Today, let's dive into the essential aspects of getting ready for the Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail: retainers, currencies, and gear. They all provide us with fantastic opportunities to amass a significant amount of Gil and set ourselves up for success.

Farm Gil With Retainers

We'll first look at retainers. These can take a good while to level to 90, so start getting prepped now to be ready for the Dawntrail. In addition to new materials selling for reasonable amounts on release, expect new Retainer minions, which will fetch hundreds of thousands, if not millions, for a decent period after the expansion launch. So, it is great for farming for gil.

There are 4 unique sets of rewards of retainers: one set unique to each of battle, Fisher, Miner, and Botany classes. Within battle classes, the specific battle job doesn't actually affect the type of items you can obtain. It just affects the type of gear you'll be able to equip to the retainer. For the majority, sticking with 2 retainers is fine. Just make sure that each retainer is set to a different class type.

One very important factor, which should influence not only which types you assign but also which battle job in particular you pick, is the fact that your retainers can only level up to the same level which your actual character is for that job. You can't change the job of your retainer without it going all the way back to Level 1.

If you are looking to level Pictomancer or Viper first and want a matching retainer, then you can level a battle retainer now, picking any star in battle class. But do not assign it a specific battle job at any point. Instead, level it to Level 90 as a base class, then simply wait for the Dawntrail, where you'll then be able to assign the new jobs.

At Level 1, setting your retainers on just 2 18-hour exploration missions should get them to Level 10, where they will unlock the important Quick Ventures, which do not have any gear or stat requirements all the way to Level 90. And you're also not required to have actually gathered certain materials before you can send your retainer out to get them.

Currency Crafting & Gathering

The next section about currencies, and kicking off with those related to battle classes. With a view to making some FFXIV Gil come in FFXIV 7.0, I would strongly recommend capping Bicolor Gemstones from FATEs, Sacks of Nuts from hunt trains, and Faux Leaves from Unreal trials. These have all stayed consistent across both expansions, so there's an outside chance they remain the same in the Dawntrail.

Next on currency are those related to crafting and gathering. I would strongly recommend capping all white and purple scrips. Purple scrips will likely have very valuable new crafting and gathering materials added to them, and potentially new fishing baits.

All crafting items and white scrips should become convertible to gain you more purple scrips. The purple scrips will likely be needed for new gathering tools and crafter recipe books, so it's good to be kept to get a head start in unlocking those valuable new FFXIV 7.0 materials and recipes.

It's also extremely easy to cap white and purple scrips if you start now, as you can net 2,000 plus of each per week for about 10 minutes' work via custom deliveries. You can do some serious prep by stocking up on turnning in collectibles, as all of these will be tradable for purple scrips after FFXIV 7.0 launch.

Gear Preparation

The final section is gear. First up, battle gear for your main class. You'll already be in high enough gear to get into the Dawntrail. You may want to prepare gear to support leveling for a class that you are looking to level outside of your current main, including the new jobs Pictomancer and Viper.

Pictomancer and Viper's opening quests will give you a set of item Level 550 left side gear, along with a weapon. In preparation, I would recommend stashing away a set of Level 80, item Level 530 accessories, purchasable from your Mor Dhona for Poetics. Remember that Pictomancer will utilize the caster gear set and Viper will utilize Scouting gear, the same as the Ninjas. It's then a pretty good idea to prep a set of Level 90 gear to support the leveling of those jobs.

I'd recommend any combo of 640 crafted gear off the market board or current gear from the latest Alliance raids. Ideally, utilizing whatever pieces you may already have. The other option is to cap your Allagan Tomestone of Phantasmagoria, as on FFXIV 7.0, our current gear, pre-upgraded to 660, will be available for purchase for Poetics.

Lastly, gear prep for crafting and gathering. If you're already highly geared, close to the BiS, then you're all set. You should find yourself being able to head straight to Level 100 and craft the new top crafting and gathering gear without the necessity of upgrading your own gear first.