Relic weapons are among the longest grinds to complete in Final Fantasy XIV, but they’re worth it. Each expansion has its series of Relics that are sought after either for their stats, for being the best in the game when they’re released, or for their glamour.
Anima is the second series of Relic weapons released in FF XIV alongside the Heavensward expansion in 2015. They’re level 60, so they’re not worth the grind for their stats anymore: There are plenty of faster ways to get those stats in the game now.
But they’re mostly coveted for their glamour and by achievement hunters. If you’re unsure which Relics you want to farm, here’s a video of Desperius showing each step and each job’s weapon design.
Here’s the fastest way to get Relic Anima weapons from Heavensward in FF XIV.
Fastest way to get Relic Anima weapons in Final Fantasy XIV
There’s a total of eight phases to complete an Anima weapon, with six achievements to earn per weapon. First of all, players need to reach level 60 and complete Heavensward‘s all Main Scenario Quests.
It’s required that you complete the “An Unexpected Proposal” quest in Idyllshire and then head to Azys Lla to begin the quest called “A Soul without Life.” That’s the first step for the Anima weapon. You have to undertake the job for which you want the weapon when beginning each quest.
Related: Fastest way to get Eurekan relic weapons in Final Fantasy XIV
Here are all the Anima weapon steps and the fastest way to complete each one.
Soul Without Life
The Anima weapon’s first step is pretty easy and quick to complete. you’ll have to complete six FATEs at best, or four or five times more if you’re unlucky. Players must redeem two nodules that are crafted by Revenant Toll’s Syndony for six crystals, all randomly dropped in FATEs from specific Heavensward maps. To complete those FATEs faster, use your maxed Blue Mage and trained chocobo and find a farm party. You’ll complete every FATE in a matter of seconds with this method.
Keep in mind that this step is similar to the Relic Resistance weapon’s first step from Shadowbringers, “For Want of a Memory.” For more efficiency, take both quests to progress through them at the same time. If you don’t have maxed Blue Mage or haven’t trained your chocobo, know that it’s worth the time investment because it allows you to farm incredibly faster in FF XIV.
Players who completed A Realm Reborn‘s Zodiac Relic quests can trade their weapon to skip this step.
Toughening Up
This step will take a long time to complete and there’s no way around it. Players must complete 10 dungeons in a specific order using the corresponding job and the Anima weapon equipped before leaving the duty. The best way to speed up this process is to find a party of high-level teammates to complete the dungeons unsynced. If you do it solo at level 80, it’ll take you one to two hours to complete.
Coming into its Own
This step is long and tricky to complete. The Cristiana NPC, from Revenant’s Toll, will require four items that can be crafted using items that need to be earned or crafted themselves. It can be a headache, so here’s a selection of methods to help you determine how to earn them and complete the step.
The four items will require 14 materials each: 10 copies of one and four of the other. Fortunately, both kinds of items can be earned using similar methods.
The first kind of crafting items can be traded using Tomestones of Poetics, Tribe Vendors, or Alexander raid items: Unidentifiable Bones, Shells, Ores, and Seeds. It’ll cost you 6,000 Tomestones of Poetics to get them all, 120 Alexander raid completions, or numerous Tribe tokens you’ll have to unlock beforehand.
First, if you’ve reached the maximum reputation level of the associated Tribes, you can spend all of your beast currencies to buy what you can.
The Alexander raid completions are long, but they’re also common to a Relic Resistance weapon step from Shadowbringers: Spare Parts. If you’re planning on doing that too, it can be a good idea to complete them at the same time to be more efficient. This Resistance step is extremely long, so you’ll be doing yourself a favor by getting the items you’ll need for your Anima weapons. They drop even without the Anima quest activated, so you’ll only need to keep them in your inventory.
The last method to earn the items is Poetics. Six-thousand tomestones in total will be required to buy all of them, but don’t worry: They can be earned by doing pretty much anything in the game. Roulettes, duties, Eurekan FATEs, and quests are some ways to get them.
If you want to get them as fast as possible and you’re planning to earn some Eurekan Relic weapons, it might be a good idea to start now and use the Poetics earned by completing FATEs in the Eureka areas to buy those items. They reward many Poetics in a small amount of time: In Hydatos, you can get over 80 tomestones for a two-minute FATE completion.
The second kind of items is easier to earn. Four Adamantite Francesca, Titanium Alloy Mirror, Dispelling Arrow, and Kingcakes must be earned. They can be crafted at level 60, bought in the Market Board, or traded for Grand Company seals. Each item doesn’t cost over 4,000 gil on the market board and you can easily buy the materials directly and ask a friend or fellow FC member to craft it for you if you want to save some money.
Finding your Voice
To complete this step, you’ll have to redeem five Aether Oils. They can be traded for Tomestones of Poetics by speaking to Rowena, each one costing 350 Tomestones.
Players can also get them by completing the repeatable quest called “The Gift of Archmagus” by doing Crystal Tower raids. It’s a longer method, but if you’re farming a Resistance weapon, keep in mind that the “Change of Arms” step requires the completion of those same raids to earn Loathstome Memories of the Dying. This can be a way to get the items required for both steps at the same time.
A Dream Fulfilled
This step will be a bit longer, but it’s feasible. You’ll have to gather materials that Ulan, an NPC found in Idyllshire, will craft for you to enhance your weapon’s stats. You’ll need a maximum of 80 Umbrite and 80 Crystal Sand but will have a chance to get a crafting bonus that will speed up the process. Moreover, the amount will be reduced to 60 after Endwalker‘s release.
The Umbrites can be traded using Tomestones of Poetics, each one costing no less than 75 Poetics to Rowena’s Representatives in the main cities. If you have no bonus, it’ll cost you 6,000 Poetics in total.
The Crystal Sand is easier to earn. Players can trade Blue Scrips, earned with Yellow scrips or materials via the Splendors Vendor, or various materials to Ulan.
It’s tricky to find what method is the fastest to get Crystal Sands since there are so many ways to craft them. Ultimately, it depends on what you prefer to do in the game. The first method is to trade Moonstones for it using Grand Company Seals if you have spare ones, or use scrips by making weekly custom deliveries. The latter option will allow you to level your crafting and gathering jobs at the same time if needed.
Future Proof
To complete this fast step, you’ll need to earn 50 Singing Clusters. They can be traded for 40 Poetics each to Rowena or earned by completing two repeatable quests: Cut from a Different Cloth and Seeking Inspiration.
Born Again Anima
You’re almost there, but not quite. This step will be long and you’ll have to equip your Anima weapon at all times when farming it. First, you’ll have to complete three dungeons unsynced. Once that’s done, the quest will require you to gather 15 Pneumites using Poetics or Grand Company Seals once again.
Then, the long process will begin. You’ll have to collect 2,000 Aetheric condensation units by completing several activities with the weapon equipped to strengthen your weapon. The fastest ways are to do 21 completions of Alexander: Fist of the Father Savage or Eyes of the Creator Savage unsynced with a party, or 42 completions of unsynced level 50 dungeons such as Brayflox’s Longstop Hard (except Castrum and Praetorium, which don’t reward light).
If you’re planning to earn Resistance Relic weapons, you can also equip the Anima weapon while doing the Heavensward FATEs required to earn Memories of the Dying with the quest “For Want for A Memory.” It’ll take longer to farm light using this method, but you can see that as bonus light gained while farming the other weapon.
Final Phase
Unsurprisingly, the final phase to earn the last Anima weapon is easy but also long to complete. First, you’ll need to complete two fast quests called Body and Soul and Words of Wisdom.
Once it’s done, you’ll unlock the Best Friends Forever quest, the last one, and it will require the completion of all A Real Reborn’s and Heavensward’s Hard trials. Fortunately, they can be completed unsynced, but you’ll need to equip your Anima weapon before exiting the duties. It should take you less than two hours to complete this part.
Finally, you’ll have to buy an item using 500 Tomestones of Poetics and then earn your very last Anima Relic weapon and its achievement. All replicas can be bought in Azys Lla.
