A Crystalline Failure (Fin.)
I have now completed the mini-expansion. This blog post is pretty much the entirely of my thoughts on it, as well as some general strategy tips for the fights. Despite the name, I’m not ALL that pissed, but still, it’s annoying.
Contains spoilers about the fights but no screenshots because I was too frustrated to take any because I don’t want to spoil anything for my loyal fans.
Note that this is NOT a complete walkthrough. There are cutscenes and stuff in between these that I’m not covering cuz it’s boring to type and you’re all just going to wiki it anyway, so I’ll save myself the hassle.
The Echo Awakens
What you do: farm seedspall items from non-goblin beastmen in Jugner, Pashhow, and Merif.. Mer… that mountain range that’s annoying as hell to navigate. Relatively okay drop rate.
Why it’s annoying as hell: the beastmen don’t have amazingly fast repop times so if there is any competition it can take a while. Sometimes you get hosed on the drop rate. Sometimes they remove the ??? spot on Qufim and replace it with a moogle.
To progress: trade the items to the ??? spot.
To get the Crimson key (level 30 possible augments): trade the seedspalls to Squintrox Dryeyes in Port Jeuno. Don’t do this the first time you get them or you have to farm them again. You can farm the seedspalls again if you want another key.
Gatherer of Light (I)
What you do: kill goblins in Rolanberry, Batallia, and Saru… Sar… wtf windy area names… for key items. These key items will randomly be given to you when you or a party member kills a goblin. Once you have a key item, check a ??? in a really annoying spot in the zone to spawn an easy as hell goblin for another key item. Do this for all three zones.
Why it’s annoying as hell: the goblins are all spread out all over the place. Competition is competitive. You can do all the killing and your party members can get the key items and not you. This happened to me for close to an hour. Getting to all the goblin NM spawn areas is annoying, especially if you don’t have all your maws unlocked. Good luck with banishing gates, bitches! Even after you’re done with all that, sometimes that ??? spawn is a moogle again.
To progress: talk to the ??? spot. Again.
To get the Viridian key (level 40 possible augments): talk to Squintrox Dryeyes with the three key items obtained normally by the goblins. This will put a time limit on how long you can go without completing the next fight; fail to do so and you have to wait a JP midnight before you try again. So if you get the key before completing the next mission, go straight there and spawn the mandies. You can farm the goblin items again to get another key.
Gatherer of Light (II)
What you do: kill like 30 really piss-easy mandies.
Why it’s annoying as hell: if a lot of people are doing this, you have to spam check the ??? spot to get your turn, with a one minute cooldown between them. The mandies pose no actual challenge, but there’s like 30 of them, so if you don’t have any AoE attacks it can take a stupid long time to kill them one by one. If you go on a low level job, they actually might manage to kill you, and your friends will NEVER LET YOU LIVE IT DOWN. Sometimes when you want to pop the mandies, the ??? is a freaking moogle. Thanks a bunch for all this, SE.
While doing this mission, I was under the time limit cap explained in the Viridian key area. It took me a while to spawn my mandies, and after I was about halfway through killing them, all of a sudden I could no longer attack them. They all despawned, I failed the mission, and had to wait a JP midnight to try again. God DAMNIT.
To progress: go to Fei’Yin
To get the Amber key (level 50 possible augments): you get this naturally by comleting the mission. To get it again, you need to spawn the mandies again, which means you need the seedspalls again, which means you have to do that entire goblin BS again. Might as well do it again if you’re helping someone, but seems like a huge pain in the ass solo.
Those Who Lurk in Shadows (II)
What you do: run around Fei’Yin to check nine afterglow spots.
Why it’s annoying as hell: it’s timed, so if you d/c you’re screwed until JP midnight. It makes you run all over the freaking place. At the end, you’re given the option of choosing a mark or a key, and if you choose the key (like Valiant) you cannot progress in the mission storyline and have to do the farming again.
To progress: BCNM fight
To get the Azure key (level 60 possible augments): choose the Azure key option when presented with the choice. Don’t do this if you want to do the BCNM for the win, but you can do it every JP midnight afterward. As far as farming for augmented items go, this is actually one of the easiest one that can get you some of the better items.
Those Who Lurk in Shadows (III)
What you do: kill four beastmen in a BCNM fight (first of two!)
Why it’s annoying: the only annoying part is having to refarm the mark key item by running around Fei’Yin if you lose. As far as the actual fight goes, this is pretty much the only fair and entertaining part of the whole freaking expansion.
My party’s setup: RDM RDM WHM BLU DRK MNK
My party’s strategy: two kiters kite 3 NMs while everyone else gangs up and kills them one by one. As long as the mobs aren’t out of control, it’s a pretty simplistic battle, though they do put up a halfway decent fight.
To progress: Hall of Gods CS, then Delkfutt’s tower.
To get the Ivory key (level 65 possible augments): you get this naturally by completing the mission. To get it again, you need to clear the BCNM fight with the mark of seed key item in your possession. So you need to choose between the Azure (which you can solo) or the Ivory (which gives slightly better rewards but requires you do actually beat the BC).
Banishing the Echo
What you do: climb Delkfutt’s tower under the influence of a level 30 cap while gathering 12 key items, one from each floor. Talk to the NPC in the top area to trade all 12 in for one final key item.
Why it’s annoying as hell: because you’re climbing Delkfutt’s tower under the influence of a level 30 cap while gathering 12 key items, one from each floor. Man this is a huge pain in the ass, especially if you fail the BC and have to do this like 3 times. The items are in pretty plain site but usually guarded by like 3 goblins. Come as a job that can sneak and invis or use a lot of meds.
To progress: BCNM fight.
Ode to Life Bestowing
What you do: defeat a Seed Crystal in a BCNM fight (second of two!)
Why it’s annoying: because the crystal is pretty much a jackass. It can’t move but tosses AoEs all over the place. It creates clones that do minor damage but cause chaos. It uses aga magic. It can charm. It’s a wildly unfair fight to any real DDs since being within melee range of it will just destroy you. And if you fail the fight, you have to do the whole goddamn tower climb again for the key items.
Why it’s awesome: because the WHM changes with Solice up allow a WHM to one-shot the clones with Holy. BAM!
My party’s setup: WHM RDM/DRK PLD SMN SMN RNG
My party’s strategy: PLD tanks and runs out of range of the charm move. RDM/DRK largely focuses on stunning. SMNs do consistent damage. RNG TPs off the crystal and WSs the clones. Slow and steady.
To get the Ebon key (level 75 possible augments): you get this naturally by completing the mission. To get it again, you need to clear the BCNM fight with the final key item from the tower climb in your possession.
To get the Prismatic key (final BCNM augmentable rewards body armor): you also get this naturally by completing the mission. To get it again, toss your old augmented armor and repeat the tower climb and BCNM fight.
The keys are used in the Tenshodo treasure coffer to get all the rewards from the expansion, including the final body armor. Sometimes you get random crafting items, other times meds, and others normal items that have been augmented with various mostly random stats. Unlike the Fields of Valor augments, these are largely all positive stats, though if they’re useful for your jobs is a different matter. The level of the item is based on what key you’re turning in.
You can get 5 of the keys by simply completing the missions the first time. You can get any and all of them again by completing various parts of the missions again, but each key only once per day. In theory you could get like 5 per day, every day, but that would involve completing pretty much the entire thing all over again every time.
This is the best non-body reward I got. I’ll actually use this on my BLU. I also got a terrible subtle blow+1 earring, two hi-elixers, and a red rock.
My choice of body armor. For use on DNC, I guess. It’s pretty good. I’m not sure it’s actually better than the relic body, but since I don’t have the relic body, well okay. I can always change it again if I’m a glutton for pain.
So what are my final thoughts on it? As you could probably pick up by the “why it’s annoying as hell” sections, I ran into trouble on nearly every single part of the missions, from fierce competition cockblocks to technical issues with moggles to just plain getting tired of meaningless timesinks. I enjoyed very few actual parts of the expansion.
Ultimately, the only thing that prevented it from being a colossal waste of time was the fact I did it with my friends. Lawling about terrible drop rates, one-shotting goblin NMs, laughing when Val picked the stupid key when we all told him to get the mark, training the Delkfutt’s tower in an alliance of nearly 18 people, blasting clones with holy in the final fight, bitching about augments at the end, and ultimately deciding that entire storyline made no goddamn sense. Cuz it didn’t, by the way.
POSE AS A TEAM, CUZ SHIT JUST GOT REAL.
Contains spoilers about the fights but no screenshots because I was too frustrated to take any because I don’t want to spoil anything for my loyal fans.
Note that this is NOT a complete walkthrough. There are cutscenes and stuff in between these that I’m not covering cuz it’s boring to type and you’re all just going to wiki it anyway, so I’ll save myself the hassle.
The Echo Awakens
What you do: farm seedspall items from non-goblin beastmen in Jugner, Pashhow, and Merif.. Mer… that mountain range that’s annoying as hell to navigate. Relatively okay drop rate.
Why it’s annoying as hell: the beastmen don’t have amazingly fast repop times so if there is any competition it can take a while. Sometimes you get hosed on the drop rate. Sometimes they remove the ??? spot on Qufim and replace it with a moogle.
To progress: trade the items to the ??? spot.
To get the Crimson key (level 30 possible augments): trade the seedspalls to Squintrox Dryeyes in Port Jeuno. Don’t do this the first time you get them or you have to farm them again. You can farm the seedspalls again if you want another key.
Gatherer of Light (I)
What you do: kill goblins in Rolanberry, Batallia, and Saru… Sar… wtf windy area names… for key items. These key items will randomly be given to you when you or a party member kills a goblin. Once you have a key item, check a ??? in a really annoying spot in the zone to spawn an easy as hell goblin for another key item. Do this for all three zones.
Why it’s annoying as hell: the goblins are all spread out all over the place. Competition is competitive. You can do all the killing and your party members can get the key items and not you. This happened to me for close to an hour. Getting to all the goblin NM spawn areas is annoying, especially if you don’t have all your maws unlocked. Good luck with banishing gates, bitches! Even after you’re done with all that, sometimes that ??? spawn is a moogle again.
To progress: talk to the ??? spot. Again.
To get the Viridian key (level 40 possible augments): talk to Squintrox Dryeyes with the three key items obtained normally by the goblins. This will put a time limit on how long you can go without completing the next fight; fail to do so and you have to wait a JP midnight before you try again. So if you get the key before completing the next mission, go straight there and spawn the mandies. You can farm the goblin items again to get another key.
Gatherer of Light (II)
What you do: kill like 30 really piss-easy mandies.
Why it’s annoying as hell: if a lot of people are doing this, you have to spam check the ??? spot to get your turn, with a one minute cooldown between them. The mandies pose no actual challenge, but there’s like 30 of them, so if you don’t have any AoE attacks it can take a stupid long time to kill them one by one. If you go on a low level job, they actually might manage to kill you, and your friends will NEVER LET YOU LIVE IT DOWN. Sometimes when you want to pop the mandies, the ??? is a freaking moogle. Thanks a bunch for all this, SE.
While doing this mission, I was under the time limit cap explained in the Viridian key area. It took me a while to spawn my mandies, and after I was about halfway through killing them, all of a sudden I could no longer attack them. They all despawned, I failed the mission, and had to wait a JP midnight to try again. God DAMNIT.
To progress: go to Fei’Yin
To get the Amber key (level 50 possible augments): you get this naturally by comleting the mission. To get it again, you need to spawn the mandies again, which means you need the seedspalls again, which means you have to do that entire goblin BS again. Might as well do it again if you’re helping someone, but seems like a huge pain in the ass solo.
Those Who Lurk in Shadows (II)
What you do: run around Fei’Yin to check nine afterglow spots.
Why it’s annoying as hell: it’s timed, so if you d/c you’re screwed until JP midnight. It makes you run all over the freaking place. At the end, you’re given the option of choosing a mark or a key, and if you choose the key (like Valiant) you cannot progress in the mission storyline and have to do the farming again.
To progress: BCNM fight
To get the Azure key (level 60 possible augments): choose the Azure key option when presented with the choice. Don’t do this if you want to do the BCNM for the win, but you can do it every JP midnight afterward. As far as farming for augmented items go, this is actually one of the easiest one that can get you some of the better items.
Those Who Lurk in Shadows (III)
What you do: kill four beastmen in a BCNM fight (first of two!)
Why it’s annoying: the only annoying part is having to refarm the mark key item by running around Fei’Yin if you lose. As far as the actual fight goes, this is pretty much the only fair and entertaining part of the whole freaking expansion.
My party’s setup: RDM RDM WHM BLU DRK MNK
My party’s strategy: two kiters kite 3 NMs while everyone else gangs up and kills them one by one. As long as the mobs aren’t out of control, it’s a pretty simplistic battle, though they do put up a halfway decent fight.
To progress: Hall of Gods CS, then Delkfutt’s tower.
To get the Ivory key (level 65 possible augments): you get this naturally by completing the mission. To get it again, you need to clear the BCNM fight with the mark of seed key item in your possession. So you need to choose between the Azure (which you can solo) or the Ivory (which gives slightly better rewards but requires you do actually beat the BC).
Banishing the Echo
What you do: climb Delkfutt’s tower under the influence of a level 30 cap while gathering 12 key items, one from each floor. Talk to the NPC in the top area to trade all 12 in for one final key item.
Why it’s annoying as hell: because you’re climbing Delkfutt’s tower under the influence of a level 30 cap while gathering 12 key items, one from each floor. Man this is a huge pain in the ass, especially if you fail the BC and have to do this like 3 times. The items are in pretty plain site but usually guarded by like 3 goblins. Come as a job that can sneak and invis or use a lot of meds.
To progress: BCNM fight.
Ode to Life Bestowing
What you do: defeat a Seed Crystal in a BCNM fight (second of two!)
Why it’s annoying: because the crystal is pretty much a jackass. It can’t move but tosses AoEs all over the place. It creates clones that do minor damage but cause chaos. It uses aga magic. It can charm. It’s a wildly unfair fight to any real DDs since being within melee range of it will just destroy you. And if you fail the fight, you have to do the whole goddamn tower climb again for the key items.
Why it’s awesome: because the WHM changes with Solice up allow a WHM to one-shot the clones with Holy. BAM!
My party’s setup: WHM RDM/DRK PLD SMN SMN RNG
My party’s strategy: PLD tanks and runs out of range of the charm move. RDM/DRK largely focuses on stunning. SMNs do consistent damage. RNG TPs off the crystal and WSs the clones. Slow and steady.
To get the Ebon key (level 75 possible augments): you get this naturally by completing the mission. To get it again, you need to clear the BCNM fight with the final key item from the tower climb in your possession.
To get the Prismatic key (final BCNM augmentable rewards body armor): you also get this naturally by completing the mission. To get it again, toss your old augmented armor and repeat the tower climb and BCNM fight.
The keys are used in the Tenshodo treasure coffer to get all the rewards from the expansion, including the final body armor. Sometimes you get random crafting items, other times meds, and others normal items that have been augmented with various mostly random stats. Unlike the Fields of Valor augments, these are largely all positive stats, though if they’re useful for your jobs is a different matter. The level of the item is based on what key you’re turning in.
You can get 5 of the keys by simply completing the missions the first time. You can get any and all of them again by completing various parts of the missions again, but each key only once per day. In theory you could get like 5 per day, every day, but that would involve completing pretty much the entire thing all over again every time.
This is the best non-body reward I got. I’ll actually use this on my BLU. I also got a terrible subtle blow+1 earring, two hi-elixers, and a red rock.
My choice of body armor. For use on DNC, I guess. It’s pretty good. I’m not sure it’s actually better than the relic body, but since I don’t have the relic body, well okay. I can always change it again if I’m a glutton for pain.
So what are my final thoughts on it? As you could probably pick up by the “why it’s annoying as hell” sections, I ran into trouble on nearly every single part of the missions, from fierce competition cockblocks to technical issues with moggles to just plain getting tired of meaningless timesinks. I enjoyed very few actual parts of the expansion.
Ultimately, the only thing that prevented it from being a colossal waste of time was the fact I did it with my friends. Lawling about terrible drop rates, one-shotting goblin NMs, laughing when Val picked the stupid key when we all told him to get the mark, training the Delkfutt’s tower in an alliance of nearly 18 people, blasting clones with holy in the final fight, bitching about augments at the end, and ultimately deciding that entire storyline made no goddamn sense. Cuz it didn’t, by the way.
POSE AS A TEAM, CUZ SHIT JUST GOT REAL.