Umbral Marrow

What's the best way for a returning player to get umbral marrow?

I just returned this week after quitting for around 14 years. I'm just hardstuck on level 95 apocalypse because I don't have the gil to buy Umbral Marrows.

I'm guessing if I had continued playing during abysea, I could have gotten them with a group of linkshell players, but sadly that time has long since passed.

So how do I go about getting these now? Am I strong enough in starter 119 gear to solo the NM as Drk or Blm? Should I just stop using my relic for time being?

I'm also stuck on Caladbolg level 85->90. 75 Isenbind Hearts is an absurd number. Assuming Kur dropped the pop item 100% of the time it would take 75*15min/60min/hour = 19 hours of camping in an absolutely perfect world. That seems rather unattainable at the moment.

Any suggestions? Most of the new guides I read are for players who didn't return with already built relics/empyreans so they don't really discuss it until later levels of gear.

Best way will probably be to farm the gil and buy the marrow. 6m for 5 marrows may seem daunting but is actually very cheap.

As for your Caladbolg, those Isgebind KI can be obtained from big gold boxes making it one of the easiest NMs to farm. It's level 90 content so you should be able to stomp it at any level.

Honestly you're in a lucky spot in terms of how easy it'll be to modernize those two weapons.

You won't get much mileage out of your ultimate weapons for quite some time. Even once you complete the stages you're stuck on, you will still need to upgrade them further to make them worth using over much more easily obtainable alternatives.

Consider Montante +1 from UNM. Now is a particularly good time as there's campaign active. You shouldn't have too much trouble getting help from shouts if you're on Asura.

I was in the same exact position regarding having Apoc stuck at 95 when I came back. Best to get acclimated with the available events / content that you can catch up on before sweating upgrading your Apoc / Cala just yet. Montante +1, especially if you can augment it, will do just fine while you get your bearings.

Okay I feel like I vaguely recall this fact. It has to do with some sort of like glowing light or some ***?

Genuinely not trying to be mean here but...have you looked into REM at all?

Every REM weapon page answers this question. If you search "Apocalypse" on BG Wiki, for example, it shows a disambiguation page showing all the different levels of the weapon. If you click on the 95 version it tells you how to upgrade it to 99. If you click on the 99 version, it will tell you how to upgrade it from there to 119 or 119 (II), and will also tell you why 119 II is a waste of time and resources. Then if you go to the 119 page, it will tell you how to upgrade to 119 III (Afterglow). You can see the stats for all of these weapons and see how relatively powerful they are. On every Apocalypse page, there is a list of links to all the other versions of it.

This is quite possibly the easiest question with the most clear information you could hope for in FFXI.

In case you read this post and still can't figure it out, yes, the 119 III version of the weapon, with the word "Afterglow" written on it, has a glow. This is the version of the weapon most people recommend using since every other version has much, much worse stats and will do significantly worse damage, if it's even able to hit your target.

If you want to do further reading on this topic, you could look at the Afterglow page on BG wiki which will explain all about the colors and effects of Afterglow. This page is also linked on the 99, 119, 119 II, and 119 III pages of every REM weapon. Short version: the glow is mostly cosmetic but provides some minor benefits to nearby allies (not yourself) briefly after using the signature move of the weapon. Mostly though, it's used to prove that you're a big boy who finished his weapon.

To OP: I agree with the advice of other posters, after umbral marrows come 10,000+ Plutons which will be even more expensive than the Umbral Marrows. Get a different weapon to use in the mean time and finish the Apoc when you have the gil. You most certainly can't kill ADL solo.

If you've been gone for 14 years, you've got a lot more important things to worry about before 2 DRK rmea weapons. I'm sure they have a great deal of sentimental value, finishing such a long journey, but strengthening your character, not your DRK, will be the fastest route to having the means to upgrade those weapons. So while it may feel like a detour or delay, being versatile enough to be wanted in the content that makes the big gil or materials returns is honestly the fastest route.

They're both great weapons, and definitely not ones you want to abandon....just give it some time, get yourself and a couple jobs up to a functional iLvl point where you aren't a liability in content, and then you'll have the resources to put towards your passion projects.

You answered a question I didn't ask. A person told me you can get hides from chests in abysea. I asked the follow up question whether it has to do with the glowing light text you get when you kill mobs in abysea.

I am well aware of all of the steps necessary to upgrade the relics.

I got confused for a couple reasons, because you replied with two different characters with different pictures and I didn't notice both were you, and also because you replied after two people replied, without quoting either of them, and said something which could've applied to either of their comments.


Referring to upgrading your Apocalypse to AG


Referring to upgrading Caladbolg.

Both of these could involve "some sort of glowing light ***". Sorry, my confusion.

Referring back to your math on Isgebind, it assumes 1 drop per kill which is very unlikely, I'd say ~60% of the time, you'll get double drops, even without TH.

That said, you'll still need to spend hundreds of millions on plates and rifts, plus boulders.

too bad dude didn't come back last month- after that long gone I bet his Voidwatch stones are stacked to high hell and he coulda farmed all those plates and rifts during the campaign^^

Btw at OP: Check out Lycurgos for a non-RMEA DRK from the Ambuscade weapons. With a solid Drain 3, that thing becomes a mini-Chango for DRK, and in my book builds those good habits early of riding Drain3 and self-chaining/bursting for maxxing it. Sometimes Calad DRKs who ride that weapon too much come across as better-dressed Warriors who have forgotten then have spells ;)

You are a returning player wanting to gear up your drk... R15 a Musa first...

I think the problem is you want your character that hasnt been touched since 2010 to be 2024 ready today.

You'd want to gold-box farm Begrimed Hide (Isgebind KI) between Kur pops. You can read about how to farm the correct lights for gold pyxises here.

With some LS friends, think our fastest 0 -> 75 hearts was just under 2 hours.

Like others have said though, you've got bigger fish to fry, probably focus on some of the more efficient content/upgrades first.

I just ended up buying the umbrals so I finished it today. The 119 III will take more time but that's fine. At least it's useable.

Problem is a 99 weapon isn't useable in any ilvl content. Any ilvl119 weapon will be better

Pretty sure he has 119 now, just not afterglow. 99->119 is just 300 plutons.

I was in the same situation as you when I returned after an 8 year hiatus.

I went to dyna, farmed a Dyna Lord pop set and killed him. With basic 119 gear on thf I had like a 50% success rate on killing him. Pop him, take it slow, wait til he pops a single clone, then go all out, Kill 1 asap and hope for the best. If you pick the wrong one the death will likely get you before you can bring down the second before he makes more clones. You just won't be hitting that hard yet.

This is not a sound strategy for character growth, but I know where your head is right now because mine was there too. I wanted my prized relic advanced.

Farm the pops and kill the dude. It's only 6M (or so) for the 5 umbrals but I'm so cheap that's how I'd do it now anyway.

Good luck and prepare to be frustrated. Even now DL could probably take me out about 20% of the time. He's tricky.