Welcome to Ishgard! This is a guide for new players who might be overwhelmed with the amount of content available in the Heavensward Expansion of Final Fantasy XIV. This is not a guide for how to do any content; rather, it is meant to give you a reference list of what order to do things for a streamlined process. If you’re anything like me, having so many options all at once is overwhelming and nerve-wracking. My goal here is to simply help you make a priority list and go through things one step at a time.

This guide will be focused on combat content only. Crafting, gathering, Gold Saucer minigames, and the like will not be included at this time. Also, expect name spoilers, though no plot spoilers outside of that.

Step One (You say we need to talk)
You’ve just hit 60, and you’re probably almost done with the Main Story Quest. You’ve run the Great Gubal Library a few times, and your gear is probably a mishmash of ilvls. Here are your priorities;

Get your overall item level to 145. You can do this by by getting friendly crafters in your Free Company or Linkshells to make it for you, lotting gear from the Library, by buying it from the Market Board, or by going to the vendor nodes in Azys Lla and goblins in Idyllshire and buying NQ white i145 items. I’ve listed those in order of usefulness. Do your best to have a weapon of high ilvl. This will increase your effectiveness more than anything.

Enter and complete the Aetherochemical Research Facility, unlocked as part of the MSQ. It can be difficult to get in solo through the duty finder, as the ARF is not included in any roulettes, so use the Party Finder or ask in your FC/LS for helpers. It is a 4 man dungeon and is actually really cool!

Enter and complete the Singularity Reactor. This is included in Trials Roulette, so it shouldn’t be extremely difficult to get in via Duty Finder.

Continue on through the 3.1 MSQ. There are no dungeons or trials in this leg of the MSQ, but there is one somewhat-challenging solo instance. You may be able to complete it at i145, but there’s no shame in holding off until you have bumped your item level up. The 3.1 MSQ is not required for anything to be unlocked at this time.

Step Two: Tomestones!
You are now ready to begin running dungeons and gathering the equipment currency of this game, Allagan Tomestones. Right now, there are three levels of tomestone. Poetics are for i120 gear, and are solely for level 50. You will still gradually accumulate these, but they’re largely irrelevant now that you’re level 60. Law tomestones are going to be your focus at first, which will help you boost your ilvl to 180, and you’ll build up your store of Esoterics at the same time. Tomestones are dropped from any level 60 dungeon or raid. So let’s talk about those!

You currently have four dungeons available to you that are level 60.
The Fractal Continuum - Unlocked in Ishgard, the Fractal Continuum is a dungeon located in Azys Lla featuring robotic and experimental creatures and enemies. This dungeon requires item level 145 to enter, drops i160 gear (Valerian) from chests, and rewards you with Law and Esoterics tomestones.

Neverreap - Unlocked in the Sea of Clouds, Neverreap is a dungeon located in the Sea of Clouds that features Vanu Vanu, tornadoes, wildlife, tornadoes, and two very stubborn giraffes (plus some tornadoes) as enemies. This dungeon has the same requirements and rewards as Fractal Continuum.
The two above dungeons are contained within the Level 60 Dungeons Roulette. Running this roulette will give you a once-a-day bonus of Law and Esoterics tomestones in addition to the reward the dungeon gives on its own.

Saint Mocianne’s Arboretum - Unlocked in the Dravanian Hinterlands, Saint Mocianne’s Arboretum is a dungeon located in the Hinterlands that features carnivorous flora, insects, and ambiguously gendered flytraps as enemies. This dungeon requires an item level of 170, drops i185 gear from chests, and rewards you with a larger number of Esoterics tomestones than the first two dungeons.

Pharos Sirius (Hard) - Unlocked in Western La Noscea, Pharos Sirius (Hard Mode) is an upgraded version of a level 50 dungeon that continues the story of this haunted lighthouse. It features kobolds, bombs, and curious disc creatures from another dimension. The rewards and requirements for this dungeon are the same as the Arboretum.

The two above dungeons are contained within the Expert Roulette, which gives a once-a-day bonus of Law and Esoterics tomestones that is larger than the 60 Roulette. Running both roulettes will earn you 120 Esoterics tomestones.

Saint Mocianne’s Arboretum - Unlocked in the Dravanian Hinterlands, Saint Mocianne’s Arboretum is a dungeon located in the Hinterlands that features carnivorous flora, insects, and ambiguously gendered flytraps as enemies. This dungeon requires an item level of 170, drops i185 gear from chests, and rewards you with a larger number of Esoterics tomestones than the first two dungeons.

Pharos Sirius (Hard) - Unlocked in Western La Noscea, Pharos Sirius (Hard Mode) is an upgraded version of a level 50 dungeon that continues the story of this haunted lighthouse. It features kobolds, bombs, and curious disc creatures from another dimension. The rewards and requirements for this dungeon are the same as the Arboretum.

The two above dungeons are contained within the Expert Roulette, which gives a once-a-day bonus of Law and Esoterics tomestones that is larger than the 60 Roulette. Running both roulettes will earn you 120 Esoterics tomestones.

Another option you have for building up Law is by doing The Hunt. Speak to the NPC outside the Forgotten Knight to register for the Hunt, and also to an NPC in Idyllshire to unlock weekly B rank targets you can pick up at the Forgotten Knight. Hunts are large monsters that pop on certain timers all around Eorzea. A rank hunts pop every few hours, and drop Law tomestones and Centurio Seals. S rank hunts pop every few days, and drop greater amounts of Law and Centurio seals. Seals can be used to buy upgrade items for your Law and Esoterics gear, as well as a mount and a few minions.

A third source of Law tomestones are your other roulettes. When run as a level 60 job, the Roulette: Level 50 Dungeons, Trials Roulette, and Leveling Roulette will all reward you with Law and Poetics tomestones. Trials also gives a small number of esoterics. If you run these three roulettes as a sub-60 job, you will receive fairly large chunks of EXP and no tomestones outside of Poetics.

What do you do with all this? Firstly, unlock and focus on the 60 Roulette dungeons. They have easier requirements to meet and are easier to do at lower levels of gear. As you accumulate Law, go to Idyllshire and pick up i170 Yasha equipment to increase your item level. Your purchase order should be

1.Weapon
2.Body/Legs
3.Left side pieces
4.Right side pieces

The reason for this is that weapons give you the greatest output increase, and left side pieces give you main stat increases AND extra health, while right side pieces only give you main stat increases. You are certainly welcome to deviate from this order if you feel like it, but it’s a very solid way to go.

Once you purchase the Yasha gear at i170 from Hismena, you can also buy Doman upgrade items with Law tomestones from the same vendor, then speak to Seika in Idyllshire to upgrade the Yasha gear to Asuran gear, which is i180 and can be dyed. You can also purchase these upgrades with Centurio Seals, but that’s not recommended at all.

Once your average item level is 170, start taking on the Expert Roulette dungeons, using the i185 pieces as upgrades when you can. Also, these sets look pretty sweet in a way the Valerian gear really doesn’t, in this author’s opinion, so there’s lots of glamour opportunity.

Step Three: Get Metal
You’ll also be accumulating Esoterics tomestones, but you can only get 450 of these a week. Esoterics gear can be purchased in the same place as Law gear, but is different in two notable ways: one, it is item level 200, much stronger than Law, and two, left side Esoterics pieces are Job specific. There are different sets for every single job. It is highly recommended that you focus on one job at a time with this currency, and buy your weapon (which will take three weeks minimum) first.

Once you are i170, you can also begin challenging Alexander Gordias: Normal Mode. This is a four-part raid that will allow you to experience the story of Alexander and the Illuminati without dealing with the intense raiding atmosphere of Alexander Savage. Each floor of Alexander Normal drops four tokens that can be lotted on without limit.

Floor 1 drops Accessories, Belts, and Foot armor (Bolt, Chain, Pedal)
Floor 2 drops Accessories, Foot, and Head armor (Bolt, Pedal, Lens)
Floor 3 drops Hand, Head, and Leg armor (Crank, Lens, Spring)
Floor 4 drops Hand, Leg, and Body armor (Crank, Spring, Shaft)

You can exchange 1 Bolt for 1 Prototype Gordian Accessory, 1 Chain for a Prototype Gordian belt, 2 Pedals, Cranks, or Lenses for 1 Prototype Gordian head, hand, or foot armor, and 4 Springs or 4 Shafts for 1 Prototype Gordian leg or body armor, all in Idyllshire. The tokens can be gathered without limit. Each floor of Alexander Normal also rewards Esoterics. Prototype Gordian armor is i190.

Step Four: Call me Ishmael
I recommend this step after you’ve gone through Alexander Normal as it is a bit more difficult, but you can actually do this much earlier. At this point, we’re going to go Primal Hunting. In Mor Dhona, you can begin quests to unlock Bismarck and Ravana (Extreme) fights. You do not have to do them in order. Each Primal will drop a weapon that the party lots on as normal, but also a token that goes directly into your inventory every time you are victorious. 10 of these tokens can be exchanged for one weapon in Idyllshire.

Bismarck EX drops i175 weapons called Expanse weapons. Ravana EX drops i190 weapons called Hive weapons. Hive weapons are the highest level, easily obtained, ungated weapons available at this point in the game. Bismarck EX is a fight requiring awareness of the environment, medium burst DPS, and positional awareness. Ravana EX is a fight requiring high sustained DPS and strong knowledge of how to solve various mechanic puzzles involving positioning and trading debuffs with other party members.

Also, at least once, you need to take on the Minstrel’s Ballad: Ultima’s Bane, a level 50 fight. It’s important.

Step Five: The Hard Part
You’re now i190ish, with a weapon that is between 180 and 200. You’re now able to take on the last chunk of combat content.

The Void Ark is a 24-man raid that is unlocked in the Pillars. It rewards i200 gear, but you can only obtain one piece per week. This gear is role-specific, unlike Esoterics, so you can gear three healers, two casters, two ranged physical, three tanks, or one melee class with this gear. There are no accessories outside of belts.

Thordan’s Reign is an Extreme trial like Ravana or Bismarck EX that rewards you with i205 weapons. These weapons are a step between Esoterics and Gordian, with higher weapon

damage and main stat totals than your esoterics weapons. The fight has a lot of puzzle mechanics that require precise positioning and correctly reacting to different markers. You can unlock this fight in Mor Dhona by speaking to the Wandering Minstrel.

The Diadem is semi-open world content that is also unlocked in the Pillars that rewards variable gear. The strongest items are i210 (equivalent to Alexander Savage) and have randomized stats and appearances. This is completely uncapped, and you can certainly start doing this while you’re working on Alexander Normal; it’s listed in this section because of the level of gear it drops and the need for high DPS to maximize your gains.

Alexander: Gordias (Savage) is the current top-level raid of FFXIV. The four floors are the same as Normal mode, but with souped up DPS, tank, and heal checks, more complicated mechanics, and high performance requirements. This drops i210 gear as well as tokens that can be exchanged for gear from the appropriate floor in Idyllshire. You can beat each floor once per week to receive a token; if you enter after that, you will deprive your group of at least one and possibly both chests. You must have cleared Ultima’s Bane to enter this raid.

In addition to Gordian gear, Alexander Savage drops Gobcoats, Gobtwines, and Gobdips that can be used to upgrade your Antiquated Esoterics gear from i200 to i210, making them stronger and also dyeable. You can also get coats and twines from Centurio Seals (2000 seals for an accessory, 3000 for a left side piece) or by doing Void Ark once a week. Completing the Void Ark will drop a Mhachi Farthing, which you can trade in for a single upgrade piece, either twine or coat. At this time, the only way to obtain a Gobdip for esoteric weapon upgrades is by clearing Alexander Savage floor 4.