Island Sanctuary Minimum Effort Guide

If you're not in a rush and you want to unlock all the Island Sanctuary exclusives with a minimum of effort, this guide is for you.

Part 0: Unlock Island Sanctuary

Before you can unlock Island Sanctuary, you have to complete the final quest of Endwalker (quest title: "Endwalker").

Next, speak to the Clueless Crier near the Old Sharlayan Aetheryte (X:11.9 Y:11.0) to begin the quest "Seeking Sanctuary".

At the Moraby Drydocks in Lower La Noscea, talk to Baldin until you are on the island. Talk to Tataru until the quest is completed.

Part 1: Working toward Automation

Early on, there is some unavoidable effort, but you will eventually be able to automate things on the island.

Build the Cabin

Talk to the Felicitous Furball. Click the flashing icon and choose Gather mode. Click the ⚙️ in the upper-right of the Islekeep's Index and display Vegetation, Trees, and Rocks/Mineral Deposits.

Speed Things Up with Island Sprint

When not riding a mount, you can use the Island Sprint duty action, which has a shorter cooldown than regular Sprint, to be constantly sprinting while you're on the island.

Gather the following:

List of Islekeep's Stone Hatchet Material Sources

Use the Isle Return duty action, then talk to the Furball. Click the hammer 🔨 icon in the Islekeep's Index to open the Sanctuary Crafting Log, then craft the Stone Hatchet (Your minimum Island EXP afterward: 370).

Where Did the Node Go?

Nodes disappear after you gather from them, but they will reappear after you gather from 10 other nodes. If you can't find the type of node that you need, gather something else first, then go back.

Talk to the Furball until the building site appears. Then gather the following:

List of Cozy Cabin I Material Sources
10x Palm Logs (from Palm Trees - this also gets you the 10x Palm Leaves that you need)
Map Location of Palm Logs and picture of Palm Tree
5x Sand (from Submerged Sand/Mound of Dirt - choose "Display Soils" to show them on the map)
Map Location of Island Sand and picture of Submerged Sand and Mound of Dirt

(Your minimum Island EXP afterward: 620)

Use Isle Return, check on the Cozy Cabin Logboard, and click the Construct button. Check the Logboard again to fully complete the construction. (Your minimum Island EXP afterward: 1370, Your minimum inventory afterward: 5x Apples)

Talk to the Felicitous Furball to complete the Vision. (Your minimum Island EXP afterward: 870, Your minimum Seafarer's Cowries afterward: 500, Your minimum Island Rank afterward: 2, Your minimum inventory afterward: 5xApples)

Don't Spend Seafarer's Cowries at the Cowrie Exchange yet!

The Cowrie Exchange is now available, but don't spend blue Cowries there yet. You will need to spend them on other things to progress. (If you can't resist buying some things from the Cowrie Exchange, just be sure to keep at least 500 Cowries on hand.)

Talk to the Felicitous Furball to start the next Vision.

Start the Cropland

The Produce Producer from Island Sanctuary in Final Fantasy XIV

Go up to the exclamation mark and talk to the Produce Producer. Clear the ridge, then talk again and you'll get 5 Pumpkin Seeds. Switch to Sow mode, click the empty box next to "Item", and sow 1 seed. Then switch to Water mode and water it. Talk to the Produce Producer to complete the task. Water at least once every 36 hours and they will be ready in 48 hours.

What if I don't want to tend crops?

Crop caretaking can be automated later. For now, feel free to remove the seeds if you don't want to feel obligated to tend them. To do so, switch to Cull mode and check on seeds to remove them.

Use Isle Return and talk to the Furball to complete the vision and start the next one.

Start the Pasture

Go up to the exclamation mark and talk to the Creature Comforter. Make a home for animals, then talk again and you get 3 Makeshift Nets. Switch to Capture mode, click the empty box next to Item, and choose the Makeshift Nets.

Location of Opo-Opo on Island Sanctuary

The nearest animal is an Opo-Opo. Go east through the tunnel that goes to the main part of the island, and keep going east from the tunnel until you see an Opo-Opo near the river. Catch it. If it takes multiple tries and you run out of nets, you will need to craft more. It's in the "Restraints" category in the Sanctuary Crafting Log. Each requires 1 Island Branch (available from Tualong Trees) and 2 Island Vines (best gathered from Island Apple Trees).

After you catch one, use Isle Return, talk to the Creature Comforter, and feed the animal as instructed. Animals will have leavings once a day at daily reset time (even if you don't feed them).

Talk to the Creature Comforter to complete the vision.

What if I don't want to tend animals?

Animal caretaking can be automated later. For now, you can release the animal back to the wild if you don't want to feel obligated to care for it. To do so, talk to the Creature Comforter and choose "Review status of animals in the pasture", then right-click on the animal and choose "Release", then check the checkbox and click Yes.

Use Isle Return and talk to the Furball to complete the vision and start the next one.

Build Workshops

Go to the exclamation mark and ask the Pathfinder to cut away the vegetation.

Then gather the following.

List of Islekeep's Stone Hammer Material Sources

Craft the Islekeep's Stone Hammer, then gather the following.

Gathering for Two Workshops

You will need to make two workshops. The list below shows the number of items to gather for both.

List of Workshop Material Sources
20x Limestone (from Smooth White Rocks - Requires Islekeep's Stone Hammer from previous step)
Map Location of Island Limestone and picture of Smooth White Rock
20x Palm Leaves (from Palm Trees)
Map Location of Palm Leaves and picture of Palm Tree

Use Isle Return, check on one of the empty lot Logboards, and construct a Workshop. Then talk to the Pathfinder to complete the vision, talk to the Furball to start the next vision, then build the second workshop. It won't be ready until later.

Schedule Three Macuahuitls

Talk to the Tactful Taskmaster, review the workshop agenda, and schedule three runs of Island Macuahuitl. If you don't have enough time left in the current cycle, click the next number in the upper left to go to the next cycle's agenda. Only schedule three runs of Island Macuahuitl at this time.

Expand, then Renovate Cabin and Build Landmark

To add new empty plots, you first need to craft the Basic Mammet-sized Builder's Tools. Gather the following:

List of Basic Mammet-sized Builder's Tools Material Sources

Then talk to the Pathological Pathfinder Mk. II and spend 500 Cowries to clear the land.

Now, gather materials to build a Landmark and renovate the Cozy Cabin. This guide will have you build the Towering Tree Fort since it uses a material that you haven't gathered yet.

List of Towering Tree Fort and Cabin I to II Renovation Material Sources
29x Palm Logs (from Palm Trees - for a total of 30 in your inventory since you should already have one from earlier. This also gets you the Palm Leaves that you need.)
Map Location of Palm Logs and picture of Palm Tree
5x Islewort (from Cotton Plants since they are near the Copper Ore)
Map Location of Islewort and picture of Copper Plant

First, go to the landmark site (north of the pasture) and build the Towering Tree Fort. Then go to the cabin and check on its Logboard and renovate it.

Don't Expand the Cropland and Pasture Yet

After you renovate the cabin, there will be exclamation marks at the Cropland and Pasture to expand them, but don't do this yet. It costs Cowries to expand them, and you should hold on to your Cowries for other purposes for now.

Gather 12 Palm Logs to Schedule 4 More Macuahuitls

To help with the final push to Rank 5, gather 12 Palm Logs, then schedule 4 Island Macuahuitls in the workshops. If the second workshop isn't done yet, just schedule them in the first workshop.

Complete the Second Workshop and the Landmark, and Get Workshop EXP

Come back to the island after the Second Workshop's completion time. Check on its Logboard to complete it, and if production hasn't yet started on the last Macuahuitls that you scheduled, you can change your schedule so that both workshops are producing Macuahuitls at the same time.

After the Landmark's completion time, check on its Logboard to complete it.

After the Workshop has finished producing the Macuahuitls that this guide instructed you to schedule (for a total of 7 production runs of Macuahuitls), talk to the Tactful Taskmaster to get your EXP. If you have been following this guide, this should be enough to get you to Rank 5.

If you haven't ranked up yet, you can gather materials to schedule more crafts in the Workshop.

Part 2, Rank 5: Automation with the Granary

You can now build the Granary, which will automate gathering for you (but will only bring back small numbers of items at first). Before you can do that, you first need to craft the Islekeep's Shovel.

Gather Logs from Mahogany Trees This Time

When gathering logs this time, gather from Mahogany Trees so you can get a new material.

Gather the following:

List of Islekeep's Shovel Material Sources
3x Island Log (from Mahogany Trees this time, NOT Tualong)
Map Location of Island Log and picture of Mahogany Tree

After you have crafted the Shovel, you should gather the materials for the Better Builder's Tools:

List of Better Builder's Tools Material Sources
10x Tinsand (from Submerged Sand)
Map Location of Island Tinsand and picture of Submerged Sand
10x Palm Logs (from Palm Trees)
Map Location of Palm Logs and picture of Palm Tree
10x Clay (from Mound of Dirt)
Map Location of Island Clay and picture of Mound of Dirt

Craft the Better Builder's Tools, then use Isle Return, go to the southern exclamation mark, and pay 1000 Cowries to add two facility sites and one landmark site.

You can now gather materials to build a Granary. It won't be ready right away, but once you check on its logboard to complete its construction, you will be able to pay Seafarer's Cowries to schedule Granary excursions, which will automatically bring back materials.

Build Two Granaries Now!

The list below only shows the quantities for one Granary, but you can—and should!—build two Granaries now. (If you build the workshop now instead, you have to wait until Rank 7 to build the second granary, which is not recommended by this guide.) For a truly minimum-effort experience, you can use the first Granary to get the materials for the second Granary, but that could take weeks. If you feel too impatient for that, feel free to gather double the quantities in this list.

You will need to gather the following to build a Granary:

List of Granary Material Sources
10x Palm Logs (from Palm Trees)
Map Location of Palm Logs and picture of Palm Tree
10x Island Log (from Mahogany Trees this time, NOT Tualong)
Map Location of Island Log and picture of Mahogany Tree
10x Clay (from Mound of Dirt)
Map Location of Island Clay and picture of Mound of Dirt

After you have all the materials for the Granary, use Isle Return and go to one of the empty facility sites, check on the Logboard, and choose to build the Granary. If you gathered enough for both Granaries, check on the other logboard and start the second one (which won't be ready right away).

The Granary mammets will only be able to bring back materials that you have gathered already, so you should gather one of each of the following things to make sure that they have a chance of being brought back in Granary expeditions:

  • Cabbage Seeds (from Partially Consumed Cabbage)
  • Pumpkin Seeds (from Lightly Gnawed Pumpkin)
  • Clam (underwater, from Large Shell - displayed as "Aquatic Resources" in Islekeep's Index settings)
  • Laver (underwater, from Seaweed Tangle - displayed as "Aquatic Resources" in Islekeep's Index settings)
  • Coral (underwater, from Coral Formation - displayed as "Aquatic Resources" in Islekeep's Index settings)
  • Rock Salt (from Crystal-banded Rock)
  • Popoto Set (from Wild Popoto)
  • Parsnip Seeds (from Wild Parsnip)

Part 3: Check Your Island Once a Week

If you have the patience, you can let the Granary supply all the materials that you need for further progress. Set a destination that will bring back materials that you need, pay for 7 days, come back in a week and talk to the Excitable Explorer to find out what the granary brought back. Change the destination each week until you have all the materials you need for the next steps. Once you have both Granaries, you can set two different destinations to get a wider variety of materials each week.

Specific steps for each rank are listed below, but in general, after you receive the materials from your Granaries, first check if you can craft any new tools, and craft them if you have the materials, or schedule Granary excursions to get the materials if you don't have enough for the new tools. Then, if you craft a new gathering tool, gather the new materials unlocked by the new tool. If you craft Mammet tools, don't do the pasture and cropland expansions until rank 7, but do talk to the other Mammets with exclamation marks to add new facility and landmark locations. The priority for new/renovated buildings/landmarks is New Granary > Granary Renovation > New Landmarks > Cabin Renovation > Everything Else. If you have done all of the above at a given rank, try scheduling as many crafts in the workshops as possible, and get the Efficiency bonus by following each item with a different item from the same category (e.g. Potion → Firesand). Check your Workshop on your next weekly check-in, and when you rank up, repeat the process outlined in this paragraph.

If you want to put more than a minimum effort into Island Sanctuary at this point, check out the Island Sanctuary Guide for more information. Otherwise, read on for the rank-specific minimum effort guides.

Rank 5

Before you reach Rank 6, your priority is to build the second Granary if you have not yet done so, and also build both Landmarks, since Landmarks increase the amount of materials that the Granaries bring back.

Therefore, for your weekly check-ins on the island at rank 5, send your Granary to get materials for the second Landmark and second Granary. When you have enough of a given material, switch to another destination that brings back other required materials. Landmarks increase the number of materials that the Granaries bring back, so you might want to do that first. Be sure to check on the Landmark logboard to complete the construction. If you don't gather anything manually, this could take a few weeks.

After the Landmark and second Granary are done, schedule as many crafts in the Workshops as possible. On subsequent weekly check-ins, talk to the Granary Mammet to get your materials, then talk to the Workshop Mammet to get your cowries and EXP. Repeat this until you rank up.

Rank 6

At Rank 6, you can optionally clear your workshop agendas to conserve materials for the new crafts and renovations that you can do.

You can craft the Copper Scythe, which unlocks three new materials: Cotton Boll, Hemp, and Sugarcane. Craft the new tool and gather those materials (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations). You can also renovate your Granaries, so after you have gathered the three new materials (one of which is required for the renovations), you can send your Granaries to get the renovation materials.

Lastly, you need to renovate your Workshops. This doesn't increase EXP, but new tool recipes only become available after all buildings are renovated. After the renovations are complete, check on the Logboards to fully complete the renovations.

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 7

At Rank 7, start by crafting the new Islekeep's Bronze Gig, and go gather Jellyfish, Islefish, and Squid (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations).

Then send the Granaries to gather the materials needed to renovate your Cabin. After the renovation is complete, check on the Cabin Logboard to fully complete the renovation.

This unlocks pasture and cropland automation. This is optional, but the pasture and cropland provide exclusive materials that can't be obtained any other way. If you don't use the pasture and cropland, it will take longer to rank up because you will have fewer materials for workshop crafts.

If you want to use the pasture and cropland, talk to the pasture and cropland Mammets and ask them to expand the pasture and cropland. You will have to do this multiple times, until they no longer have exclamation marks. Once you have done this, you can craft restraints to capture small and medium wild animals (see Island Sanctuary wild animals for maps of their locations), and you can buy seeds from the cropland Mammet and plant seeds (plant two of each type for now). Craft a lot of Island Sweetfeed, then talk to the cropland and pasture Mammets to assign caretakers to the animals you've caught and the seeds you've planted. Technically, you only have to talk to the cropland and pasture Mammets every other week.

If you haven't already, you might want to schedule a Granary for the new beach destination, since there is a new Granary-exclusive material from that new destination.

Then build a new Landmark, then a new Workshop. Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 8

Focus on renovating your Granaries first, then renovate your Workshops. You can also craft restraints to capture large animals (see Island Sanctuary wild animals for maps of their locations).

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 9

Craft the new tool and gather a Beehive Chip, Coconut, Resin, and Wood Opal (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations).

After that, build a new landmark. It doesn't matter which one. They all give the same increase to Granary output.

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 10

Rank 10 unlocks flying, which lets you gather Multicolored Isleblooms (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations).

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 11

You can purchase new seeds from the pasture mammet, so be sure to plant some. Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 12

You can craft a new set of Mammet tools (if not, check on all the exclamation marks until it's unlocked). After you craft it, talk to the Mammet in the middle of the island to open the caves. There you can gather Coal, Effervescent Water, and Glimshroom.

If you haven't already, you might want to schedule a Granary for the new cave destination, since there is a new Granary-exclusive material from that new destination.

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 13

Craft the new tool and gather Marble, Mythril Ore, Shale, and Spectrine (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations).

Next, renovate both Granaries. Finally, renovate the Cabin. Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 14

Buy the new types of seeds from the pasture Mammet and plant them. Then renovate your workshops. Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 15

Craft the new Mammet tools, then talk to the Mammet to expand your hideaway. Next, build a new Landmark. Again, it doesn't matter which one. Finally, build a new Workshop.

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 16

Talk to the Mammets who have exclamation marks, then craft the new Mammet tools, and talk to the Mammet again to expand the cave. Then gather the new materials: Hawk's Eye Sand and Yellow Copper Ore (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations).

Then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 17

First, craft the new Pickaxe, then gather 3 Durium Sand and 4 Gold Ore. Then craft the Chisel, and gather a Crystal Formation (see island sanctuary materials for maps of their locations).

Then renovate the Cabin, then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 18

Renovate your Granaries, buy the new seeds from the cropland Mammet and plant them, then schedule as much as you can in the workshops.

Rank 19

Renovate your Workshops, then you can unlock Felicitous Favors. These are special requests from the Felicitous Furball to complete certain workshop handicrafts in exchange for Felicitous Tokens, which you can exchange for rare rewards. You get more tokens for efficiency bonuses, so be sure to schedule the requested items after something in the same category to get the bonus.

Rank 20

You now have access to all Island Sanctuary exclusives at the cowrie exchange. You can continue to do a weekly check-in to schedule Felicitous Favor crafts and other crafts in the Workshop to generate cowries and tokens. Exchange the tokens for Sanctuary Materiel Coffers for a chance to get rare rewards. Congratulations!