This is a guide for the FFXIV Island Sanctuary. In this installment, we will be talking about animals, aka the Pasture System. You need animals as they produce materials to be used in the workshop and that is their main purpose, aside from looking cute, of course.

The care of the animals can be automated by the mammoths. And while it may be fun for some people to take care of them themselves, I find that it ultimately becomes a bother. So, I have all of mine automated.

Which Animals To Get?

Which animals should you be getting?

There are options here. If you’re lazy and don’t feel like capturing any of the rare animals, you can stock your zoo with just normal animals that can be found anywhere on the island and still get all of the materials you will need for your Workshop.

Once again, we will be making use of the Overseas Casuals recommendations to determine which animals we should get. For the minimum effort pasture, follow the chart below. If your pasture is not yet able to accommodate 20 animals, try to get at least one of each listed here and then work on grabbing duplicates.

If you like collecting rares, then Overseas Casuals recommends you get the following:

• Alkynost
• Alligator
• Apkaulu of Paradise
• Beachcomb
• Black Chocobo
• Boar of Paradise
• Funguar
• Glyptodon Pup
• Gold Back
• Goobbue
• Grand Buffalo
• Griffin
• Island Doe
• Morbol Seedling
• Ornery Karakul
• Paissa
• Tiger of Paradise
• Twinklefleece
• Weird Spriggan
• Yellow Coblin

Be aware that the Funguar, Griffin, and Paissa require you to have unlocked flying on the island. I would recommend using the previous non-rare pasture recommendations as you work on collecting the rares. Whenever you do get a rare, try to replace one of the animals that drops the same leavings so that you’re not left with a gap.

You can find which leavings each animal drops by checking the charts in the Overseas Casuals discord. You can also check the Lalachievements website. Overseas Casuals also has more pasture recommendations. So, if none of these work for you, then check their discord.

Honestly, my own pasture is just full of rares and nothing else. I did not follow any recommendations and I easily have all the leavings I’ve needed for my Workshop. So, just know that the recommendations are helpful, but don’t sweat it too much.

Also Read: What Should You Do While Waiting For Queue To Pop In FFXIV? - 10 Tips

How To Get Rares?

Now, let’s talk about how to get rares for those that are interested in stocking their pasture with them.

Many of them have different conditions for when they will spawn. This may include certain times they’ll spawn within Eorzea or certain weather patterns or both. The Lalachievements website shares what these are and where to find each rare.

You can also sign up for roles in the Overseas Casuals discord. That will ping you when a specific rare is going to be spawning. This will ping before the spawn, so you have time to log in and it will, of course, tell you the coordinates of the rare spawn.

What To Feed Your Animals?

Finally, let’s talk about what to feed your animals. The optimal choice is to feed the animals, Island Greenfeed. Now, this will result in fewer leavings. But Overseas Casuals has found that it doesn’t really matter. Because you will still have enough of what you need for your Workshop.

So, what makes this optimal is that you have to use a fewer of your crops to create food for your animals and then you can export any excess crops for calories.

However, if it brings you more joy to see that sunny icon next to your animals’ names, then go ahead and feed premium Island Greenfeed. Of course, premium Island Greenfeed will definitely cost you a lot of FFXIV Gil. So, you'd better stock up some in advance. This is what I have been doing the entire time up until making this guide. Most people will find that they have crops in excess regardless of what they feed their animals, so it’s really up to you which route you’d prefer.