Free Company Airships

Free Company Airships built from Free Company Crafting can undertake Exploratory Voyages, the exploration of uncharted lands in The Sea of Clouds. These explorations are carried out automatically, with airships returning after a fixed amount of time. Upon completion of an exploratory voyage, you will be provided with a voyage log detailing the results. You will also receive various items depending on the results of the voyage. As you continue to deploy airships on voyages, you will eventually discover new areas to survey.

Craft and Deploy Airships

Free Company Crafting in the Company Workshop is needed to craft and register airships using requisite components and flight credits. Each airship is built with 4 components: Hull, Rigging, Forecastle and Aftcastle. Each component has many types and requires numerous materials, multiple phases, lengthy wait time and a group of crafters to build. Note that you cannot build HQ components with HQ materials.

Airships require Ceruleum Tanks to be deployed on exploratory voyages. They can be purchased using company credits from the resident caretaker in any of the housing districts.

Multiple Airships can be maintained for a Free Company, with a second being unlocked once the first one discovers the Sea of Clouds - Sector 8.

Airship Stats and Performance

The combination of parts used to build an airship will determine the distances it can travel, as well as the rewards you will receive from voyages.

Rank

When a voyage is complete, airships will gain experience points depending on its selected flight path, and eventually increase in rank. Higher rankings will allow you to outfit airships with new components to improve their performance on future voyages.

Stats

The stats of an airship affect the distance it can travel, the time required for voyages, as well as the rewards received from voyages. Stats of an airship can be altered by changing its components.

Stat	Effect
Surveillance	Influences the probability of gathering a 2nd item per sector. May also influence the probability of finding new sectors.
Retrieval	Increases item extraction rating (higher quantities of a specific item).
Speed	Influences voyage duration.
Range	Allows you to visit more sectors per voyage.
Favor	Unknown, speculation seems to favor that this may affect chance of HQ items and/or affect weather

Airship Components

Airships are comprised of four primary parts—the hull, rigging, forecastle, and aftcastle. Bear in mind that durability of these parts will be depleted when sending airships out on exploratory voyages. When the durability of any given part reaches zero, it will need to be replaced or repaired.

Rank

The rank required to use airship components.

Component Costs and Airframe Capacity

When assembling an airship, the total cost of the components cannot exceed the airframe capacity. The airframe capacity increases with the rank of the airship.

Sectors

Sector	Unlocked in Sector	Items Found
1	-	Bamboo Weave, Vivianite, Wind Crystal, Lightning Crystal, Ferberite, Vitality Materia III, Dexterity Materia III
2	-	Bamboo Weave, Vivianite, Fire Crystal, Gold Ore, Quicktongue Materia III, Dexterity Materia III
3	1	Red Moko Grass, Balsa Wood Scrap, Earth Crystal, Ice Crystal, Craftsman's Competence Materia III, Craftsman's Command Materia III
4	2	Red Moko Grass, Balsa Wood Scrap, Far Eastern Coin, Water Crystal, Scarlet Sap, Gatherer's Grasp Materia III, Gatherer's Grasp Materia II
5	2	Empty Crystal, Deep Red Crystal, Toy Box Schema, Lightning Crystal, Wind Crystal, Birch Branch, Vitality Materia III, Savage Might Materia III
6	5	Empty Crystal, Deep Green Crystal, Shrub Seedling, Earth Crystal, Ice Crystal, Dark Chestnut Branch, Piety Materia III
7	5	Fine Alumen, Red Clay, Deep Blue Crystal, Fire Crystal, Ferberite
8	7	Balsa Wood Lumber, Raw Celestine, Iron Giant Core, Wind Crystal
9	8	Balsa Wood Lumber, Raw Celestine, Wind Crystal
10	7	Raw Celestine, Black Clay, Water Crystal