Welcome to the Level 90 Gear Progression Guide for Final Fantasy XIV! This guide will walk you through simple steps to quickly and efficiently gear up after the 6.4 patch. Whether you want to gear out your jobs or save FFXIV Gil, we've got you covered. The current tier of gear, which will last until the next expansion in 2024, starts at item level 640 and goes up to 660 with a 665 weapon. Throughout the progression, there are a few average item level breakpoints: 565, 585, and 615, which unlock various end-game content of importance. Let's dive into the four-step "Fresh to 90" program.

 

• Fresh to 90 - 5 Steps to Gearing
• Current Tier Options (Item Level 640+ Options)
• Upgrades
• Current Tier Progression
• Best in Slot
• Planning Gear Purchases
• Shortcuts to Gearing

 

 

↖ Fresh to 90 -  5 Steps to Gearing

• Step 1: Get your free 560 artifact gear and weapon from Vasude in Old Charlotte. Assuming you already have one ring equipped at a minimum item level of 380, if not, head to your Grand Company and purchase a 530 item level ring for a mere 280 Tomes of Poetics.
• Step 2: Start earning Causality Tomes. You'll need 1500 of them, and you can obtain them from various level 90 content, Duty Roulette, and rank hunts being particularly efficient ways to amass them. Use the tomes to buy four 620 accessories from Chianti in Razatan. Accessories are the cheapest gear pieces but have the same impact on your average item level as any other gear. Note that the ring is unique, so you can only equip one. Don't accidentally buy an extra one. By now, your average item level should be at least 565.
• Step 3: Head into any of the first tier of Endwalker raids, particularly the First and Second Circle, and obtain tokens to exchange for one ring and any two left-side gear pieces. Ideally, prioritize two out of feet, hands, or head as these require fewer tokens than the chest and legs. Exchange these tokens with Dejol in Razatan for 580 pieces. At a minimum, you should now have a 560 weapon, two 580 left-side pieces, three 560 left-side pieces, four 620 accessories, and one 580 rings, resulting in an average item level of 585.
• Step 4: Now you can enter the Normal mode Fifth to Eighth Circle raids. Run these to replace all your 560 and 580 pieces with 610 pieces. Initially, queue for the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circles at the same time for faster queue times. Once you have obtained all the required tokens, make sure you have also run the Eighth Circle four times and acquired four Unsung Blades in your inventory. Exchange these blades with Dejol for an Ultralight Tomestone, and then trade that along with an additional 500 Causality Tomes for a lovely 620 weapon from Chianti. Additionally, trade your tokens for digital for your 610 gear. By following this step, you should now be at item level 615, with a 620 weapon, 610 left-side gear, 1 610 ring, and four 620 accessories.
• Step 5: Running the alliance raids, Glare and Euros Pharos will reward you with one coin from each. These coins can be traded with Naves in Razatan for a Moonshine Brine to upgrade your weapon to 630. While you can get away with just the 620 weapons, if you don't plan on doing high-level content like Extremes or Savages, the upgrade is worth it. Congratulations! You're now caught up and into the current tier, also known as the weekly grind.

Notable additions beyond this recommended approach include obtaining 620 left-side gear from the latest alliance raid, 590 gear from hunt currencies and older crafted battle gear from the market board. These are additional ways to fill in your gear slots.

 

↖ Current Tier Options (Item Level 640+ Options)

In the current tier, you will earn gear in three core ways:

• Tomes of Comedy: Earn tomestones of comedy to purchase item level 650 gear from Chianti in Razatan. The catch is that you are capped at earning a maximum of 450 per week. You can earn tomestones of comedy from various level 90 content, with duty roulette and rank hunts being great sources.
• Normal Raids (9th to 12th Circle): These raids drop tokens that can be exchanged with Dejol in Razatan for 640 gear. Similar to tomestones, these are subject to a weekly cap of one token per week.
• Savage Raids: Not for everyone, but these raids drop straight gear at item level 660, including weapons. The 12th Circle drops a 665-item level weapon. Like normal raids, there is a weekly restriction of one piece of loot per week. The minimum item level requirement for the initial Savage encounter is 630.

Additionally, each Savage raid drops a guaranteed book token once per week. These tokens enable you to buy pieces of gear from Dejol.

 

↖ Upgrades

In the latest FFXIV 6.4 update, you now have the option to upgrade your extreme 650-tone gear to match the item level of the Savage gear, which currently sits at 660. To obtain upgrade materials, you'll need to participate in the current Savage raids. By exchanging these materials with Calstein, you can acquire the 660 versions of the gear. However, if you're not a Savage player, you'll have to wait until patch 6.5 to obtain the same upgrade materials from the 24-man alliance raid series and the hunt Thunder.

 

Additionally, the weapon upgrade material drops in the 11th Circle Savage, so non-savage players will need to wait until patch 6.55 or later to acquire it. It's worth noting that you can obtain a nice 645 item-level weapon from the current extreme trial, The Voidcast Diocese, and the Relic weapon, which currently reaches item level 630, will eventually be upgraded to item level 665 in patch 6.5.

 

↖ Current Tier Progression

Gearing up in the current tier involves progressing through various options simultaneously rather than following a step-by-step process. For non-savage players, the goal is to cap on Comedy Tomes and obtain raid tokens from the 9th to 12th Circle weekly, gradually increasing your item level week by week. It's important to prioritize acquiring tomes and make sure to grab the unsung weekly blade from the 12th Circle Savage. Savage players should also collect their weekly loot from high-end raids to enhance their gear.

 

↖ Best in Slot

Best in Slot refers to the gear combination that offers the highest damage output potential for all jobs in FFXIV. Typically, it involves a mix of the latest upgraded tome gear and gear drops from Savage raids. However, for most content, straight tome gear is more than sufficient. Best in Slot gear becomes more crucial for challenging content like new ultimates.

 

The Balance Discord provides individual Best in Slot lists for each job. In general, gear pieces with a critical hit, determination, direct hit, or tenacity are considered Best in Slot, except for Black Mage, which prioritizes spell speed. Note that there may be slight variations based on expected kill times and comfort with the global cooldown (GCD) speed.

 

↖ Planning Gear Purchases

When planning your gear purchases, it's crucial to avoid wasting tomes on gear that will soon be replaced by a Savage drop. You don't want to spend two weeks' worth of Comedy tomes on a piece that will become obsolete shortly after. Non-savage players should consider which normal raid pieces they want to prioritize in the early weeks and purchase tome gear that complements those choices.

 

Remember that the weapon is the most significant damage multiplier, so plan accordingly to obtain the best weapon as soon as possible. Ensure you have 500 Comedy tomes available in the week you are due to pick up your seventh unsung blade from the 12th Circle.

 

↖ Shortcuts to Gearing

Once you have one job geared up in the current tier, you can skip stepping three of the Fresh to Level 94 program. Raid tokens can be used to buy gear for any job, allowing you to gear up your other jobs quickly. For example, if you're gearing up for another job of the same type (e.g., main Summoner and then Red Mage), most of your Summoner gear will work except for the initial 560 gear.

 

However, not all melee jobs share the same gear. The most efficient shortcut to enter high-end content, including Savage raids, is to use Gil to buy crafted gear from the market board. Crafted gear has the same item level as normal raid gear, which ranges from 580 to 640. You can use this crafted gear to fill in missing slots or purchase a full set of 640 crafted gear, which can be equipped as soon as you reach Level 90.

 

This allows you to participate in high-end content without relying heavily on the latest normal raids, although it's still recommended to claim the unsung blades from the 12th Circle. Crafted gear can also be useful for other classes that share the same gear. In patch 6.5, you'll be able to use causality tomes to upgrade the crafted gear from 640 to 650.

 

Conclusion:

Overall, the Level 90 Gear Progression Guide offers a comprehensive and practical approach to gear progression in Final Fantasy XIV Patch 6.4, enabling players to efficiently gear up their characters and participate in various end-game content.