Being a new player in Final Fantasy XIV can be rough. You've got all sorts of controls and mechanics to learn, you're getting an unreal amount of content thrown at you, and on top of it all, it feels like you never have enough gil for what you need.
It can be hard to scrounge up enough just to teleport to the next Main Scenario Quest, and the mere idea of housing probably seems unachievable. A cool 300,000 for an apartment? Yeah, right. Luckily, there are a lot of ways for new players to keep their pockets from running empty. You just have to know where to look and be willing to add a few more things to the huge list of learning curves you'll tackle with this game.
Use the Challenge Log
The Challenge Log is useful for many things, and earning gil is no exception. To unlock it, you'll have to complete the level 15 quest "Rising to the Challenge". A lot of the categories give gil as rewards: Battles, FATE, and Crafting & Gathering are just a few of them. To check which tasks will earn you gil, just open the Challenge Log from the Logs menu and take a look at the rewards; the little gold coin symbol indicates that you'll earn gil for completing it.
While they don't amount to much gil individually, you can earn a pretty generous amount each week if you're diligent about completing them.
Complete Treasure Hunts solo, or join map parties
Timeworn Maps can be a great way to collect gil, and you might find them more engaging than the other options. After all, who doesn't love a good treasure hunt? The nice thing about these is that you don't have to go it alone. If you're a little underleveled, a solid party shouldn't have a problem carrying you through combat (assuming that they're okay with it). It's not exactly recommended that you try to join a map party that's 30 levels above where you're at, but tackling a level 60 map at level 58 shouldn't make or break you.
Map parties can sometimes be found on the Party Finder, but if you have trouble finding one, you can always start one yourself. However, keep in mind that the spoils will be split amongst everyone in the party. Any item drops are rolled for just like in any Duty, and any gil earned will be spread out evenly. While you can earn gil directly from Treasure Hunts, you should also consider selling the items you collect on the market board. Depending on the item, you might just be surprised by how much people will pay for it.
Invest time in your Retainers
Retainers can be easily overlooked in FFXIV, but it's really in your best interest to utilize them. To unlock them, you'll need to complete the level 17 Main Scenario Quest, "The Scions of the Seventh Dawn". At that point, you can talk to the Retainer Vocate in any of the three main city-states. You'll get two Retainers by default, and you can purchase more from the Mog Station.
As a new player, you'll have at least one combat class under your belt. Whichever class that is, that's the one you'll want to give to one of your Retainers. A Retainer can't surpass your level in any job you give them, so it's best to give them whichever jobs you have the most experience in. Ideally, your second Retainer should be a gathering class. On that note, it's not a bad idea for you to pick up Miner, Botanist, or Fisher early on.
Sending your Retainers out on ventures is how you're going to get them to rake in the gil for you, as well as level them up. It's up to you what sort of explorations you send them on: each has its pros and cons. On targeted ventures (Hunting, Mining, Botany, Fishing), your Retainer will bring back a resource of your choosing in an hour. Exploration Ventures are more of a gamble, and they take 18 hours, but they have a chance of earning you highly valuable items to sell on the market board. Quick Explorations are the most random, giving one unknown item in one hour: there's no telling whether it'll be useless or valuable. Regardless of which option you choose, the gil will come from selling whatever they end up bringing you.
Use your Grand Company seals
Another commonly forgotten way of earning gil is by using up those Grand Company seals you likely have burning a hole in your inventory. These are earned in a variety of ways, from simply doing your daily Duty Roulettes to turning in gear you don't need. Letting them go to waste is a shame, so why not trade them for gil?
Really, it's as simple as buying items that you can resell on the market board. You'll want to check on prices for your World, but the classic option is buying all the Coke you can carry and putting it up for sale. Another solid option is Glamour Prisms, as those are something that nearly every player needs. However, there may be better options, depending on where you're playing. You can easily compare market board prices for any sellable item on your World with Universalis.
However, if you're going the Retainer route for earning gil, it's never a bad idea to stock up on Ventures, either. If you're consistent in sending them out, you'll run out of these fast.
Flip items on the market board
This ties into the previous method, but more generally, you can always make a profit by watching the market board. If you're prone to guilt, this might not be the option for you; after all, the goal is to get people to pay you more than they should for various items. Here are a few examples of how you can do this:
- Find items that you can easily purchase from vendor NPCs. A lot of players don't know which items they can get cheaply from vendors, and they'll buy them on the market board without thinking.
- Compare market board prices for in-demand items on your own World. People will try to undercut each other in order to get a quicker sale sometimes; if you notice that there's a large jump in price from the cheapest option, grab it, adjust the price higher, and put it back up for sale.
- Compare market board prices for in-demand items on different Worlds. Sometimes, you might see that an item is going for significantly less on another World. It's simple enough to travel to another World in your region, buy up the cheap items, and resell them on your own World for the higher price.
If you're purchasing items on the market board to flip them, make sure you're taking tax into account as well. You can always check what the rates are by talking with a Retainer Vocate.
Hopefully, you've got a better idea of how to keep your coin purse from running dry when the MSQ rewards just aren't enough. It may feel like a grind at first, but as you progress further into your journey, gil will flow a lot easier. Best of luck, Warrior of Light!
