Tomestones of Astronomy are the newest currency added to Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and allow players to purchase the Radiant equipment. This gear is used by the Radz-at-Han forces in the expansion and is currently the only way to receive the best weapons and armor in the game. The process of obtaining enough Tomestones of Astronomy can be painstakingly long, and no content presently requires an item level of 590, leaving fans to question whether the equipment is worth acquiring at all.
Before Endwalker, each expansion introduced four sets of Tomestones for players to collect and exchange for high-level gear. As more content and better equipment become available in-game, these special currencies are replaced with FFXIV's Tomestones of Poetics. Adventurers can gain Poetics from activities on the Duty Roullete, such as Dungeons, Trials, and all forms of Raids. This currency can be easily obtained and acts as a quick way to upgrade the item level of alternate jobs. Patch 6.05 introduced Endwalker's second set of Tomestones, Tomestones of Astronomy, and item level 590 gear.
Adventurers can only collect 450 currency each week, resetting every Tuesday at 00:01 Pacific Time, and can carry a maximum of 2,000 in their wallets. After reaching level 90 on at least one Disciple of War or Magic, players can start receiving Tomestones of Astronomy as rewards for completing various activities, such as FFXIV Endwalker's Pandaemonium Raid. The Radiant gear can be obtained by exchanging the currency with the merchant Cihanti in Radz-at-Had (X: 10.8, Y: 10.4). Since there is a cap on the number of Tomestones allotted before each reset, adventurers will need to farm for 11 weeks before they can acquire a full set of Astronomy weapons, armor, and accessories for a single role. There are a total of seven different types of gear in the game for combat roles. To spend over a year grinding to outfit each job is unreasonable and not worth the effort.
Endwalker's Astronomy Gear Is Unnecessary
The Astronomy equipment is item level 590 and can be upgraded to 600 with weekly drops from the Savage difficulty of the Pandaemonium Raid. The problem is that currently there is no content requiring players have an item level that high. Item level 580 gear is sufficient for now and can be purchased on the Market Board or can be more easily obtained from end-game Duties like FFXIV Endwalker's Hydaelyn’s Call Extreme. An Alliance Raid has yet to be released for this expansion and will, most likely, have item level 590 equipment. By the time adventurers collect enough Tomestones for one job, the new content will probably be out, making the Astronomy weapons, armor, and accessories obsolete.
Players should not scramble to acquire Endwalker's Radiant gear. New, more powerful equipment will be introduced later in the expansion's lifetime. The process of collecting Tomestones of Astronomy is slow and should be used as a way to supplement anything an adventurer is wearing, that has a low item level. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker has plenty of content to offer fans while waiting for the Alliance Raid to be released.