Farming and You - Full GuideFollow

Hare meat is a possibility. I don't remember the stats on it though.

That doesn't sound bad. But I don't like the idea of having such a low level food on me for 3 hours. Even though, I can goto Lower Jeuno with a Gyhsal Green and get it removed.

Could i perhaps suggest using Meat Jerky to farm?

cost 500 for a stack (in AH nonetheless) lasts 30 mins +3 str -1 int +22% att (caps at 30)

i dunno about you but a 100gil loss for 1 hr of farming isn't something i'd notice, and as an added bonus you can use it while leveling other jobs from 1-10 instead of spamming expensive miths

(i actually ended up using this in dunes after i ran out of miths, normally i'd feel bad about using inferior food but since i was the only one actually using any i didn't feel bad at all (actually you could also consider bringing some with you to share with your party so the new people could learn about the wonders of food))

urgh ended up ranting about something i don't know nearly enough about -.-"

{Please forgive me} m(_ _)m

Edit: spelling

Edited, Mon Jan 24 19:27:06 2005 by Nyavya

Farming in pashhow marshlands is a decent spot for you, be careful of links tho.

I never got around to posting this here, but, this is an excerpt from my journal:

Locations that I farmed at certain levels:

Level 01-10: Didn't really farm much during these levels and I don't think you will need to either. Gear is still very cheap and from the crystals and misc drops you will get from leveling, that should be adequate.

Level 11-20: I did some farming here. Since I started in San d'Oria, I farmed in East Ronfaure and West Ronfaure for Crystals, Sheepskin and Shrooms.

Level 21-30: At these levels I did most of my farming in La Thienne Plateau, basically the same items as Ronfaure, also Beehive chips and honey.

Level 31-40: Yughott Grotto and Giddeus was where I was. Farming the same old stuff for the most part. Plus, I try to farm in areas where mobs give gil, like Orcs, Yagudos, Goblins, etc.

Level 41-50: Started farming in Sauromogue Champaign. That place is a goldmine and I still occasionally farm there. Cockatrice Meat, Lizard Skin, Raptor skin, Coeurl Whiskers and Meat. All good stuff that sells pretty well. Plus you can get crystals and gil there too. Make sure to steal once in a while from Tabar Beaks, they give Giant Bird Feathers.

Level 51-60: Here is when I really started farming a lot in Sanctuary of Zi'Tah. This place is great except for when the gil sellers are all over the place. I just strictly farmed Goobbue's for Tree Cuttings and Boyahda Moss. Just watch out for Keeper of Halidom, he is a very hard NM and still gives me troubles at my level.

Level 61-70: Still farm in Zi'Tah and Sauromogue, but I also was farming in Labyrinth of Onzozo. Between Gobs, Scorpions and Cockatrice, you can make a killing there.

Good luck. ^^

I heard farming demon horns was really good money. But I am not 100% sure which demons specifically drop them. I assume the harder ones deep in Zvahl do as I have never seen one drop from the demon's in xarcabard.

Yes, the demon drops are all pretty nice. Also, the coffer chest holds Ballad 2, so if you get a key, that sells nicely. And it's an opportunaty to get your samurai or summoner testimonies (which are the only reasons I've spent any time there).

Horn's sell very nice. Orc Piercers, Shellbusters, Arhiman tears, dark crystals, etc, drop too.

Trying to remember what else I've seen fall there... Some quest items (Opo-opo item, demon pen, whine celler key...).

Drops aren't that frequent without a TH2 along vs the coffer mobs, but I'm sure the ones outside/upstairs are much more manageable.

Well for farming the simplest thing is silk, while they are a rarer drop than behive chips they're also worth alot more. And with TH you should be able to get a decent amount.

I would advise you to go to Tahrongi canyon and farm Dhamels (giant femurs, dhamel hides), Crawlers(silk) Bees(beehive chips) and Saplings (seeds). (And the occasional elemental if you think you can kill it)

The real secret to farming is to kill everything that drops anything worth something.

As for crafting the best choice in my opinion would be cooking, it's dirt cheap to skill and it is very possible to get to level 60 for ~30k (occasional losses and profits on the way) as long as you don't powerlevel your craft you wont feel a thing. It's not the biggest moneymaker in the game but it's still pretty decent profit.

Another craft would be Woodworking, again cheap to skill 1-60 (~50k is my guess) with the occasional loss/profit the profit is bigger than cooking at higher levels but it's also more expensive to level after 60

As you probably know the real profit in crafting doesn't show up until you can HQ at a decent rate (50 skill levels above the cap)

Go to the tradeskill forum if you want to get another opinion on the subject (do not post a post asking what to level, there's a FAQ at the top of the board)

also consider gardening (Mistress Pikko's pots for details) let your money work for you kinda thing

Edited, Sat Apr 16 10:34:17 2005 by Nyavya

I'd like to add a few of my own comments based on my own experience. I posted this on my LS website for some of the lower lvl players who were having trouble making gil, so most of it is cut and pasted. A lot of it is right out of Slyde's post, but deleting some would mean a rewrite for the most part, so I left it how it is. Hope you guys find something good in here:

Well, since there hasn't been anyone coming in here to offer up any help, I'll try my hand at a guide; and of course it's a farming guide.

DISCLAIMER: By no means is this the best advice for farming, but it got me through so maybe it will help some of you too.

Farming (generally) is not the best way to make money, but for people who have no craft skill, jobs for BCNM, capital it invest into the market, etc. it's one of the best options for generating gil with little to no overhead. You're basically trading time for gil. How much time for how much gil is contingent on your productivity. What follows is based around melee farming but some may apply to all jobs. There are exceptions to the things said within, especially for THFs and RNGs who are exceptional farmers altogether.

If you are not a THF main, then it's common knowledge that you should be subbing THF for Treasure Hunter I. Don't be lazy about it, the time it takes you to level a THF to 15 is much less than the time it will save you in farming. Leveling to 25 would be even better when you get your main to 50+. A lot of farming areas are highly competitive and Flee becomes important. And unless you're a RNG/THF for Widescan and Flee, you will need to know your farming area very intimately, or risk being beaten out by others. This means shortest routes, spawn rates, spawn ares, and NMs.

It's also extremely important to research the market so you know what to farm. It all is highly dependent on your lvl you are, your craft skills, how fast you can kill, the average drop rate, etc. Know what item is for what craft so you know what city to sell in to sell fast and high. If you are farming something that you can craft with (for profit or skill up), hang on to about 1/3 of it and sell the rest. The gil will help fund your crafting and leave you with some gil to blow (low lvl craft).

Level 30+

Unless you are crystal farming, there really is no effective farming until about lvl 30. This is when THI from yout THF sub will kick in, and also when you will start hurting for gil.

I would suggest that anyone around this lvl stick to farming the starting areas. Beyond that, you may be able to kill, but you're not killing fast enough to maximize your drop rate. The problem is, these areas are highly populated and heavily farmed by people in the lvl range. Always have an alternate farming spot so you don't end up wasting your time waiting for pops.

The Sarutabarutas: Crawlers are highly competed over in these areas since Silk Thread is worth so much nowadays, but this is still the money maker in this area. Beehive Chips are a close second and they drop very frequently, along with honey if you care to keep those. You also steal Saruta Cotton for Mandragoras and Wild Onions for Goblin Thugs when ever Steal is up. Remi Shells drop off crabs once in a while so go ahead and kill any that you see as well.
The best spot I found is the Spiny Spipi spawn area in East Sarutabaruta. Just run around the mountain and kill all of the aforementioned monsters while keeping an eye out for Spipi. The drop rate isn't really too good on the Mist Silk Cape, but you can still make good money just killing placeholders and other mobs.

The Gustabergs: Lizard Skin is the money item here, along with a few miscellaneous Quadav drops that don't stack. Beehive Chips and Remi Shells in this area follow the same principle. I've not found worms or birds to be significantly profitable, but if you want, slay some of those as well.
One of the best spots is, of course, the Leaping Lizzy spawn in South Gustaberg. God bless you if you manage to claim Lizzy. It's rumored that SE nerfed the Leaping Boots drop rate two patches ago (on Emperor's Haipin too) and thus the price on these has sky rocketed. Anyways, kill Lizards, Crabs, and Quadavs in and around the area. The idea is, if you're going to be farming for a few hours, in an area with an NM that spawns within that time, you may as well stick around a see if you can claim him. Don't bank on it though.
The other spot is up on the hill in North Gustaberg for Beehive Chips. Both of these areas are highly competitive, so be wary of the fact.

The Ronfaures: I've never been able to make any good money here. The best items I've farmed here are Mushrooms, which drop fairly well, and Rabbit Skin, which drops about the same. Crabs and Goblins drop the same as the other two starting areas. Orcs drop a few nice things as well. Nothing will break the bank in any of the starting areas, but I think this one has the least potential.
The big money drop in this area is the Rabbit Charm, dropped from Jaggdy-Earred Jack, in the lower part of West Ronfaure. Most people don't even bother camping this little bastard though since the drop rate is so low, the likelihood that you will get a drop, assuming you can even claim is slim to nil.

Level 40+

Now it's time to move on to the "2 Deep Zones" (i.e. Tahrongi Canyon, Konschtat Highlands, and LaTheine Plateau). These areas are massive so it's important to learn the area well. Also an item of note is that Elements appear here. The ones you're looking for at this lvl in these areas will be Lightning and Air. Earth and Water Elementals aren't really worth the time and effort it takes to fight.

Tahrongi Canyon: The competition in this area for Air Elementals is fierce, to the point that it is rage inducing. Most people who farm these have long since memorized the spawn areas of said Elementals so if you're going after these, you'd better bring your A game.
The Mandragoras here actually drop Saruta Cotton, but you can still Steal from them so these will be an item of interest. Beehive Chips are still good here as well. Crawlers are sparse, and usually only hang out under and around the trees. This really isn't a good area to farm them since you waste so much time running around to the trees. Beehive chips are still a good drop, but if these are your main focus, you may also want to try Dangruf Wadi or Giddeus. Dhamel drops bring decent money, but Giant Femurs and Dhamel Hides don't stack, so you may end up dropping them for something else.
Between the hours of 20:00 and 4:00, Ghosts will spawn at the Excavation Points (2 Ghosts per point), and they drop Cotton Cloth fairly often.

Konschtat Highlands: Lightning Clusters from the elementals sell decent, but if you have trouble killing these, don't bother, as they aren't worth it at that point. Sheep are good and if you're farming in the right area (West side of the center, roughly), you've got a chance at Stray Mary. Though she's most likely a random spawn, as are the other NMs in this zone, you may just get lucky. I also find lizards here to have a better drop rate than those in the Gustabergs, so you can make good money here, especially if you're a tanner with a lot of dark crystals.

LaTheine Plateau: I find farming Sheep and Funguar here can be quite profitable. The drop rate on hide and shrooms are both pretty good, they sell fast and at a decent price. Ram Leather is relatively low crafting skill so you can skill up off of these and still turn a profit.

Level 50+

Time for the "3 Deep Zones". I know you might be thinking that you were ready for them before 50, and you may have been. But the fact is that these areas are mainly farmed by 50+ players. And I always hear players lower than 50 complaining about how "high level" players are jerks and leave no mobs for them. The reality of it is that they are simply getting out-farmed. So save yourself the headaches and don't seriously farm these areas until you can give the major competition here a run for their money. These areas are actually rather heavily farmed so don't think that you'll have an easy time about it.Some of these spots are actually full of gil sellers, if that gives you an idea as to how lucrative farming can be here.
I feel that I should warn you; since Silk Thread and Beetle Jaws (and Tree Cuttings to a certain extent) are the focus in these areas, you shouldn't even bother farming these unless you can kill the respective monsters that drop them at a very high rate. Since the drop rates for these are on the low side, the time it will take you to get a stack my not be worth it. It's okay if you're just looking for one stack for a quick 20, but if you're aiming for 8 stacks of Silk Thread in one session, it's not going to happen unless you can kill them extremely fast and don't have to heal much.

Junger Forest: This is a great place to farm for Black Tiger Fangs, Sleepshrooms, Vegetable Seeds, and if you are feeling especially masochistic, Beetle Jaws. They aren't big money items, but they all drop pretty easily so you can amass a good amount of them in a short amount of time. And since you're lvl 50, you should be killing them at a very high rate.
The Forest Tigers spawn right around the zone to Carpenter's Landing. Two actually spawn directly in front of the zone at about 5 minute intervals. Another spawns up north a bit.
If you go up north to that tiger, following the east wall up, there are a lot of Fungar around. On the map, this area is called Spore Hollow. You can plow through most of those easily. if you keep heading Northeast to the edge of Spore Hollow, you'll see 2 Weapons and some beetles. If you are up to it, Panzer Percival spawns here and drops the Neckchopper. Drop rate is okay, but I can seem to pinpoint a spawn rate.
Otherwise you can kill Saplings for seeds. If they are vegetable seeds, which sell for the most of the the three, you can plant them and try to grow Fire Crystals. I've had mixed results, but it's fairly cheap, so I suggest giving it a shot.

Pashow Marshlands: This area was great farming before it became overrun with gilsellers. Crawlers here drop more frequently than most areas you could have farmed up until now. And Goobues are great for Tree Cuttings, though the drop rate is pretty low and they are highly competed over. You can still farm here pretty well if you are high enough to effectively outfarm most of the other farmers in the area, depending on your job. By now, you'll want Flee to give you that extra edge but also because the area is pretty wide so running to the wrong spawn at the wrong time can screw up your entire spawn cycle.

Buburimu Peninsula: I farmed here in the 40's but was constantly outfarmed by a higher lvl THF. Only when I returned in my 50's was I really efficient here. Crawlers spawn all over the coast in this zone but only enough for a few people to farm at once. Dops rates are about the same as Pashow for silk thread. Additionally, always be mindful of the weather patterns. It a wind cyhcle is up, you may want to stop and look for Air Elementals. Only two spawn on the coast, so you'll have to head back West if you want more. Dhamels and Mandragoras here still drop the same stuff, as well and the drop rates seem to be about the same, so it'd actually be more productive to kill the easier ones in Tahrongi Canyon.

Maze of Shakhrami: Of all off the 3 Deep Dungeons (Gusgen Mines, Ordelles Caves, and Maze of Shakrami) I've only ever really made any gil in the Maze. Gusgen is good for money, but only if you mine, and that can be done before 50. Ordelles doesn't really have anything notable other than an obnoxious group of known gilsellers. All of the aforementioned dungeons have Jellies, Skeletons, Scorpions, Bats, Worms, Goblins, etc. if any of them are of interest to you. But the Maze has Crawlers. The crawlers really only populate two rooms on the first floor (there are more downstairs but they are high lvl and not as abundant). By merely clearing one room at a time, you can maintain a constant spawn cycle by going back and forth between them. The only problem is that even a little bit of competition can ruin a whole farming session here, especially if together, you guys are killing too fast. Some people kill Scorpions while waiting for spawns, which is pretty useful as Scorpion Claws have been going up as of late.

Level 60+
By now, you should know how to make your own money. This guide isn't meant for you lvl 60+'s. BY now we all have other ways to make moeny other than farming, though some of us still prefer the old fashioned way. The areas you can farm by now are too numerous to list in entirety. A few notable ones are Batallia Downs, ROlanberry Fields, Saromauge Champagne, Sanctuary of Zi'Tah, Beaucedine Glacier and Korrokula Tunnel. Areas like Yhoatar Jungle, Sea Serpant Grotto, Crawlers Nest (amongst others) involve quests where you have to collect several drops and/or fight an NM, so whilest doing these tasks, you can farm the area for really good money.

:::Two points to remember:::
-Fight the temptation to hoarde your gil. Gil has no equity. In fact, if you paid attention to the economy, gil has dropped dramatically, where as items continue to go up. If you've got a surplus of gil and you're not saving for anything in particular, do some research and invest in an item or two. Most items continue to go up. And even if you lose, it's not at the same rate that others are going up. You could stand to lose 100k which is rare or gain 400k, which is fairly possible looking back on the past few months. So risk is minimal. The fact is, if you're holding onto your gil, it is becoming worth less and less everyday. A year ago the RMT exchange rate was 200,000gil for 50.00USD. Now, according to IGE, it's 1,000,000gil for 34.00USD (don't any of you get any lame ideas). Gil continues to depreciate, so solidify your assets at the AH while you still can.

-Please remember proper etiquette when farming. Don't train monsters if there are other people trying to farm; that's just being greedy. If there's enough for everyone, keep it that way. Don't steal mobs from other people. If you see them running toward it with weapons drawn, don't cast Stun on it. Just go look for another. If you are farming in an area where people are XPing don't steal XP mobs. People, generally don't farm XP areas too much for this reason, and their XP take precedence over your gil. I've farmed with a lot of people who don't follow etiquette and have gotten pretty cut throat with some gil sellers. Comparing that to farming harmoniously with otehr in the area, it's so much better to just get along. Farming isn't always a pleasant experience; don't go out of your way to make it even less so for other people and they won't do it to you.

Hope this helped some of you out. Good Luck

-Von

Something that doesn't get camped for farming much are Ochus in Rolanberry if you are 50+. I make more money off of them then I do farming crawlers for silk, since vines drop almost every fight and every once in a while you get a dodge headband or naphille pochette. I have had days where I got 30 vines, 4 headbands, and a few pochettes all without TH.

Nice one, Computer.... But who ARE you? O.o;

some one rated you down slyde >.> so i got you back up to 5.00

<.<

Thanks :) Although, I have been slacking, haven't updated this guide in a long time. But I haven't played FFXI in a while either...

Thanks for the input Zentril. I have some information on BCNM's I might add since farming is becoming more and more of a pain these days...

Fantastic thread everyone, too bad this couldn't be copy pasted into other server forums as well.

I have found that farming in Sea Serpent Grotto is productive. First off, there's quite a few NM's that can be nailed while farming. The chest-spawns are easily accessible, and keys drop often enough that I can usually keep popping the chest everytime it respawns. I enjoy sahagin farming; they squish well. But seriously, they drop frogs and fishies and things that can be vended, or, in the case of shall shells, can be sold for decent rates cuz they are used for cooking. I cook, so it helps me keep costs down, profits up. I won't get into specifics, (cuz the grotto is my farming "secret" so to speak) but one of the NMs (lowest level one actually, if i'm not mistaken) drops an item that is always in demand for between 25-75k (depending on how much price gouging has been goin on). Usually, i can farm the grotto while lfg, and pick up usually about 15-100k an hour, depending on NMs present, current pricing, and, of course, luck.
Some Disclaimers: First off, prolly most importantly, you need to be high enough level to farm the grotto. For this, 60 is prolly the minimum. Although you may be able to handle the lower mobs sooner than this (job/skill-dependant), until past 60, somewhere around 65ish i think, you will still agro the mobs in the area where the chests spawn. As this is the same area that at least 2 NMs spawn in, it would severely reduce your effectiveness to not include that area in your grotto-farming routine. So level 65+ is best. Secondly, knowing the layout of the grotto is *essential*. The average player will surely find this the most difficult part to overcome; using online maps is somewhat less useful than it sometimes is - much of the paths in the grotto do no show up on the map. Furthermore, actually finding the map is a pain (comes from chest; if you have a certain Bastokan quest active at the time, you will receive a shred of song parchment the first time you pop the chest, instead of the map. Third, and possibly most importantly, you must be careful. There are mobs in the grotto that will *easily* agro a 75... fortunately getting near these mobs is no easy task. However, they are there to be had, and unwary travelers may find themselves sahagin dinner - unpleasant. Fourth, and finally, I have not played the game for... oh... more than a year now, and I have no clue what the economy is like right now... this may not be the most effective farming for many people; furthermore, the level range makes it out-of-reach for many. But I find it to be a pleasant place, not over-camped (its still not overcamped, i have gone there a few times with my gf's character to waste away some time, although i didnt unload the proceeds, so i dont know how the market is), and with norg close, there is convenient access to vendors, mogsafe, and of course deathwarp/regularwarp to get home safely.

Bumping your info is fine but don't bring the drama into this thread please.

I have something i'd like to add, If you don't have long to farm before a static or an LS event etc, Don't farm stackable items, For example go for Spider Webs instead at least then you can go out, maybe get a drop or 2 Then leave without the pressure of having to go back later and finish off a stack.
I'll bugger off to back to Fairy server forum now.

Peace.

Something that's very important while you farm is.... crafting.

Why? There are several reasons but the few most important reasons is: Extra gil + save inventory space.

How?

It saves inventory space especially when there are many items that do not stack up. Instead of having to toss the items/ spend the time moving back and forth/ losing time muling more/ etc. it saves a lot of inventory space to synth those items and have them stack. A few examples? A few examples is if your farming for ram horns or maybe camping Stray Mary or etc. ram skin + sheep skin as you noticed does not stack. If you have leather craft skilled up you can turn those unstackable skins into leather which does stack.

Now the best part about this is: You also profit a lot! Not only do you save 12 times the inventory space you also earn a lot more gil! Instead of selling the skins for like 1k or 2k or what ever the leather usually sell for double or even triple the price! And since it stacks it also takes up a heck of a lot less ah space! (Which all farmers know is very important if you need the gil right away). Not to mention hqs. Hqs are always nice profit for even raw items that do stack up.

Some other examples would be things like demon horns into demon bolt heads or what ever, Morlboro vines into pots, Shrooms into Witch kabobs (Hq stack is like 30kish or more), silk threads into cloth, beetle jaws into necklaces, bee hive chips into beeswaxes, even zinc ores into brass ingots stacks (brass ingot stack is like 30k) etc. etc. etc. etc.

Basically if you have zones in which you plan to/ already do farm than it's nice to look at some crafts in which you could turn the raw materials into nice gil.

What's so funny chikosan? @.-

Bleh I am not understanding this. >.<~Is something I said really that funny?

Nice work! never knew the rare/ex items turned into better material XD not to mention they drop like Omg <.<

Edited, Sep 28th 2006 at 9:33pm PDT by takawaka