ARR relic weapons in 2023: the grind for glam.

I am not going to lie to you. I can't tell you if it's worth doing these now unless, like me, you are a slave to the shiny. Then yes, its totally worth it. Having recently completed my White Mage Zodiac weapon, I can tell you it's totally doable on a boosted toon or above, whether or not you are any good at the class, as long as you love the appearance enough.

The story is neat, and I think its worth doing for anyone who began playing long after ARR. It lays groundwork for why the weapons change, be it the subtle changes in glow/color or the radical change of the fundamental frame of the weapon. There is a reason that I, who began playing halfway through Shadowbringers, never understood. It always just seemed that the weapon stages were random, but at least for this weapon, not so!

The actual process of acquisition, though, leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the Zodiac weapons. (Zodiac Weapons is the name or title for the relic weapons for A Realm Reborn. Heavensward relics are Anima Weapons, Stormblood relics are Eurekan Weapons, Shadowbringers are Resistance Weapons, and Endwalker relics are Manderville Weapons.)

Anyway, yeah, there are places where there is zero hint about how to even begin the next step or what that even is, without stopping and googling it. My Zodiac weapon journey involved Reddit, Imgur, consolegameswiki, gamerescape, a few odd links from google and google image search, and I thought THIS IS DUMB. Why not pull it all together in a wordy and overly dramatic blog? That is right in my wheelhouse. So here I am, and I'm going to take you kicking and screaming through my journey to the final stage of the Zodiac weapon for Black Mage.

Also: I don't play Black Mage

That's ok, though, I don't play White Mage either.

Full Disclosure: My main is a Dancer and an omnicrafter. I use her for anything that can be crafted rather than run to the market board. The WHM weapon and this BLM are done on boosted alts, who also have DNC as an option if roulettes are needed for tomestones. With Zodiac weapons, unlike some of the later weapons, a lot of the grinding must be done with the weapon equipped, so I couldn't just cheese everything on DNC.

Any instances that can be run unsynced are run unsynced. I have friends run with me for the super grindy parts to make them go faster. I will return the favor.

Taking advantage of an opportunity

I am also checking how much this helps level a chocobo. When it comes to the open world content, fighting with your chocobo is the only way to go, and I recommend getting your bird fed up in a stable to where Curiel Root is its favorite food, for the double exp bonus. Then as long as you keep up in the field with your Gysahl Greens, a single curiel root will last until you log out.

How to get your chocobo to love curiel root: First, acquire 10 curiel root. Grow your own, spend too much money on the marketboard, or convince a friend to give you some. Once an hour you can stable and train a chocobo (If you have training open, part of the quest chain available in Bentbranch Meadows). If you are not in an FC you can get an apartment to have access to a stable. Or join an FC (cheaper). Then train your chocobo in the stable with the curiel root ten times. After the tenth training with curiel, you will get a little blurb on your screen briefly stating that curiel is now your bird's favorite food. If you miss that, you can go into your companion menu and you will find it right here (this is my main's max level chocobo, not the bird that will be leveling for this demo. 

See you soon with the start of a new Zodiac Weapon journey!