Looking to take on the final Savage tier of Dawntrail? AAC Heavyweight (Savage) drops this Tuesday to send off the Arcadion. If you’re looking to take on the most colorful combatants in Solution Nine, here’s everything you need to know for some last-minute prep.
When and Where Does Savage Unlock?
AAC Heavyweight Tier (Savage) will be released on January 6th at 2:00 AM (PST). At that time, the unlock quest, item exchange, and Stone, Sky, and Sea damage checks will be available. To unlock the tier, speak with Gabbro in Solution Nine (X: 22.3 Y: 17.1) after completing the Normal Raid tier.
Unlocking and Clearing Normal Mode
Unlocking Savage requires clearing every fight in the normal difficulty Heavyweight raids. To access the AAC Heavyweight questline, players must have finished the quest “The Lone Wolf,” the final quest from the Cruiserweight tier. Talk to Yaana in Solution Nine by her gym (X:22.2 Y:16.6) and start the quest “Feral Fandom” to get started. The raids require a minimum item level of 745 to play. If you need gear at this ilvl, here are the easiest ways to get your hands on them:
ARMOR & ACCESSORIES
• Historia Armor (ilvl 750) is available from Zircon in Solution Nine (X: 8.6 Y: 13.5), purchasable with Allagan Tomestones of Mathematics.
• San d’Oria Armor (ilvl 750) are earned through loot chests in the Alliance Raid San d’Oria: The Second Walk.
• Mistwake Armor (ilvl 755) are earned through loot chests in the dungeon Mistwake.
There are also higher ilvl weapon and gear sets available, such as the Babyface Champion’s set and the Phantom Weapons Umbrae set, but the above gear sets are the easiest to obtain if you are short on time and need to complete normal raids. If you’re looking for guides on the normal Heavyweight raids, be sure to check them out on Icy Veins.
WEAPONS
• Use a Veldian Weapon Coffer (ilvl 745) from the Monster Hunter crossover trial The Windward Wilds. For tips on the trial, check out our guide.
What Gear You Need for Savage
ARMOR & ACCESSORIES
Once you’ve completed the Normal Raid questline, it’s time to get your gear in order for Savage. The first fight requires a minimum ilvl of 760, and the final fight requires an ilvl of 770. The best-in-slot prog gear for savage is the crafted Courtley Lover’s Gear and Accessory set (ilvl 770). Ideally you also want to pentameld your gear with Materia XI and XII to make damage checks easier.
If you’re strapped for gil or otherwise unable to buy all the Courtley Lover’s gear, you can also use the Heavyweight Armor set obtainable from the Heavyweight Normal Raids (ilvl 770). While this does meet the minimum ilvl requirement, you are unable to pentameld these gear pieces. Each fight will reward you with tokens to exchange with Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7 Y:13.4).
• Accessories require 1 Heavy Holoring.
• Head, hands, and feet require 2 Heavy Holohelms, Hologauntlets, and Hologreaves respectively.
• Chest and legs require 4 Heavy Holoarmors, and Holotrousers respectively.
WEAPONS
As for your weapons, the best-in-slot for prog are Runaway Weapons dropped from the trial Hell on Rails (Extreme). To unlock, complete the normal trial and talk to the Wandering Minstrel in Tuliyollal (X: 11.2, Y: 14.7). Weapons are obtainable through a loot chest available upon completion of the fight, either as a single weapons drop, or a weapon coffer drop for your currently equipped job. You can also exchange 10 Runaway Totems for the weapons of your choice with Uah’shepya in Solution Nine (X: 8.7 Y: 13.5).
Need help clearing Hell on Rails (Extreme)? Be sure to read our guide before going into Party Finder.
Best-in-Slot Gear
As you complete the Heavyweight Savage tier, you will earn your job’s Best-in-Slot gear to help you clear repeat fights and prepare for 7.5’s Ultimate Raid. Every job’s BiS is a mix of gear droppable from the Savage fights, or augmented gear purchased with capped Allagan Tomestones. Additionally, the best weapon for each job will also be from the final fight of the tier. The BiS item level is 790.
SAVAGE GEAR
Savage gear includes accessories and armor from the Grand Champion’s sets. These gear pieces are earnable as armor coffers from each fight in the tier or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7 Y:13.4) using AAC Illustrated: HW Edition tomes. Each fight will reward you one tome per clear, locked to one reward a week during 7.4. Here’s what each fight rewards:
• Heavweight M1 (Savage): Accessory coffer and 1 AAC Illustrated: HW Edition I (3 required for each accessory).
• Heavyweight M2 (Savage): Head, hand, and foot gear coffer, and 1 AAC Illustrated: HW Edition II (4 required for each gear piece)
• Heavyweight M3 (Savage): Chest and leg coffer, and 1 AAC Illustrated: HW Edition III (6 required for each gear piece)
• Heavyweight M4 (Savage): Weapon coffer and 1 AAC Illustrated: HW Edition IV (8 required for a weapon). Plus, a mount!
AUGMENTED TOMESTONE GEAR
Some of your BiS gear is initially purchasable through Allagan Tomestones of Mnemonics. This is the Bygone Armor and Accessories gear purchased from Zircon in Solution Nine (X:8.6 Y:13.5). The gear starts at 780 and can be augmented to 790 by Zircon as long as you have the required augmentation item dropped from each fight.
• Accessories: requires 1 Thundersteeped Glaze from Heavyweight M2 (Savage) (or 3 tomes from the fight).
• Armor: requires 1 Thundersteeped Twine from Heavyweight M3 (Savage) (or 4 tomes from the fight).
While not BiS, Bygone weapons are also avaliable for purchase and augmentation. The augmenting material is obtainable from M4 or through 4 tomes from that fight.
BiS Guides
For detailed BiS gear guides on your job, take a look at our Omni-gearing guides for each job type.
• Physical Ranged Best-in-Slot
Be sure to check back with Icy Veins for more FFXIV content. Good luck and have fun in the Arcadion!
