Shard Farming: Gridania Crafting Guilds

This is part 3 of our guide to making 100k+ gil per hour using low-level alts. Prices and profits have been updated for 5.58. See the intro for an overview of the process.

Now that you’ve unlocked the ability to join other guilds, it’s time to visit your neighbors at the Carpenters’ and Leatherworkers’ Guilds. In a bid for your loyalty, they’ll offer you hundreds of crystal shards. You, mercenary that you are, will take the shards and run.

Carpentry

Our first stop in town is the Carpenters’ Guild, located at (10, 12) in New Gridania. Introduce yourself to Corgg, the guild receptionist.

CRP 1a: “Way of the Carpenter”

Click through Corgg’s speech about “total commitment” (ha!) to the guild. Talk to him again to get your first quest, then head into the guildhall to find GM Beatin. Just for saying hi, he’ll give you:

115 gil
100 wind shards
50 ice shards
1 weathered saw

Equip the saw and talk to Beatin once more to receive another easy quest.

CRP 1b: “My First Saw”

For this one, you’ll need to craft one length of maple lumber. Run out to the lobby and buy 3 maple logs (6 gil) from Ferreol, the guild supplier. Before you start crafting, chug the first of your two mint lassis. Now make the logs into maple lumber and return to Beatin, who’ll give you:

150 wind shards
100 ice shards
30 maple logs
1 hempen kurta

CRP 5: “To Be the Wood”

Put on the hempen kurta, which (apart from a short inter-city run) you’ll be wearing for the rest of your crafting adventures.

Back at Ferreol, buy 6 bronze rivets (cost: 6 × 13 = 78 gil). Use these and the maple logs to make:

10 maple lumber
3 square maple shields

These syntheses should push you into level 5, making you eligible for the next quest. Beatin will ask you to go make the maple shields you’ve already made, so hand them in and collect your reward:

194 gil + 3 allagan tin pieces (total: 269 gil)
200 wind shards
150 ice shards
1 amateur’s claw hammer

In all, our net profits from our short woodworking career are:

436 wind shards, 297 ice shards, 300 gil

Now put on any new crafting gear you collected from these quests and head northeast to Old Gridania for…

Leatherworking

The Leatherworkers’ Guild is located at (12, 8) in Old Gridania, just a few steps north-northeast of the zone line. The lobby layout is the same as before: receptionist on the left, supplier on the right. Say hello to Randall and hear a speech about low-impact living.

LTW 1a: “Way of the Leatherworker”

When he’s finished, speak to him again and agree to join. You’ll then be pointed to GM Geva, who is a sort of Final Fantasy Miranda Priestly. After some harsh words, she’ll hand you the following:

115 gil
100 earth shards
50 wind shards
1 weathered head knife

Wield the head knife and ask Geva for your next quest.

LTW 1b: “My First Head Knife”

Your task is to prepare one circle of leather. If you don’t have animal skins sitting around from your questing, you’ll need to buy one for 4 gil from Osgyth in the lobby. Make one piece of leather, hand it to Geva, and click through the cutscene for:

150 earth shards
100 wind shards
10 animal skins
1 hempen kurta

LTW 5: “A Test of Technique”

You’ll need to reach level 5 before Geva will disparage any more of your work. Visit Osgyth and buy 3 animal sinew (cost: 3 × 4 = 12 gil), then craft:

10 circles of leather
3 leather chokers

At this point, you’ll be level 5. Go back to Geva, accept “A Test of Technique”, and hand over the chokers to receive:

194 gil + 3 allagan tin pieces (total: 269 gil)
200 earth shards
150 wind shards
1 amateur’s awl

Subtracting our costs in gil and shards leaves us with a nice net profit from Leatherworking:

368 gil, 436 earth shards, 297 wind shards

Traveling to Ul’dah

So far we’ve hit two of the five guilds on our list and gathered a cool 1,466 shards in the process. The other three guilds, however, lie in Ul’dah, which is a bit of a hike from Gridania. The good news is that you can get there in about 10 minutes by chocobo.

Change back into Archer gear and rent a chocobo (10 min = 80 gil) in New Gridania, over by the Carline Canopy. You’ll be heading almost due south through the Central Shroud via Bentbranch, following the trail to the South Shroud zone line. None of the monsters here should pose a real threat. In the South Shroud, you’ll want to head through Buscarron’s Druthers, then south over Rootslake to the Eastern Thanalan zone line. Mobs here are tougher, but the only “choke points” of note are the stretches of woods immediately north and south of Camp Tranquil, which hide aggressive level 30 condors. I’ve done this run close to a dozen times since first drafting this guide, and I haven’t been hit by a condor once. Nonetheless, if you want to be extra cautious, you can dismount and grab the Camp Tranquil Aetheryte. Of course, then you’ll be on foot (and therefore slower) for the rest of the trip to Ul’dah.

Once you’ve made it to Eastern Thanalan, you’re in the home stretch. There are a few axe beaks in Wellwick Wood, but these are pretty easy to avoid. Head southwest to Highbridge, then west-southwest to Camp Drybone. Here, you’ll dismount your rental chocobo and hire a porter to take you to Ul’dah for 30 gil. The remainder of your trip is on autopilot, so relax and enjoy the scenery. You’ll have plenty to do when you get to town.

Shard Farming: Making 100,000 Gil an Hour with Alts

Data for the original Shard Farming guide was gathered on 30 Sep 2013. The guide was most recently updated on 2 Aug 2021, using version 5.58 of FFXIV. It may not reflect current market conditions or changes introduced in subsequent patches.