A New Market Cycle: The Ultimate Crafted Gear

Final Fantasy XIV’s Patch 7.4, Into the Mist, initiates a massive shift in the in-game economy and gear progression with the introduction of new high Item Level (iLvl) crafted recipes. These recipes cover the final tier of battle gear for all jobs, as well as new tools for the Disciples of the Hand (Crafters) and Disciples of the Land (Gatherers).

The new battle gear, typically reaching an iLvl of 690 or higher, serves as the primary gearing option for high-end raiders preparing for the first week of the Arcadion Savage raid tier. Crafted gear is essential because it allows players to immediately hit the required DPS floor without relying on weekly drops or capped Tomestones. The recipes require rare, often expensive materials sourced from the new Timeworn Elpis Maps and the final raid dungeon’s Normal mode.

The patch also introduces new, required Master Recipes for Crafters, ensuring that only players who have maintained and maxed their gathering and crafting jobs can produce the materials and final items.

Community Sentiment: Crafter Wars and Pre-Raid Rush

The community’s reaction to the new crafting tier is defined by two key factors: the competitive race among crafters and the essential nature of the gear for raiders.

  • Crafter Satisfaction and Competition: High-level crafters expressed immense satisfaction. This patch is their time to shine, as the demand for the new gear is at its peak during the first few weeks. Players celebrated the new, complex recipes which require significant materia melding and high skill to execute consistently. The fierce competition for server-first crafts and the resulting profit margin fueled a flurry of market activity, often referred to as “Crafter Wars.”
  • Raider Necessity: Raiders acknowledged that this gear is a non-negotiable expense. On forums, players were already organizing parties for the new Treasure Maps to farm the necessary materials or budgeting millions of Gil to purchase the full sets. The main critique from raiders is the potentially exorbitant price of the items in the first 48 hours, although this is widely accepted as part of the initial raid preparation cost.

Economic and Gear Implications

The introduction of the new crafted gear sets two critical economic and meta cycles in motion:

Firstly, it creates a massive demand sink for older patch materials, as previous crafted items are often used as components in the new recipes. This maintains the value of otherwise obsolete gear.

Secondly, it standardizes the gear floor for the final Savage tier. Every serious raiding static will require all eight members to be fully equipped with the new crafted gear, often fully melded with over-melded Materia, to meet the strict Damage Per Second (DPS) checks of the final boss. This requirement creates a direct, lucrative link between the casual Treasure Hunting community (who farm the materials) and the competitive raiding scene (who buy the finished products). The patch successfully uses crafting as the primary economic engine to bridge various types of end-game content.