Submitted by sam on Sat, 01/01/2005 - 18:47.

Vana'Diel is a world governed by elements: The days are based upon them, there are crystals for each one, monsters strengths and weaknesses are ruled by them, and even your attacks and spells have elemental influences. In order to truly be master of your domain, to completely control the outcome of your crops, to determine when and where to farm, and even what attacks to use against what enemy, you must learn the elements of Vana'Diel.

The Basic Elements

There are eight basic elements in Vana'Diel:

• Fire element
• Wind element
• Earth element
• Water element
• Ice element
• Lightning element
• Light element
• Dark element

Each element is strong and weak against other elements. The six base elements fire, wind, earth, water, ice, lightning are cyclical in that their strengths and weaknesses wrap around a sort of "elemental wheel", while the two special elements light and dark form their own relationship detached from the rest.



Fire is strong against ice, ice is strong against wind, wind is strong against earth, earth is strong against lightning, lightning is strong against water, and water is strong against fire. This relationship is best visualized by the following "elemental wheel":

"Elemental Wheel"



As you can see, light and dark are seperate from the other elements. This means that they are both weak and strong against eachother, dependent upon how you use them.

The Days of the Week

There are eight days, each for a specific element. Planting seeds on days which the elemental affinity of the seed is strong against the elemental affinity of the day means you will get better harvests from your crop. Crafting on days which the elemental affinity of your crystal is strong against that of the day means you have a higher chance of getting high quality (+1, +2) results. Attacking enemies that are weaker to the elemental affinity of the day means you will be able to kill them easier, and likely get more items from them.



The days of the week (and their order) are thus:

1. Firesday
2. Earthsday
3. Watersday
4. Windsday
5. Iceday
6. Lightningday
7. Lightsday
8. Darksday

Elemental affinity of Enemies

Each enemy has an elemental affinity. If you target specific enemies on days when they are weakest to the affinity of the day, they will be easier to kill and drop more items. Additionally, if you attack an enemy with an elemental attack (either a spell or a weapon skill) that is strong to them, they can be killed that much easier. This can be a boon in farming enemies for their drops if you are willing to do just a bit of research before hand.



For example, let's supposed that I wanted Silk Threads from Canyon Crawlers in Tahrongi Canyon. Checking on their weaknesses we find that Canyon Crawlers are weak against:

• Darkness
• Ice
• Light

If I were to farm them on Darksday, Iceday, or Lightday I would get more drops than on other days. Or, if I were a White Mage, the crawler would be weak to my Dia-based spells (Light) and my Paralyze spells (Ice).

Elemental affinity of Regions

One final thing we need to talk about is regional elemental affinity. Many people do not realize that the very region they are in will have an elemental affinity as well. This affinity is kingdom as well as region based. The basic region elements are as follows:

• Windhurst/Sarutabaruta - Earth based
• Sand'Oria/Ronfaure - Water based
• Bastok/Gustaberg - Fire based
• Jeuno - Wind based

Other areas can be identified from what elementals spawn in them and what predominant crystals are dropped in them.

Elements and your travels...

If you keep the basic elements in mind during your travels you will find that you have more luck with enemies, synthing items, growing plants, and even harvesting. So, good luck!