I've been a longtime ffxiv player, and I figured that playing the restricted version of ffxi with the new addition of the unlimited playtime/75 cap would be a great way to go about finally playing.
After a couple of weeks, I'm sitting at 70 on DRK, and it has been pretty fun going, but I'm finding it quite difficult to make the preparations for Shattering Stars, the level 75 cap quest. I will preface by saying I like the idea of tackling it in a similar environment to back in the day - no trusts to help with the fight (locked behind RoV, which I believe you cannot progress past 1-4) or easy consumable sources, expansion gear etc.
It does seem to necessitate, however, completing the artifact gear set to be strong enough. Which is fine on its own, but for DRK you require a darksteel ingot after the raven scythe. I managed to find some of the required artifact items for other classes from random chest drops/shore washups from the Mog Garden. I could hold out in hopes of finding one, but it does not seem likely as I cannot find drop tables. I regularly receive rewards for items I cannot use in free trial, diluting the pool for me. Hand-levelling smithing has taken me days for a pretty simple reason. While I can collect clusters from elementals to get the crystals required, the information is inconsistent on wikis for some base game areas. Mobs that drop crystals on wikis state that they need to be xp-granting while under Signet, but I have not found ones that consistently drop fire crystals in the 70 range.
As far as areas that have fire elementals, considering the quantity of crystals I need to get to ~50 skill to craft the ingot, I'm limited to a couple of areas. The Valkurm Dunes, which on paper has a high frequency of fire weather, has only shown up twice for longer than a minute during my 10 or so hours across multiples sessions waiting on the weather. I have only managed to get two. There are a couple of other locations, but the weather frequency isn't well-reported, and it's unclear where in those zones the elementals spawn. Which is problematic, as in dungeons with multiple levels and often short weather effect durations, I can't find them in time. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to spend waiting on weather effects for hours on end.
Is there any area in base game that has a mob that consistently drops fire crystals around that level? Or some resource I'm missing?
Alternatively, if anyone is on Ragnarok and would like to help, the ingot does have a chance to drop from the BCNM Grimshell Shocktroopers. I have attempted a couple of BCNMs by asking around the assistance channel with another free trial friend I made while playing, specifically to help them attain Refresh for RDM, stuck on the same step I am, which only has two sources (BCNM or NM that spawns under very stringent conditions once per day. Of course, this being under trial restrictions. People who respond to the calls for help (not many, haha) have been very friendly!