Skysteel Tools are gear upgrades available to Disciples of the Hand or Land. They’re essentially equivalent to the combat classes’ Relic Weapons, and can represent significant stat boosts for your job of choice.
Who says Disciples of War and Magic get to have all the cool stuff? If you want a legendary frying pan, you can damn well have one.
Getting started with your Skysteel Tools is actually fairly simple, much like acquiring your Resistance Weapon.
Upgrading it is a different story. That’s something that’ll take quite a bit of work.
But don’t worry about that now! Let’s get the easy part over and done with and worry about the finer, more exhausting details later on.
How Do I Get My Skysteel Tools?
First you’ll need to have a Disciple of the Hand or Land at level 80, and have access to The Firmament.
Take yourself down to The Foundation in Ishgard (Obviously using your level 80 crafter/gatherer) and approach the entrance to The Firmament. You’ll be able to pick up the quest “Mislaid Plans”, which, after a hefty chunk of dialogue, will reward you with your very own Skysteel Tool.
These tools start out at item level 440.
This isn’t quite on par with the best gear in the game, but it’s close, and can be upgraded with a lot of work.
I Have Multiple Crafters/Gatherers, Can I Have Multiple Tools?
Yes, you can.
Picking up more Skysteel Tools is as simple as paying a fee.
Your first one is free, but once you’ve completed “Mislaid Plans” you can purchase additional Skysteel Tools from Denys in Ishgard’s Skysteel Manufactory for 80,000 gil.
If you’ve just hit level 80 on a new crafter or gatherer, this is actually a pretty cheap way to boost their stats and get into endgame crafting.
It won’t completely cancel out any outdated gear you have on. But it’ll be really helpful.
The process is different for crafters and gatherers.
If you’re crafting, you’ll be tasked with synthesizing High Quality “Oddly Specific” items while using your Skysteel Tool. You can then turn these Oddly Specific items in with Denys to upgrade the tool.
The Oddly Specific items require the purchase of an Oddly Specific material, which can only be acquired through Scrip Exchange vendors.
So this is going to cost you some Scrips as well as time, but the payoff is worth it (eventually).
Gatherers have to repeat a similar process, going out into the world and gathering Oddly Specific items.
It can feel like way more of a grind, especially as you’ll have to reliably collect a ton of High Quality and hidden items. But at least you don’t have to spend any Yellow Scrips.
You don’t have to gather the materials using your Skysteel Tool, either.
So if you’ve got something better suited at the time, feel free to use it.
As ever, Fishers are the odd one out.
If you want to upgrade your Skysteel Fishing Rod, you’ll have to buy special bait from Denys – the “Signature Skyballs”.
This is the only bait capable of catching the fish you need. You’ll need a total of forty High Quality catches to upgrade your rod to the next level.
And this isn’t the end of the upgrade process, oh no.
You’ll also have to spend a good few hours doing this, but there’s two more steps to come, ultimately upgrading your Skysteel Tool to ilvl 510 & making it one of the greatest gear options in the game at current.
Just keep following the quests, gathering/crafting the materials, and find something like a good podcast or TV show to have on in the background so you don’t totally lose your mind.
For anyone with an interest in crafting or gathering beyond the casual, absolutely.
These will eventually become the best tools in the game.
And they’re not just going to see you through until the release of Endwalker, oh no. They’re going to be with you for a very long time if you invest enough attention into the process.
These tools could potentially see you through to the end of the new level cap (90) and get you off to a roaring start with Endwalker crafting and gathering.
Are they a lot of work? Absolutely.
Does that work pay off? Completely.
It’ll still be worthwhile completing these tools until the next batch release, whenever that may be.
What generally helps me when completing any task like this in a game, be it long grinds, achievement hunts or extended leveling sessions, is breaking it up into bite sized tasks.
Allocate a little bit of your free time towards doing it every play session so you don’t get burnt out.
It’s easy to forget how much fun Final Fantasy XIV can be in the midst of the more exhausting, grindy activities.
So maybe take yourself to the Gold Saucer.
Or chat to strangers in Limsa Lominsa (well, actually, be careful with that one).
Just whatever you do – don’t AFK for more than thirty minutes!
