The next expansion, Dawntrail, is set to launch on July 2, 2024. How do you prepare for this big update? What should we do now? Well, Jolsn gave us some preparation tips on his YouTube channel. These tips will help you make some FF14 gil and save some time when the expansion comes out. Let’s dive in.
Leveling New Jobs
Level 80/90 Gear sets
If you're planning on playing Viper or Pictomancer, you need to prepare level 80 and level 90 sets for them because both of the new jobs will start at level 80. You can also go to an NPC called “Aymark” to buy an entire level 80 Tomestone set.
Side Quests
Another way to prepare to level the two new jobs is to collect a bunch of side quests and complete the objectives but not turn them in. This way, you can have up to 30 side quests ready to turn in immediately when Dawntrail launches, which should give you a good chunk of XP to level all of these jobs.
Wondrous Tails
Another way to get XP instantly when Dawntrail comes out is to grab a Wondrous Tales book from Khloe Aliapoh in Idyllshire. She'll ask you to complete various content to collect stamps, and then you can turn the book in. This will give you a big chunk of XP. You'll be able to turn this book in for two weeks, so before the launch, grab the book, complete all of the objectives, and then hold on to it until the expansion is out.
Leveling Trusts and Unlocking Content
Everyone unlocking the new jobs at level 80 will be looking to do roulettes for leveling. Since both of the new jobs are DPS, we will see massive shortages in the queue for tanks and healers, so the best leveling method is spamming trust dungeons, meaning going in dungeons with the NPCs. To do it, you need to make sure that your trusts are leveled.
If you want to level via regular roulettes, then make sure to unlock as much content as possible in the game before the release because more availability of different dungeons means you get faster queues.
Making Gil
Materia
Let's move away from leveling and talk about how you can make some easy Gil when Dawntrail comes out. First, now is a good time to store the material that is available in the game. At the NPC Mutamix, where you originally learned materia melding, you can do “Materia Transmutation”, which lets you turn five pieces of unwanted materia into another type of materia with a higher level. It means all of your worthless level 9 or 10 materia has a chance to be turned into materia that is worth 10,000 to 15,000 gil when Dawntrail comes out.
You'll also find that some people undervalue the current materia, specifically materia VII. But, if you check the market board on your current server, you'll probably find that materia VII for gathers and crafters sells high. That's because it's being bought up by players who are stocking up for Dawntrail. They are either planning to use it themselves or sell it for three or four times the price.
Island Sanctuary
Another way to prepare for the next materia boom is to level your Island Sanctuary. Make sure you get as much currency as possible by completing your weekly workshop and then store that currency until Dawntrail comes out because you will use it to buy specific level 9 materia that is in demand on the Market Board.
Bicolor Gemstones
If you want to make some easy gil, cap your Bicolor Gemstones. In your main menu under Travel, you will find a menu called Shared Fate, which is a system that encourages people to complete Fates in return for a currency called Bicolor Gemstones. You can farm Bicolor Gemstones by going into any Shadowbringers or Endwalker Zone to complete any Fates that you find.
In the last expansion, these gemstones were used to buy various materials like Ovibos Milk, which was used in various crafts and in demand raid food, meaning the price of Ovibos Milk was obviously through the roof during the expansion launch weeks. So, various players were farming Fates for Bicolor Gemstones. Therefore, when Dawntrail comes out, consider doing some Fates and getting Bicolor Gemstones if the prices for materials are good.
Grand Company Seals
You can prepare Grand Company Seals, which is the currency that you can use to buy various materials at your Grand Company. There's a high chance that new materials used in crafts will be added to the Grand Company vendor. So, before Dawntrail, make sure to get this as high up as possible. Within the first few days of the launch, remember to check this out if you want to get more gil.
You can also prepare various gear to turn in to accumulate more Grand Company Seals, whether you get the gear from running dungeons or by collecting Anabaseios gear tokens.
Adventurer Squadron Buffs
While you're already at the Grand Company, also remember that you have an Adventurer Squadron, who are waiting for you to send them on the next priority mission, which will provide you with valuable buffs, like Squadron Battle Manual for 15% combat XP bonuses, Squadron Engineering Manual, or Priority Seal Allowance that gives you 15% more Grand Company Seals.
Keep in mind that these are the same buffs that your free company is using. They are only using two of these, so for anything they don't use, you can supplement it using the Squadron Buffs. It might be worth checking in with the FC leader to figure out which buffs they're going to use during the launch.
Consumables
One consumable that you need to prepare either by crafting or buying on the Market Board is Spiritbond Potions. This will increase the rate at which your gear gets Spiritbond, meaning you'll extract more materia off the gear on average. They are really easy to make and should be fairly cheap on the Market Board.
Aetheryte Tickets
Another thing you can do is complete a bunch of hunts that give you Allied Seals that you can exchange for Aetheryte Tickets. You can find the vendor selling Allied Seals inside of your Grand Company. You can set up automatic ticket usage whenever you teleport by clicking on the Cogwheel. This will allow you to reduce or even eliminate teleportation costs.
Collectables
You can also pre-craft a bunch of collectibles that you can turn in for scrips. If you have inventory space, consider dedicating a few pages just for collectibles because we are pretty much guaranteed to have some materials that are going to come from scrips, which will be in high demand then. You can turn in all of your collectibles to make some easy gil. The other advantage is that you'll get a bit of XP for every turn-in.
The other way you can make some XP is by crafting Grand Company's Supply and Provisioning Mission items, which people will be using to level up their Crafters.
Crystals
Now is a good time to stock up on the various crystals because there's a chance that these will go up in price over time. More people crafting means higher crystal usage, and very few people are willing to gather crystals during the launch weeks because there are so many other things to do, so stock up right now.