The Ultimate Guide to Chocobo Digging on FFXI

What is chocobo digging?

Its an hidden craft in FFXI that you can use ghysal greens to get chocobo to dig up potentially valuable items.  The items vary by zone and rarity.

How to start digging?

You will need to accomplish 5 things before you can start digging.  These 4 things are listed below:

1. Level a job to 20 or higher.  This is a requirement before "A Chocobo Wounds" quest is even offered.

2. Obtain 4 Gausebit Grass.  These drop from Crane Flies in Meriphatuad Mountains or Wadi Hare in Dangruf Wadi.  You may also purchase these in the Auction House under Others > Miscellaneous category.

3. Head to Upper Jeuno and complete the quest "A Chocobo Wounds".  This will take 6 game days to finish.  Upon completion of the quest you will receive key item "Chocobo License".

4. Purchase Ghysal Greens from vendor.  Vendors are available next to chocobo stables in all cities (except Norg), and you can also buy them from the Derfland Regional Vendor.  Price vary from 61 gil to 69 gil per green. 

5. Rent chocobo.  These vendors located in Windurst Woods, Bastok Mines, Southern San d'Oria, Upper Jeuno, Lower Jeuno, Port Jeuno, Kazham, Rabao, and Norg.  Vendors are also located at Crags of Dem, Mea, and Holla.  You can only rent chocobos in Al Zahbi if the NPC is not claimed prisoner.

In addition, it is strongly recommended to cap fame in all areas to ensure you get the cheapest price possible on greens.  It is recommended to have BLM leveled to at least 17 for Warp, and have a white mage job at least level 38 for the teleport spells.  This will allow you to move about much of Vana'diel to access the chocobos.  Completing all 6 gobbiebag quests and all 3 mog house quests is required, as several items that are dug up on a frequent basis do not stack.  You can only do storage expansion quests if you have fame leveled. 

Pros of chocobo digging?

This is one of the cheapest crafts to cap out, over a period of time.  It only costs 10M to 15M to go from Amateur to Expert in digging, while other crafts can cost up to 100M if not higher to cap out.  The costs associated with digging is pretty much fixed, with only variables being the chocobo rental fee and whether or not you buy the greens in Jeuno.  Like fishing, chocobo digging does not count towards the 40 level crafting buffer if you already had plans to take another craft to level 100.  Once you hit Initiate Rank in digging (after spending at least 300k on greens), you will be able to break even to make a profit almost every session depending on where you dig, and you should be able to make enough money to fund the ghysal greens at the very least.  

Cons of chocobo digging?

It takes a very long time to cap out chocobo digging.  It can take over 15,000 stacks of ghysal greens before your skill caps.  This will take about 20 to 28 months to do this if you dig to fatigue every day.  Because of the fixed costs associated with digging (only variable being the relatively low chocobo rental fees), the competition tends to be higher than other crafts.  Gilsellers have caught on to this craft and may have several of the popular zones botted on a 24-7 basis.  It may take a zone up to 60 minutes to reload, as an high level digger can clean out a zone in a matter of minutes.  You can only dig based on the turnover rates of your products, and you may be forced to level other crafts (woodworking, smithing, and goldsmithing in particular) to convert non-stackable logs and ores into lumber and ingots.  The 24 July 2006 update implemented a chocobo fatigue system, which kicks in once you dug a certain number of items (100)  and once you hit that fatigue you will be unable to dig up more items until midnight JP time.

Where can you dig with chocobo?

Each zone is different.  Certain zones are better for early ranks, others for experienced diggers.  For example, Rolanberry Fields is not a good zone to start out digging in because there are 2 very rare items that botters know about and will target, and every high level digger knows that mythril beastcoins can be dug along the Bastok>Jeuno route.  On the other hand, you will have much better luck starting out digging in Valkrum Dunes as there is a total lack of good digs in that zone but a couple items you can sell on the Auction House for decent money.  Keep in mind when you are starting out you will likely end up digging a lot of crap at first.  As your digging rank increases, the quality of digs will improve.  You can dig up crystals with an single weather effect, and clusters under a double weather effect.

Why can't I dig up items?

Very often, there is competition.  It only takes a matter of 5-10 minutes for a high rank digger to clean out a zone, and as long as 60 minutes for a zone to reload.  Put 2 diggers in the same zone for digging, and you will find out real fast that the higher rank digger will always get the items.  If you are a much lower rank, your dig accuracy is not going to be high to start, so you may only have a 25% dig accuracy rate to start.  An higher-rank digger should have a 60% to 70% dig accuracy rate, and most will change areas if they fail a dig at least 6 times in a row.  If competition is not the issue, chances is the moon phase is.  If the moon is 45% to 60%, you will have a much lower success rate of digging up items regardless of competition.  If you have hit fatigue status with chocobo digging, your success rate will be 0% and it will not reset until midnight has passed in Japan.

Is chocobo riding gear necessary?

At first, with the 60 second area wait time and the delay of 16 seconds between digs, and the time limit of 30 minutes with a chocobo, you might want to consider putting an extra 200k up front to purchase level 1 chocobo riding gear from the Auction House.  The full set will add 15 minutes to your chocobo ride time.  The extra time means more digs.  As your digging rank increases, you will be able to dig "back-to-back" and have an shorter area delay.  Because of this, most diggers usually sell the chocobo gear in order to have 4 extra slots to store items.  Use your best judgment when it comes to this type of gear.

What are area and delay timers?

Once you enter a zone, the chocobo won't dig right away.  The chocobo needs to warm up in the zone before it will dig.  The area and delay timers will decrease as you go up in rank.  Expert rank digging is equivalent to 100 skill in a craft.

How many stacks of ghysal greens does it take to gain a digging rank?

It will take hundreds of stacks to go up an rank.  To keep track, it is suggested to download and open a digging parser software before you run FFXI, if you use a PC. (The parser has an added advantage of keeping track of successful digs so you know when fatigue might hit.)  If you use PS2, you will need to keep track of your stacks with pen and paper.  It is estimated that you will need 15,000 stacks of ghysal greens to go from Amateur to Expert, though everyone is different.  In some cases you may need more than the estimated maximum of stacks of ghysal greens before you level.  If you dig to fatigue everyday, it will take approximately 2 years to cap digging.  The stacks of ghysal greens listed in the table below are estimates.

Does moon phase affect chocobo digging?

Yes it does.  Full moon and New Moon are good for accuracy rates, and second-best for overall profit.  First Quarter Moon and Last Quarter Moon tends to yield fewer successful digs (reduced dig accuracy by as much as 50%) and the lowest profit.  Early Waxing Crescent is the only time Elemental Ore can be dug up in non-Zilart zones and only during an active weather event.  Because all the high level diggers know this, Early Waxing Crescent tends to have the lowest percentage in successful digs than any other moon phase, but the highest potential for profit.  In general, anytime between 0% to 43% moon  and 62% to 100% moon is a good time to dig.

What macros should I set up?

There are 4 macros that you will need when it comes to digging:

These macros will change based on your digging rank.  Macros 3 and 4 are optional.

When is the earliest I can pull up an Elemental Ore during Early Waxing Crescent?

Sadly for the new diggers, Elemental Ore requires a digger of Veteran Rank to dig them up.  This means the earliest you can possibly pull one up is Craftsman rank, but even for them its hard to do.  A digger with Artisan rank has a better chance, but not by much.  A digger with Veteran or Expert rank can see anywhere between 3 to 8 elemental ores per Early Waxing Crescent though I have seen some pull more than 10 during that time.  Digging competition is extremely high during this time and even Veteran rank diggers will have to deal with constantly dug up zones.

In addition, an active weather effect must be in effect in those zones.  Fog counts as an weather effect.  The moon phase must be between 7% to 24%, and most of the elemental ores tend to come in the early part of that moon phase.  It is rare to see an elemental ore at 21% or 24% waxing crescent.

When should I start digging to make a profit?

The earliest I would start digging for profit is the Initiate Rank, as you should be able to start competition in the Jungles.  It will take a digging Rank of Journeyman to Craftsman at the earliest to start competition against the "digbots".  Your main target for profit digging is to find consumables that have an high turnover rate on the auction house, and should be able to pay at least 1 digging session.  Common targets that most diggers go for are Bone Chips, Elm Logs, Mythril Beastcoins, Gold Beastcoins, Gold Ore, Darksteel Ore, Grain Seeds, Danceshrooms, Ebony Logs, Petrified Logs, Puffballs, Rosewood Logs, King Truffles, and Mahongany Logs.  There are other valuable targets out there, but you are not likely going to seem them pop up.

There are other targets that will turn into profit if you craft with them.  These include Flint Stones, Colored Rocks, Iron Ore, Copper Ore, Silver Ore, Tin Ore, Arrowwood Logs, Ash Logs, and Zinc Ore.  Most of these will turn into high-demand consumables.  The only factor depends if you got inventory space and/or crystals to invest in holding them.  The areas outside Al Zahbi have items that sell decently to the NPC vendors.

At the rank I'm at now, I very rarely go a digging session that I lose money.  When that happens, it tends to happens based on the competition to some extent.  I know its frustrating having to make a living by turning Maple Logs to sugar and Arrowwood logs to lumber, but you need to keep something up on the AH even if it gives less profit than normal.  I believe that much of digging is based on luck, even with the skill I got.  I'll barely break even on a bad day of digging.  Although the update put an end of days where I made 1M+ in profit, it is not uncommon for me to wind up with enough digs to make 150k to 400k on the AH.  The profit is slower than in the past, but the turnover rate of most of the items is still there.

Some of the screenshots below show the best of some of my digs so far.  (Please note the moon phase and weather icon on elemental ore digs.)

How do I calculate chocobo rental fee?

For San d'Oria, Bastok, Windurst, Norg, Rabao, Al Zahbi, and Kazham the chocobo rental fee is

Fee = (50 + JobLevel) * Demand

For Jeuno and Crags of Dem/Mea/Holla, the chocobo rental fee is

Fee = (175 + JobLevel) * Demand

Demand is a multiplier that can go from 1 to 100, and is based on the current demand of chocobo rentals.  The fee can range from 65 gil to as much as 25000 gil.  The expensive chocobo fees tend to be at Crag of Mea, with the second highest at Crag of Holla.  Chocobo fees are much cheaper at Rabao and Kazham.

The easiest way to know the demand multiplier is to divide Fee by (Base Cost + Job Level).  The base cost will either be 50 or 175, and Job Level is your current job level (15-75).  The demand multiplier will decrease over an period of time if nobody rents a chocobo at that location.

How do you keep track of your competition?

I keep a small piece of paper (about size of a notepad) that has a list of all the diggers names on it.  The only person that sees this list is me, and nobody else knows it.  I also try to keep track on areas they prefer to dig, and the times they tend to dig.  This ensures me to only go in an area during a time they are not likely going to be online, thus improving my chances of getting a successful digging session done.  Conserving those ghysal greens is important if there is high competition, as it will cut your losses.

When it comes to the gilseller dig-bots, there is one very important thing to keep in mind: they are very predictable.  The best way to disrupt a dig-bot is to dig in the zones ahead of them.  The majority of these dig-bots are very stupid players in general, and will always dig the same route per session (and in some cases dig out zones on each other).  Its always priceless to see them zone into an area only for them to find out its been dug up.  They might still get a good dig in there, but there is a very strong chance that their dig accuracy will go down considerably and they will more often will waste their greens.  Since the update, however, the dig-bots are not out like they used to but some of them will dig on a daily basis in Rolanberry or outside Al Zahbi.

Is there another way to get ghysal greens?

In addition of purchasing greens from the vendors, they can be obtained by harvesting in Giddeus, or from Gardening.  The combination that you need in Gardening is a Vegetable seed (obtained while digging in West Ronfaure) and a Wind Crystal, or a Wildgrass seed (purchased in Aht Urgan Whitegate) with either Wind or Ice crystal.  You will need multiple mules to make gardening effective, as you can only hold 10 flowerpots at a given time, and it takes 5 to 6 real life days for a plant with vegetable seed to be ready for harvest.  A word of caution: each plant can yield different results, and your mule must be checked daily or the plant will die.  While there is nothing wrong in trying to save some gil via gardening, there are times where it is much cheaper and easier to buy the greens from an NPC vendor. 

How often does zone reload with items?

Every minute, between 2 to 8 items will load in a zone.  A zone may have anywhere from 20 items to 50 items ready for digging.  Depending on the rank of the digger, it only takes a few minutes for a zone to be "dug out".  Depending on how fast the items load, it can take as low as 10 minutes and as long as 60 minutes for a zone to completely reload.  Experienced diggers tend to start digging at a beginning of a game day and once the zone is dug out, wait for the next game day before digging again.  The only thing that will mess up that strategy is if there is very high competition in the area.  Moon phase will also affect zone reloading.  The zones tend to reload faster during full moon/new moon, and much slower during first quarter moon/last quarter moon.  

What to do if the consumables obtain by digging that normally have high turnover rate suddenly quit moving off the AH?

Every now and then, the economy will go stale.  It is normal, and usually happens during weekdays.  The best way to get those consumables to move during those slow times is by crafting with them.  Bone Chips can be converted into a variety of consumables like arrowheads, gelatin, animal glue, and accessories made with alchemy and/or bonecraft.  Arrowwood and Ash Logs can be converted into lumber which is then used to make high-demand ammunition for various jobs.  Elm Logs can be converted into Bast Parchment.  Bird Feathers, Insect Wings, and Yagudo Feathers are frequently used to make fletchlings required to make the ammo.  Ores are often converted into ingots depending on their demand and the digger's crafting skills.  Most of the diggers tend to have a woodworking background, but you will find diggers that have 100 skill in other crafts.  If you craft and the products still don't move, avoid digging until the economy returns to normal (usually on a weekend). 

What is the best time to go digging?

There is no clear cut choice.  I tend to dig only on weeknights in Kazham outside of JP prime time, and other zones when it is not Early Waxing Crescent.  I tend to avoid altepa unless I'm convinced nobody is in that area.  The highest competition tends to happen during JP Prime Time and on weekends.  Some diggers dig everyday, others dig depending on moon phase.   I tend to avoid digging during First or Last Quarter moon phase because digging accuracy tends to be the lowest, and the item reload rate is very slow during that time (very often, only 2 or 3 items load per game hour instead of 6-8).

Does equipment improve digging results?

No.  Equipment can increase chocobo ride time, but has zero effect on digging results.  Elemental staves are useless for chocobo digging, as I have tried them in the past and did not notice a difference.  Most diggers tend to have little or no equipment on, as inventory space is very important and equipment takes away from inventory space.

What is the chocobo digging fatigue system?

On 24 July 2006, SE put in some much needed updates to chocobo digging.  They added new zones and new items, but also implemented a chocobo digging fatigue system similar to fishing.  Once you hit fatigue status, you will unable to dig up any items until midnight has passed in Japan.  Right now, you will hit fatigue at 100 items (around 20 stacks of ghysal greens) per real life day.  The reason the fatigue system was put in place was to punish the RMT dig-bots that monopolized certain zones.

Do you keep a blog about digging?

Ayrlie.blogspot.com.

Raising your chocobo for digging.

Since Chocobo Raising was implemented, diggers are trying to raise their chocobos for digging purposes.  Some of the reasons is the potential to dig more than 100 items (though it has not been proven as of yet), dig items normally not found in the zone, increase chances of getting good digging sessions, or increase profit per digging session.

There are 3 ways to obtain chocobo eggs (Exclusive item):  ISNM, Upper Jeuno quest from Brutus, or purchasing from the vendor in Ru'Lude Gardens.  You trade it to the chocobo stables owner in one of the 3 starting cities.  I strongly recommend you trade it in Windurst (read below for explanation).

After you trade the item, it will take 4 real life days for a chick to hatch.  Every day you should be feeding it Ghysal Greens (or feed it greens that cure status ailments as needed), it will take 1 to 3 to fill up a chocobo.  Every day you should be taking it on a walk (if you raise your chocobo in Windurst, you will quickly get the key item of the story that teaches Bore ability).  You should use care plans that focus on Discernment  (and once Discernment skill is maxed you should switch back to Basic Care and let Endurance slowly go up).  Once the chocobo is adolescent you should be taking it on Regular walks until you learn the key item of the story that teaches Burrow ability, and giving it the story that the chocobo could learn Bore and/or Burrow.

Once your chocobo hits adult stage and learns those items, quest for the Chocobo Whistle, and prepare your chocobo for a mount.  You will now dig with the items.  I have not gotten my chocobo to learn either ability as of November 2006, but both abilities add additional items to the digging pool.  When it comes to breeding, you should be finding chocobo mates that have high endurance and/or discernment stats for your best effect.