Anima Weapons are Heavensward’s version of “Relic Weapons” – fabled, legendary weapons from Final Fantasy’s history that players can attain through a lengthy process. On a practical level they’re not useful any more, although they make for excellent glamour options.
So here’s how it goes:
A new expansion launches, we get a new round of special weapons we can grind out a quest chain for.
Anima Weapons released with Heavensward, the game’s first expansion. You don’t need to complete the previous relic weapon quest chains, as these can all be handled on a standalone basis.
That’s good, because picking up these weapons is an extremely lengthy process.
Some are less painful, sure. But this is not a process you want to undertake lightly.
It can require hours of grinding. So I’d recommend taking a good look at what relics are available to you and making sure you work on the one you really, really want.
With the exception of Resistance Weapons (the ones we’re currently acquiring and upgrading in Shadowbringers) none of the previous relics will offer you a stat boost worth the time necessary to unlock them.
This is purely something to achieve for the sake of a cool glamour, so bear that in mind.
Essentially, these are all the jobs that were present in the game at the time Anima Weapons released, with the exception of the starting classes like Archer/Gladiator.
If you’re maining a job that launched in a later expansion like Samurai or Gunbreaker, you’ll have to pick up one of the more recent weapons.
This still leaves you with plenty of options to choose from, though.
Once you’ve picked your weapon (you can check out a full list here) you’ve just got to go through the tiny personal hell of unlocking it.
How Do I Unlock Anima Weapons?
You’ll need to be level 60 first.
Once you’ve reached that milestone and completed the Main Scenario Quest entitled “Heavensward”, you can acquire the quest that kicks it all off in Idyllshire.
Rowena will have a quest called “An Unexpected Proposal”.
This will lead you on to Ardashir in Asyz Lla, who’ll provide you with the repeatable “Soul Without Life”.
If you’ve already gone through the process of unlocking and upgrading your Zodiac Weapon to the Zeta stage, you can trade it to skip this first step. And it doesn’t have to be for the same job as you’re tackling now.
So if you’ve got the Paladin Zodiac Zeta Weapon and you want the Dark Knight Anima Weapon, you can still make the trade.
If you don’t want to part with your Zeta Weapon, you’ll have to start the grind!
You’ll need to obtain two items from Syndony in Mor Dhona. She’ll give you both if you’re handing over a Zeta Weapon, but without one you’ll need to go and farm FATEs in Heavensward.
Depending on which zone you’re in, FATEs have a decent chance of rewarding you with a type of Luminous Crystal.
Once you have enough crystals you can trade them in for the Umbral and Astral Nodules you need.
The drop rates are supposedly much better than they used to be, but depending on your luck, you could still end up working on this for a few days.
Is that the end of your Anima Weapon adventure? Nope.
You’re going to have to repeat this process a few times.
Collect a ton of items through a lengthy grind.
Trade them in for the things you actually need.
Luckily, you don’t need to complete them on a specific time scale. So you can put this down and come back to it any time if you feel burned out.
But unless you’re extremely lucky, it’s going to take a lot of grinding.
Are you looking for a powerful new weapon? Don’t bother.
Do you want to look maybe thirty percent cooler? Then this might be worth your time.
Whatever you decide, take a look at the Anima Weapon for your favorite class.
Make sure the cool glamour is worth your time – because it’s going to take a lot of it.
If you’re looking for stat upgrades, you’re better off pursuing the Resistance Weapon storyline. These are Shadowbringers’ versions of Anima, and they’re still potent options to pursue and upgrade.
