Chocobo Digging  

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Chocobo Digging

Introduction

The secret craft of chocobo digging can either be a daunting task or a pleasurable pastime. Adventurers with gysahl greens in their inventory mount a chocobo and use the dig command in an attempt to uncover buried treasures. Similar to other crafts there are 11 ranks to climb. Much like Fishing achieving a high rank does not count towards the 40 levels of crafting buffer. Which means that adventurers may have chocobo digging, fishing and one other craft at the maximum level of 100.

Getting Started

Chocobo digging is fairly easy to begin, one only needs two prerequisites.

  • Complete the quest Chocobo's Wounds. This quest grants the ability to rent & mount chocobos and has a minimum level requirement of 20. Players can rent chocobos from Chocobo Renters.
  • Must have Gysahl Greens in your inventory.

Chocobo Riding Gear

Chocobo Gear increases the duration one can remain on their chocobo, this gear does not improve digging skill-ups or accuracy. With the alterations to chocobo digging, specifically the limit of items dug per real life day, it is unlikely that this gear will help diggers. The item cap per day is 100 items dug, give or take a few, if your chocobo runs away before you have dug up 100 items chocobo ridding gear will help.

I'm Ready to Dig up a Storm, Where do I go?

A general rule of thumb is that you may dig in any area where a chocobo can enter. Generally the areas close to starting cities will yield a new digger more items. The starter areas have less profitable items hidden which might sound bad, but as a result higher level diggers usually stay away from these areas. The following is a list of locations you can dig:

AreaProfit
Eastern Altepa Desert Good
Western Altepa Desert Good
Batallia Downs Decent
Bhuflau Thickets Good
Buburimu Peninsula Decent
Carpenter's Landing Decent
North Gustaberg Poor
South Gustaberg Poor
Jugnar Forest Decent
Konschat Highlands Decent
La Theine Plateau Poor
Meriphataud Mountains Good
Pashlow Marshlands Decent
Rolanberry Fields Good
East Ronfaure Poor
West Ronfaure Poor
Sauromugue Champaign Good
Tahrongi Canyon Good
Valkurm Dunes Poor
Wajaom Woodlands Good
Yhoator Jungle Good
Yuhtunga Jungle Good

Each area has it's own treasure pool, which can contain up to 50 items. Approximately every minute several new items will be introduced to the treasure pool - until it is full.

Types of Digs

There are 4 different types of possible outcomes after you press Dig.

  1. You successfully obtain an item. You have a chance to get a skill up with successful digs.
  2. You fail to dig up an item & items are in the treasure pool. You can skill up with a failed dig, provided there are items in the treasure pool.
  3. You fail to dig up an item & the treasure pool is empty. Unfortunately no skill can be obtained from a failed dig, when the pool is empty. As a rule of thumb if you just went 6+ digs without getting an item the pool is probably depleted. However, if there is a high level digger in the area they may simply be out digging you. The more you dig, the easier it will become to tell the difference between these two possibilities.
  4. "You sense something Nearby". This message indicates that a Goblin Digger has buried some treasure around where you are standing. It is often quite difficult to find it's exact location, unless you watch the Goblin bury the treasure. Some believe that finding the Goblins treasure will give better skill ups - however I have seen no evidence to support such a claim.

Ranks

Just like other crafts, diggers level up as well. Since it is a hidden craft you will need to use macros or a stop watch to determine what rank you have achieved. There are two timers that will decrease as you level up. The dig timer will decrese by 5 seconds until it is zero, and the area timer will decrease by 5 seconds until it is 10. The area timer is the amount of time you must wait, after entering a new zone, before you can begin digging. Novice Rank is by far the easiest to identify. No matter how quickly you press dig, you will no long receive the red message "You must wait longer to perform that action" in between digs.

Playing the chocobo game, Hot and Cold also adds to chocobo digging skill.

Rank Dig Delay (s) Area Dealy (s)
Amateur 16 60
Recruit 11 55
Initiate 6 50
Novice 0 45
Apprentice 0 40
Journeyman 0 35
Craftsman 0 30
Artisan 0 25
Adept 0 20
Veteran 0 15
Expert 0 10

Setting up Digging Macros

Amateur Dig Macro /dig
/wait 16
/dig
/wait 16
/echo Dig Ready!

Recruit Dig Macro /dig
/wait 11
/dig
/wait 11
/echo Dig Ready!

Apprentice Area Time Macro /clock
/wait 40
/Dig
/clock


Using dig macros for the early ranks makes digging a little easier, this way you don't have to receive repeated "you must wait longer to preform this action" messages. In order to determine if you have leveled you can change the wait time. For example, if you are an amateur you can change your wait time to 11 seconds, if your chocobo digs at wait 11 you have gained a new rank!

Once you reach Novice rank it becomes more difficult to notice when you gain rank. To test the area time, press your area time macro as soon as the game allows you, after zoning into a new area. If you suspect you have gained a rank change your area macro /wait time. For example, if you are a novice you can change your area time to wait 40, if your chocobo digs at wait 40 (after entering a new zone) you have gained a rank!

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Categories: Final Fantasy XI | Chocobos
This page last modified 2010-01-18 22:59:34.