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How to get a Dawntrail (Phantom) relic weapon in FFXIV
The sun is shining and the Dawntrail field operation and relic weapon is here, as of patch 7.25. For those wanting to get a jump on the relic grind, we got your back, as we detail how to get the Phantom relic weapon in FFXIV below.
Just like other relics, the Phantom relic is no joke and it requires quite a bit of play either in the Occult Crescent (the Dawntrail field operation) or some other forms of grinding in Dawntrail content or duty roulettes.
Below we explain what FFXIV relic weapons are and how to start your Dawntrail relic weapon.
Update (July 28) : This post has been updated with the Phantom relic weapon steps for the Phantom Eclipticum and Phantom Occultum weapons, added in patch 7.55. We're still working through the steps for the Phantom Occultum weapon and will continue to update this guide as we confirm the steps.
Relic weapons are unique weapons for each job that need to be upgraded by following a series of quests. The end result? The best weapon in the Dawntrail expansion — though since all the steps aren’t out yet, you won’t be able to get there just quite yet.
If this is your first relic weapon, know that you have quite the grind ahead of you, but this stuff also drops in patches, so you can do it as it releases to lessen the grind. (Or maybe you’re reading this guide years in the future and you’re gonna do it all at once!)
This weapon series involves the Occult Crescent, the field operation duty for Dawntrail , though you can complete your weapon by other means, if you hate field ops.
This first step was added in patch 7.25 and the weapon is item level 745 . All of these weapons are pretty unique in design, so if you don’t know which one you want to make, here’s a pretty nice video showing off all the weapons .
It takes quite a few critical encounters to get a single demiatma drop, so don’t expect to just get one from each you complete. You’ll know when you get one as a pop-up will appear on your screen noting that you got a demiatma. After doing around 20 critical encounters, I walked away with about three demiatma, so it has a pretty brutal drop rate.
For subsequent weapons, you will only need to effectively repeat step eight and nine. You can buy three more Arcanite and trade them straight to Dodokkuli as a merchant — there’s no quest to do so. You will not need to grind out any more demiatmas, thank Hydaelyn.
The demiatma drops from specific areas in the Occult Crescent and from specific maps. Based on our experience, as well as some crowdsourced information , here’s where to find the specific demiatma:
Southeastern area ("Crawling Death," "Scourge of the Mind," and "The Unbridled" CEs, "A Prying Eye," "The Golden Guardian," and "Rough Waters" FATEs)
Southwestern area ("Calamity Bound" CE, "A Delicate Balance," "Pleading Pots," and "Sworn to Soil" FATEs)
Central western area ("Flame of Dusk," "Trial by Claw," and "From Times Bygone" CEs, "An Unending Duty" FATE)
Northwestern area ("Shark Attack," "With Extreme Prejudice," and "Cursed Concern" CEs, "The Winged Terror" and "Brain Drain" FATEs)
Eastern ruins area ("Company of Stone," "On the Hunt," and "Eternal Watch" CEs, "Serving Darkness" FATE)
Northeast and central areas ("Noise Complaint" and "The Black Regiment" CEs, "Persistent Pots," "King of the Crescent," and "Fatal Allure" FATEs)
Note that in the aforementioned crowdsourced info, there are a few players noting that it’s possible to get other colors of demiatma from outside of their “native” area listed above. We didn’t have this happen for us, but we’re not ruling out that possibility.
This step was added in patch 7.31 and it augments your Phantom weapon so that it glows, has higher stats, and improves its item level to 760 . To supe up your relic, you'll need to do the following:
Know that the Aetherwell Array portion is the lengthy grinding portion of this relic step, but you will only have to do that step once, even if you want extra weapons. You can sit and spam roulettes to grind this out quickly, but seeing how we won't get more relic steps for quite a while, it should be fine to take your time. It should take around two weeks of daily roulettes to finish this step.
If you want additional Phantom Umbrae weapons, you'll only need to buy more Waxing Arcanite and turn them in to Dodokkuli, so long as you've already done the Phantom Penumbrae step for the weapon you want.
After you finish this step, you can also buy replicas for any of the Phantom Penumbrae weapons you've completed to use as glamour, if you prefer the non-glowing versions. The NPC that sells the replicas is the Expedition Metallurgist next to Ermina in the Phantom Village.
This step was added in patch 7.41 and provides you with a brand-new item level 775 weapon . To get it, you'll need to do the following:
If you want additional Phantom Obscurum weapons, you'll only need to buy more Waning Arcanite and turn them in to Dodokkuli, so long as you've already done the other steps for the weapon you want.
Different types of content give you different amounts of paste. Depending on how fast you want to grind this weapon out, you may want to party up, lower your gear item level, and spam leveling roulette in hopes of a quick A Realm Reborn duty, or you might just opt for doing a few roulettes daily, sprinkling in your usual raid clears in.
Farming crystal paste is the "grindy" part of this step, so keep in mind that it's not really meant to be done within a couple of days. Take your time!
Here's a breakdown of how much paste you get from some of the various duties, with help from this crowdsourced post on Reddit by Phruck :
Expert (15), Leveling Cap (15), Leveling (20)
Critical Engagements, the Forked Tower excluded (5)
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