Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.45 has brought forth the next stage in the Blades of Gunnhildr Relic Weapons quest, and if you haven’t been keeping up with the “Save the Queen” story arc within the Bozjan Southern Front you’ve got some grinding ahead of you. That’s right; despite being able to farm the materials for the previous stage of our Relic Weapons outside of the Bozjan Southern Front, this new stage added in 5.45 requires you to have cleared “The Lady of the Blades” quest in Final Fantasy XIV. Yep, you need to be rank 10 in the Bozjan Southern Front, and have cleared Castrum Lacus Litore. Don’t you fret though! Things level back out eventually.
The Patch 5.45 Relic Weapons in Final Fantasy XIV are locked behind completing “The Lady of the Blades” in the Bozjan Southern Front.
Before you can get back to farming Memories for Gerolt to forge into shiny new Relic Weapons, you’ll have to clear one of Final Fantasy XIV’s most annoying “raids”. Relic Weapons are locked behind the “Save the Queen” quest-chain, so if you slept on your Bozjan Southern Front rank you’ll need to spend some time grinding Skirmishes (FATES) and Critical Engagements (super FATES that are boss battles) in order to earn enough Mettle (Bozjan rank experience) to reach rank 10. Complete all the story quests that appear whenever you rank-up in the Bozjan Southern Front, and eventually you’ll pick up “The Lady of the Blades” and unlock Castrum Lacus Litore.
Castrum Lacus Litore is, to be polite, a pain in the ass to clear. Not necessarily because it is difficult: the “raid” only spawns as a Critical Engagement when there are enough rank 10 characters in an instance of the Bozjan Southern Front, and it only reopens an hour after spawning. You not only have to be on at the right time, but you have to hope there are enough people around queuing for it, since you need at least 18 players to successfully clear the instance. You will not earn Mettle within Casrum Lacus Litore, but you sure as hell will lose it. You may want to look into starting or joining a Party Finder group for this one, and check out some videos to ensure you’re able to clear the Castrum and complete “The Lady of the Blades.”
Once you complete “The Lady of the Blades” you can pick up the first quest in the Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.45 “Save the Queen” story-arc, “A Sign of What’s to Come.” Clear that and the next quest, “Fit for a Queen”, (which requires you to clear the new “raid”, Delubrum Reginae) to unlock the next stage of the Blades of Gunnhildr Relic Weapons quest. Talk to Gerolt to grab “In the Queen’s Image,” and you’ll be tasked to once again farm Memories after you start the follow-up quest “Change of Arms”.
You’ll have to farm Relic Weapon Memories once more, and they can be found in Alliance Raids this time around.
The first stage in the Patch 5.45 Blades of Gunnhildr Relic Weapons chain will require 15 Loathsome Memories of the Dying, and these can be earned either randomly (with a low drop rate) from Critical Engagements in Bozja, or by completing one of the Crystal Tower Alliance Raids from A Realm Reborn (you’ll earn one Memory per completion). Going forward it’s important to remember this: FATES do not have 100% drop rates in Patch 5.45; the raids do (to include Delubrum Reginae later on). One last PSA: you can play whatever class you want while grinding Memories, so use this Relic Weapons quest-chain to level your alt-classes.
Afterwards you’ll move on to the quest “The Resistance Remembers,” and you’ll have to farm 18 Haunting Memories of the Dying. These are not tied to Bozja whatsoever, yet there remains two ways to earn them. You can either grind Gyr Abania FATEs, or complete the Mhach raids from Heavensward (like the previous stage you’ll only earn one Memory per raid completion). Oh, but there’s another set of Memories to farm for this quest: 18 Vexatious Memories of the Dying. These are earned by either farming Othard FATEs, or completing Ivalice raids from Stormblood (second verse; same as the first). Good news about this second stage: it’s not required for any of your subsequent relics!
Once you’ve acquired all those Memories, cleared Delubrum Reginae a second time for the quest “One Man’s Relic, and have wiped the blood from your eyes you’ll move on the the final quest in the Final Fantasy Patch 5.45 Blades of Gunnhildr Relic Weapons quest-chain: “A New Path of Resistance.” The one doesn’t require memories, but 15 Timeworn Artifacts. Here’s the kicker: you either have to farm these from the new Delubrum Reginae “raid” added to Bozja in Patch 5.45 (think Castrum Lacus Litore, but new), or the Palace of the Dead (by clearing floor 100, or randomly from floors 51-100). Thankfully, you can matchmake into Delubrum Reginae by speaking with Sjeros in Gangos, so forming a party for it to grind your Relic Weapons will be easy.
This final stage is the one that allows you to pick the stats for your Relic Weapon. Don’t worry about making the wrong choice: in Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.45 these Relic Weapons can be altered with an Aetherial Sealant, and it only costs 100 Poetics (so, chump change). Now, all of this said, I recommend clearing the rest of the Patch 5.45 “Save the Queen” quests, because I’m sure the next Relic Weapon quest-chain will be locked behind you doing so. Don’t get caught with your pants around your ankles like some us (myself included): knock that quest-chain out now to save yourself some grief later.
