So, you’ve hit level 50 in Final Fantasy XIV. You’ve probably seen some high-level player idling in Limsa Lominsa with a weapon that glows like a dying star. You want that. You check your quest log, and there it is: A Relic Reborn FF14.
Before you click "Accept," we need to have a real talk. This isn't just a quest. It is a time sink of legendary proportions that dates back to the 2.0 A Realm Reborn era. It was designed to keep people busy when there was almost nothing else to do in the game. Nowadays? It’s basically a rite of passage that tests your sanity more than your skill.
Honestly, the weapon you get at the end of this specific chain isn't even "good" by modern standards. You can buy better gear with Poetics in five minutes. But the glamour? The sheer prestige of having a Zeta weapon? That’s why we’re all here.
The Long, Weird Road to Your First Relic
The quest starts with Nedrick Ironheart in Vesper Bay. You know, that place with no Aetheryte that makes you take a ferry from Limsa just to save thirty seconds of running. He sends you to Gerolt in Hyrstmill. Gerolt is a legendary blacksmith, a functional alcoholic, and the man who will be the bane of your existence for the next hundred hours.
First, you need a base weapon. It’s usually a dry, boring piece of smithing like a Shamshir or a Madman’s Whispering Rod. But it can't be just any version. It has to be double-melded with specific Materia.
This is where the market board starts eating your gil.
✨ Don't miss: Resident Evil Director's Cut Walkthrough: Getting Through the Spencer Mansion Without Losing Your Mind
If you aren't a crafter, you’re going to be at the mercy of the player economy. You’ll need to find someone to meld two Grade III Materia into a weapon. Back in 2013, this was a massive hurdle. In 2026, it’s mostly just an annoyance, but it sets the tone. A Relic Reborn FF14 isn't about fighting gods; it’s about logistics. It’s about inventory management. It’s about wondering why you’re spending 50,000 gil on a weapon you’re going to transform in ten minutes.
The Chimera and the Hydra
Once Gerolt is happy with your tribute, he sends you to kill a Dhorme Chimera in Coerthas Central Highlands. You used to have to shout in chat for a group to do this. Now? You can probably solo it "unsynced" if you're level 90 or 100. It takes about twelve seconds.
Then comes the Amdapor Keep run. Then the Hydra in Halatali.
It feels fast at first. You’re ticking boxes. You’re thinking, "Hey, this relic thing isn't so bad."
You are wrong.
The quest then asks you to defeat the three hard-mode primals: Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan. Back in the day, Titan Hard Mode was the "static killer." If one person lagged, the whole party wiped to Landslide. Today, it’s a victory lap. You’ll breeze through it, get your glowing "Zenith" weapon, and think you're done.
You aren't even 10% of the way there.
Why the Atma Stage is Actually Evil
After the initial A Relic Reborn FF14 quest officially "ends," you move into the upgrades. This is where the game tries to break your spirit. The Atma stage requires you to farm FATEs in specific zones across Eorzea.
You need twelve crystals. They have a low drop rate.
I once spent six hours in Outer La Noscea waiting for a drop that never came. Other people get all twelve in an hour. It’s pure, unadulterated RNG. It’s a relic of a time when Square Enix needed to force players back into low-level zones to make the world feel "alive" for new players. It works, but it feels like manual labor.
- Pro tip: Don't do this all at once. Grind two or three Atmas, then go do a Frontline match or a dungeon. If you try to power through all twelve in one sitting, you will start hating the music in Western Thanalan. Trust me.
The Books of Skyfire: The True Test of Patience
If you survive the Atma grind, you meet the Trials of the Braves. You have to buy nine books from G’jusana in Mor Dhona. Each book costs 100 Tomestones of Poetics.
Each book requires you to:
- Kill 10 specific mobs (usually 3 of each).
- Clear 3 specific dungeons.
- Complete 3 specific FATEs.
- Complete 3 Levequests.
The FATEs are the worst part. Some of them, like "Surprise" in Upper La Noscea, have spawn timers that can last hours. You’ll find yourself standing in a field, staring at a blank spot on the map, waiting for a giant crab or a group of bandits to appear. You can't leave. If you leave to get a snack, the FATE will spawn, someone will solo it in two minutes, and you’ll have to wait another three hours.
It is the peak of "hurry up and wait" gameplay.
Moving Toward the Light
Once the books are done, you enter the infusion and light-farming stages. This involves "Novus" and "Nexus" upgrades. You’ll need Alexandrite, which you get from Mysterious Maps. Then you have to "farm light."
Farming light basically means running the same dungeon over and over. Usually, people run Aurum Vale or Tam-Tara Deepcroft because they are fast. Imagine running Tam-Tara forty times in a row. You start seeing the bosses in your sleep.
The community has actually mapped out "light bonuses." Every two hours, certain duties give double light. Serious relic hunters track these on Discord servers or specialized websites to cut their grind time in half. If you aren't checking the bonus windows, you’re making it twice as hard on yourself for no reason.
📖 Related: How to Play Scream The Game: Why Ghostface Keeps Winning Your Game Nights
Is It Even Worth It?
Let’s be real. From a stats perspective? Absolutely not.
If you want a powerful weapon for current content, you go to the latest raid or trade in current-tier Tomestones. The A Relic Reborn FF14 weapons—the Zodiac Braves series—are purely for fashion.
But they are some of the best-looking weapons in the history of the game. The Excalibur and Aegis Shield for Paladins are iconic. The Longinus Zeta for Dragoons is a masterpiece of particle effects. When you walk into a city with a finished Zeta weapon, people know exactly what you went through. It’s a badge of honor. It says, "I survived the books. I survived the Atma. I am a completionist."
The "Sunk Cost" Trap
There is a psychological phenomenon where you feel like you have to finish something because you’ve already put so much time into it. The Relic quest thrives on this. Once you finish the second book, you think, "Well, I can't quit now."
By the time you’re doing the Mahatmas (the final light grind), you’re so deep in the rabbit hole that you’ll do anything to see that final cutscene.
Actionable Steps for Your Sanity
If you’re determined to start A Relic Reborn FF14, do yourself a favor and prepare properly. Don't just wing it.
- Stockpile Poetics. You are going to need thousands of them. Don't spend them on alt-job gear if you're serious about the relic. You'll need them for Thavnairian Mist, Superior Enchanted Ink, and various other reagents.
- Level your Crafters. Being able to meld your own Materia and craft your own "perfect" items for the later stages (like the Perfect Firewood or Perfect Vellum) will save you millions of gil.
- Use a Tracker. Websites like FFXIV Relic Tracker allow you to check off exactly what you’ve done. It sounds small, but seeing a progress bar move from 40% to 41% is the only thing that keeps the lizard brain happy during the Book phase.
- Fly. Don't even attempt this until you have flying unlocked in all 2.0 zones. If you're running on the ground to find FATEs, you're adding hours to your play time.
- Multitask. Watch a movie. Listen to a podcast. Do your taxes. Do not give the game your full attention during the light-farming stages, or you will burn out before you hit the finish line.
The journey of A Relic Reborn FF14 is a grind-fest designed for a different era of MMOs. It’s tedious, expensive, and often boring. But finishing that final Zeta upgrade and seeing your character hold a weapon that literally glows with the power of your own persistence?
That’s a feeling you can't buy on the market board.
Just don't say I didn't warn you about the crabs in Upper La Noscea.