Take the aetheryte to Costa del Sol, and head west towards a point on your map marked as “The Garlok’s Lair” (X:25.8, Y:30.2). This immediate area will spawn the gathering nodes that produce dragon peppers. Costa del Sol can first be accessed in the MSQ during the level 30 quest “The Lominsan Way”. And your Retainers can also pick up some peppers for you, if you send them out on certain ventures. But if your retainer isn’t leveled up much in Botany, it might be best to gather them yourself near The Garlok’s Lair.
Dragon Peppers: Pointers for Procurement
Before setting out and gathering your way to becoming the #1 supplier of dragon peppers in Eorzea, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First off, the distance from the Costa del Sol aetheryte to the area mentioned above is quite short – however there are some level 31 wild buffalo nearby, and they are aggressive. Having your “Sneak” ability active should take care of this, but just make sure you have it on if you want to avoid any trouble. And second, when you get to the right area, the gathering points you’ll be looking for are called “Lv35 Lush Vegetation Patch”. Since these are level 35 nodes, that means you must be at least level 31 for them to show up on your map. However the dragon peppers themselves are considered to be level 35 items. So you may want to be closer to 35 to be able to harvest them more efficiently. These lush vegetation patches will show up on your mini map with blue markers. Here’s a close-up screenshot of what one looks like:
Ventures For Dragon Peppers
Having retainers go out and gather dragon peppers for you is another way to farm these items. To do this, your retainer needs to be at least level 35 on the botanist class. If your trusted NPC companion meets the level requirement, select the option to send them out on a botany exploration venture and choose the one for dragon peppers. One venture can take between 40 to 60 minutes, and can provide you with 15 to 50 dragon peppers. Your retainer’s level will determine the duration it takes to complete a venture, while their perception stat will affect how many items they’ll be able to bring back. Having a perception of at least 229 will yield the maximum number of peppers.
Cooking with Dragon Peppers
Dragon peppers are primarily used to spice up dishes made by culinarians. There are 8 recipes that culinarians use that include dragon peppers:
Ema Datshi (Level 70, Master Recipe) Jerked Jhammel (Level 69) Lava Toad Legs (Level 50, Master Recipe) Peperoncino (Level 60, Master Recipe) Rarefied Peperoncino (Level 58) Sauerkraut (Level 36) Shakshouka (Level 70, Master Recipe) Shakshouka Pot (Level 80)
All of these items (except for the Shakshouka Pot) are meal items and can be consumed to gain the “well fed” buff. This will give you a bonus to various stats depending on what meal you eat, plus it gives you a 3% increase in total experience points gained. This buff lasts for 30 minutes, but that can be increased to 60 minutes by consuming multiple items. And unlike the other recipes listed above, the Shakshouka Pot is actually a tabletop furnishing that can be placed inside your house or apartment. Once you’ve found a place for this in your home, you can use it for a maximum of 10 times to get the “well fed” buff. Also your Grand Company Quartermaster may request dragon peppers for the daily Botanist Supply Mission at level 35. For your efforts here, you’ll be given a significant amount of experience points and Grand Company seals in exchange for 10 of these peppers.
