Shadowbringers has given gatherers the most love out of all the expansions for FFXIV Diadem, and they now have their own zone: the Diadem. Introducing patch 5.21 is the third iteration of Diadem’s exploration zone, which was first introduced in Heavensward, and this time around has been transformed into a gatherers’ paradise.
As an added bonus, they have an aether-bazooka to murder the native wildlife, because why not? This massive change in focus means that previous methods no longer work to reach the Diadem, so this guide will point you back in the right direction. You must have unlocked the Ishgardian Restoration in order to receive the new Diadem.
What is the FFXIV Diadem?
Thousands of floating islands make up the Diadem, a large instanced zone. You will almost always see one above and one below you. Not only are the islands teeming with very dangerous monsters that no gatherer can face in mortal combat, but they also offer a veritable bounty of nodes to gather materials from. As with the Ocean Fishing mini-game, we introduced just a few weeks ago, there are options for gatherers of every level – at least 10 and above.
All of the nodes on the island should have something you can gather for you if you fall within that level range. Aether cannons can net you tens of whatever you might not be able to gather yourself if you are just starting out. Whatever your level is, you will KO any mob you fire at with the cannon, and you won’t charge it any slower than higher-level or well-equipped players.
the diadem ffxiv
Guide to unlocking the Diadem in FFXIV 5.21
For this round of fixing up, returning to The Firmament and The Restoration of Ishgard will unlock the new 5.21 Diadem by speaking to Aurvael at the tent on the left as you enter The Firmament. It will be his pleasure to give you the low-down, explain how to use the new Aetheromatic Auger, and send you on your way. Then, when you want to enter the Diadem, you will need to speak to him.
It’s a little more complicated if you’re a latecomer to the Restoration of Ishgard. Your first step is to complete the Litany of Peace quest from Patch 3.3. When the Holy See of Ishgard is beginning to settle down, that would be around the middle of the expansion. After relative peace has returned to the city, head back to The Jeweled Crozier and accept the quest “Towards the Firmament” from the poster on a nearby wall.
When you gain access to The Firmament, introduce yourself to the workers with icons above their heads and speak to Aurvael a few more times. Once Auevael shuts his mouth, you should receive the unlock notice from him once no more markers are found above other NPCs.
What to do in the Diadem
Everyone entering the Diadem starts at the same place, regardless of whether they are alone or with a group. It’s your choice how to proceed from there. Most of the time, each island will have the same kind of materials, so you don’t have to search for a specific island to find what you need. When it comes to blasting enemies with the aether cannon for the best loot, there are some places where they’re more densely packed than others. If you’re going for efficiency, you should keep it in mind.
You get to keep what you gather from the Diadem at the end of the day. Unless you’re collecting materials you’ll personally craft with, most materials are worth the same amount of scrips. You should check out the market boards before going in and aim to gather whatever is currently fetching a high price. During the launch of my server, it was Lv 80 Grade 2 Skybuilders’ Cloud Drop Water that was to be aimed at. As a top-level crafting ingredient, it was in short supply and was used for a variety of top-level recipes. To see what’s worth your time, check out the recipes in the crafting menu and put its required items into a market search to see what’s worth your time.
Getting Around the Diadem
When the Diadem was first introduced, it was a bit of a free-for-all. Before your flying mount could take to the skies on each island, you had to scout out the aether currents. That was no fun.
These days, you can zone in and fly, but you may not want to use them all the time. There’s something to be said for making your way around the diadem by flying to the closest twister and being launched around the diadem like a missile to another island using twisters placed around each island.
You won’t need these jets to get around with several hours on the clock, but hyper-focused gatherers might benefit from these jets.
Diadem Weather Types and Times
There will be frequent changes in the weather out there in the Diadem. 10 minutes can seem like an hour because of how repetitive the actions can get, but each weather effect lasts for about 10 minutes. The four different Umbral weather conditions spawn a different single-use node at pre-determined locations on the map. The weather effects occur every 20 minutes and last for 10 minutes, so not only will you have plenty of time to reach the node, you won’t have to wait too long to grab another one.
Here are the four threshold weather types:
- Umbral Flare
- Umbral Tempest
- Umbral Levin
- Umbral Duststorm
At this point, it does not seem possible to control the type of weather that will appear. I was fortunate enough to cycle through all four Umbral variants cleanly on my first run, but you may see the same weather type crop up three times. You will have different degrees of luck depending on what you hope to gather from these time-limited meteorological conditions. For example, maybe you’re only looking for Umbral Flares.
As everyone in there could want a completely different type of weather to take place, it may be impossible to influence the weather yourself. It’s also impossible to predict with a skywatcher. Obviously, this isn’t Eureka, but if you’re after fat stacks of Umbral Firestone it might feel just as harsh. However, aiming for anything, one specific thing will put you in this position.