Once you’ve reached roughly the halfway point of the Anima weapon grind in Final Fantasy XIV, you’ll find yourself needing stacks of Umbrite and Crystal Sand. These items are necessary to complete “A Dream Fulfilled”, turning your weapon from Hyperconductive to Reconditioned.
The Umbrite and Crystal Sand will eventually be combined to create 180 Treated Crystal Sand. To make this, you’ll need roughly 60 of each initial item, and for the most part, they’re not easy to get your hands on. However, there are some ways to make this easier on yourself, so let’s look at how to get Umbrite and Crystal Sand.
How to get Umbrite in Final Fantasy XIV
There is only one way to get Umbrite in Final Fantasy XIV – through exchanging Tomestones of Poetics with Hismena in Idyllshire (X:5.7, Y:5.2). Umbrite costs 75 Poetics each, and like I said, you’re going to need 60 of them. With this in mind, and considering the Poetics cap of 2,000 at any time, you’re going to need to farm for Poetics.
The best way to get Poetics
There are a lot of methods for obtaining Poetics in FFXIV, but some are more lucrative than others. If you’re hoping to stock up the full 4,500 you need in order to complete your Umbrite collection, you’re going to need to know which duties are worth running and which aren’t.
By far the most lucrative method is by running Duty Roulettes:
| Roulette | Poetics rewarded |
| Main Scenario | 350 |
| Alliance Raid | 120 |
| Level 50/60/70/80 | 100 |
| Normal Raids | 80 |
These Poetics are awarded on top of the regular number of Poetics awarded for running whichever duty you receive as part of a roulette. For instance, if you receive The Orbonne Monastery as your Alliance Raid Roullete, you’ll receive 120 for doing it as part of the Roulette and 100 for completing the duty itself.
Speaking of Alliance Raids, all of them except those added in the current expansion will reward 100 Poetics per clear. As well as this, if you complete any duty synced with another player who is new to it, you’ll get a bonus of 50 Poetics.
Poetics are also rewarded in various amounts for other things, such as The Hunt, Treasure Hunt, Deep Dungeons, or Field content such as Bozja and Zadnor.
How to get Crystal Sand in Final Fantasy XIV
Crystal Sand is undoubtedly the hardest of these two items to get. In order to build your hoard of Crystal Sand, you’ll need to exchange certain items with Ulan in Idyllshire (X:6.4, Y4.7), but none of these items (or groups of items) is particularly easy to get. At the very least, you’re going to be spending a lot of Gil on the Marketboard to get the items you need.
In my three successful Anima grinds, I’ve tried multiple different ways to get Crystal Sand. I’ve attempted to use my Crafters’ and Gatherers’ Scrips to get Blue Tokens to hand in, but you’ll need at least 3,750 White Scrips in order to complete this step that way. Which is certainly doable, but it’s not particularly quick.
If you’re looking for a shortcut to this step, and you have the spare Gil (I’d recommend approximately 100,000 Gil to be safe) and some spare time on your hands, the best way I’ve found to get this step done is through the level 50 Extreme Trial drop items:
| Group 1 | 1 Inferno Horn, 1 Crag Heart, and 1 Diamond Tear |
| Group 2 | 1 Vortex Feather, 1 Barb of the Whorl, and 1 Large Levin Orb |
These can be purchased on the Marketboard for varying prices, but they’re always available, especially if you’re open to world-hopping in order to find a bargain. If you don’t want to purchase them, you can also steamroller the Trials themselves very quickly if you unsync them using a level 90 Job. You’ll need 30 of each item in a group, but at under a minute per clear, you’ll need a maximum of 90 minutes to get everything you need.
Just in case you want to mix things up, here’s the full list of things you can trade for Crystal Sand:
| Exchangeable item(s) | How to get |
| 5 Blue Crafters’ Scrip Tokens | 25 White Crafters’ Scrips each (125 total) |
| 5 Blue Gatherers’ Scrip Tokens | 25 White Gatherers’ Scrips each (125 total) |
| 1 Garlond Steel 1 Celestine 1 High Allagan Chimera Leather | – Crafted (Blacksmith, Goldsmith and Leatherworker respectively) – Purchased on the Marketboard |
| 1 Amber-encased Vilekin | Heavensward Levequests |
| 3 Battlecraft Demimateria I 2 Battlecraft Demimateria II 3 Fieldcraft Demimateria I 2 Fieldcraft Demimateria II | – Desynthesis – Purchased on the Marketboard |
| 5 Moonstone | – Deliverance (Ixali daily quest) – 4,000 GC Seals each (20,000 total) – Timeworn Goatskin Map – Timeworn Leather Map – Purchased on the Marketboard |
| 1 Inferno Horn 1 Crag Heart 1 Diamond Tear | – Level 50 Extreme Trial drops (Bowl of Embers, Navel, Akh Afah Amphitheatre) – Purchased on the Marketboard |
| 1 Vortex Feather 1 Barb of the Whorl 1 Large Levin Orb | – Level 50 Extreme Trials drops (Howling Eye, Whorleater, Striking Tree) – Purchased on the Marketboard |
| 5 Superior Enchanted Ink 5 Thavnairian Mist | 25 Tomestones of Poetics each (125 total) 20 Tomestones of Poetics each (100 total) |
| 5 Allagan Catalyst | – The Labyrinth of the Ancients – Syrcus Tower |
| 1 Unidentifiable Bone 1 Unidentifiable Shell 1 Unidentifiable Ore 1 Unidentifiable Seeds | Any of the methods used in the “Coming into It’s Own” quest |
