, but there were some really high-performing ones there in the middle with no rusks. Who could say for certain?
If you need something crafted on Carbuncle, I can make it! :D
Spheres used:
2,469 Indur, 2,459 Reverb, 2,422 Disto, 2,412 Deton, 2,411 Fusion, 2,410 Compression.
This time I made a conscious effort to only use my "main" spheres, as a fun little sendoff. Despite having tons of Darkness spheres which would've made it much faster, I also saved gil by sticking to the cheapies.
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx6):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%/4.66%/5.09%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%/4.94%/5.42%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%/1.27%/1.28%
In the end after doing 8 shields I'm not REALLY sure if the rusks did anything. I guess my best HQ2 results came from the rusks, but there were some really high-performing ones there in the middle with no rusks. Who could say for certain?
If you need something crafted on Carbuncle, I can make it! :D
[+]
grats on 8/8, I've started 6 but not sure how far I'll get. Desynthing for spheres question: does moghancement or food help there?
Kaffy said: »
grats on 8/8, I've started 6 but not sure how far I'll get. Desynthing for spheres question: does moghancement or food help there?
I've never tested it myself, but I don't believe so.
I was messing around with the data, looking at what I call "critical breaks" - where you end up exploding the focuser and losing spirit.
It turns out that the spirit you lose is a % of your current spirit and that % picks from a bucket - .1, .2, .3, .4, or .5% of your spirit, rounded down. I had 42 of these breaks and they all, without fail, were matching one of these percentages with nothing in between.
It turns out that the spirit you lose is a % of your current spirit and that % picks from a bucket - .1, .2, .3, .4, or .5% of your spirit, rounded down. I had 42 of these breaks and they all, without fail, were matching one of these percentages with nothing in between.
[+]
8/8 Crafting Shields might be the actual end of the game. I'm surprised you didn't get a credit roll.
Are shields still roughly a billion gil?
Just reading the BGguide gives me a headache but that's normal for any FFXI guide the first time I read it.
Just reading the BGguide gives me a headache but that's normal for any FFXI guide the first time I read it.
Taint said: »
Are shields still roughly a billion gil?
Just reading the BGguide gives me a headache but that's normal for any FFXI guide the first time I read it.
Just reading the BGguide gives me a headache but that's normal for any FFXI guide the first time I read it.
If you're buying all the spheres, I'd say a billion is a pretty good estimate.
It's a lot of work to do all the other stuff (CP, craftsmanship, customer requests, RoE) if you do it manually, but it's fairly manageable.
If you know the cost of spheres on your server, you can take my data and extrapolate it to what it would cost for you. It really depends how many T3 spheres (Light/Dark) you do, and how long of a synthchain you make. If you deviate significantly from my plan it could get cheaper or more expensive.
If someone really wanted to, they could also estimate their cost if they know the chain(s) they want to do. Use my NQ, HQ, HQ2, fail, and critical fail rates and apply them to the outcomes of your chain.
The most daunting part really is the synthchains. The earlier stuff takes up a TINY portion of the work and gil that goes into making one. The synthchains are the most effort, the most gil, and the biggest PITA.
[+]
I dont have any of these shields, but I believe the billion gil is based on materials only available via npc, so dont expect it to change.
Edit: guess i was wrong? I thought there was a component of noc purchasable materials?
Edit: guess i was wrong? I thought there was a component of noc purchasable materials?
Carbuncle.Nynja said: »
I dont have any of these shields, but I believe the billion gil is based on materials only available via npc, so dont expect it to change.
This data is also available in my spreadsheet but to simplify: I spend about 40~50m in catalysts (NPC costs) for the chains. The rest of the cost is spheres. There is also some cost involved in the CP items, GP items, customer request items, and RoE items, the cost of which varies wildly depending which shield you do
If you bot all the spheres and don't consider opportunity costs (of selling those spheres) then you could definitely make a shield for under 100m. Don't underestimate how much time it will take to bot those spheres though, it's about 14-15,000 spheres and that assumes you have perfect distribution of the ones you want (spoiler: you absolutely will not).
In my absolute longest farming sessions (probably 10+ hours), I ended up with just over 300 spheres. I'm not a bot so my efficiency may not be perfect but...it's a ridiculous amount of effort.
Catalyst costs by shield:
Leather: 41,589,000
Smithing: 41,504,200
Bone: 46,677,700
Cooking: 45,021,100
Wood: 48,324,100
Gold: 47,952,500
Alchemy: 43,676,700
Cloth: 46,429,800
[+]
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
I've made a profit off all my shields thus far
On carbuncle. No. Unless he's sold 200 repasts with bazaar.
On asura, you could, since there's people to actually buy stuff.
*(He may claim to have "made a profit" by pretending the spheres were "free" but that's not how it works)
On asura, you could, since there's people to actually buy stuff.
*(He may claim to have "made a profit" by pretending the spheres were "free" but that's not how it works)
Shichishito said: »
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
I've made a profit off all my shields thus far
I didn't mean profit as in "it paid for itself" but more profit in terms of material costs -> items sold.
Some of them have paid for themselves, over time, and I'm sure over a long enough time period they would all eventually pay for themselves. My point was supposed to be more along the lines of using the shield and making items is profitable, generally.
Taint said: »
Are shields still roughly a billion gil?
Just reading the BGguide gives me a headache but that's normal for any FFXI guide the first time I read it.
Just reading the BGguide gives me a headache but that's normal for any FFXI guide the first time I read it.
I've made two at this point for ~550m each buying wholesale from a sphere farmer.
Necro Bump Detected!
[59 days between previous and next post]Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
7th shield done (one more to go!), updated the Google Spreadsheet, here are the stats:
Spheres used:
2459 Indur, 2436 Rever, 2424 Deton, 2414 Fusion, 2401 Disto, 2398 Compr, 6 Lique, 5 Frag/Impact, 3 Sciss/Trans/Gravi
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx5):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%/4.66%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%/4.94%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%/1.27%
This is the first shield I've done with 0 T3 spheres used. It was definitely tight in the end, had fewer than 10 spheres of my main chains left, but I managed to juuuust make it work. Looks like 2400 of each is a bit risky, 2450 of each would be quite a bit safer. I did have a few bad explosions in this one which didn't help matters.
Spheres used:
2459 Indur, 2436 Rever, 2424 Deton, 2414 Fusion, 2401 Disto, 2398 Compr, 6 Lique, 5 Frag/Impact, 3 Sciss/Trans/Gravi
Synthchain results (100% rusk, intermittent rusk, no ruskx5):
fail: 4.09/4.05/5.20%/3.74%/3.86%/5.24%/4.66%
HQ: 5.44/5.47/5.35%/5.22%/5.28%/5.10%/4.94%
HQ2: 1.91/1.76/1.22%/1.23%/1.16%/1.21%/1.27%
This is the first shield I've done with 0 T3 spheres used. It was definitely tight in the end, had fewer than 10 spheres of my main chains left, but I managed to juuuust make it work. Looks like 2400 of each is a bit risky, 2450 of each would be quite a bit safer. I did have a few bad explosions in this one which didn't help matters.
Where did you farm all of these spheres? Colorful Hair for Compression Spheres or cards in which of the zones like Sih Gates, Ra'Kaznar Inner?
Also, which card zones have the best drop rates?
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