The harvesting points you’ll be looking have the name “Lush Vegetation Patch”. These will be shown on your mini map with blue markers as long as your “Triangulate” ability is active. There are many other ways to obtain flax too, such as gardening, levequests, ventures, and desynthesis. But out of all these methods, I would suggest leveling your botanist. Gathering flax as a botanist is the fastest & most consistent way, and it will cost practically no gil. However if you do want some alternative methods then we’ll cover those in more detail below.
Getting Flax With a Green Thumb
One alternative way to obtain flax is through gardening. To be able to start gardening in FFXIV, you are going to first need an apartment or a house. Once you have a place to stay, you’re going to want to buy flowerpots. If you have a house (or are in a Free Company that has one), you can also purchase gardening patches for your seeds. The particular seeds you are looking for to harvest flax are linseeds. These seeds can also be gathered by botanists in the same area as flax. After your linseeds are planted, they should be ready for harvest in about 5 days. Just remember to tend to them at least once a day.
Leveraging Levequests for Flax
Levequests are a great source of experience points for your Disciple of the Land or Hand classes in FFXIV. They also give out random item rewards when completed. Flax is a possible reward from level 30 and level 35 tradecraft levequests. You can see what items you’ll be getting before accepting a quest from the levemete NPC, so remember to check and see if you’ll be getting an extra bit of flax for your inventory. There are 3 NPCs that give out levequests for these levels – Eustace in Ul’dah, Cimeaurant in the Coerthas Central Highlands, and Nahctahr in Eastern La Noscea. Here’s a list of quests these three levemetes give you that have a chance of providing you with additional flax:
Eustace
Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (X:12.1, Y:9.1)
By the Seat of the Paints (Level 30 WVR) By the Short Hairs (Level 30 WVR) Our Man in Ul’dah (Level 30 WVR) Crunching the Numbers (Level 35 WVR) Edmelle’s Hair (Level 35 WVR) Private Concerns (Level 35 WVR)
Nahctahr
Eastern La Noscea (X:30.5, Y:30.9)
Half is the New Double (Level 30 WVR) Put on Your Party Pants (Level 30 WVR) Walk Softly and Carry a Big Halberd (Level 30 WVR)
Cimeaurant
Coerthas Central Highlands (X:26.1, Y:28.3)
A Leg Up on the Cold (Level 35 WVR) In Over Your Head (Level 35 WVR) The Wages of Sin (Level 35 WVR)
Other Ways To Get Flax
There are yet a couple more ways to obtain some flax. One of these ways is through your retainers. Like many other crafting materials, there are ventures on which your retainers can embark to gather flax specifically. The exploration venture for this item can be assigned to your retainers when they become level 31 botanists. These ventures take at least 40 minutes up to an hour to complete, and will reward you with 15 to 50 pieces of flax depending on how well geared your retainers are. I would suggest using this method when you’re busy with other things in game, or doing it in tandem with your own farming. This way you can maximize your time in stocking your inventory. One more way to get your hands on flax is through desynthesis. I wouldn’t use this as your primary way of obtaining items though, since desynth results are pretty random. Books of Mythril have a chance of producing flax when broken down. This can be done by alchemists who are at least level 30 after having completed the quest “Gone to Pieces” from Syntgoht in Ul’dah, Steps of Thal (X:14.0, Y:10.0).
FFXIV Flax Uses
Flax is used in a few recipes for weavers and alchemists. Here’s a list of items that are crafted with flax:
Book of Mythril (Level 42 Alchemist) Linen Yarn (Level 32 Weaver) Linseed Oil (Level 29 Alchemist) Ramie Thread (Level 54 Weaver)
It’s worth pointing out that spools of ramie thread are used in over 80 recipes, a majority of which are for the leatherworker class. These are used in crafting several items including some glamour pieces such as the Expeditioner’s Coat. Flax can also be used to complete Supply and Provisioning Missions from your Grand Company. 10 pieces will be requested from botanists that are level 31, in exchange for company seals and experience points.
