Empyrean Weapons at the Arms Dealer, and Oboro's road to 119
The sixteen Empyrean weapons are on the Arms Dealer shelf in /quests for Drift Coins, at level 99. Oboro in Port Jeuno takes them, and the Relic weapons, to item level 119 for 300 stones from the /raid shop. Here is what each road costs.
Empyrean Weapons can now be purchased through the /quests shop for Drift Coins
Open /quests, go to the Arms Dealer, and the Empyrean weapons are there beside the Relics. Almace, Caladbolg, Verethragna and the rest cost 1000 Drift Coins each. Daurdabla and Ochain cost 1500.
They come at level 99, the plain version without afterglow. Take one to Oboro in Port Jeuno with 300 Riftborn Boulders and trade him the weapon and the stones together, and he hands back the item level 119 version. Riftborn Boulders are on page 9 of the /raid shop at 25 Driftmarks each, so the 300 you need are 7,500 Driftmarks.
That is 1000 Drift Coins and 7,500 Driftmarks for an item level 119 Empyrean weapon.
If you want the final form, the 119 III with afterglow, Oboro will take the 119 weapon and another 10,000 Riftborn Boulders. That is 250,000 Driftmarks more, and it brings a finished Empyrean to 257,500 Driftmarks in total. Nobody said the last step was reasonable.
One honest caveat: Daurdabla and Ochain have no item level 119 form in the game data, so those two stop at 99. The fourteen weapons all go the whole way.
Relic Weapons take the long road, and it is much cheaper
Relic weapons are on the same shelf at level 75 for 250 Drift Coins. From there the Magian Moogle takes over: the trials carry a relic from 75 to 99, and they send you into Dynamis to beat its bosses along the way. There are Magian trials for every Relic weapon. There are none for the Empyreans, which is why those are sold at 99 outright.
The route to take with a Relic is this. Finish the Magian trials up to the 99 II, the afterglow version, which is the trial that asks for 250 Vials of Umbral Marrow. Marrow is on page 9 of the /raid shop at 100 Driftmarks a vial, so that step is 25,000 Driftmarks. Then trade the 99 II weapon to Oboro with 300 Plutons, 7,500 Driftmarks worth from the same page, and he returns the item level 119 II Relic with its afterglow intact. From there the final 119 III costs exactly 1 Pluton.
Total for a finished Relic on that route: 250 Drift Coins and 32,525 Driftmarks. Take a relic to 99 without the afterglow and Oboro still gives you 119 for 300 Plutons, but then the III step costs the full 10,000 stones, so the marrow is the bargain.
Side by side
- Empyrean, bought at 99, finished at 119 III: 1000 Drift Coins and 257,500 Driftmarks. No Dynamis required.
- Relic, bought at 75, finished at 119 III by the afterglow route: 250 Drift Coins and 32,525 Driftmarks. Dynamis bosses required.
The Relic is about eight times cheaper to finish. The Empyrean is the one you can finish without ever setting foot in Dynamis, and its 119 step alone is within reach of anyone running raids. Oboro keeps a tally, so stones you hand him ahead of time are not lost. Talk to him to see what he is holding for you.