FFXIV Favors Comprehensive Guide
FFXIV Favors Comprehensive Guide by SorryGlamYou
Hey, all! I know we’re X weeks into Heavensward now and 3.1 is only a few weeks away… but better late than never? :) At any rate, I finally sat down and hopped around the new zones, taking screenshots of me looking ridiculous in hopes that this will help some of our happy gatherers (and crafters!) out there. Here goes!
Let’s start with…
THE BASICS
If you’re venturing into this guide, then my best guess is that you’re already familiar with this window and this window. You may have even met this vendor and taken a look at some of the items she has for you. Admittedly, this guide is not a comprehensive guide for gathering in general, so I won’t get into all that. But to get started, just make sure you know 1) what red scrips are, 2) that they have a weekly cap, 3) that you buy tokens with them, and 4) that those tokens can be traded in for gear or for… FAVORS!
Q: Why should I buy Favors?
A: There are only two reasons to purchase favors. Either you would like to use them to get materials for endgame crafted gear or you would like to make gil off of the crafters who are using them. If you don’t fit into one of those categories, then a better use for your red scrip gathering tokens would be to upgrade to Splendorvendor gear.
Q: Can I get endgame gathering gear crafted with this stuff?
A: Only your gathering accessories and off hand are crafted using favor materials. These are (currently pre-3.1) best-in-slot and alternatives cannot be purchased from the Splendors Vendor. All of your other gear will be purchased using your red scrip gathering tokens from Splendorvendor.
Q: What exactly IS a Favor, anyway?
A: A favor is an item which, when consumed, gives you a 5-minute buff. This buff makes it possible for Concealed Nodes to spawn in the zone associated with the item. As you can see in this screenshot, there are two types of favors: Traders’ and Matrons’. Traders’ Favors are for Miners and Matrons’ Favors are for Botanists. Each gathering class has access to favors in five zones, currently: Coerthas Western Highlands, Dravanian Hinterlands, Dravanian Forelands, The Churning Mists, and The Sea of Clouds. When you use 1 token to purchase favors for a zone, you receive a stack of FIVE(5) favors for that zone.
Q: What are Concealed Nodes?
A: Concealed Nodes are nodes which have a chance to spawn when BOTH of two conditions are met: 1) You have the correct favor buff on for the zone you are in and the gathering class you are on and 2) you have just fully-expended a node.
Q: When is a node fully-expended?
A: Note that in this picture both nodes are one gather away from being done. If you hit either of them one more time, the node will be fully-expended, it will disappear, and if you have the proper favor buff up there will be a chance for a Concealed Node to spawn.
Q: How often do Concealed Nodes spawn?
A: If you take full advantage of your 5-minute favor buff, you will get an average of 3-5 (depending on which zone you’re in) favor items during the duration of the buff. Of course, this means that you can have bad RNG and get 0 or 1. OR you could have fantastic RNG and get 7 or 8. Or you could get 9 and I hate you.
Q: Can I spawn more than one Concealed Node at a time?
A: No, you cannot. Only one Concealed Node can exist on the map at any given time. If the Concealed Node is partially expended it can “refresh,” but you cannot have more than one active. (Credit to /u/selenta here!)
Q: How do I know which Favors I want/need to buy?
A: I have this spreadsheet (on the [G]Favors/Ephemeral tab, in case it doesn’t default there) which tells you in columns F and G which items can be gathered from which favors. If you hover over an item in those columns, it will tell you what can be purchased with those items and which counterpart you’ll need from the other gathering class in order to be able to afford it. The spreadsheet has a lot of information for gatherers, but for people who want a simpler reference for favors specifically, here’s an infographic from me to you with love. I’ll get more into that in a sec.
WHAT DO I BUY WITH FAVOR ITEMS?
Mmkay, so before you go using up your red scrip tokens on random favors in random zones, it’s important to know what exactly happens. The chain of custody, so to speak, is as follows:
- You use tokens to buy favors from the Splendorvendor (this is what I’m calling her)
- You go to the zone, use the favor, and collect items from Concealed Nodes
- 10 of the favor items you collect can be used in conjunction with 10 of a complementary item from the other gathering class as seen in the handy-dandy infographic to purchase crafting materials
- The crafting materials are used to craft endgame crafting gear, endgame gathering accessories and off hands, or battle vanity gear (the battle gear can technically be used, too, but I wouldn’t recommend it)
When you’re deciding which favors you’re going to use your tokens on, please make sure you know what your endgame is! This is important to know even if you’re just planning on throwing the favor items onto the market board! It’ll give you a better idea of what is/will be in demand.
HOW DO I OPTIMIZE MY FIVE MINUTES?
So you’re getting ready to turn your favor buff on. You’ve double- and triple-checked that you’re in the right zone and on the right class (remember: TRADERS’ = MINER and MATRONS’ = BOTANIST and there is a difference between the Dravanian FORELANDS and the Dravanian HINTERLANDS!) You’re hovering over the favor in your inventory ready to use it and get that buff going and…
WAIT! Don’t use it yet!
There are a few very important things you need to know before you start that favor! Here you go:
- Because favor buffs are for a very short period of time, you want to squeeze as much as you can into those 5 minutes! Once you get going, you’ll notice that the nodes you need to fully-expend in the zone come in sets of two. You can actually partially-expend up to 2 sets of 2 so that they only have one hit to go each. That way when you pop your favor buff, you already have four nodes that only need one hit each to expend.
- KNOW YOUR ROUTE! Know where all of your nodes are, familiarize yourself with the area. I’ll have maps and screenshots to help you with this later on in the guide. :) Know your route both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Know where your next set of 2 nodes are going to spawn and where the Concealed Node will spawn if it does.
- Speaking of that Concealed Node, when it pops you’ll see up to 3 items: a cluster, a rare item (your favor item), and sometimes a hidden rare item (your favor item to be traded for HQ crafting mats). Yeah, that cluster? Ignore it. Ignore the heck out of it. Grab your rare and hidden rare if it’s available and exit out of that node post-haste. You can farm clusters on your own time! Right now it’s favor time! And unlike the nodes you need to fully-expend, you can leave Concealed Nodes unfinished and they will simply refresh if another pops over it.
- Watch your log and/or screen! It’s fine if you’re multi-tasking while doing favors. I mean, it IS repetitive. So watch your Netflix or Crunchyroll. Turn up your Spotify and sing your heart out. But be careful not to miss your Concealed Nodes and keep going.
- You might as well spiritbind while you’re whacking away at rocks and trees. Doesn’t hurt. :) Just make sure you don’t short yourself on stats and start missing on your favor items and make sure you’re SBing gear that actually binds.
- If you pop a Concealed Node in the last few seconds of your buff, don’t freak out! It will stay up as long as you need it to. You only need the buff to spawn Concealed Nodes, not to gather from them!
OKAY, I’M READY!
Awesome. If you’re for sure for sure ready, then I guess all that’s left is to show you where you’re going! Again, I’m going to link you this spreadsheet as it has all of the coordinates you’re going to need in one little package. But here’s the long version in all its glory:
Traders’ Favor (Coerthas Western Highlands)
Gives RED OOID and RED ROUNDSTONE
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:24 Y:27]
Close-up || Aerial
Sometimes you might need to find a weird place to jump up for this node. I usually just use my flying mount for safe measure to make sure I get on the rock.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:23 Y:30]
Close-up || Aerial
This node is nice and straightforward! Just move a little to the right when it pops.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:20 Y:26]
Close-up || Aerial
This node is also pretty straightforward, but sometimes one of the nodes you need to expend shows up on that red rock on the right of the screen in the aerial screenshot, so you have to run over there and then back.
Traders’ Favor (Dravanian Hinterlands)
Gives BLUE OOID and BLUE ROUNDSTONE
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:25 Y:24]
Close-up || Aerial
You basically have to run around this rock to get to this node when it pops, but it isn’t far at all from the nodes you expend.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:26 Y:25]
Close-up || Aerial
Be careful when expending the nodes for this Concealed. The Ratels will aggro to you. There’s one expendable node, in particular that is on a platform. I’d suggest landing against the wall on that platform so that the Ratel nearby doesn’t aggro and then stealthing before approaching the node. The area around the Concealed node is clear, though.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:24 Y:25]
Close-up || Aerial
This node is pretty busy on big raid nights. Sometimes a level 58 FATE spawns next to the expendable nodes there and you have to be careful to stealth as the mobs will aggro.
Traders’ Favor (Dravanian Forelands)
Gives GREEN OOID and GREEN ROUNDSTONE
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:16 Y:29]
Close-up || Aerial
Easy. So easy. Sometimes you’ll get an expendable that spawns around the corner. Makes it only slightly less easy.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:19 Y:29]
Close-up || Aerial
The expendable nodes are a little bit further from this Concealed than the previous one, but it’s still very easy. You shouldn’t aggro the stuff around it.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:20 Y:26]
Close-up || Aerial
Again, very easy. In fact, unless you get the one expendable node on the rock formation right below this one, you only need to walk a few steps between expendables/Concealed.
Traders’ Favor (The Churning Mists)
Gives YELLOW OOID and YELLOW ROUNDSTONE
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:28 Y:20]
Close-up || Aerial
Like green, yellow is really easy. You don’t have to worry about aggroing anything and the Concealed is near the expendables.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:29 Y:18]
Close-up || Aerial
See above.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:25 Y:18]
Close-up || Aerial
This one is a little further from the other two, but still easy.
Traders’ Favor (The Sea of Clouds)
Gives VIOLET OOID and VIOLET ROUNDSTONE
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:33 Y:31]
Close-up || Aerial
This Concealed Node is a little weird. You have to basically stand on the slope to reach it and you can’t land on it directly. Position yourself where I’m standing in the screenshot and you should be fine.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:35 Y:29]
Close-up || Aerial
This one is actually on the cliff above the expendable nodes, so when it pops you’ll have to fly up.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:37 Y:31]
Close-up || Aerial
This one is RIGHT next to the expendable nodes. You really don’t even need to walk. Just kind of… wiggle.
Matrons’ Favor (Coerthas Western Highlands)
Gives FOXGLOVE and BITTER FOXGLOVE
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:8 Y:14]
Close-up || Aerial
This node is pretty straightforward. The expendables show up in between the two rock formations and the Concealed pops just to the side.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:13 Y:13]
Close-up || Aerial
This is a really easy node. I don’t think you can aggro anything here (it’s never happened to me, anyway).
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:12 Y:16]
Close-up || Aerial
Nothing special with this node, either. If you’re coming from the X:8 Y:14 node, you can just fly over the rock formation to get to it.
Matrons’ Favor (Dravanian Hinterlands)
Gives BLACK SWAN FEATHER and MUTE SWAN FEATHER
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:11 Y:16]
Close-up || Aerial
I hate this area. It’s filled with Crawlers that aggro at every opportunity. This Concealed node is out of the way of them, but be careful with a couple of the expendables for it. You might have to stealth.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:11 Y:19]
Close-up || Aerial
This is the easiest of the nodes in this area. There aren’t really any Crawlers around and there’s nothing to really look out for.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:14 Y:19]
Close-up || Aerial
This node is hands down the worst favor node in the game currently. The Concealed Node itself is right next to a Crawler and you have to stealth before you can even get near it. One of the expendable nodes is also right next to that same Crawler. There’s also a FATE that spawns right nearby and if people move it toward you, you get to worry about that, too. But use stealth wisely and get those feathers!
Matrons’ Favor (Dravanian Forelands)
Gives BLADELEAF and SWORDLEAF
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:11 Y:31]
Close-up || Aerial
This node is farther from the others in the area, but it’s easy. You shouldn’t aggro anything and the expendables and Concealed are in close proximity.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:8 Y:34]
Close-up || Aerial
The most difficult thing about this node is that sometimes… SOMETIMES… you might have to cross that little dirt road. :) Actually, every once in a while you get close to that one wyvern you see in the aerial screenshot (the one closer to the node) and you’ll have to stealth. But it’s not bad at all.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:10 Y:33]
Close-up || Aerial
This is again a really easy node. The worst thing that can happen is that you get two expendables in a different patch than the Concealed and then the Concealed pops twice and you have to fly back and forth. But if that happens, you just got two Concealed nodes in a row, so it’s still a good day.
Matrons’ Favor (The Churning Mists)
Gives WYVERN’S WART and DRAGON’S WART
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:18 Y:28]
Close-up || Aerial
You shouldn’t have to stealth at all here. :)
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:21 Y:29]
Close-up || Aerial
The expendable nodes for this one are actually on the ground in the little valley. The Concealed pops up on the hill and you have to fly up to it.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:20 Y:31]
Close-up || Aerial
This is another easy node. Every once in a while it’s possible to aggro one of the dragons here in a weird way. Just steer clear of them and their line of sight and you should be fine. :)
Matrons’ Favor (The Sea of Clouds)
Gives VOID NUT and HEAVENSNUT
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:25 Y:35]
Close-up || Aerial
Alright… welcome to the bad place. While I still think that the Crawlers in the Hinterlands are worse, most people hate Void Nuts more than anything. This is because the Concealed Nodes are nowhere near the expendable nodes. For this one, the expendables are on the platform below.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:26 Y:34]
Close-up || Aerial
Take a look at the aerial view for this node. At the top of the screen, to the right of the word “Heavensnut” you’ll see a tree in the distance. That’s the closer of the expendable nodes. Yup.
Concealed Node Spawn Point [X:27 Y:33]
Close-up || Aerial
I couldn’t even get a decent aerial view of this node. If you look at the aerial view, though, I did get some of the trees in the shot that the expendable nodes spawn on. Remember that this Concealed and the X:26 Y:34 Concealed are actually right next to each other in this little corner even though their expendable nodes couldn’t be further from each other. This is Void Nuts. If it makes you feel better, take comfort in knowing that I had a great time Photoshopping happy nuts onto trees.
And that covers everything! Feel free to throw any questions or suggestions my way… And PLEASE if you see any errors on anything, let me know so I can fix it ASAP.
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