There’s lots to take into account: weapons, armors, items, and services like inns and transportation – it all adds up quickly. And there’s nothing more heartbreaking than rolling into a new town, only to discover that you can’t afford the shiny new stuff on offer. That kind of poverty made sense for Vaan. But the dude left that life behind. And honestly, so should you. Gil is important in your adventures across Ivalice. Accumulating it isn’t that easy. It’s not magically dropped from monsters; you have to earn it. But across this world there are hotspots of monster activity that are much better for grinding gil (for all you greedy hunters). So let’s explore the best spots in Final Fantasy XII to farm that coin.
5. Dustia
Vaan doesn’t start with much money. Once you can explore Rabanastre and the surrounding areas, there’s a specific monster you can go and farm to earn yourself some much-needed currency. It’s a little dangerous, but the experience (and more importantly, the money) is worth it. This beast is Dustia, an undead apparition that haunts the Dalmasca Westersand. What makes it more dangerous than your normal fare is that Dustia only appears when the party leader is at 10% or less of their max HP. Get beaten up and then zone into the Westersand to lure out the beast. Luckily, you can just use a phoenix down on it to defeat it instantly. The trick is to hit it with the down, then hold the escape button to run two zones away, then come back to defeat it again. Dustia drops Books of Orgain which sell for about 550 gil each. Get your chain high enough and you might even score a Flame Staff or two. And if you run out of phoenix downs, you can buy them at the nearby Nalbina Fortress. Farming Dustia is a great early-game source of gil. And with enough patience you’ll get more than enough to last you to the next spot.
4. Lhusu Mines and the Skeleton Gang
The higher you get the chain of consecutive defeated enemies increases the drop rate of these items. The trick is to find a group of like monsters and start building a chain. When you run out of monsters, you can hold the escape button and run two zones away from wherever you are, and return to reset and continue your profit chain. You can exploit this in the Lhusu Mines. The first time you arrive at the mines you’ll have a guest character, and you can either start the farm with him, or wait until you get your full, final party. Totally up to you. But here’s what you’d do: in the Lhusu Mines, follow the path until you get to the Shunia Twinspan (the second bridge area). This area is loaded with skeletons. The plan is easy: defeat skeletons until they stop spawning, move two zones away, return and do it all again. Skeletons are easy prey. And if you use the right gambits, you can automate the whole thing. It’s easy to chain well into the hundreds and earn lots of Bone Fragments and Dark Stones. If you get 99 of each item, you’ll earn around 55,000 gil. And that’s a lot of money at that point in the game.
3. Silicon Tortoises on the Giza Plains
After a point in the story, the once-arid Giza Plains will enter the rainy season and become a sudden wetland. During this period, you can find a herd of Silicon Tortoises in the southeastern Tracks of the Beast area. Roll through them and get that chain going higher and higher. The Torts drop Aged Turtle Shells. Get 99 of them and you’ll earn just about 130,000 gil. It’s easy to get in and out of the place to reset the enemies. This is a surefire way to make money when the rains start, and simple enough for even under leveled parties to take advantage of.
2. Mirrorknights in the Feywood
Near the bottom half of The Walk of Dancing Shadows in the Feywood you’ll find Mirrorknights. They strut around with their wings out like they own the place. It’s up to you to show them that they do not, in fact, own the place. Stick near the bottom of the map to avoid any other type of monster and clear them out. Then it’s easy to run two zones away to reset them. Mirrorknights drop Windshear Pinions, which sell for about 110,000 per 99 stack. And yes, that’s not as profitable as the tortoises, but the Mirrorknights have other factors that make them a better choice. The first of those factors is that they’re always there and you don’t have to wait like you would with the Giza Plains rainy season. The second factor is that at higher chains, the Mirrorknights also drop Mirror Mails, which you can sell for pure profit.
1. Cat-Ear Hoods and Trial Mode
The Trial Mode is a Zodiac Age exclusive mode. It lets players fight through a series of battles to earn experience and goods that you can transfer back to the main game. The Cat-Ear Hood is an accessory that turns earned License Points into Gil. While not useful to have on all the time, when you’re out to make money, this accessory is invaluable. You can get some Cat-Ear Hoods at the Clan Provisioner in Rabanastre after clearing 14 hunts and getting 100,000 Clan Points (both things tend to happen at the same time). With everybody in your party wearing hoods (and preferably above level 35), enter trial mode and fight to clear fifteen or twenty trials. You’ll be amazed at how much money you’ll get. I’m talking millions of gil. It’s the easiest and most efficient way to become as wealthy as the empire that you’re fighting against – although it takes a fair amount of time, gameplay, and preparation to be able to get access to this method.
