Explanation of Raiding Loot and Lockouts in FFXIV

This is a comprehensive guide aimed towards players entering the endgame of an FFXIV expansion for the first time. FFXIV's gear progression system is very straightforward, but there are many interconnected systems that may be overwhelming at first glance. This guide will help players understand how Endwalker's endgame systems work, how getting gear works, and what gearsets players can acquire.

Players can generally reach a reasonable item level from completing weekly Normal raid floors and obtaining gear crafted by Disciples of the Hand. Higher item level gear is subject to the Savage raid's weekly lockout, gating players from becoming too strong too fast.

The lockout is the term used to refer to the cap of rewards a player can receive from any content in a period of time. The most relevant gearing lockouts are the weekly raid lockouts and weekly tomestone cap. For example, once the new currency is released, players can only receive 450 Allagan Tomestones of Comedy per week. Raid lockouts are generally active until the release of the subsequent raid tier, after which the lockout for the previous raid tier is removed.

The weekly lockout resets every Tuesday, and the exact time can be viewed in the Currency menu in the Battle tab. The reset will refresh the rewards players are eligible to receive.

Upon reaching the level cap, gear progression is based on item level, which is commonly referred as i# or iL#. In game, average item level is denoted by an asterisk. For example, if a piece of gear is i600, its item level is 600. The higher an item level, the more stats the piece of equipment offers. All endgame duties have a minimum required average item level, which can be bypassed by queueing into an instance with a full premade party. It is highly recommended to acquire gear higher than the average item level of the instance to make the duty proceed smoother.

Upgrading gear is very straightforward in FFXIV. Endgame gear with higher item levels are acquired through dungeons, trials, raids, crafting, and tomestones. The highest item level gear is acquired from Savage and Ultimate raids, as well as upgrading capped tomestone gear.

The maximum possible item level is increased during an expansion and each raid patch cycle, which are generally major patches ending in even numbers. These occur every 7 to 8 months. The base item level for that patch's content is 10 higher than the maximum armour item level for the previous patch cycle. For example, in Patch 5.2 and 5.3, the maximum item level was 500, and in Patch 5.4 and 5.5, the maximum item level was 530. Raid and relic weapons are 5 items level higher.

On major patches ending in odd numbers, the maximum item level is not increased. Instead, more ways to upgrade gear are introduced with Alliance Raids and hunts. These patches offer a great way for players to catch up on item level if they have not been playing, in addition to allowing players more ways to gear up alt jobs.

Crafted gear is an efficient way to gear up jobs. Equipment made by crafters is extremely important for raid progression and is sufficient enough to clear Savage raids. New crafted gear is released at the beginning of a raid patch cycle at the patch's base item level. Disciples of the Hand can craft these sets with materials acquired from new gathering nodes and materials purchased with Allagan Tomestones. They can also be bought and sold on the Marketboard. Only high-quality crafted gear is usable.

Materia are gems players can place in gear to gain bonus stats. After players acquire endgame gear, they must meld them with relevant combat materia to maximize their potential. Most endgame gear has two materia slots, but certain items such as weapons rewarded from Ultimate content will have more.

Players can meld materia at any Materia Melder NPC for a small fee, but they can also meld gear by themselves if they have a Disciple of the Hand leveled. There are ten grades of materia, but only the highest two grades are used for endgame gear. The highest grade is used in raid gear, while the second highest is strictly used for overmelding crafted gear, which have five materia slots.

Endgame materia can be acquired from a variety of sources.

• All max level dungeons randomly drop materia, which can be either grade.
• A-Rank and S-Rank hunts drop an incredible amount of materia, and hunt currency can be used to purchase materia.
• Currency rewarded from various content can be traded in for materia.
• Convering fully spiritbound endgame gear gives random materia.
• Materia can be bought and sold on the Marketboard.

There are many forms of endgame currency used to purchase endgame gear. Players are likely familiar with Allagan Tomestones, as Poetics are rewarded from all endgame content in previous expansions. To learn about other currencies, visit our currencies page.

Allagan Tomestones are the major endgame currency and are rewarded from all endgame content in the expansion. Tomestones can be exchanged for endgame gear and crafting materials. All endgame content from Endwalker rewards Tomestones of Causality and Tomestones of Comedy. Comedy is set to release in Patch 6.4 along with the final tier of the Pandaemonium raid.

• Causality is uncapped, meaning players can acquire as many as they want.
• Comedy is be capped at 450 per weekly lockout.

Gear purchased with Allagan Tomestones can be upgraded with items that can drop in Savage raids or be exchanged for tokens from Alliance raids. This will increase a piece of gear's item level by 10.

Raids are a full party fight and are split into two difficulties, each with a different loot system. Normal raids are simple enough to do through the duty finder, while parties for Savage raids are primarily formed through the party finder or done with a static (a group of static members who raid together).

Normal raids are subject to the weekly lockout, but players can run the raids as many times as they want to receive a specific piece. Instead of outright dropping gear in treasure coffers, Normal raids drop eight possible tokens players roll for, and there is a type for all gear slots (accessories have a single unified token). Players can trade these tokens in for gear for any job they wish.

Savage raids are subject to the weekly lockout, and players can only receive rewards for completing a Savage raid floor once per weekly lockout. Upon completing a Savage raid floor, treasure coffers will reward gear coffers and upgrade items if applicable. When these gear coffers are used, they reward the player with gear corresponding to the user's job. In addition, the final fight of the tier will drop a random raid weapon. Reward amount is based on how many players have cleared the fight previously in the same weekly lockout.

• If no players have previously cleared the Savage raid in the weekly lockout, there will be full rewards.
• If one to four players have previously cleared the Savage raid in the weekly lockout, there will be reduced rewards.
• If five or more players have previously cleared the Savage raid in the weekly lockout, there will be no additional reards.

Additionally, the first time a player completes a Savage raid floor in a weekly lockout, they will receive a token corresponding to the floor. They can exchange a number of these tokens for any gear or upgrade items they desire.

• Weapons cost 8 tokens from the fourth raid floor.
• Head gear costs 4 tokens from the second raid floor.
• Body gear costs 6 tokens from the third raid floor.
• Hand gear costs 4 tokens from the second raid floor.
• Leg gear costs 6 tokens from the third raid floor.
• Feet gear costs 4 tokens from the second raid floor.
• Accessories cost 3 tokens from the first raid floor.
• Upgrade items for left side tomestone gear costs 4 tokens from the third raid floor.
• Upgrade items for right side tomestone gear costs 4 tokens from the second raid floor.
• Tokens from the fourth raid floor can be exchanged for tokens from the first to third floors at a 1:1 exchange rate.

Formerly, Head, Hand, and Feet gear cost six tokens, and Body gear cost eight tokens. This was changed to alleviate gearing being too time-consuming for the amount of jobs available.

You can learn more about the Normal and Savage difficulties of the latest raid tier of Dawntrail on our raid hub.

Alliance Raids are instances with three full parties. These will drop gear on a weekly lockout, but players can run the raids as many times as they want to receive a specific piece of loot. Additionally, upon completing the Alliance raid players will receive a weekly token, which can be traded in for items used to upgrade gear purchased with tomestones.

Extreme (EX) Trials are a full party fight, usually against a singular enemy. An Extreme Trial's difficulty is higher than all other non-Savage content in the game, and Extreme Trials serve as a stepping stone to Savage raids. Most EX Trials reward strong weapons and a rare, special mount, while other EX Trials can reward accessories or even gear.

EX Trials do not have a lockout, and each completion of an EX Trial will reward all players with that specific trial's token. Ten tokens can be traded in for a weapon that drops from the trial, and 99 tokens can be traded in for the trial's rare mount, although this option is only released a few patches after the trial releases.

You can learn more about the Extreme Trials released in Dawntrail in our trial hub, including guides on how to defeat them.

Ultimate Raids are a full party fight, and considered the hardest PvE content in Final Fantasy XIV. Completing an Ultimate raid will reward players with one token which can be traded for the Ultimate weapon from that raid. These have a weekly lockout during the patch they are released, but the lockout is removed afterwards.

You can learn more about the six Ultimate Raids in our Ultimates hub, including guides on how to defeat them.