Retainer Ventures

Players can assign their retainers to go on Retainer Ventures, which sends the retainers out into the field to procure items.

Unlock

Players must complete the following quest to gain access to ventures.

Quest Name	Required Level and Location
An Ill-conceived Venture (Limsa Lominsa)	Level 17 Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (X:9.0 Y:11.2) NPC: Troubled Adventurer
An Ill-conceived Venture (Gridania)	Level 17 New Gridania (X:11.8 Y:12.2) NPC: Troubled Adventurer
An Ill-conceived Venture (Ul'dah)	Level 17 Ul'dah - Steps of Nald (X:9.3 Y:8.7) NPC: Troubled Adventurer

Once unlocked, the following categories will be added to the retainer interface:

• Number of remaining ventures
• View venture report
• Assign venture
• View retainer attributes and gear
• Assign retainer class

After unlocking retainer ventures, the market board status in the retainer interface will also display venture status.

Assigning Your Retainer a Class

Before your retainers can undertake ventures, you must first assign them a class and equip them with a main arm.
Retainers can be set to any of the following classes, with the assigned class determining the items they can procure:

Disciples of War or Magic: Gladiator / Pugilist / Marauder / Lancer / Rogue / Archer / Conjurer / Thaumaturge / Arcanist
Disciples of the Land: Miner / Botanist / Fisher

• Classes your character have not unlocked cannot be assigned to retainers.
• A retainer's class/job level cannot exceed the highest level the player has achieved on that class/job.

A retainer's class can be changed at any time. However, you must reset their current class and level before assigning a new one.

• If you switch a retainer's class, the exp from the previously-held class is permanently lost.

Players can hire up to 2 retainers by default. It is generally recommended to have one retainer as a combat class, and the other retainer as a Miner / Botanist.

• The combat retainer can collect monster parts such as skins, which may take a while for the player to collect manually. This retainer should ideally have the same class/job as the player's highest class/job. This allows the retainer to easily keep pace with the player's level, and use handed-down gear from the player, conserving resources.
• Miner / Botanist can gather materials (including elemental shards/crystals) to help the player's crafting classes, or to be sold on the market board.
• Fisher collects fish, which are generally not as useful for crafting, and does not collect elemental shards/crystals. Due to this, Fisher retainers are considered less useful/less profitable compared to Botanist and Miner. That said, if the player pays for a 3rd retainer, then making that retainer a Fisher is worth considering for the exclusive minions.

Retainer Jobs

Retainers that have reached level 30 or above as a Disciple of War or Magic can have their class upgraded to a job.

By assigning your retainer a job, they will be able to equip job-specific gear.

Before assigning your retainer a job, the following requirements must be met:

• Paladin / Warrior / Monk / Dragoon / Ninja / Bard / Black Mage / Summoner / White Mage / Scholar

Retainers: Achieve level 30 with the associated class.

Players: Achieve level 50 with the desired job.

Example:

Assigning your retainer the paladin job:

• Your retainer must achieve level 30 with gladiator.
• You must achieve level 50 with paladin.

• Dark Knight / Machinist / Astrologian / Samurai / Red Mage

Retainers: Achieve level 50 with any Disciple of War or Magic.

Players: Achieve level 50 with the desired job.

• Gunbreaker / Dancer

Retainers: Achieve level 60 with any Disciple of War or Magic.

Players: Achieve level 60 with the desired job.

• Reaper / Sage

Retainers: Achieve level 70 with any Disciple of War or Magic.

Players: Achieve level 70 with the desired job.

• Viper / Pictomancer

Retainers: Achieve level 80 with any Disciple of War or Magic.

Players: Achieve level 80 with the desired job.

Assigning a job to a retainer requires a   Modern Vocation, which can be purchased from a Retainer Vocate for  40 Ventures. Once the item has been obtained, summon the retainer and select "assign retainer a job".

• When upgrading from a class to a job, the retainer's current class level is transferred to the job.
• If a retainer already has a job, and you want to change it, you must first reset them to a level 1 class (permanently losing the exp from the previously-held class/job), level them up to meet the requirement of the job you want, purchase another   Modern Vocation, and go through the job upgrade process again.
• A retainer's job cannot be changed when a venture is in progress.
• A retainer cannot be assigned a Limited Job.

Retainer Gear

Retainers can be equipped with gear befitting their assigned class and level, which will in turn affect items procured on their venture.

• For Disciples of War and Magic, certain ventures have a required minimum item level. Having higher item level also results in increased quantity of items collected. Therefore, combat classes should simply maximize their item level.
• For Disciples of the Land, certain ventures have a required minimum gathering rating. A higher perception rating results in increased quantity of items collected. Therefore, gathering classes only need to raise their gathering until they reach the highest required threshold - after that, they should maximize their perception rating to increase item yield.

Retainer gear can be changed via the retainer's character menu.

• A retainer's gear, class, and job cannot be changed when a venture is in progress.

Gear equipped by a retainer will be bound upon completion of a retainer venture. However, bound items can still be exchanged and used by both players and their retainers.

• Gear durability will not be affected by retainer ventures.
• Spiritbond rating (aside from the initial 1% that comes with binding) will not be affected by retainer ventures.

Types of Retainer Ventures

Retainers may undertake one of several types of ventures. Depending on the type of venture, retainers will be tasked with obtaining a specified item, or left to freely explore the world to obtain items as they see fit.

Targeted

The following ventures will task your retainer with procuring a specified item:

• Disciples of War and Magic - Hunting
• Miner - Mining
• Botanist - Botany
• Fisher - Fishing

Targeted ventures last between 40 minutes - 1 hour, depending on how much higher the retainer's class/job level is compared to the venture's level (1 hour at base, 50 minutes if 10 levels above, 40 minutes if 20 levels above).

• These ventures also have stat requirements that must be met before the venture can be started - item level for combat classes, and gathering for gathering classes.
• Further, the yield of items depends on stats as well - item level is used again for combat classes, but perception is used for gathering classes.
• The amount of experience rewarded depends on the venture itself. The completion time and the yield of items do not affect the experience amount.

Notes:

• Disciples of War and Magic will procure the same items from ventures, regardless of class.
• Disciples of the Land can only collect an item if the player has already recorded that item in the gathering log.

Exploration

The following exploration ventures will allow your retainer to freely explore, procuring random items from a pool:

• Disciples of War and Magic - Field Exploration
• Miner - Highland Exploration
• Botanist - Woodland Exploration
• Fisher - Waterside Exploration

These ventures last 18 hours, and have stat requirements that must be met before the venture can be started (item level for combat classes, and gathering for gathering classes). The amount of experience rewarded depends on the venture itself.

Compared to quick or targeted ventures, exploration ventures yield far greater experience, and occasionally reward exclusive items such as certain minions, glamour, or crafting materials.

Quick Exploration

Upon reaching level 10, retainers can undertake quick exploration ventures. Retainers assigned to quick exploration will always come back with a single random item, which will remain unknown until the venture is completed.

Quick ventures last 1 hour, and do not have any stat requirements. The amount of experience granted scales according to the retainer's current level.

At the level cap (100), retainers may uncommonly return with a   Venture Coffer from quick explorations, which can be used to obtain a random item from a pool.

While more costly in Ventures and player maintenance, quick explorations grant much more experience than normal ventures, as long as they are always active and claimed as soon as the retainer returns.

Assigning a Venture

Players can assign a venture to their retainers by selecting Assign Venture from the retainer interface. Assigning a venture requires payment with a unique currency named ventures, which can be acquired through the exchange of company seals, fulfilling leve objectives, or completing allied society quests.

• Fees will not be refunded in the event a venture is canceled.
• Players can still summon their retainers and place items for sale on the market while a venture is in progress.
• The status of ventures can be confirmed under Timers in the Duty menu. Selecting Ventures from the Timers interface will display a separate window containing the status of individual retainers.

Completing Ventures

All ventures are completed within a fixed period of time (18 hours for exploration, 1 hour for quick, and 40 minutes - 1 hour for targeted ventures). When completed, your retainer's venture report will be updated in the retainer interface, allowing you to collect the spoils of their venture.

Retainers will receive experience points upon completion of ventures, increasing their level. The number of available ventures will increase as your retainer advances in level.

• The status of retainers dispatched to procure items is saved locally to your computer or console, which may result in the display of incorrect information when changing systems. Summoning a retainer once via a summoning bell will update the status of their ventures on that system.

Achievements

Retainer Ventures are associated with the following achievements:

Name	Points	Task	Reward	Patch
Can't Someone Else Do It I	5	Complete 5 retainer ventures.	-	2.2
Can't Someone Else Do It II	5	Complete 50 retainer ventures.	-	2.2
Can't Someone Else Do It III	10	Complete 100 retainer ventures.	-	2.2
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained	20	Complete 500 retainer ventures.	-	2.2

History

• Patch 5.4 (2020-12-08):
  • Quick Exploration updates:
    • New items can be obtained by retainers that have reached maximum level. (e.g.   Venture Coffer)
    • Following this change, the chance to obtain rare items based on gear has been removed.
    • Certain items previously obtainable via retainer ventures have been removed.
    • The amount of experience gained via retainer ventures is fixed depending on the retainer's level.
• Patch 3.2 (2016-02-23): Retainers can now be assigned a job at level 30.
• Patch 2.2 (2014-03-27): Added.