As the moon orbits Vana'diel it goes through phases. Each phase refers to how much of the moon's face is illuminated by Vana'diel's Sun. As the moon moves through these phases it is described as either "Waxing", the moon is getting visibly "bigger",as it heads towards Full Moon or "Waning", the moon is getting visibly "smaller", as New Moon approaches.
The moon phase affects certain aspects of Vana'diel, as well as some pieces of equipment. It is also rumored that moon phases affect certain luck-based elements of the game, such as the chances of getting item drops off an enemy, or crafting results. (See below)
You can check the current moon phase, as well as its percentage, by using the /clock command. This command also toggles the display of the game clock on your screen. To keep the clock on your screen, use the /clock command again, or use "/clock on" instead.
Each full lunar cycle (lasting from 0% New Moon to 100% Full Moon and back to 0% again) lasts for 84 game days (3 days, 8 hours, 38 minutes, and 24 seconds, Earth time). Vana'diel has 12 distinct Moon Phases.
On an interesting side note, the moon's face will be tinted the color of the current day as the days change (i.e. on Firesday the moon will tint red and on Windsday the moon will tint green).
Another interesting side note; due to tidal locking, Vana'diel's moon appears to orbit in synchronous rotation around the planet, showing the same face to Vana'diel at all times. This behavior is not unlike what is found on the moon orbiting the distant planet Earth.
Full Moon[]
The moon phase where the entire face of the moon is illuminated.
Waxing Moon Percentage 90% -> 100%
Waning Moon Percentage 100% -> 95%
When the moon is in this phase, it is rumored that certain effects are improved/degraded:
- Item drops from monsters increase.
- Fishing results improve (except in Rabao, where results degrade).
- Crafting skill ups are improved.
- The number of High Quality items synthesized is decreased.
- Gardening yields are higher. (rumored to be 150% normal yield)
- Chocobo Digging is more accurate.
Certain Notorious Monsters will only spawn during a full moon:
Some items have effects that are affected by this moon phase:
- Horror Head - Enmity -50
- Luna Subligar - Dexterity +2, Agility +2, Charisma +7
- Selene's Bow - Ranged Attack +5, Ranged Accuracy +25
- Gnole Sainti / Gnole Sainti +1 - STR +2/3, DEX +2/3
- Diana Corona - Magic Attack Bonus +4
Certain items and key items can only be obtained during this moon phase:
The Full Moon affects various Blood Pact: Ward and their results, especially for Fenrir.
Gibbous Moon[]
The moon phase where most of the moon's face is illuminated (60%-90%). Also known as "waxing gibbous" when the moon is waxing towards a full moon and "waning gibbous" when the moon is waning towards a new moon.
Certain items have effects that are affected by the "waxing gibbous" phase:
- Selene's Bow - Ranged Attack +10, Ranged Accuracy +20
Certain items have effects that are affected by the "waning gibbous" phase:
- Selene's Bow - Ranged Attack +20, Ranged Accuracy +10
The Gibbous Moon affects various Blood Pact: Ward and their results, especially for Fenrir.
Quarter Moon[]
Also know as Half Moon. The moon phase where the face of the moon is halfway in shadow, and halfway in light. However, since we can only see half of the Moon anyway, this is more correctly called Quarter Moon.
First Quarter Moon[]
Waxing Moon Percentage:
Last Quarter Moon[]
Waning Moon Percentage:
When the moon is in this phase, it is rumored that certain effects are improved/degraded:
Some items have effects that are affected by this moon phase:
- Selene's Bow - Ranged Attack +15, Ranged Accuracy +15
- Amood - Occasionally attacks twice (First Quarter Moon only)
- Amood +1 - Occasionally attacks twice (First Quarter Moon only)
- Dark Amood - Occasionally attacks twice (First Quarter Moon only)
The Quarter Moon affects various Blood Pact: Ward and their results, especially for Fenrir.
Crescent Moon[]
The moon phase where most of the moon's face is obscured (10%-40%). Also known as "waxing crescent" when the moon is waxing and "waning crescent" when the moon is waning.
Certain items have effects that are affected by the "waxing crescent" phase:
- Selene's Bow - Ranged Attack +10, Ranged Accuracy +20
The Crescent Moon affects various Blood Pact: Ward and their results, especially for Fenrir.
New Moon[]
The moon phase where the entire face of the moon is obscured (10%->0%->5%)
When the moon is in this phase, it is rumored that certain effects are improved/degraded:
- Item drops from monsters decrease.
- Fishing results improve (except in Rabao, where results degrade).
- Crafting skill ups are decreased.
- The number of High Quality items synthesized is increased.
- Chocobo Digging is more accurate.
Certain Notorious Monsters will only spawn during a new moon:
Certain Notorious Monsters can not spawn during a new moon:
Some items have effects that are affected by this moon phase:
- Horror Head II - Enmity +50
- Inferno Sabots - INT +1, Dark Magic Skill +3
- Selene's Bow - Ranged Attack +25, Ranged Accuracy +5
The New Moon affects various Blood Pact: Ward and their results, especially for Fenrir. An example is the Fenrir Blood Pact: Ward Heavenward Howl that provides Enaspir to all party members within range. Another example for Fenrir is Ecliptic Growl, which always varies with the moon phase.
Moon in Real Time[]
Each 1% of moon phase is equivalent to 24 minutes and 11'52 seconds of real world time.
To calculate how many minutes moon needs to be in a percentage you want to know, just need to multiply the difference of percentages by 24.192.
To know the percentage difference you have to take in count:
- When moon is waxing:
- If desired percentage is greater than current: difference = desired - current.
- If current percentage is greater than desired: difference = 200 - current - desired.
- When moon is waning:
- If desired percentage is lower than current: difference = current - desired.
- If current percentage is lower than desired: difference = current + desired.