It was business as usual when I rang the retainer bell in the Free Company's house, knowing all four of my retainers had finished their ventures and were ready to show me the fruits of their hard work. My disappointment was immeasurable, and my day was ruined, however, when the "fruit" my dutiful retainers brought back turned out to be either unripe or downright rotten and Alpha-shaped.
Did I not provide you with that level 90 gear, dear retainer? How many Grand Company seals were spent to buy the Ventures you require? I worked through multiple expansions to keep everyone adequately geared and the gil flowing. Each retainer goes on exploration missions as often as possible to save them from standing idly and twiddling their thumbs. There are only so many times one can be told, "I don't want this Stuffed Alpha," before they start to believe their retainers are planning a mutiny. Where are the Venture Coffers and expensive items for me to sell?
Retainers in Final Fantasy XIV serve the Warrior of Light as personal stewards responsible for selling the player's items on the market board and fetching materials and rare items through Ventures. While retainers are meant to be helpful by providing a way to earn supplemental income, some retainers in players' employment are cruel pranksters or have a skewed view of value.
Players control everything about a retainer, down to their appearance, gear, and how they spend their time. You choose their class and what materials they should spend their time earning, and then watch as the doe-eyed retainer's journey unfolds as they start at level one and work their way up to the current level cap. However, how quickly their progress advances is determined by how often you can provide Ventures, a currency obtained through various methods such as Grand Company Seals or Wolf Marks. A lot of effort is involved in building up multiple retainers, but your hard work may go unappreciated by the very ones you're helping.
A retainer's gear plays a more prominent role in job-specific Ventures, as certain materials are locked behind a stat requirement that can only be met by equipping better items. Better gear also allows retainers to gather bonus or high-quality items. For the aimless Quick Exploration Ventures, gear and item level do not affect what your retainers may bring back. Instead, the pool of possible items is tied to their job level, expanding each time they level up. While it should still be possible to receive some of the more common items from Quick Exploration Ventures, should my retainers not have a higher chance to bring back rare items since they're geared to the gills? Probability and randomness bias always have the chance to make people feel down on their luck, but the fact remains that what I'm receiving is not worth the effort I put in.
My friends and Free Company members regularly earn rare dyes and expensive furnishing items through Ventures. Meanwhile, the fifth Stuffed Alpha one retainer brought back this week is being shamefully tucked away or tossed out, leaving me like a jealous child who got socks for Christmas while Billy got a GameBoy. It may be considered rude to turn down a gift one worked so hard to get for you, but another Stuffed Alpha or Stuffed Bom Boko brought back after an hour's work may mark the end of this business agreement.
If the retainers were at a low level, their lack of good loot would be understandable. However, wearing item level 650 gear should make obtaining valuable items easy. Of all the possible things they could bring back, a plushie and a singular crafting crystal weren't what I expected after leveling my retainers up and ensuring they had high-quality gear. One has to wonder if they pass by a patch of Stuffed Alphas growing like wildflowers on their journeys out, and they're irresistible to pick. It's understandable since Alpha is a cute little guy, but he lost his charm 100 Stuffed Alphas ago. His feathered mug is now haunting the Quick Exploration Ventures of my dreams.
Perhaps retainers have a wicked sense of humor, and it's all in good fun. Maybe they get a good laugh seeing the excitement after bringing back a Venture Coffer, only for their employer to realize it was a Retainer Fantasia inside. Their humor is infectious, seeing how their fellow retainers have followed suit by returning from their Quick Explorations with yet another Wind Crystal or Nameday Cake. You'll have the last laugh, however, when the next Retainer Fantasia their Venture Coffer gives is used to turn that cat girl retainer into a beefy masculine Roegadyn until your true enemy, RNG, strikes again.
Want more Final Fantasy XIV news? Try our new Discord webhook, delivering the latest news straight to your Discord servers. Learn more about how to link it here, or go straight to the signup page here.
