Relic Weapons are special legendary equips in Final Fantasy XIV. They’re inspired by iconic weapons from previous Final Fantasy games, representing the strongest weapon a job can equip.
But despite their legendary status, relic weapons are rarely considered best in slot for their respective jobs.
They are, however, reasonably powerful compared to a lot of other weapons available to you by the time you’d unlock a relic for yourself.
And the term “Relic Weapon” is sort of a catch-all phrase that can cover all these weapon sets across XIV’s expansions, but can also specifically refer to the set available in A Realm Reborn.
We’re currently unlocking and upgrading Resistance Weapons in Shadowbringers.
A Realm Reborn (ARR) and every expansion to the game each has their own sets of Relic Weapons, with different criteria to unlock.
But they have one thing in common, though – these weapons often require a lot of grinding to obtain and power up.
How Do I Unlock My Relic Weapon?
If you’re after the first set, you’ll need to complete A Realm Reborn and all of your job quests.
Head to Vesper Bay in Northern Thanalan and grab the quest “The Weaponsmith of Legend”. It’ll send you to Rowena in Mor Dhona.
From there, just follow the quest steps.
If this sounds easy, just wait. You’re in for the long haul.
Getting your first Resistance Weapon for current content is a bit of a chore, and yet still only a small step on a very long journey.
First, you’ll need to have completed the Shadowbringers main story, alongside the quest “City of Lost Angels”. This is a massive diversion in itself, basically requiring the completion of a 24 player raid released back in Stormblood.
This raid is a return to Ivalice from Final Fantasy XII, which might be exciting for fans of the series.
But if that sounds daunting, don’t worry – the raid has been nerfed a bit since launch, and plenty of people are still going after their Resistance Weapons.
You shouldn’t be in the Duty Finder queue for too long compared to other legacy content wait times.
Once the raid is out of the way, head to Kugane and look for the quest “Hail the Queen”.
Then follow the (long) quest chain, talk to a bunch of people, and eventually complete an (also long) instanced duty, and you’ll be handed your weapon.
“Well that doesn’t sound that bad”, you’re probably thinking.
“Do a few fetch quests, kill a few bosses. I’ve been doing that for a hundred hours at this point.”
Once you do everything above and “get” your weapon, the weapon is basically a prototype, and you’ll need to keep following the quests and their requirements to upgrade it further.
These steps will require a lot of work, and you’ll need to get comfortable in the Bozjan Southern Front zone to clear them efficiently.
Be prepared to invest a lot of game time in this process.
And here’s a fun fact: you aren’t just restricted to one Relic Weapon. So you can unlock them for every job eligible for the quests. But to do that, you will have to repeat a lot of the steps.
Are Relic Weapons Worth Getting?
It really depends on what you’re looking for.
I’d say that relics from A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood will only really be worth it for completionists or cool glamour appearances.
The relic weapon models are pretty impressive, and they definitely make more of a visual statement than a lot of other options.
But as far as practical gear goes, you’re probably going to pick up better weapons in no time at all. So it’s probably not worth dumping all that time into something you’ll only use for a little while.
Going after the Resistance Weapons is a different story.
Relics have rarely been considered best in slot (AKA the most optimal equipment for your job across the entire game). But they are still incredibly powerful.
You can only really get anything better by clearing end-game raid activities, which isn’t something everyone enjoys doing.
Not only that, but raiding for weapons puts you at the mercy of RNG.
The weapon you need might not drop, and if it does, someone else might want it too.
On the flip side, unlocking and upgrading your Resistance Weapon gives you a guaranteed high level weapon. It might take a lot of work, but it’s a sure thing.
