Mining and Botany Guide for the Pteranodon mount by Caimie Tsukino

Mining and Botany Guide for the Pteranodon mount by Caimie Tsukino

Published: 11 Apr 2021 (Patch 5.45)
Updated: 29 Apr 2021
Updated: 3 May 2021
Updated: 6 Sep 2021


Introduction

This guide is not for most people. This guide was written to help those who are going after the Pteranodon mount. The mount requires a player to earn 500,000 Skyward Pts on ALL Disciple of the Hand (DoH) & Disciple of the Land (DoL) classes. The life-time achievement “Castle in the Sky” and the Pteranodon mount are practically engravings on your forehead saying “I am a hardcore crafter+gatherer, and I’ve done something incredible”. As most people know, I’m a pretty keen crafter. 500K for each DoH wasn’t hard for me. On average, I can make 1 Expert Recipe item every 3 to 4 minutes, which earns me between 800 to 1266 Skyward Pts. So I finished ALL DoH 500K and earned the title “The Hand of Creation” long ago. Fisher was also not too difficult to get 500K from fishing in Diadem. By contrast, Miner and Botanist are just horrible. I can earn only a few thousands Skyward Pts every hour in Diadem. At this rate, it’ll take me literally over 6-9 months to get these two DoLs done. In summary, because MIN and BTN are just painstakingly slow to hit 500K, players need to streamline everything they can to speed up the process. Little bit quicker will scale up by a lot in the end. Therefore, I wrote this guide to help players streamline their MIN/BTN gathering in Diadem to maximize Skyward Pts gain.


The Inner Path and Outer Path in Diadem

First, you need to understand how the Diadem gathering nodes are DESIGNED. Each time you deplete a node in Diadem, another will spawn nearby. The new nodes mostly spawn in a clockwise direction around the map.

Below is an OUTDATED picture I obtained from Reddit (I don’t know who created it, otherwise, I’d give credit). You can see how there’s a red line and a blue line. The two are completely INDEPENDENT. One line requires 2421 gathering stats and the other require 2345 perception stats. As the pic is OUTDATED, the node locations have changed now, and the stats requirements have changed as well. But the idea remains the same with the current patch: There is an OUTER PATH that requires certain gathering stats to gain bonus yields, and an INNER PATH that requires certain perception stats to gain bonus yields.


- The node locations and items are OUTDATED here, but the overall path design remains the same for all patches: The Inner Path (red line) requires certain perception stats to gain bonus yields. The Outer Path (blue line) requires certain gathering stats to gain bonus yields. Source: Reddit


Gearing up & food choice

Next, you need to know the optimal stats requirement to gain “bonuses” on EVERY node (both the gathering path and the perception path), which are:

858 max GP
2740 gathering
2642 perception

As you will be SPAMMING food for months, DO NOT rely on any expensive food to reach this stats. You want to gear up as much as you can (and perform penta-overmelds), and use a cheap food to supplement the last bit of stats.

Take me as an example, I have 2737 gathering, 2644 perception and 853 GP after pentamelding on my i490 Aesthete gear set (with a i430 ring). (See pic below)

The food I chose is:

Antelope Stew (NQ)
-- GP +6% (Max 21)
-- Gathering +2% (Max 3)
Sold for 47 gil each at the Gold Saucer (x5,y6).

So my final stats is 2740 gathering, 2644 perception and 874 GP. This allows me to infinitely spam food to gain bonuses on every node without worrying about my bank at all.

It is possible that the game will release new gear in Patch 5.5. If that is the case, then it'll become much easier to reach the above desired stats.


- My character profile obtained from the official website. I have 2737 gathering, 2644 perception and 853 GP, which allows me to reach the required stats (2740 gathering, 2642 perception, 858 GP) using just NQ Antelope Stew. My “Hand of Creation” title is also shown, indicating that I have completed 500K for all DoH classes.


Hi-Cordial & inventory space

Load your inventory with heaps of Hi-Cordial (hundreds of them). They're untradeable, and can only be purchased using Yellow Gatherers' Scrips from any Scrip Exchange NPC. Your Hi-Cordial consumption rate will be ~20 per hour.

Also, clear your inventory space so that you have at least 20 to 25 empty slots.


Regular nodes in Diadem

Regular nodes in Diadem appears as follow:


Each regular node has the following types of items:
- Grade 4 Level 10 normal, Non-Artisanal item (ignored if Skyward Pts is the goal)
- Grade 4 Level 60 normal, Non-Artisanal item (ignored if Skyward Pts is the goal)
- Grade 4 Level 80 normal, Non-Artisanal item
- Grade 4 Level 80 Artisanal item (marked with 3-star)
- Grade 2 & Grade 3 items (ignored if Skyward Pts is the goal)

All regular nodes have 5 attempts.

It takes 8 regular nodes (40 hits) to fill a gauge for firing the Aetheromatic Auger once.


Effects of gathering actions on a regular node in Diadem

King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II (500 GP): +2 yield to all 5 hits on a node (+2 per 100 GP).

Bountiful Yield II / Bountiful Harvest II (100 GP): +2 yield to 3-star Artisanal items, but +3 yield to Non-Artisanal items on a regular node (+3 per 100 GP).

Therefore, on a regular node, NEVER use King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II. Always use Bountiful Yield II / Bountiful Harvest II (100 GP) once or more times, and go after the level 80 Non-Artisanal mats! Apart from giving more yield that benefits Skyward Pts, most Non-Artisanal mats also tend to be more profitable on the market.


- Using Bountiful Yield II on a regular node results in only +2 yield for Artisanal items (red arrow), but results in +3 yield for Non-Artisanal items (green arrow).


The 8th Node (The “+5 attempt” node)

Depletion of every 7 regular nodes (on either the gathering or perception path) will spawn an 8th node with a “+5 attempt” bonus that is activated with 858 max GP stats. For this “+5” node, you should ALWAYS use King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II (500 GP). Because the action will add a “+2” yield for all 10 attempts. Thus, resulting in “+4 yield per 100 GP”, which is the most GP-conserving situation.

Although the node requires 858 max GP to activate the "+5 attempt" bonus, your CURRENT GP can be as few as 500/858, and you will still be able to enjoy full benefit from the node.

In addition, the 10 hits from this node should fill up 1/4 of a gauge for the auger.


- ALWAYS use King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II (500 GP) on the 8th node! The node requires 858 max GP to activate the "+5 attempt" bonus. But your current GP can be as few as 500/858 when you engage the node!


Clouded Nodes

All four weather-dependent Clouded Nodes have 10 attempts. To maximize yield, you should engage weather-dependent node with at least 846 GP. Because each hit restores 6 GP for you. So 846 GP allows you to use King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II (500 GP) and 4x Bountiful Yield II / Bountiful Harvest II (4x 100 GP). You will restore 54 GP after 9 hits, and be able to use the last Bountiful Yield II / Bountiful Harvest II right before the last hit. With this approach, you should be able to obtain 38 items from one Clouded Node, and the 10 hits should fill up 1/4 of a gauge for the auger.

NOTE: Unless a Clouded Node spawns in close proximity, DO NOT waste time traveling half the map to gather from them. See more info below.


- If a Clouded Node spawned near you, and you happened to have enough GP, you may take advantage of it. Otherwise, ignore the node, and just stay on track with the regular nodes if Skyward Pts is your goal. In this pic, I am using both King’s Yield II and Bountiful Yield II.


What items give the most Skyward Pts?

- Both level 10 & Level 60 Non-Artisanal items give 0 Skyward Pts per item.
- Both level 80 3-star Artisanal items and level 80 Non-Artisanal items give 2.6 Skyward Pts per item.
- Level 80 Clouded Node items give 3 Skyward Pts per item.

Since Clouded Node items give 0.4 more Skyward Points/item (13.3% more) than the other items, you’d think that one should go after the Clouded Nodes that pops every 10 min. However, it turns out that the extra Skyward Pts from Clouded Node items may not outweigh the long time you spent on traveling across the map (don’t forget, you don’t just “go” there, you have to “come back” too). If the Clouded Node spawns nearby, and if you happen to have over 850 GP, sure, you can just take advantage of it. But if the node spawns far away, you might as well just stay on track to hit more regular nodes, which will give you more Skyward Pts ultimately.

Important: Note that both level 80 3-star Artisanal items and level 80 Non-Artisanal items give EXACTLY THE SAME amount of Skyward Pts! Some of the Artisanal mats are almost worthless on the market these days, so it’s almost always better to go after the Non-Artisanal level 80 mats!


- Level 80 3-star Artisanal items and level 80 Non-Artisanal items give exactly the same amount of Skyward Pts.


Where to do the grind?

This is really arbitrary. Jansg on Reddit suggested to stay on the large main island at North West (see pic below). The advantage is you don't need to cross any island. However, its disadvantage is that there are NO ice golems or ice bombs on that island, which are the most profitable for me in terms of gil (on Zalera). IMO, that island seems to be better for Botanist than for Miner.


Jojoya Joya on the official forum suggested to just follow the nodes that keep popping in clockwise around the whole map. Thus, traveling from island to island all around Diadem. The reason for this is because looping in any region would mean traveling back to start point for the 8th node after hitting 7 nodes. And usually jumping to the next island for the 8th node is actually faster. The disadvantage is obvious -- You won't always see the monster that you prefer to kill when you wanna use the auger, so your auger gauge may continue to build up. Also, if you wanna simultaneously go through both the Inner Path and Outer Path to spawn 2x 8th nodes at the same time, you may sometimes get lost.


My Choice for Miner:

Personally, I recommend staying on the two South West islands for Miner (see pic below). These islands have nearly all the monsters for MIN mats (see 2 pics below). So I have more flexibility in using my auger. I have also laid out a recommended route to go through all 14 nodes of both the Inner and Outer Paths together smoothly, so as to spawn the 2x "+5 attempts" nodes simultaneously.


- I prefer to do Mining on these islands at South West of Diadem. In this pic, I have laid out two viable End Points. End Point #1 is on the 3rd island at upper left of this pic (which is the starting island when you enter Diadem). Jumping on a 3rd island is usually not preferred, but this jump here is pretty fast, the 2x "+5 attempt" nodes at End Point #1 are VERY CLOSE, and the mats gathered from the 2 nodes there could be more profitable than those from the End Point #2. However, End Point #2 is much closer to the start point, which is faster to start the next loop.

If you're using my recommended route, remember to go south west instead of north west after Node #8 (depletion of Node #8 actually spawns Node #13 at north west direction, but you go south west instead). Also, remember to start saving GP and refrain from using Hi-Cordial at around Node #10. Then you will have a near-full GP gauge and a Hi-Cordial available for the 2x "+5 attempt" nodes (for using 2x King's Yield II).

My recommended route is also particularly great for Miners because it is packed with monsters that drop Miner mats (see pic below).


My Choice for Botanist:

As for Botanist, I recommend taking Jansg's recommendation and perform the harvesting on the large North West island (see pic below).


- The large North West island where I prefer to loop with my Botanist. In this pic, the recommended route has been labeled in red, which goes through both the Inner and Outer paths simultaneously.


List of Diadem Monsters




Golden rules of thumb to remember

(1) Constantly gaining GP and consuming Hi-Cordials: You should NEVER stay at max GP for too long. Your GP gauge should be constantly rising. You should also be constantly using Hi-Cordials to replenish GP. This strategy maximizes GP that you can spend. Hence, maximizes item yields.

(2) Use the auger as frequent as you can: Don’t intentionally “save” the filled gauges. Use the auger as soon as your desired target monster is in sight -- “Use it or lose it”! When using the auger, stick with either the monsters that give MIN mats or the ones that give BTN mats. AVOID firing the auger on BOTH MIN and BTN monsters, which will take up a hell lot more space.

(3) Level 80 3-star Artisanal items gives EXACTLY THE SAME amount of Skyward Pts as Level 80 Non-Artisanal items. So pick wisely on the ones that will give more yield / more profit.

(4) On the 8th node with “+5 attempt” bonuses, ALWAYS use King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II (500 GP) and gather ANY level 80 item. Both the 3-star Artisanal and the Non-Artisanal items are fine.

(5) When you are NOT using any action at a node to obtain extra yields, feel free to gathering ANY level 80 item. Both the 3-star Artisanal and the Non-Artisanal items are fine.

(6) To shave off excessive GP to keep the gauge constantly increasing, use Bountiful Yield II / Bountiful Harvest II (100 GP) once or more times on any regular node. This action gives only a +2 bonus to 3-star Artisanal items, but it gives a +3 bonus to Non-Artisanal items (+3 per 100 GP). AVOID using King’s Yield II / Blessed Harvest II (500 GP) as these actions would only give a +2 bonus to any item (+2 per 100 GP since there are only 5 attempts on a regular node).

(7) If you plan to use Bountiful Yield II / Bountiful Harvest II (100 GP) on a node more than once, remember to TURN OFF auto-gathering.


- Diadem can be quite beautiful sometimes <3

Good luck!


Other Guides by Caimie Tsukino:

FF14 Advanced Crafting Guide by Caimie Tsukino (Re-vamped 2021):
http://ffxivrealm.com/guides/ff14-advanced-crafting-guide-by-caimie-tsukino.39/

Caimie Tsukino's Guide for Expert Recipes and Skybuilders' Tools:
http://ffxivrealm.com/guides/caimie-tsukinos-guide-for-expert-recipes-and-skybuilders-tools.201/

Novice Blue Mage Guide by Caimie Tsukino:
http://ffxivrealm.com/guides/novice-blue-mage-guide-by-caimie-tsukino.197/