Game Guide

I am working on a rough Game Guide for my guild, gathering what information I can from these forums, Reddit and generally Googling around. There was quite a bit of conflicting or confusing information so I am posting here so that people can correct anything I got wrong.

Keep in mind though that this is not meant to be a step-by-step guide, with dungeon layouts and boss fight strategies, gear price lists or stat comparisons. It's a rough outline of the goals you might want to aim for at 50.

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Tiers of Equipment
There are at least 5 tiers of equipment at level 50, depending on who you're asking or how you divide up those tiers, but most agree that Artifact is your first tier and either Artifact2 or Allagan is currently the top (best) tier.

Weapons
Weapon tiers are divided by their Item Level. Weapons of the same Item Level have the same number of stat points but often in different distributions.
1. Item Lv. 55
- Relic "Precursor" - Crafted - Example
- Grand Company - Purchased with Seals from Grand Company - Example
- Darklight - Random drop from The Wanderer's Palace - Example

2. Item Lv. 60
- Ifrit's "X" - Random drop from Hard Mode Ifrit (100% chance to drop ONE weapon) - Example

3. Item Lv. 70
- 1.0 Relic "Precursors" - Crafted - Example
- Garuda's "X" - Random drop from Hard Mode Garuda (100% chance to drop ONE weapon) - Example
- The "X" of Crags - Random drop from Hard Mode Titan (100% chance to drop ONE weapon) - Example
- Mog Weapon - Coming in patch 2.1 (some 1.0 players already have them) - Example

4. Item Lv. 80
- Relic - Obtained by completing the quest "A Relic Reborn" (unlocks after completing the main story and class quests) - Example

5. Item Lv. 90
- Relic +1 - An upgrade of your Relic weapon - Example
- Allagan - Random drop from The Binding Coil of Bahamut raid - Example


Armour
As with weapon tiers, armour tiers are divided by their Item Level. Pieces of the same Item Level share the same number of stat points but are often of different distributions.
1. Item Lv. 50/55
- Artifact - Obtained by completing the level 45 and 50 class quests - Example

2. Item Lv. 60
- Amdapor Keep armour - Random drop from Amdapor Keep dungeon - Example

3. Item Lv. 70
- Darklight - Purchased with Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy (NPC in Mor Dhona) - Example
- Crafted armour - Crafted - Example

4 Item Lv. 90
- Artifact2 - Purchased with Allagan Tomestones of Mythology (NPC in Mor Dhona) - Example
- Allagan - Random drop from The Binding Coil of Bahamut raid - Example

Originally Posted by Eliniell
I'd like to make a note that the Allagan weapons and armor are more side grades to the Artifact2 and Relic +1. Some pieces seem to be better than others depending on which stats you want, but they do all have the same stat allotment.

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What Happens at 50?
Once you reach level 50 you gain access to several dungeons and quest lines. Some of these require you to complete the main story line and class quests, to complete the dungeon before it or to attune to the instance. These include:

Dungeons
1. Castrum Meridianum
- Story instance
- 8 player party
- Obtained through the main story

- 100 Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy awarded for completion

- Castrum and Preatorium are well known as a fast and easy source of Allagan Tomestones of Philosphy; By skipping the cutscenes and learning the bosses each can be completed within 20 minutes.

2. The Praetorium
- Story instance
- 8 player party
- Obtained through the main story

- 100 Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy awarded for completion

- Castrum and Preatorium are well known as a fast and easy source of Allagan Tomestones of Philosphy; By skipping the cutscenes and learning the bosses each can be completed within 20 minutes.

3. The Wanderer's Palace
- Dungeon
- 4 player party
- Unlocked via a quest given in Vesper Bay

- Random Item Lv. 55 (Darklight) weapons can be found here
- 50 Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy

4. Amdapor Keep
- Dungeon
- 4 player party
- Unlocked via a quest given in Vesper Bay after completion of Amular Vale

- Random Item Lv. 60 armour can be found here
- 80 Allagan Tomestones of Philosphy and 40 Allagan Tomestones of Mythology awarded for completion

-Only worthwhile source of Allagan Tomestones of Mythology

- Demon Wall (second boss) is considered a DPS check. You have a limited window of time in which to defeat this boss before your party wipes


Hardmode Primals
Upon completing Castrum Meridianum and The Praetorium, and hence your main story, you will unlock the Attunement quests required to enter Hard Mode Primal trials. These quests are:

1. Ifrit Bleeds, We Can Kill It
- Unlocks Hard Mode Ifrit trial
- 8 player party
- Obtained in Vesper Bay

- Random Item Lv. 70 (Ifrit) weapon rewarded to party upon completion
- Relic weapon material

2. In For Garuda Awakening
-Unlocks Hard Mode Garuda trial
- 8 player party
- Obtained in Vesper Bay

- Random Item Lv. 70 (Garuda) weapon rewarded to party upon completion
- Relic weapon material

3. In a Titan Spot
- Unlocks Hard Mode Titan trial
- 8 player party
- Obtained in Vesper Bay

- Random Item Lv. 70 (Titan) weapon rewarded to party upon completion
- Relic weapon material


Quests
1. A Relic Reborn
- Obtained in Vesper Bay

- Awarded Item Lv. 80 (Relic) weapon upon completion

- Guide here


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Raiding
There are two raids in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, The Crystal Tower and The Binding Coil of Bahamut. Unfortunately, only the Binding Coil of Bahamut is currently available, with The Crystal Tower set to open sometime around November.

Raids
1. The Crystal Tower
- Raid
- 24 player party
- Currently unknown where you obtain attunment

- This 24 person raid challenges a large group to work together or sometimes separately, as three separate 8 player parties, to work their way up the levels of The Crystal Tower.
- Expect this encounter to be moderately challenging and require hard mode Titan gear to enter.

2. The Binding Coil of Bahamut
- Raid
- 8 player party
- Access to the Binding Coil is obtained via a quest given to you after returning to Vesper Bay upon defeating HM Titan.

- Entrance to the Binding Coil is via an NPC just outside of Wineport, and cannot be accessed via the Duty Finder.

Originally Posted by carraway
The Binding Coil of Bahamut is level 90 content, the highest in the game so far. Presumably, it's just one part of the larger "Labyrinth of Bahamut" referred to in the past, and we'll be getting other parts in future content patches, but we don't know. The Binding Coil itself is separated into 5 different mini-dungeons (there are achievements for mapping I, II, III, and IV). The first turn has two bosses and some trash. The second turn appears to be seven mini-bosses and one boss. I have no idea how it relates to the story.
What separates it from dungeons is the weekly lockout and reset.

Originally Posted by Shown when you enter
The Binding Coil of Bahamut is comprised of multiple dungeons, or turns. Please be warned that the spell Return cannot be used in certain turns.

Progress within the Binding Coil of Bahamut is saved at specifc locations for each player, and you may resume your foray where you left off. Progress is reset every Monday at 11:00 (Earth time).

To enter the Binding Coil of Bahamut, you must be in a party of eight Disciples of War or Magic with a level of 50 or higher. All members must also have completed the quest "Primal Awakening".

The starting point is determined by the party leader's progress. Even party members who have not progressed as far as the party leader may participate, provided they meet the entry requirements. In this case, their progress will be updated to be the same as that of the leader.

Please note, however, that parties whose members have progressed further than the party leader cannot resume a foray.

All forays into the Binding Coil of Bahamut are limited to 90 minutes (Earth time).

Discussion thread on Binding Coil of Bahamut here. WARNING - may contain spoilers.