What should you do with Tomestones of Poetics in Final Fantasy XIV?

Tomestones of Poetics are a type of currency in Final Fantasy XIV gained through running a myriad of duties. They’re easy to get, and you’ll frequently find yourself reaching the 2,000 maximum that you can carry. But what do you do with them? Well, you’ve got some options. 

You’ll start to earn Poetics after reaching level 50 in your first Job, and they’re earned by doing basically anything – The Hunt, Deep Dungeons, Raids, Tribal quests, and even large-scale content such as Bozja or Eureka all reward Poetics, as long as they’re from a previous expansion. The only common content I can think of that doesn’t reward Poetics is FATEs. 

So with that in mind, you’ll very quickly reach the 2,000 maximum Poetics you can hold at any one time. Don’t be like me and exist with them permanently capped, it’s a good idea to spend them on something, but what? 

Augmented gear

If you’re leveling alt Jobs, you’ll need to kit them out in the best gear, and this is—without argument—the Augmented gear in each expansion. You purchase Augmented Gear with weekly capped Tomestones for its current expansion, but after a new expansion is released, older gear becomes purchasable through Poetics. 

This gear becomes available to you in stages, only unlocking after you complete a certain MSQ quest:

Once Dawntrail releases on July 2, the current Augmented gear (Credendum) will become available to purchase with Poetics, so there’s not much point running Alliance Raids for coins if you’re still thinking about it. 

Augmented gear costs a fixed number of poetics, depending on the item:

• Weapons (600 Poetics)
  • Paladin weapons are sold separately, costing 430 Poetics for the Sword and 170 Poetics for the Shield
• Helm (355 Poetics)
• Chest (510 Poetics)
• Gloves (345 Poetics)
• Legs (510 Poetics)
• Feet (345 Poetics)
• Accessories (280 Poetics)

To get a full set of Augmented gear for a single Job class, you’ll need a total of 4,065 Poetics.

Relic weapons

If you’re currently working towards either a Zodiac or Anima relic, then you’re definitely going to need all the Poetics you can get.

Both Zodiac and Anima relic weapons require large amounts of Poetics in order to complete a single weapon. Currently, other Relic weapons (Eureka and Manderville) require no Poetics to complete and Resistance weapons (Shadowbringers relics) require only 1,000 Poetics to get started.

Here’s how many poetics you’ll need to complete one Relic for Zodiac and Anima weapons, if you only use Poetics to complete the required steps, rather than the alternative options available:

• Zodiac
  • 3,575 Poetics maximum
• Anima
  • 23,000 Poetics maximum

Swap Poetics for Gil or Grand Company Seals

While purchasing items with Poetics and selling them on the Marketboard certainly isn’t going to make you rich, it is a solid way to use those Poetics if you’ve got nothing else to do with them. The items worth the most are always changing, but you can use resources such as Universalis to check how much items are currently selling for.

If you want some GC Seals, the best method to do this is by purchasing the highest level of Augmented Shield available (at this time, that’s Cryptlurker), then turning them over to the GC. With these Seals, you can buy items that sell for a profit on the Marketboard, or take your chances with Materiel Crates.

Increase your Desynthesis levels

This is a bit of an obscure option, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an option. If you’re looking to increase your Desynthesis levels and have a surplus of Poetics, you can purchase high level gear and Desynth it in order to get base materials and boost your level. 

To tell which class can Desynth a specific piece of gear, just see which Crafting class is needed to repair it. This same class will be capable of Desynthing the item. However, here’s a good outline of which class can do Desynth which items: