FFXIV 7.x — Savage Raid Gear Progression & BiS Roadmap

Dawntrail’s endgame gear ladder runs on three overlapping systems with different lockout cadences: tomestones (capped weekly currency), normal raids (farmable, no lockout), and savage raids (one coffer per floor per week). The trick to a clean BiS build is not grinding harder — it is sequencing these three sources so currency and clears never overlap on the same slot. This roadmap lays out the lockout math, the per-floor loot distribution, and a week-by-week spending order that minimizes wasted tomes and duplicate savage drops.

What it covers: The 7.x gear ladder — tomestone, normal, and savage cadences sequenced into a week-by-week BiS order. Why it matters: Clean BiS is sequencing, not grinding — currency and clears must never overlap on the same slot. Who should pick this: Savage raiders planning a full patch cycle of gearing.

The three acquisition layers

Tomestones — the capped currency

Dawntrail’s progression tomestone is the current weekly-capped tomestone (capped at 450/week; the name rotates each sub-tier — Allagan Tomestones of Heliometry for the Light Heavyweight tier, with later tomestones introduced as new tiers launch). It buys a fixed set of left-side and right side pieces plus a weapon from the tomestone vendor in Solution Nine. This tomestone gear sits one step above the normal raid and one step below savage, and it is the only BiS-adjacent source that is guaranteed — you will always get it if you cap, regardless of RNG.

A second, uncapped tomestone (Allagan Tomestones of Aesthetics in the first tier, replaced by later uncapped tomestones as tiers roll over) buys entry-level gear roughly on par with crafted HQ and is mostly relevant for alt jobs and the first week of a fresh level cap. It does not feed BiS.

Normal raids — the farmable baseline

The Arcadion normal tiers (Light Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Heavyweight, and the final sub-tier) drop gear roughly 20 item levels below savage with no weekly lockout on tokens — you can re-clear every floor repeatedly, farming four tokens per slot to trade for any piece. Normal gear is your catch-up layer: it fills holes savage RNG refuses to fill, gears alt jobs, and provides a stable iLvl floor for prog groups that cannot yet clear savage.

Savage raids — the weekly-gated BiS source

Savage floors drop one coffer per floor per week per character. Each coffer resolves to a specific slot family (head/hands/legs, chest/feet, accessories, or weapon). Because the lockout is per-floor and per-week, a full eight-player static distributes exactly four coffers weekly across the party — the bottleneck that defines the entire progression curve. Savage also drops the augmentation reagents that upgrade tomestone gear to its augmented (savage-parity) form.

Weekly lockout mechanics, plainly

  • Savage coffers: 1 per floor per week. A party of eight splits four coffers; if you pug, you roll against the group on the one coffer your floor drops.
  • Tomestone cap: 450/week resets at the weekly reset (Tuesday; the exact reset time varies by region). You cannot bank more than 450 unspent tomes in a given week beyond the soft cap (the total cap is higher, but weekly acquisition is hard-limited).
  • Savage tokens (“unsung”/pity): Each floor also drops a token on clear; collecting enough (3–8 depending on the slot) lets you buy the piece directly if RNG denies you. This is the floor on how bad your luck can get.
  • Augmentation reagents: Drop from savage floors (the accessory reagent from Floor 2, the armor and weapon reagents from Floor 3) and upgrade tomestone gear → Augmented tomestone gear, bringing tome gear to savage item level with better substats.

When a new savage sub-tier launches, the previous sub-tier’s savage uncaps (coffers become unlimited, no weekly restriction), the previous tomestone uncaps to 900/week and is eventually retired in favor of a new capped tome. That uncapping window is the catch-up runway for stragglers and alts.

Floor-by-floor loot distribution

The Arcadion savage floors follow the long-standing four-floor split. Slot assignment is stable across tiers, so this table holds for any 7.x sub-tier unless Square Enix changes it.

FloorGear slots (coffer)Weekly lockoutAugmentation reagentBest used for
Floor 1 (e.g., M1S)Earrings, Necklace, Bracelet, Ring1 coffer / wk—Right-side accessories
Floor 2 (e.g., M2S)Head, Hands, Feet1 coffer / wkRight-side reagent (accessory augment)Left-side upper slots
Floor 3 (e.g., M3S)Chest, Legs1 coffer / wkLeft-side reagent (armor augment) + weapon augmentLeft-side lower slots
Floor 4 (e.g., M4S)Weapon + weapon token1 coffer / wk—BiS weapon

Note the asymmetry: Floor 4 is the only weapon source in savage, and it is also the hardest clear. That makes the weapon the single most contested drop in the tier and the most common reason players run Floor 4 on alms (pity tokens) rather than coffer wins.

Week-by-week BiS roadmap (build order)

This sequence assumes a fresh savage tier launch with the 450-tome cap and a full four-floor savage clear each week. Adapt the timeline if your group is still in prog.

Week 0–1: Fill every slot, spend zero tomes yet

  • Crafted HQ for every slot you can afford or craft. Crafted is uncapped, Gil-bought, and trades via the marketboard. It is the only layer that gets you savage-ready in week one.
  • Run normal Arcadion for any slots crafted cannot cover, farming tokens freely.
  • Do not spend tomes yet. Cap and hold. The cardinal sin is buying a tome piece on week one that savage Floor 1 drops on week two — that is a wasted 450 tomes.

Week 2–4: Spend tomes on savage-blind slots

The rule: buy tomestone gear only for slots savage cannot cover quickly, then layer savage drops on top.

  1. Week 2: Spend the first 450 on a left-side piece savage RNG is slowest to deliver — typically the Chest or Legs, which Floor 1/2 split across eight players means ~1 chest coffer per two clears on average. Hold the rest.
  2. Week 3: Second tome purchase fills the opposite left-side piece (if you took chest, take legs/head). Savage coffers from Floors 1–2 cover the rest.
  3. Week 4: By now you have ~2–3 savage coffers. Spend tomes on the right-side accessory savage is least likely to give you (usually the off-ring or necklace). Begin augmenting tomestone pieces with reagents from your savage clears.

Week 5–8: Savage coverage and the weapon push

  • Floors 1–3 should be farmed weekly; with pity tokens as a floor, every left-side and accessory slot should resolve by week 6–7 at the latest.
  • Floor 4 (weapon) is the long pole. Expect to rely on weapon tokens (8 per weapon) rather than a coffer win. Budget your Floor 4 clears accordingly — every clear you miss pushes your BiS weapon back a full week.
  • Augment every tomestone piece you still hold; augmented tomestone gear matches savage item level and is frequently the BiS choice on slots where savage substats are poorly itemized for your job (see below).

Week 9+: Catch-up and uncapped window

  • Once every slot is savage or augmented-tomestone iLvl, replace the weakest substat pieces one by one.
  • When the next sub-tier launches, the current tier uncaps. Farm Floor 4 to completion for the weapon, finish any leftover augmentation, and stockpile for the new tome.

Substat optimization — why BiS is not “all savage”

FFXIV has no set bonuses. BiS is determined per-slot by secondary stats: Critical Hit, Direct Hit, Determination, and the speed stats (Skill/Spell Speed). Because savage and augmented-tomestone gear share the same item level, a poorly-substatted savage piece can lose to a well-substatted augmented-tomestone piece. Your BiS set is almost always a hybrid.

SourceItem level (Tier 1)LockoutGuaranteed?Typical BiS role
Crafted HQ710NoneYes (Gil)Week-1 filler
Normal Arcadion710None (farmable)Yes (tokens)Catch-up, alt jobs
Capped tomestone720450/wkYes (cap)Guaranteed left/right fillers
Augmented tomestone730Reagent from SavageConditionalSavage-parity, often BiS on bad-savage-substat slots
Savage Arcadion (armor)7301 coffer/floor/wkNo (RNG)BiS where substats align
Savage Arcadion (weapon)7351 coffer/Floor 4/wkNo (RNG)BiS weapon, period

The practical takeaway: plan your augmented-tomestone pieces to cover the slots where the savage coffer’s fixed substats are worst for your job, and let savage RNG fill the slots where the savage substats are ideal. Job-specific BiS guides (per the sources below) publish the exact slot-by-slot hybrid per patch.

Minimal-waste currency rules

  1. Never buy a tomestone piece for a slot a savage floor covers within two weeks of your expected clear. You will overpay in tomes and end up with a duplicate.
  2. Augment before you replace. A tomestone piece upgraded to Augmented tomestone gear is savage-parity; do not discard an augmented piece just because a savage coffer drops — compare substats first.
  3. Cap tomes even during prog. If your group cannot clear Floor 4 yet, you still cap 450 tomes weekly. Spend on augmentation-ready pieces so that when reagents drop, you upgrade immediately.
  4. Pool pity tokens. Do not cash Floor 4 weapon tokens until you have enough for the weapon outright; cashing early locks you into a slot you may get from a coffer.
  5. Use the uncapped window. When the tier uncaps, run Floor 4 to completion for the weapon and finish augmentation before the new capped tome replaces the old one.

Common progression mistakes

  • Buying the tome weapon early. The tomestone weapon (base) is weaker than the savage weapon and the augmented tomestone weapon still loses to savage. Spend those 450 tomes on armor first; weapon comes from Floor 4.
  • Skipping normal raid entirely. Normal tokens are free catch-up gear that lets you enter savage at iLvl 710 instead of relying on crafted alone — a meaningful damage and survival delta on week-one prog.
  • Rushing augmentation on the wrong piece. Augment the slots you will keep to BiS (the bad-savage-substat slots), not the ones savage will replace next clear.
  • Ignoring the weekly reset schedule. A missed cap or a missed Floor 4 clear is a one-week delay on BiS. Treat the reset as a hard deadline.

Sources & further reading

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