There are some new areas to explore with Final Fantasy XIV's Patch 6.5, and in the Island Sanctuary, there is a new area in the Mountain Hollows that players can now dig up and farm materials from.
For those who are dying to get digging, unlocking the area shouldn't take much time assuming you are already pretty far into the development of your Island Sanctuary. Once you've unlocked that rank, a plethora of things become available to you, including new tools, new animals, new handicrafts, and new gatherable items. There are also some things to upgrade including the Cozy Cabin.
Once the new area is unlocked, players can gather all of the new items that were added with Patch 6.5. No new gatherable item requires any level past Sanctuary Rank 17, meaning those who would like to upgrade their Cozy Cabins can do so the moment they hit that rank, unlock the materials from their gathering nodes, and farm them up.
How to unlock the second area in the Mountain Hollow in FFXIV's Island Sanctuary
When you're ready to unlock the new area, talk to the Felicitious Furball, which should be inside your Cozy Cabin with a quest marker over its head. It will ask you to go talk to the Determined Digger. Don't see it on your map? That's because you need to select the Cave System to be able to see where the quest marker is.
Head to the Mountain Hollow, the cave area that you unlocked in Patch 6.4's new Island Sanctuary content, and you will find the Determined Digger at X: 24.3, Y: 19.1. Once you've spoken to it, head down to the spot just below and interact with it, then return to the mammet. You'll then need to craft the Splendiferous Mammet-sized Spelunking Tools. Here's the list of items you'll need to craft these tools:
- 10 Island Palm Logs
- 10 Island Resin
- 10 Island Wood Opal
- 10 Island Marble
- 10 Island Mythril Ore
After you've crafted the tool, head back down to the area you investigated earlier and talk to the mammet. A cutscene will play, and then you'll complete the new area. You'll be rewarded with 17,500 Island EXP, and 7,500 Island Cowries.
After you've unlocked the area, you're still not done with unlocking new gatherables. You'll need to craft the Islekeep's Mythril Axe and the Islekeep's Chisel in order to unlock all of the items gathered from nodes around the Island Sanctuary.
