Early access for Endwalker is almost upon us. Not sure if you are properly prepared for the expansion? Here is our checklist for things to do before the servers go down for maintenance on December 2.
While the official release will be on December 7, fans that pre-ordered will get early access on December 3. If you have not prepared for Endwalker yet, it is high time to get started.
1. Complete Patch 5.55’s Main Scenario Quest & Shadowbringers Role Quests
This should be obvious, but the first thing on the agenda is being caught up to the latest Main Scenario Quest that wrapped of the previous expansion, Shadowbringers. Make sure you have completed “Death unto Dawn”, otherwise you won’t be able to get started on the new expansion as the majority of new content will be locked behind progression in the MSQ.
Shadowbringers was also the first Final Fantasy XIV expansion to feature Role Quests instead of Job Quests and Endwalker will continue that trend. Make sure that you have completed all Role Quests in Shadowbringers before Endwalker starts.
2. Make sure to cap out your currencies
Endwalker will introduce new currencies for crafters, gatherers and raiders alike. Tomestones of Allegory and Revelation will all be phased out and become unobtainable. Once Patch 6.0 is out you will be able to trade them in for Poetics, so if you want to maximize your gains make sure to cap them all. The same mechanic will phase out Yellow Scrips for crafters and gatheres, so keep an eye on that if you want to have easy exchanges to White Scrips in Endwalker.
3. Complete Coils of Bahamut and Omega raids
Final Fantasy XIV has always prided itself on its strong story and Endwalker promises the culmination and final act for a story arc that has been in the game since A Realm Reborn. While it might be difficult to keep up with all the side content, some sidequests become very relevant to the Main Story. For Endwalker the developers have explicitly encouraged players to go back and clear the old raid quests “Coils of Bahamut” from A Realm Reborn and “Omega” from Stormblood if they did not do them in the past.
The same was done prior to Shadowbringers, when players were encouraged to re-visit the Crystal Tower raids from A Realm Reborn, which would go on to play a major role in Shadowbringers. So make sure to finish those raids before stepping into Endwalker.
4. Prepare itemsets for Reaper and Sage
Endwalker introduces two new jobs to Final Fantasy XIV: Reaper and Sage. If you are thinking about playing either the new melee DPS or the new shield healer, you will have to start at level 70 for those.
While you will most likely get starter gear in the introductory job quests for these two, you should also consider preparing a full set of level 70 endgame gear for them. You can get Augmented Scaevan Gear with an item level of 400 in Rhalgr’s Reach for Poetics right now, to make sure you will be properly geared while leveling. A full set will cost you around 4000 Poetics. Buy the Healing set for Sage and the Maiming set for Reaper.
5. Do not waste accrued mid-level experience
Patch 6.0 will introduce a stat squish and one of the victims of that will also be your mid-level experience. If you are not capped on all classes yet, make sure to hit the next level before the servers go down for maintenance on December 2. All accrued experience will be rounded down following the new patch and all your hard work would go to waste if you still have left over experience on your way to the next level.
6. Prepare your Belts for their removal
One of the bigger changes to Final Fantasy XIV in Endwalker is the removal of Belts as part of your gear. You will no longer be able to equip or obtain any belts, not only on your character but also on your retainers and mannequins. While the belts will not be deleted from your inventory you will not be able to extract any Materia from them anymore, so make sure to do so before maintenance if you have spiritbonded belts still. Equipped belts (on your character or retainers) at the time of maintenance will be retrievable at the Calamity Salvager NPCs alongside belts in your armoury chest.
You will still be able to remove affixed Materia from your belts. Belts will also remain available for Grand Company turn-ins, desynthing or vendoring. Keeping that in mind there is no need to vendor them all already, but make sure you have gotten all your Materia extracted before Endwalker hits.
7. Clean up your inventory
Once Endwalker is out you definitely don’t want to be held back by lack of space in your bags for all the new shiny items. Make sure to clean up your inventory, Armoury Chest, retainers and Chocobo Saddle Bag. You can also sell or use up all your old high quality materials as they will be removed with Patch 6.0.
8. Stockpile experience
If you want to get a slight headstart on the other players in terms of leveling you should also stockpile experience in preparation for Endwalker. Complete sidequests but hold off on turning them in until Patch 6.0 has hit the servers. Another option is completing a Wondrous Tails book before the weekly reset on November 30 without turning it in. As you can hold it for up to two weeks, wait until Endwalker to hand it over to Khloe in Idyllshire. This allows you to earn experience rewards on your way to level 81 and also take on a new Wondrous Tails book for more rewards as you continue your adventure in Endwalker.
Do not forget to stockpile some food for the experience bonus alongside your Free Company buff. These will increase your leveling speed significantly. If you are not part of a Free Company you can also use your Grand Company Squadron’s Squadron Battle Manual to get the same buff. However the bonuses do not stack, so you can only have one of them active.
Make sure to also log out in a sanctuary to accrue the rested buff for experience. Considering the large amount of players you should consider an inn room as the instanced zone should also make it easier for you to load into the server once you get past the queue.
Worked your way through the entire checklist? Then you are ready and set for Endwalker!
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