Category:Relic Weapons

Relic Weapons are sixteen mysterious, high-delay, low-damage weapons obtained through participating in various runs into Dynamis. Admittedly, "Relic Weapon" is sort of a catch-all term; a Relic Horn and a Relic Shield also exist.

Given enough time and money, they can be upgraded into forms known to be the most powerful weapons of each type in the game. This upgrade process is most often very lengthy, and extremely expensive for the typical player. It requires a large amount of Ancient Currency, various crafted items (some requiring a high-level crafter), and certain Rare/Ex items only obtainable in Dynamis: Beaucedine and Dynamis: Xarcabard. This is such a serious and intense process that we have devoted an entire section below to what it really means to undertake this task.

Most base Relic Weapons are prefixed with the name "Relic", and are dropped by mobs in one of the four initially available Dynamis areas: Dynamis: Bastok, Dynamis: San d'Oria, Dynamis: Windurst, and Dynamis: Jeuno. Like most items in Dynamis (including Relic Armor), the Relic Weapons can drop from any mob at any time. They do not necessarily drop from mobs with the corresponding job type.

How to Obtain One
Each of the four initial areas has four base Relic Weapons that may only be dropped in that respective area:

The 5 Stages
Each base Relic Weapon can be upgraded four times. Three of these four upgrades are handled by a Goblin NPC named Switchstix, who can be found in Castle Zvahl Baileys. Each of these three upgrades requires that you simultaneously trade him your current-stage Relic Weapon along with whatever materials he asks for. Switchstix will then ask for his commission in Ancient Currency; this is a separate trade, and the upgrade process will not begin until he receives it. Your Relic Weapon and materials cannot be returned once traded. Furthermore, no other upgrades can be performed until the Ancient Currency commission has been traded to Switchstix. Time needed for the upgrade process varies by stage; when the waiting period is over, speak to Switchstix again to obtain your upgraded Relic Weapon. The specifics of this process can be found below.

All Relic Weapons, in all stages and forms, are Level 75. The stages of each Relic Weapon can be generally described as follows:
 * First Stage: This is the "Base" weapon, how it is when you first obtain it. When in this stage, the weapon is nothing more than a display piece, and has little to no practical value. Most base Relic Weapons are 1 Damage and 999 Delay; the Relic Shield has 1 Defense; and the Relic Horn has no effect on songs.
 * Second Stage: A portion of the "actual" stats for the weapon become available, but only when used in Dynamis. Most second-stage weapons also obtain a Dynamis-specific elemental resistance stat.
 * Third Stage: The Dynamis-only stats that appeared during the second stage now become available outside of Dynamis, while stats within Dynamis are nudged slightly further towards their final values. Elemental resistance stats will raise slightly, but remain Dynamis-specific.
 * Fourth Stage: The weapon's base stats are now "locked in" for all areas, and are close to their final values (though there are no longer any Dynamis-specific elemental resistance stats). The weapon's Relic weapon skill becomes available at this stage, but only in Dynamis areas. Each weapon skill grants you with a brief Additional Effect (described by the help text displayed when selecting the weapon skill in the menu) after its use. The duration of this effect varies with TP.
 * Fifth Stage: This is the final stage. Stats are all at full. Additional stats are added. The Relic Weapon Skill is available for all areas. At this stage, the Relic Weapon is complete, and cannot be upgraded further.

A Word of Warning
This entry may not make completely clear the fact that Relic Weapons are very time, money, and labor-intensive items to upgrade. Many individuals fail to realize the actual scope of the quest and begin it without having a real means of finishing it, usually giving up their upgrade after either the first or second upgrade. There are individuals who start their own Dynamis Linkshells - even sponsor their own runs, spending millions of gil on their own Timeless Hourglasses - for the sole purpose of obtaining Ancient Currency, Attestations, and Fragments. Single-unit Currency is bazaared for thousands of gil on many servers; 100-unit Currency can sell for over a million, and 10,000-unit Currency is almost never sold. Prices may vary between servers. Of the few final-stage Relic Weapon owners in Final Fantasy XI who have come forward with their experiences, it's been learned that it will take two real-life years to get the stage five relic.

Should you, the reader, decide to take on the task of completing a Relic Weapon, please be aware that this type of commitment may very well be necessary. You should seriously consider not performing any upgrades before you have the coins and attestation to upgrade all the way to Stage 4; that way, if you give up, you have the coins instead of a useless Stage 2-3 weapon.


 * Relic Knuckles --> Spharai Example: To give an example of the effort required here, let's make the following quite realistic assumptions: In one Dynamis run, you gain about 100 single currency pieces. Mostly there are less, but the occasional 100 piece evens that out. You can go two times per week to a dynamis run (or every 3 Earth Days).
 * {|border="0" width="80%"

Stage 1 > 2: 100 Byne Bill x 4
 * valign="top" align="left" width="37%" rowspan="2"|

Stage 2 > 3: M. Silverpiece x 14

Stage 3 > 4: L. Jadeshell x 61

Stage 4 > 5: 10,000 Byne Bill x 1


 * valign="center" align="center" width="2%" rowspan="2"|=
 * valign="center" align="center" width="2%" rowspan="2"|
 * valign="center" align="center" width="28%"|17,900 single-unit Ancient Currency
 * valign="center" align="center" width="3%" rowspan="2"|
 * valign="center" align="center" width="28%"|An average of 179 Dynamis runs
 * valign="center" align="center" width="28%"|Approximately 112,000,000 - 179,000,000 gil
 * valign="center" align="center" width="28%"|Could take nearly 2 years, but if you have Jordilocomotion in LS, it could just take 2 weeks.
 * }
 * }

This sums up to 17,900 pieces of single-unit ancient currency, or an average of 179 Dynamis runs on the above assumption. This again means doing 2 Dynamis runs every week for 90 weeks, which would mean nearly two years if you were to obtain your currency simply by sponsoring your own Dynamis runs. Of course, upgraders typically buy Ancient Currency where they can (although it's not that abundant, as most groups in Dynamis are collecting for their own sponsors' Relic upgrades), and if the price of 100-unit pieces is approximately 800k - 1 million apiece, you're looking at a total of 112,000,000 - 179,000,000 gil worth of Ancient Currency, not to mention the prices of any of the other items that are needed in the various stages of upgrades.

On top of all this is the requirement of a few Rare/Ex items that can only be obtained in Dynamis: Beaucedine and Dynamis: Xarcabard. These aren't items that drop off any mob while you're fighting your way to a win - you will need to go out of your way with your Dynamis group to obtain these items. And the fights aren't necessarily easy, either.

So basically, this is a very long, very expensive process. Square-Enix has even said that Relic Weapons are not meant to be for everyone - they're only meant for a handful of people who have the means and resources to go about the upgrades. So if you would like to get a fully upgraded weapon, now have an idea of what you're in for!

''Note: For a while now, Square-Enix has been cracking down on RMT. This caused economies to deflate considerably. Recently, ancient currency hovered around 5-10k, and 100-unit pieces just above 500k-1m. (Prices varying on each server.)''

[http://lowone.org/annihilator/RelicCalculator.php Calculator: How long will it take me? ]

How to Upgrade
Listed below are all the items and Ancient Currency fees necessary to upgrade each stage of each Relic Weapon. All weapons follow the same basic process. There is a certain amount of waiting to do for some steps, and some hardcore farming for others. This is the process, though:


 * Stage 1 > Stage 2: Wait Time: After 12 Midnight in Japan. (UTC/GMT +9)  You will need your base Relic Weapon, three specific items (these are crafted items that can typically be obtained from Dynamis, crafted from materials found in Dynamis, or purchased with Ancient Currency), and 3 to 5 100-unit pieces of a specific type of Ancient Currency for the commission. Once you have all the required items, speak to Switchstix in Castle Zvahl Baileys at I-8 (where you first enter). Trade him the weapon and the three items. Speak to him again, and he will ask for the payment fee.  Trade him the Ancient Currency.  After this, wait 1 Earth day (JP midnight) and speak to him again to receive your Stage 2 Relic Weapon.


 * Stage 2 > Stage 3: Wait Time: 1 Earth-Week This time, Switchstix will want your stage 2 Relic Weapon and three different weapons of the same type as the one you are upgrading, as well as an Ancient Currency fee of 12 to 16 100-unit pieces. Gather up all the items, and head out to speak to him again. Trade him the 2nd stage Relic Weapon and the other three weapons. Speak to him again, and he will ask for the payment fee.  Trade him the Ancient Currency and wait 1 real-life week.  Speak to him again to receive your Stage 3 Relic Weapon.


 * Stage 3 > Stage 4: Wait Time: 82 earth hours (3 days, 10 hours) Once you've obtained the appropriate Attestation from the Shadow NMs in Dynamis: Beaucedine, head out to see your buddy Switchstix again. Trade him the 3rd stage Relic Weapon and the Attestation. Speak to him again, and he will ask for the payment fee of somewhere between 60 and 62 100-unit pieces. Trade him the Ancient Currency and wait 82 earth hours.  Speak to him again to receive your Stage 4 Relic Weapon.


 * Stage 4 > Stage 5: Wait Time: None Added Bonus: 3,000 1 Byne Bills, O. Bronzepieces, or T. Whiteshells This last step requires two Rare/Ex drops from Dynamis: Xarcabard: a Shard of Necropsyche and a Fragment (which may prove difficult to obtain) specific to your Relic Weapon, as well as a single 10,000-unit Ancient Currency of a specific type. Once you have all these items, pay a visit to Switchstix yet again. Upon talking to him, [[media:Dagger_Conversation.jpg|you will get a cutscene in which your Relic Weapon will speak to you]]. Now head out to the appropriate location (which can be found grouped with the Items Needed in the tables below) for your specific weapon to find a blank ???. Trade your Relic Weapon and the required items (including the Ancient Currency) to the blank ???. After a cutscene, you will receive your 5th stage, and completely upgraded, Relic Weapon! And as an added bonus, you will get back 3,000 of whatever Ancient Currency you had to trade for this final step.

Known Relic Holders
Divisortheory hosts a list of known relic holders. Although it is hosted on a personal userpage, it is by no means complete, and the FFXIclopedia community is welcome to contribute to the tracking of Stage 5 Relic statistics by editing the article.

Required "Ingredients"
Hand to Hand - Dagger - Sword - Great Sword - Axe - Great Axe - Scythe Polearm - Katana - Great Katana - Club - Staff - Gun - Bow - Horn - Shield