So Final Fantasy XI has relic weapons. It has for a very long time, in fact. Fewer than we have in Final Fantasy XIV, though, because a new one doesn’t automatically come along with each new expansion. In fact, that’s one of the two notable differences between the relic weapons in the two games, but the other one is more pertinent because one of the consistent elements of these weapons is that even as player levels and gear levels rise, the weapons in question… stay relevant.

I don’t mean that the weapons auto-sync or anything; I mean that it’s not just possible but even kind of expected that you will level these weapons up again and improve them. (Also technically only the first are relic weapons, but empyreans and aeonic and so forth are functionally in the same category.) But this isn’t the case for FFXIV, and so I wanted to examine the benefits of having this be a system while also taking a look at what the problems with implementing a system like that would be.

Here’s the thing about gearing in FFXIV: It’s kinda boring. It has been for ages, and there are reasons for it, but that doesn’t change that it is kind of boring. And while the latest tier of upgraded purple weapons are obtained through a more elaborate process than other gear, functionally, they still have the same basic mechanics. They offer really good stats and that is, basically, the long and short of it.

It makes sense because these weapons are ultimately going to be replaced in the next expansion and retain their value for bragging rights, not actual items you intend to use. But they don’t have to be that way, and the FFXI comparison here is useful, because these weapons have unique weapon skills and effects along the way.

Part of the reason for this was because these weapons were big projects undertaken while the game sat at the level cap of 75 for ages, but it’s persisted with newer weapons of similar type. Players can build these unique weapons and then have a special benefit in terms of gameplay. Obtaining multiple of the same type has further utility for a given job, too. And there’s no reason why FFXIV relics couldn’t have similarly unique effects if they could also be upgraded to stay relevant.

This also makes sense from a lore standpoint. One of the recurring elements of the various relic quests is that you are creating an adaptive weapon of some kind, that it is influenced and improved by the effort you pour into these crafts. Some are based on ancient designs, and some are brand-new crafts starting from nothing, but all of the above are weapons you are making into new and improved forms. It would make sense if, having done the grind, you could carry these weapons forward.

And it’s not even unheard of because as we have been consistently getting crafting equivalents for the past few expansions, those do have unique effects that aren’t reflected in any of the raw stats. All the more reason for relics to have a similar effect.

But that’s not how the game works. Instead, you craft a relic, and the next expansion you’re starting from zero to craft a new one. This is perhaps not ideal… but it does also make a certain amount of sense from the differences in the two games. The first issue to be considered is the workload.

In FFXI, if a new job were to be added, new high-end weapons would not need to be added to go along with it. Those weapons already exist; you just need to flag the new jobs as being able to use some of them. That’s because FFXI has kept the same lineup of weapons more or less since the game launched, and that means that new additions just draw from the same basic pool.

FFXIV uses job-specific armaments. Put it another way, if we assume that Dawntrail has the last new relic and from now on it’s all upgrades, any new job requires six entire relic lines for it, stretching back through multiple iterations. But those relic lines also have to be more or less contiguous with the original lines, which means getting an older relic is usually orders of magnitude easier than getting a current one because it’s by necessity limited to lower-level content.

This might sound like a somewhat minor problem, but then you come to the issue of upgrading. Do all of the six relic lines use the same upgrade process? Do you need to upgrade all six separately or can you just do one questline to bring them up? One of the things I noted was that part of the point of new relic lines is to help revitalize existing content, but that becomes a bit harder when you’re balancing not new acquisitions but upgrades of existing acquisitions.

Furthermore, it raises the question of what you do when one relic or another just has a better effect than its alternatives. If the best Ninja relic comes from Stormblood, how do you balance that? For that matter, how do you balance Ninja if that relic is accessible for everyone forever?

All of these are problems that can be solved, to be perfectly clear. You can balance all of these elements and find a path forward. The question is what benefit solving those problems actually has when you can, instead, just keep going as the game already has with new relics each expansion. The only downside is that gearing remains kind of boring and strictly functional, but while that has some drawbacks, it doesn’t stop people from getting engaged with the relic process.

The reason FFXI has upgrades for its relic is primarily because its relic weapons (and, indeed, much of the game’s grind) were kept at a very specific level for ages. Characters undertook lengthy year-long processes for weapons because there was no leveling to be done past a certain point, so you went for other options. Once the level cap did rise, it didn’t feel right to say that your lengthy grind for these mystical weapons no longer mattered.

But in FFXIV, we expect another level cap raise. We expect to be able to upgrade our weapons again and get another improvement to our arsenal, and if we personally prefer the look of an older relic, replicas are easily available. As much as I would like having the option to bring things into a more consistent frame of reference, I can understand why that isn’t just the state of the world.

And considering that every new relic quest involves Gerolt learning more about forging absurd weaponry, well, we’re upgrading something over time. It’s just a drunken man who has a love-hate relationship with Rowena.

Feedback, as always, is welcome in the comments down below or via mail to eliot@massivelyop.com. Next week, as we look back at the ending of the Dawntrail storyline, I want to see if we have any hints about our next destination and what the next two patches might be setting up beyond just our subsequent base of operations.

The Nymian civilization hosted an immense amount of knowledge and learning, but so much of it has been lost to the people of Eorzea. That doesn’t stop Eliot Lefebvre from scrutinizing Final Fantasy XIV each week in Wisdom of Nym, hosting guides, discussion, and opinions without so much as a trace of rancor.