A new crafting and gathering mode titled Cosmic Exploration has recently launched in Final Fantasy XIV, offering players a range of appealing rewards. To streamline your crafting efforts, utilizing macros can significantly alleviate the grind associated with this mode.
Understanding Cosmic Exploration Crafting
Cosmic Exploration crafts differ from one another in terms of durability, required progress, and quality metrics. For example, crafting scrambled eggs might require 60 durability, while another item may only need 20. These discrepancies make it challenging to create a universal macro applicable to all crafting tasks, unlike prior systems such as Ishgard Restoration.
While dedicated players can develop specific macros for each item—especially at lower levels—high-level crafts may necessitate multiple macros due to their intricate requirements. Completing some Class-A missions also poses time constraints, meaning longer macros may not suffice.
Creating Macros for Cosmic Exploration
To effectively manage your crafting tasks and maximize your efficiency, here’s a step-by-step method to generate functional macros:
- Gather all crafting stats from your character screen and input them into Raphael, a website designed to generate macros based on your stats and desired crafting items.
- Access your “Stellar Missions” via the Cosmic Exploration interface and select an active mission.
- Input the required recipe from the mission into Raphael.
- Copy the generated macro and paste it into your User Macros menu. It may be helpful to overwrite existing macros if your menu is limited.
- Use the macro to craft the necessary items to complete the mission.
- Submit the completed mission.
This method allows for efficient task management, facilitating the completion of numerous missions with gold ratings. If you find your characters are not maxed, you may eventually encounter a barrier limiting your progress. After attaining gold ratings for lower-level crafts, you can eliminate macros that are no longer necessary.
As you progress, consider which missions are most feasible for you based on your crafting capabilities, including available buffs and crafting times. Adjust your macro setup to cover three to five crafts within a specific tier.
For instance, if you reach a point where Class-A missions are challenging, you can switch to Class-B missions to ensure consistent gold ratings. I utilize macros for recipes like “Stable Jelly Drink” and “Stable Ration” to manage my missions effectively.
If you have the capacity for numerous macros, you can theoretically create a single macro for each mission across all crafting jobs, as the same mission requirements may apply across different disciplines. This strategy works best on PC, as console users might find the manual input cumbersome. Nevertheless, it is still possible to follow the skills suggested by Raphael and craft manually when necessary.
Don’t forget to participate in Critical Missions as they arise for additional loot and experience. Crafting should ideally complement these events, allowing you to progress while gathering resources.
Ultimately, mastering Class-A crafts will be necessary if you seek to craft the coveted Cosmic Tool associated with the Dawntrail expansion. However, for general farming of currency and experience, focusing on easier crafting tasks will suffice.
In summary, input your stats into Raphael, create macros for optimal crafting, and maintain a few for repeated uses.