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FF14 Dawntrail Savage Raid prep guide

Here is how you can prepare for the upcoming Savage Raid tier in Final Fantasy 14's Dawntrial expansion.

Timo Reinecke

July 24, 2024 7:30 PM

Square Enix

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If you’re looking to participate in the Savage difficulty of the Arcadion there are a few things you can do to get a headstart. In this handy guide, I’ll explain to you how to gear up and prepare for your Savage adventures. Most of this will also apply to the raid tiers.

Pre-Patch Preparation

Here are a few things you can do ahead the release.

Crafting

If you’re looking to get a headstart into the Savage Raids, you still have time to grind out new pieces of equipment from the new Extreme Trials. Worqor Lar Dor (Extreme) lets you grind out item level 710 weapons and Everkeep (Extreme) lets you grind out item level 710 accessories.

Gear

Should you dabble in crafting, you can also start farming Scripts from Collectables/Custom Deliveries which you’ll need to buy the new Master Recipes which will include new weapon and armor sets starting at item level 710. On that note, you can also farm Golden Scripts for Gatherers for the special materials needed to craft the sets or sell them on the market board for a profit.

Savage Launch

But the real work stars, once the new Savage Raid tier is out.

Crafted Gear

Now the real work begins. Unless you’re going for a World First clear, filling out your armor slots with crafted gear (if you have grinded out the Extreme Trials or filled out some slots with gear from the normal raids) should be more than enough. Either buy these from the market board or craft them yourself.

Tomestone Gear

If you don’t plan to raid on the first day, the first hour, you have time to farm out some of the newly introduced tomestone currency, which is limited to 450 per week. Those are best invested in a ring or other accessories. From there on out, make sure to check which pieces are needed for the best in slot. Upgrade materials for those can be obtained by completing the Savage Raids and or exchanging the books you get from clearing.

Melding Materia & Overmelding

You don’t need to meld Materia into every piece of gear to be viable to raid, but sometimes those few extra points of damage or hit points can make all the difference. If you’re playing casually, meld the Materia you have. Per the rule of thumb, the higher the value, the better the damage. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can’t go wrong with Critical Hit or Direct Hit Rate melds.

If you want to go the extra mile, you have to overmeld your equipment. This can only be done with crafted equipment and is very costly as the chance to overmeld is reduced the more materia is already attached to a piece of equipment. Just use what you have, there is no need to break the bank for equipment you’ll replace soon.

Consumables

Foods more than tinctures are incredibly valuable when raiding. The right food will temporarily raise your stats for 30 minutes, while tinctures are applied whenever you’re about to burst. When you’re raiding, food is a must, you don’t need to use the recommended food for your job, anything that raises Determination, Critical Hit or Direct Hit Rate will do for DPS, and Healers and Tank want to bank on Piety and Tenacity respectively. New foods will be available the day the Savage Raid releases, so set some money aside for those.

Can’t get enough of Final Fantasy 14? Make sure to check out our impressions of its newest expansion Dawntrail right here.

Timo Reinecke

Contributing Editor

Timo is an avid enjoyer of all things video games hailing from Germany. After being abandoned as a child on the Rolanberry Fields of Final Fantasy XI, he has since developed an undying love for the digital worlds of MMOs. But if you can't find him crafting up a storm in Final Fantasy XIV, you'll probably find him workshopping combos in action/fighting games or being extremely passionate about the latest mobile title.

Outside of gaming, Timo is usually skimming through the Criterion Collection or praying to whatever Eldritch horror that his latest favorite manga doesn't get damaged in shipping. You can find live reactions to all of that on X @ALahftel.