Step into the markets of Etheirys and you’ll feel it immediately: the hum of players buying glamour, the steady thud of crafters turning out consumables, and the quiet, steady drip of gil returning to players who treated their crafting and gathering like a patient art. FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 7.3 brings a final wave of DoH/DoL gear updates for Dawntrail, new collectible targets, and a few small-but-important quality-of-life and content tweaks that change the economics for anyone serious about making gil. Read on for a practical, immersive plan that blends profession mechanics with market sense — written for players who want both efficiency and a little lore-breath as they stack their coffers.
What changed in FFXIV 7.3
Patch 7.3 delivers new crafter/gatherer gear and fresh materials that will shift market demand for a few weeks after release; historically these windows are when the best margins appear if you’re ready. There’s also the predictable arrival of new scrip items and collectible turn-ins tied to patch content and any allied-society or beast-tribe additions, meaning new intermediate materials will be in demand for crafting and melding. In short: 7.3 is a prepare and profit patch for crafters and gatherers.
crafting & gathering
Combat content gives one-off windfalls from drops, but crafting and gathering are repeatable — and that repeatability compounds. Gatherers supply raw materials and collectables; crafters convert those into consumables, glamour, housing items and gear that players buy every day. The collectable system and scrip turn-ins create consistent demand, while the Market Board gives you the freedom to set prices and react to supply. If you treat your DoH/DoL as a small business — with stock, precrafts, and a sense for seasonal demand — you’ll find a much higher long-term yield than the sporadic sell from a single raid drop.
The Gil Farming Mechanics
Think of gatherers as prospectors and crafters as alchemists. Miner/Botanist/Fisher identify and secure supply — ephemeral nodes, folklore/collectable nodes, and specialty materials introduced each patch. These items either sell raw on the Market Board or become turning points when crafted into higher-value goods. Crafters then use CP/CRIT/Control melds, scrip turn-ins, and efficient rotations to convert supply into goods with profit margins that exceed raw material prices. The pockets you want to fill are consumables (food, potions, aethersand-based items), glamour and housing goods (screens, ornaments), and niche BiS or unique-use items that suddenly spike after content release. The deeper your knowledge of recipes in demand, the larger the margin you can capture.
Gil Farming Strategies
First, prepare before patch waves and major updates. When a patch drops, new crafter/gatherer sets appear — they are often BiS for a while and require new materials, giving you a price window. Start hoarding likely materials (purple scrip mats, specialty sands, rare nodes) a few days before and during patch rollouts. That stash lets you craft high-value items as soon as the demand spike hits.
Second, specialize smartly. If you prefer low-effort gil, level at least one gatherer to 100+ and unlock Folklore books and collectable rotations. Collectables (and ephemeral nodes) scale well and can be turned in for scrips which purchase exclusive materials — those materials often become gold when converted to crafted goods. If you enjoy macro/crafting mastery, focus on a few high-profit recipes (food for raiding groups, glamour sets, or widely used consumables) and create precrafts so you can flood the Market Board the second demand hits.
Third, meld and gear for purpose. Gathering BiS and melds matter for efficiency and for meeting perception/collectability breakpoints — which directly affects how often you secure the highest-value collectable. If you’re farming ephemeral nodes or high-tier collectables, buy or craft the melds and gear that hit the necessary breakpoints: you’ll get fewer failed attempts and greater long-term output. There are up-to-date meld guides and BiS recommendations for 7.3 that you should check before investing heavily in materia.
Marketboard finesse
Marketboard flipping is less about luck and more about timing and research. Watch price history for materials you craft, set buy orders (snipes) during low-traffic hours, and undercut smartly — not by pennies that destroy margins, but by amounts that keep you competitive. When patch demand hits, avoid panic selling; instead, list at a realistic but firm margin and stagger your listings (don’t dump your entire stack at once). Use precrafts to react instantly to price swings. Good timing + small risk = stable, repeatable profit.
Passive Gil Farming
If you like passive incomes, put multiple retainers on ventures (send them out daily), level them to open more venture options, and use them to run low-effort sales. Treasure maps and field content can pay well when you know which maps/treasures to farm, but be aware patch issues (for example, 7.3 had a couple of known fishing-related problems that Square Enix later addressed and compensated), so don’t overcommit to a single exploitable source without verifying it’s stable. Desynthesis of purchased or crafted items is another steady grinder if you can control your material cost vs. desynth returns.
A sample weekly routine for steady growth (playstyle-agnostic)
On Mondays and Thursdays, restock your top 3 selling consumables and check Market Board prices mid-day. Daily, run 1–2 gathering rotations: farmers of collectables, ephemeral nodes, and a quick fishing run if you fish. Use retainers for low-effort venture income and to sell simple raw mats. Twice a week, analyze the Market Board and adjust listings — move slow stock to a lower price, and keep fast movers priced firmly. Before and after major patches, shift to precrafting high-demand items and gradually liquidate low-margin goods. (This structure is flexible by time and appetite; the point is repeatability.)
Risk management & etiquette
Don’t sink all your gil into speculation on one item. Patch economy swings can be brutal: new gear often makes old items obsolete, and sudden hotness can cool fast. Diversify across consumables, glamour, and a handful of high-value crafted pieces. Be mindful of the community — extreme undercutting can tank markets, and exploiting bugs is risky and often reversed by Square Enix (see the 7.3 fishing notices). Long-term players build reputations — sell reliably and you’ll find repeat customers and group orders.
Gil-making in FFXIV isn’t mere arithmetic; it’s a rhythm. Watch patch previews, learn which materials the new gear needs, and ask your Free Company or Discord channels what they’d buy in bulk. Be humble: sometimes the market surprises you. Be opportunistic: sometimes you’re the only player who bothered to precraft a limited glamour ornament at 3 a.m., and someone pays handsomely for it. Let the game’s lore color the grind — gatherers harvest rare sands from the very shores sung about in the new Dawntrail chapters, and crafters craft pieces that some adventurer will treasure forever. That small connection — between your workbench and someone else’s story — is where gil begins to feel like more than numbers.