The aftermath of Final Fantasy XIV’s second expansion sees parts of Ishgard—Heavensward’s main location—destroyed. The Ishgardian Restoration is an activity that combines the contributions of Disciples of the Land and Hand to reconstruct the Firmament, which was razed during the Dragonsong War.
The Restoration rewards some of the most desired cosmetic items in the game, including dyes, furniture pieces, emotes, and more. Although collecting enough Restoration Scrips to purchase said rewards may be time-consuming and more than a little convoluted, it’s definitely worth doing.
So, without further ado: here’s how to get started!
Unlocking
You can start the Restoration after completing Heavensward’s main story scenario, which ends with “Litany of Peace”.
Then, pick up “Toward the Firmament”, in The Jeweled Crozier. You need at least one Disciple of Land or Hand class at level 20 in order to accept the quest. Finishing it will give you access to the Firmament and introduce you to relevant NPCs.
The Diadem – Disciples of the Land
Gatherers will do all their running around in the Diadem, a set of floating, interconnected islands that can be accessed by speaking with Aurvael. Players can enter the Diadem solo or with a party.
Upon arrival, players will notice a series of bars on the upper left corner of the screen. The bars will begin to fill as players gather. Each filled bar represents one shot of the Aetheromatic Augur, simply referred to as “bazooka” by most players. The Augur can be used to one-shot any of the monsters wandering around the Diadem. While Diadem monsters are nonaggressive (no guarantees as to what’ll happen if you whack one with a pickaxe, though), killing them rewards a hefty amount of Skybuilders’ resources, so it’s always worth chasing down the nearest Islekeeper once you have an Augur shot charged.
One thing to note is that gatherable items don’t vary by island, so players can circle around one island collecting from nodes and hop to another via flying mount or by making use of various jump pads around the area.
Higher-leveled Disciples of the Land will want to pay attention when the weather begins to change. There are four Umbral weather types in the Diadem, each corresponding to a special single-use gathering node that is only available for about 10 minutes or so. These conditions will kick in every 20 minutes; Miners will detect nodes during the Umbral Levin and Dustorms, while Botanists get Umbral Flare and Tempest.
Fishing is also available in the Diadem, but it’s not quite as movement-heavy as the other gathering classes. Just buy some bait from the merchant at the Diadem starting zone and start skyfishing at one of four locations. Note that fishers will get the chance to hook a rare fish at these locations during an Umbral weather condition:
Blustery (x30, y9) – Umbral Flare
Calm (x29, y31) – Umbral Duststorm
Swirling (x13, y23) – Umbral Levin
Windswept (x25, y16) – Umbral Tempest
Once you’ve had enough of gathering (or your inventory is full, whichever comes first) leave the Diadem like you would any Duty and hand your resources over to the NPC next to Aurvael. The NPC will reward you with Restoration Scrips and return approved versions of your materials, which can be used to craft Restoration-specific items.
Note that the NPC will only accept materials in certain amounts, so if you have 19 Skybuilders’ Switches, you’ll probably just have to hold onto them until the next time you enter the Diadem. As Approved Skybuilders’ items won’t stack with their gathered counterparts, expect The Restoration to eat up a lot of your inventory space.
Crafting – Disciples of the Hand
Crafters will receive recipes for The Restoration after hitting level 20 on any crafting class. These can be found under the “Special Recipes” section of your Crafting Log, and make use of Approved Skybuilders’ materials as well as regular crafting materials like Iron Ore and so on. If they aren’t double-dipping in gathering to maximize Scrip acquisition, players can find approved Skybuilders’ materials on the marketboard for fairly cheap.
Crafted Skybuilders’ items will always be collectables, so you don’t actually need to have the collectables ability unlocked to contribute. Treat them like you would any normal crafting item and use your quality synthesis actions to get the item’s collectability where you want it.
Once you’ve finished crafting, go ahead and turn your items in to Potkin for scrips. When reviewing collectables with Potkin, you may notice that some items will have a stamp icon next to them. Turning in those marked items will earn you a stamp on your Kupo of Fortune card, which can be redeemed with Lizbeth for a chance to earn further rewards.
Your Kupo of Fortune card will give you a chance at five possible rewards. The scratcher will be split into a single square and a group of three; the single square will guarantee one of the middling to second-tier rewards, whereas chancing one the three squares gives you a shot at the rarest of the items, but also runs the risk of earning something really lame.
Scrips can be exchanged with Enie for Restoration-exclusive rewards.
Global Server Progress
While all servers have currently completed the Firmament’s first and only project, the long-awaited 5.3 update will introduce the next step of The Restoration.
Once that drops, all crafted resources will begin to add points to your server’s Restoration stockpile. Every world will have their own, and players may find themselves in an impromptu race to see which server can finish stockpiling and complete their projects first. Players can also compete against one another to dominate the contribution scoreboard, much like Grand Company contributions are tracked and scored.
A “Concerted Works” activity will become available several hours after the stockpile is filled. Concerted works will always occur at an appointed hour, so players can check and then schedule their playtime around when they’ll occur.
The activity is a bit like a FATE for crafters and gatherers and will reward participants with large amounts of EXP and Scrips. Progress toward concerted works, as well as what the activity will entail, can be checked via the Skybuilders’ board.
Completing Concerted Works will cause small changes to appear throughout the Firmament. As the reconstruction progresses, players can participate in larger scale works that will dramatically change the Firmament.
Now, go forth and craft!
