Final fantasy 14‘S Dawn trail expansion is imminent, with early access starting June 28 before the full launch on July 2. If you let your subscription lapse for a while, you probably have some catching up to do before you can jump right back then Dawn trail launches.
Below we list some things you can do to prepare for the launch of FFXIV: Dawn Trailwhether it’s simple things like increasing your item level or more min-max tasks like covering all your books and preparing gear in advance.
Check out the FFXIV: Dawntrail benchmark
There will be a large-scale graphical update Dawn trailso if you’re playing on PC, make sure your PC can handle this downloading the benchmark. The original benchmark had a few issues with character rendering, but now it’s all been resolved so you can both test your PC and see your characters in their future glory.
Complete your main scenario missions
As obvious as this may seem, sometimes it’s easy to miss an extra quest or two that you might have lying around. Make sure you catch up completely. The MSQ Guide UI will say “To be continued…” when you’re completely up to speed. When you see it “???” or something like that, then that means you still have a quest to do.
Provide at least 630 ILVL for your main task
Based on the past few expansions, the first dungeon is in Dawn trail must have a minimum ILVL requirement of 630, so make sure you’re at that point. It’s likely that you’ll get gear as you complete missions before, but we recommend picking it up Improved Credendum armorthat’s ilvl 660. This will get you through a lot of the expansion and you can get it now.
Image: Square Enix
You can trade in Allagan Tomestones of Comedy for this gear and expand it with Divine Twine and Divine Shine. The Divine Twine and Shine are obtainable through trading coins from the Myths of the Realm raids or Sacks of Nuts during hunts.
However, one time Dawn trail launches, it’s likely that Augmented Credendum gear can be purchased in its entirety in exchange for Allagan Tomestones or Poetics – so if you don’t have a complete set, don’t worry too much about it right now.
Prepare level 80 gear for Viper and Pictomancer
Use your Allagan Tomestones or Poetics to grab Improved Aymark’s Cryptlurker gear in Eulmore. This gear is easy to obtain (since you get poetics from doing pretty much everything in the game), and it’s the best level 80 gear on the market.
You may already have this gear if you’re leveling up other scouting and casting jobs, so be sure to check your inventory and holders.
If you like crafting or collecting: Buy Scrip gear
The level 90 Inspiration equipment you get through trading Purple theses should be good enough to set your tinkerers and collectors up for a lot Dawn trail contents. While endgame crafts and collectibles may require more preparation to make with this gear at first, this should at least be good enough to let you know where to go when the expansion comes out.
You can grab this gear from all Scrip Exchange NPCs in hub cities.
Sort your inventory, holders and saddlebag
Clean that stuff! You can start by getting rid of old gear (with the exception of leveling gear for scouting and casting, as mentioned above), food heists, and other trash that may have accumulated in your inventory. Put away some of those fishing lures, turn in those extra Triple Triad cards to the Golden Saucer, and sadly put that stack of 78 Rubicante totems back in your saddlebag. You can finish that fight later.
You can also sell some of your extra materials, although crafting and collecting materials will likely still be valuable to over-reporters in Dawn trailso you have to hold on to it.
Image: Square Enix
Hold those dyes
A second dye channel enters Dawn trailthe price of popular dyes will rise. This already includes popular colors like Pure White and Pure Black, but it’s a little too early to predict precisely which colors will stand out. That said, hold on to anything you got from dungeons or other means.
Seal your gravestones and scrips
Once you’re done buying gear, consider covering your books and scrips. Both Causality and Comedy Tomes can be exchanged for Poetics once Dawn trail arrives, albeit at less than a one-on-one pace. Having a cap on Poetics (and more beyond that) is useful for buying old gear (like the aforementioned Augmented Credendum gear). The same goes for Scrips: you should be able to score any extra old gear or materials you need.
Prepare EXP to obtain after the level cap is expanded
If you really want to take it a step further, you can save EXP to claim once the level cap increases by doing the following:
- Completing high-level side quests and waiting to turn them in.
- Completing one Miraculous tails book and wait to hand it in.
- Log out of a shrine before the update to ensure you have collected rest EXP.
If you’re just starting out in the vast world of Final fantasy 14, we have tons of guides to help you. We have a beginner’s guide to get you started, along with guides detailing when you get your horse and which Grand Company to join.
If you’re starting out but feeling overwhelmed, we have guides to help you choose a job and a guide that explains how long it can take to stay up to date with the current content. FFXIV.
We also have guides to side content such as Ocean Fishing, Relic Weapons and Island Sanctuary, for those who want to take a break.