Wind Crystals, And Other Types Including Shards.

Hello there, sort of to the same since I started playing less than a week ago. (I am one of those types who bought the game at release bt looking at the reviews and mess done by SE, decided not to play till now).

I would like to know where would the greatest place to collect crystals be? I noticed wind shards and crystals are hard to come by, but i mean shards ans crystals all together. I want Crystals mainly and the primary one is "wind". Let me get on to my question:

Where in the game, is the primary place along with mobs to get or for better words "try" to get an abundance of crystals, but preferably wind crystals?

I would also like info on shards also, and thank you for responding if you do.

The best places for wind shards is over by limsa.. One sec I'll get a map and show you exactly where..

Okay, in this area, there will be sheep all over the place, they're best for wind shards that I've found.. They're quick and easy to kill and they drop them a fair bit..



Crystals are another story.. They will drop there as well, but crystals are just hard to come by at all..

If you don't use your lightning shards/crystals you can offer to trade them for wind.. Same with earth crystals (won't work with shards most likely) as those are also highly sought after.

Oh, there is a Goobue over there roaming around, but it's a pretty big area and it's not hard to stay outta his way.. He's not where the most of them are anyways, just explore the entire land mass circled and you'll see where they are concentrated.

Thank you every much, Slipispsycho. i will take a good look at this info, is there a reliable source for the maps you have displayed? Like a site you browse?

Can a low lv job walk over there and kill say level 1? I assume that a job 1-10 can kill there? I am in the assumption that I can take a lot of low level jobs to gain shards and crystals anyway.

The same mobs drop crystals also right?

You can be pretty low leveled, but I don't recall how low exactly.. Sheep are very easy to kill, you might even be able to do it at level 1.

That particular map came from Eorzeapedia, but I use other FFXIV sites as well.. Most commonly though, I just use that one, this one and ffxiv.yg.com (for crafting recipes and to figure out what a given item is selling for on average).

And yes, they do drop wind crystals, but just not even close to the same rate. I haven't actually found a reliable source for wind crystals (because I don't really use them) I'm sure there's something out there, but even with the best drop rate, it'll still kinda suck..

Once you can take eles, you'll be able to start getting lots of crystals though, they drop like 6 at a time when they drop them. They also drop clusters (which through alchemy can be broken down into crystals). I have no idea where wind eles hang out though. I've only seen wind in leves.

I also assume that flying mobs drop the same type of things?

I don't think it's quite like that.. Puks also drop wind shards/crystals. But yeah, the bug swarms don't seem to like to drop wind, if they even do, so I don't think a mobs behavior is really reliable for judging what element they drop.

And the Gnats, drop lightning the most, and they fly..

I was looking online and it said dodo' and bugs swarms also dropped them. I guessed it meant all flying swarms xD.

Mobs will drop multiple types of crystals/shards, but most of the time they only really drop a primary element, you'll get like 50 shards off them of one element, before it drops something else.

Sheep and puks primarily drop wind. Puks are harder to kill though, and I don't know of a place where they are clustered as much as the sheep in that area.

Nice thanks a lot. What would you say about fire shards? Would mobs around Ul'dah do? Or are there specific mobs that drop those too as with the sheep.

TY ^_^

That one I don't actually know, they're one of the cheaper shards, so I just buy them when I need them.. I pay like 8-12k for 100.

I know Limsa is not the place you wanna go for fire shards though, so I'd guess it'd be Uldah..

Fire Crystals though, best mobs for them are Fireflies/chigoes. So maybe they're good for shards as well.. I dunno of any place where there's a bunch though.

See When I played ff or any mmorpg in the past (including everquest), I never liked crafting. But in final fantasy XIV I am really into it. I decided to pick up Miner and leveled to 16 pretty fast. With all the ores, and items accumulated, quickly started doing local leve's (Blacksmith,Armorer, and Goldsmithing). Mining is something I can continue to take high, along with one of the other's.

I will start leveling Armory jobs again soon after I have had my fill Miner and crafting jobs.

So yeah I like crabbing items for free rather than buying. Crystals seem pretty cheap in Ul'dah.

I've always been a crafter, I don't like farming for gil, so it's my only alternative.

well this game is different than 11 with farming even if you do it it will not be a chore.

If you think about it I was farming for ore... sure i can sell it but why? :D.

Alchemy, level 1 synth.

Tiger Cod + 4 lightning shards = 12 wind shards.
Can buy the striped Goby from a NPC in LL for ~230 gil/per. Thats how i get my wind shards.

There are synths to exchange 4 lightning for 12 on all shard types. All of them are level 1 alchemy. All are from fish. There are better recipies you gain access to as your alchemy rank increases.

Honestly, I would be looking for good locations for lightning shards/crystals. For every 1 you get of lightning, Alchemy will transmute them into double/triple (on NQ) of the type you actually wanted to get.

Wow so alchemy can make Shards from shards? nice to know. Another craft I have to take up sooner than later. So can you use crystals to craft them too? I'll see what I want to do when I get online :D.

Fishing and Alchemy. Will never have shard/crystal troubles again.

I'd have to take up fishing, bleh. But I'll think about it after I get off miner. i have a feeling it will be fatigued soon.

Fishing can be pretty fun.. Plus it helps you with your physical level.

Most of the fish to shards synths require lightning shards to do. Do you get lightning shards from fishing? I haven't tried out fishing yet.

You can get any shards from fishing, but don't really expect to be raking in the shards just by fishing alone, otherwise everyone would already be doing that <.<

Fishing is easy and you can do it without paying much attention.

Yeah since it helps with the physical level I may do it. But not right now, I am still in the clothes I got from joining the game add a ferew equips. I feel disgusting in the game with the gear I have on :(. I need gear for mining/fishing basically gathering and output gear, and i need control/crafting gear. No gil raking in atm, because I carefully considered after being spoken to that I need to infest in gear for crafting or breaks will be like hell on earth.

So here is hoping I get lucky with leve's again and join a party that does not mind me going on a low level job like conjer, or GLD, etc.

You on Trabia? You can hitch a ride with me for leves if you want.. Could also help you with some gear..

Used to get like 999+ lightning crystals from fishing roughly 20 hours in a week at nophica for bone crayfish. This eliminated my shard issue because i already had 3k earth crystals and over 30k earth shards from killing doblyns pre nerf.

However OP emphasized that he needed wind. And those bone crayfish ensured i never had to kill a dodo again for wind. So... yup.

ps. need to be 27+ Alch to do the Bone crayfish.

You don't get many shards in general from fishing but you can make thousands of them using lightning shards and alchemy. in turn from fishing you are provided with Malm kelp from almost every grade fishing area if you simply use the wrong type of bait (ie freshwater in saltwater) this will greatly aid your shard crafting. Malm kelp can be crafted into 12 lighting shards using only 4 lightning shards, essentially letting you make an insanely large amount if you have a huge store of kelp (which most fishermen do). It's also a rank 1 alchemy synth so you can hasty hand the hell out of it. fish and lightning shards to make tons of shards (besides lightning) and Malm kelp to cover the lightning shard problem. It's a pretty nice system.

Here is a good guide on what fish turn into what. Also you can see there is also a synthesis that takes 4 lightning shards and turns into 12 of em basically making for and unlimited supply granted your fisherman is high enough. The great thing is it is a level 1 alchemy synth which means anyone can do it. Also give the location of the fish for fishing as well. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tBxWTikYZfLdOBaorlrqOLg&hl=en#gid=0

That's a really nice spreadsheet I must say, neatly puts the fish in order by shards they produce and lightning shards needed for the synth as well as fishing sweetspots and alchemist rank required. I highly recommend taking a look at the link posted by Gypsine.

Also, you can buy cod from the vendor in LL along with maiden carp for dirt cheap. if you don't feel like fishing, just go buy three stacks and hasty hand them. That would use 1188 lightning shards (178k worth @ 150 a pop).

Since the cod sells from the vendor for 230 a pop, your fish investment is 68k, bringing your total investment up to 246k for 3564 wind shards.

Sell 2000 of those shards at 150 a pop and you have a 50k profit, plus 1500 wind shards in the bank.

This is just an alternative way to pick up shards if you don't feel like investing time in fishing. Overall, it will take less time than farming, less time than breaking crystals (unless you have very high alchemy), and less time than adding the process of fishing.

Lastly, if you are sitting here saying "But I need another kind of crystal than wind..." just sell all the wind shards and buy the opposing kind for the same price. Same amount of time invested, same outcome.

Basically, this method PAYS you 50k to net 1500 shards.