I started playing Dawntrail content at the beginning of the early access period on 28 June. I still haven't completed the main story questline (MSQ) which means I'm slow. But I can see the end from where my character is currently standing. This entry is the last of the spoiler-free posts on the blog as tomorrow is the last day of my free company's ban on spoilers. I figure I'd use the same rules to try to not spoil the MSQ for anyone. Now, on with the rundown for the past week.
Zone 6 - Zone 6 did not have a picture in the patch notes so I need to restrain myself for a couple more days. When running through Solution Nine I thought the design team held back for a more spectacular finish. Zone 6 was the result. But as an aside, the final zone looked a whole lot better when I entered than when I finished.
I should add I haven't finished wrecking havoc on the zone. I believe the destruction won't end until I complete the final 8-character trial. My advice: take lots of screenshots when travelling through the zone. I do suspect New Game Plus will be a popular feature for those wishing to revisit the splendor of zone 6 after finishing the main MSQ.
One additional note. Flying becomes available before reaching the final trial, for those who want or need to pause before taking on the final challenge.
Dungeon Difficulty - I've seen a couple of YouTube videos with titles suggesting some find Dawntrail content too difficult. My suspicion is those complaining are referencing the level 99 and level 100 4-character dungeons. On a personal note, I am very glad I had the ability to run those with NPCs and not other players. I have the feeling I'd never complete the story if I had to run them with players.
Personally, my issue was with the first boss in each dungeon. I managed to complete the level 99 dungeon in the allocated 90 minutes, but not so the level 100 dungeon. For the final 4-character dungeon, I took 40 minutes to take down the first boss and ran out of time on the final boss. I had decided to run through the dungeon as is without making any special preparations.
For my second attempt, I purchased what I considered the best high quality food and melded my weapon and left-side gear with materia X giving bonuses to critical hit, determination, and spell speed. I shaved 15 minutes off defeating the first boss and managed to complete the dungeon with plenty of time to spare.
The one trial I completed with all NPCs was easy in comparison as I once again didn't die. The final trial, by comparison, requires playing with others. Once I saw that, I took a break and only returned to do some gathering.
The Crafting Push - I've levelled my crafting classes rather slowly as I concentrated on completing the MSQ. I hit level 100 quickly as a culinarian because I wanted to craft my own food. High quality food can get quite expensive. I have over 145 million gil but I'd like to keep my pockets full before the inevitable grind to equip my character in both top level crafting and gathering gear. I might wait until patch 7.1 to start seriously pentamelding my gear.
My goldsmithing is still level 96 as I spread the effort around. I managed to get both blacksmithing and weaving to level 95 while woodworking inched up to 91 as a byproduct of levelling the other two classes. Currently my progess in the crafting classes is:
- Culinarian: 100
- Goldsmith: 96
- Blacksmith: 95
- Weaver: 95
- Carpenter: 91
- Alchemist: 90
- Armorer: 90
- Leatherworker: 90
The Retainer Army - I'm close to my first Dawntrail goal for my retainer army: get all retainers to level 100 and equipped to do the highest level expedition possible. Setting aside the new retainer (which is now level 63), all other retainers are at level 100. Only one of the retainers, a white mage with an iLevel of 663, cannot do the highest level expedition. I should have that condition resolved by next week.
I did say I've almost reached my first goal. Did you know retainer stats also determine the quality and quantity of the output of a retainer venture? My next goal is to equip all my retainers in high quality gear.
I should add that I didn't have my retainers sell a lot on the market last week. I concentrated in advancing through the MSQ and equipping my retainers. Still, despite neglecting my market activities, by retainers brought in 350,000 to 400,000 gil last week.
What others are saying - So far I've managed to stay away from content creators and their streams and videos. But I'm at the point I'm ready to peak at what others are saying. I'm still under my spoiler ban, but I may need to make updates on that content into a separate post.
