Money making as low'ish black mage

[Buzer]

So, I'm currently a lvl 52 black mage with white mage sub (27) & I'm seriously lacking as far as spells go (as in, missing 8 or so spells 2 being AMs). Total cost for spells is probably around 400k + about 300k for gobbie bag 2-4.

As of now, I'm making my money by hunting elementals (common spots being Tahoragi Canyon & Pashhow Marshlands (top-left corner to keep an eye on bloodpool while waiting for water elemental)). Now, this method works somehow. One cluster sells usually for around 2k (I have mules at Windurst & Bastok and I check them every time I need to head back to town). I have managed to get around 80k with this method in 2 days & I'm wondering if there is any better ones.

Please note my thf is only level 7. If there is a better way to make money and it requires TH1, I should be able to manage to get it to 15 in around 2-3 days. Also, my blm gears aren't exactly top-notch, so prefently mobs that rate as "Too weak".

Any help is appricated :)

[Futan]

A place I like is the 'Windurstian dunes'... forget the name. The area outside Mhaura. You can farm silks and elementals and log. I dont remember the name of the valuable logs you can get there. But you could find that on a resource site.

[Mog]

Here's a good way to go about things.

1. Level your thf up to 15.
2. Sub thf on your blm and farm beehive chips or silk threads in Sarutabaruta

You will get decent income from these. What you want to save up for is spells, obviously, and your elemental staves. They are the most important commodity that you can have at level 51. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford many of my staves until I hit 65. ^^; I suggest you don't wait that long to obtain them all, but the necessary staves are Ice, dark, and thunder. Don't party until you have all three of those. Moreover.....

Don't focus on buying AM! Trust me, I can tell from exprience. Unless you are going to join a lot of manaburn parties at that level, they will be a complete waste of money. Even at level 71, I still do not use them while duoing/soloing xp. Please, for the sake of god, buy those last after you obtain all your other spells. Other spells you don't have to focus on.....are Stonega, Stonega II, Stonega III. I still don't have II and III and I have never been in the situation where I would need them.

Lastly, save up for a decent pair of rings. At your level, you're getting close to the Zircon and Genius rings. I bought my own genius rings....loving every minute of them.

That's it. Hope that helped.

[tdh]

Beehive Chips and Silk Threads are a great way to raise gil at just about any level but can be time consuming. I would try to find a BCNM that BLMs can excel in, and have your LS put some of them together. Add this to your income and you should have all your spells and staves in short time.

When I bought all 8 of my Staves, it run me nearly 2M. Last I checked all 8 would be in the range of 800k or so. But those are something you are going to want! You're going to be using those Lv.51 until the end of time, so spend the gil as soon as you can. (I just checked http://www.ffxiah.com/ and it shows 10k for Ice Staff, 90k for Dark Staff, 30k for Thunder Staff. So you can probably get the whole lot for pretty cheap.)

But raising 400k can take some time, so I'd say try to find a profitable BCNM and put some runs together. IF you have plenty of seals, you may find you can make that gil in short order.

[raidenn]

THis might help. Get a lot of wind crystals, synth some ash lumber by buying them in the Sandy port and sell them in Jeuno.

[tdh]

THis might help. Get a lot of wind crystals, synth some ash lumber by buying them in the Sandy port and sell them in Jeuno.Keep in mind that these "schemes" can all dry up on you. There are a lot of ways that you can kick out an actual profit, but they may be very time consuming, or dry up once you flood the market.

Back about 6 months ago, I found out that I could take a ton of Fire Crystals, hit the Duty Shop at the Port Windurst Travel Agency. I could make a Copper Ingot for less than 100g, while a stack of Ingots sold for 15k. So I spent a few hours to make 5 stacks of them, only to find that some other people found the same plan and went to down. Next thing I knew there were 15 stacks of ingots up on at AH, and the price dropped down to about 7k a stack. Meanwhile it was still a pretty hefty profit, the gil I would have pocketed in the end was almost half what I was expecting.

So keep these things in mind, but the big problem is overstocking the AH and the price dropping drastrically.

[Buzer]

Okey, thanks. I forgot to mention that I already do have Dark, Ice & Wind staves (and bought Thunder this morning), so I'm till missing Light, Fire, Earth & Water. Those were still 100k+, so I didn't buy them due to lack of money.

AM I was mainly thinking since first party I got at 51 asked me to burst Freeze (and one was even ready to buy it for me >.> (there was none in stock tho)). I doubt I will be in too many manaburns tho. Living in EU & I rarerly see more than 1 or 2 blms seeking when I try to get party.

And don't worry, I have decided to ungimp most of my stuff before I get new party.

[Caspian]

Lvl 50+ you can mine in Gusgen. There'll be RMT there, but usually not so many that its not still highly profitable. Should get about 3 very rare items an hour (ds and gold ores). Get on mysterytour or ffxi-atlas and find where the mining points are.
Beehive chips also work well, but in my experience, even with TH1, you'll still get less gil per hour than if you mine and compete for mining points with RMT.

[Icemage]

Freeze is the only Ancient Magic you'll ever really cast until you get to level 70, and even then only for the fight with Maat. At level 75 you get access to purchase Ancient Magic version II with merit points, which totally eclipse their lower level counterparts.

Unless you're just desperate to complete your spell collection, none of the other Ancient Magics are needed or used, ever. Spend the money to complete your elemental staff collection instead.

As for earning money, Gusgen is a good spot. If the RMTs there bug you, Yughott Grotto is another decent mining spot (arguably easier for the novice miner, since its easier to get around).


Icemage

[Jei]

Mining is a depressing activity :( I wouldn't recommend it. Everytime I mine in Gusgen, I see the same bots. Everyday. It got to the point where I just wanted to cry seeing how infested by RMTs and Bots this game is.

[Caspian]

Mining is a depressing activity :( I wouldn't recommend it. Everytime I mine in Gusgen, I see the same bots. Everyday. It got to the point where I just wanted to cry seeing how infested by RMTs and Bots this game is.
Agreed, you have to have a very thick hide if you're mining in a high RMT area. Also highly annoying when they steal mining points, but I've found if you ask them to stop, they usually do. Plus you can get the rare chance to catch an RMT using a POS hack, then you can call a GM and get a little warm and fuzzy inside at your good deed for the day.

[Meepster]

by NO means whatsoever would i ignore getting my AM spells. Some of them, however, can be put off til later, but others should be a serious goal for you. Personally when i was that lv, i did Flood MB on Distortion for 1500+ and i was loving it... it ended battles quickly and efficiently. but your play style might differ from mine. If its a get rich quick scheme you're looking for.... uh... good luck. There are a few steps you could take to get some cheap staves tho. Try gardening to get your own ores and ask a crafter to make the staves for you. you might even luck out and get some HQ staves. personally i'd hang on to them if i got HQ, but if you wanted to get rich quick... there ya go... sell the HQ's and buy NQ and all of your spells and upgrade your gear a little. But thats assuming that gardening worked out for you and you actually got HQ staves. Ive never farmed beehive chips before because i think they're gay. As for elementals... i wouldnt waste my time unless you had a craft (or you're gonna use them for your gardening trick) mining and the like... eh... you could profit from it if you had ALOT of patience and time to put into it (I.E. if you were a damn RMT botter you'd do great at it <_<)

i guess what i'm trying to say is that there is no way to get rich quick and i'm sorry to say that alot of the people you see out there with all this "Badass" gear on... bought the gil. Only in a perfect world would everyone be a millionaire. NM's seem to be where the money is at if you are good at claiming. Try out mee degi the punisher. despite the falling prices of everything on my server(ragnarok) Ochiudo's kotes seem to be staying high on the price list. If you are looking to improve upon your gear, look to possibly getting rare/ex gear. Shaman's cloak is a great addition to your wardrobe and not all too hard to obtain. Moldavite earring can be a headache, but it's free. RSE gear is another easy pickup and should benefit you quite well. Do the teleport quests... but dont sell them.... USE them. I port people all the time in town and they pay me 5-10k a pop sometimes.

i wish you the best of luck

[LyonheartLakshmi]

And the #1 way to make money that any character, with any job, at any level can do: gardening. Unlike most other gil making activities, the amount of gil you make with gardening isn't dependent on the amount of time you spend doing it. Instead, it's directly related to the amount of gil you're willing to invest (provided you do your research and do the correct planting/feeding/harvesting steps). And the investment is really in the seeds that you plant. Porcelain and Arcane flowerpots really aren't necessary.

As for mining: if Gusgen is too depressing, try Zeruhn or Palborough. Zeruhn is nifty since it's a very short trip to town to sell off stuff, and you can get right back to mining pretty quickly too. Palborough can be quite nice if you have 1 or 2 other miners who actually cooperate. Wait another 6 levels, and you can even mine in Oldton aggro free.

[raidenn]

You can try fishing. Its good to do when you're watching TV on the side or when you just dont want to xp for awhile. Moat Carp stacks sell for 7k in my server. It's not a lot but it's just something you can do that doesnt require a lot of running around.

[Buzer]

Okey, I gave Gusgen a shot. Result: Darksteel & gold ore in less than 20mins, so not too bad. One question tho, is it normal for pickaxe to break like (first mining point: 2 axe breaks, found darksteel ore that also broke my axe) almost every attempt? o.O (I brought 2 stacks along and I ran out pretty quick...)

[Caspian]

Are you wearing harvesting gear?
Helps a lot on pickaxe breaks, but you'll still get into runs where you'll break several real quick. I usually take 4 or 5 stacks and just go till inventory is full, or I run out of pickaxes. (I drop just about everything but iron ores to use with ds ores for ds ingots, ds and gold ores, and colored rocks, everything else sells for crap.)

[Buzer]

Are you wearing harvesting gear?
Helps a lot on pickaxe breaks, but you'll still get into runs where you'll break several real quick. I usually take 4 or 5 stacks and just go till inventory is full, or I run out of pickaxes. (I drop just about everything but iron ores to use with ds ores for ds ingots, ds and gold ores, and colored rocks, everything else sells for crap.)
Nope, but I might as well consider buying them soon enough. I think I got pretty lucky overall. Result from total of 8 stacks: 1 gold ore, 6 darksteel ore. Time was around one hour. Probably just beginner's luck tho. lol.

I did have some bad luck too tho: Juggler Hecatomb (which was just at the droppoint. Easy to figure the result when I wasn't prepared for it). Also, isn't Foul Meat supposed to be a NM there? It /check'ed as EP o.O

Thanks for all suggestions :)

And about bots, uh, I played Ragnarok Online. For some reason I got pretty used to them :p (hi2u 20+ killstealing bots in the worst maps)

[Caspian]

Yeah, the NM weapon will aggro, though I've only seen him up once ever, same for the Foul Meat. Usually there's a high level around who can take care of them if need be. If worse comes to worse, just sleep and warp out.
I've also heard the very rare drop rates have been tweaked, not sure how since its been a while since I last went mining. If its true, then you may be getting average drop rate. Really hard to tell with only going for an hour. I usually wait till I've been mining off and on for 5+ hours before guessing what the average drop rate might be.

[Kael]

So far harvesting has worked pretty good for me. I USED to make Linen thread from flax flowers and sell it for a great profit on the AH. But this scheme went down the tubes with deflation >.>, seems too many RMT got the same idea. lol.

Seems like the best way of making money is finding a niche market and supplying it with consistent goods without flooding the market.