Sushomi's Clamming Guide

CAUTION!

This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

• Adapted from Sushomi's Clamming Guide.

• If you're an absolute madman and want to read more in-depth on clamming and its potential gil/hr, you can also check out Clamming:_An_Analysis_By_Sushomi

What is clamming?

Clamming is a non-competitive gathering activity that has been popularised since recent changes to the loot pools and the addition of the HQ Clamming gear as part of the Sunbreeze Event 2023.

Part of what makes it so popular is a large variety of NPC-able items, which can earn you a decent amount of gil. Also, unlike other gathering activities in Final Fantasy XI, players do not compete over nodes. So no matter how many other players are already clamming, you can still join in and earn gil as if you were the only one there.

Clamming can be very good for making gil, especially as a lower level player. The isle is relatively safe, and the only monster that will aggro is the occasional bomb, which only spawns during certain weathers. Meaning you could do this on a level 1 character if you wished! Current estimates put clamming at up to 70,000 gil per hour, although it should be noted that despite being primarily luck based, it does take some know-how and skill to achieve these rates.

How do I get started?

Head over to Bibiki Bay docks and grab a manaclipper ticket (or 10), then wait for the boat to arrive to take you to Purgonorgo Isle. Warning: There are 3 different routes that the boat can take, and only one of them will take you to the correct place. Check with the NPC on the end of the pier to find out the boat’s destination before boarding.

Alternatively, if you have the event item from killing Midgardsormr during the Sunbreeze event, you can use this to teleport to the isle once every 20 hours, without needing a ticket or waiting for the boat.

After a quick boat ride to the isle, head over to the mithra, Toh Zonikki at (H-7) (should be just to your left as you come off the pier). You will need to talk to this npc to purchase clamming kits, and again after you have finished gathering to collect your spoils. But before you do that, read on to find out how the clamming mini-game works, because it’s not as straightforward as simply clicking a node repeatedly until you’ve had enough.

How does clamming work?

You will purchase a clamming kit from Toh Zonikki for 500 gil, and also be given a bucket in which to store your clams. This bucket has a weight limit of 50pz, and if the items you collect go over that limit the bucket breaks and you lose everything you have gathered so far. As long as you stay under the weight limit, you can cash out at any point by returning to the NPC.

Once you have cashed out and collected your items, you will need to pay another 500gil to the NPC in order to receive a new clamming kit if you wish to go again.

But there’s more! If your total weight when you cash out is within 5pz of the bucket’s limit, then Toh will give you the option to upgrade to a bigger bucket, this time with a capacity of 100pz. In essence, you get to go clamming again with an extra 50 weight limit without having to pay 500gil for another attempt. There is literally no reason to ever decline this offer.

The process of upgrading your bucket can be repeated. So if you reach 95pz-100pz in your 100pz bucket, you’ll have the choice of upgrade to a 150pz bucket. Same again, if you reach 145-150pz, you can upgrade to a 200pz bucket.

However, beware, as there’s a chance while you have a 200pz bucket for a mandragora to jump out of nowhere and break your bucket. This will lose you all the items you have collected, so it can be risky.

There are two addons that can be used to keep track of your current bucket weight, either of them will work so choose whichever you find most useful.

• Clammy - https://github.com/m4thmatic/clammy
• HXIclam - https://github.com/jimmy58663/hxiclam

Once you have your bucket, head to the nearest clamming point directly east of the NPC and click on it to gather. You will need to wait approximately 10-15 seconds between attempts.

Is there gear to enhance clamming similar to the field gear?

Yes, there is. However, clamming gear is not purchasable from vendors/AH/bazaars. The only way to obtain it is by participating in the Sunbreeze Festival event on Purgonorgo Isle. If you’ve missed this, chances are you’ll need to wait until next year to obtain it. You can still clam without it, but you may find your luck to be worse than someone with the gear.

The HQ Swimsuit top reduces the chance of clamming “incidents”. Remember that pesky mandragora I mentioned that likes jumping into the 200pz buckets? Well, that’s the incident it is referring to. This top lowers the chance of that happening, but what it lowers the chance to/from is information I have yet to uncover.

The HQ Swimsuit trunks/pants improve clamming results. Without these, your loot won’t be as good. So far, I have only tested clamming drop rates with these equipped, so I can’t say how much it improves the results by.

What can I get from clamming?

Below are the 31 items that can be obtained from clamming along with their respective weights, NPC values and assumed drop rates.

Item	Weight	NPC Value	Drop Rate
Bibiki Slug	3pz	10gil	9.5%
Fish Scales	3pz	23gil	4.7%
Pugil Scales	3pz	24gil	4.4%
Bibiki Urchin	6pz	750gil	1.0%
Bkn. Willow Fish. Rod	6pz	N/A	2.2%
Coral Fragment	6pz	1,735gil	0.9%
Crab Shell	6pz	392gil	1.9%
Elm Log	6pz	390gil	0.5%
Goblin Armor	6pz	N/A	2.1%
Goblin Mail	6pz	N/A	2.0%
Goblin Mask	6pz	N/A	2.1%
Hobgoblin Bread	6pz	91gil	2.3%
Hobgoblin Pie	6pz	153gil	2.2%
High-Quality Crab Shell	6pz	3,312gil	0.5%
High-Quality Pugil Scale	6pz	253gil	1.7%
Lacquer Tree Log	6pz	3,578gil	0.6%
Maple Log	6pz	15gil	1.3%
Nebimonite	6pz	53gil	2.3%
Oxblood	6pz	13,250gil	0.5%
Pantam Kelp	6pz	7gil	6.7%
Petrified Log	6pz	2,193gil	0.5%
Seashell	6pz	30gil	2.7%
Shall Shell	6pz	307gil	5.0%
Titanictus Shell	6pz	357gil	1.2%
Turtle Shell	6pz	1,190gil	0.8%
Uragnite Shell	6pz	1,455gil	0.6%
Vongola Clam	6pz	192gil	5.2%
Pebble	7pz	1gil	20.7%
White Sand	7pz	250gil	3.1%
Jacknife	11pz	58gil	9.2%
Tropical Clam	20pz	5,100gil	1.3%

Drop rates above as of 11/12, based on 6557 clamming attempts and wearing the HQ swimsuit gear.

I have not included AH value in the above as this will fluctuate over time, and therefore at the time you’re reading this the prices may no longer be relevant. I would recommend researching the cost of these items on AH before starting to clam. This will give you an idea of which items you are best off NPC’ing, and which may be better to hold and sell on AH.

If you do decide to NPC certain items, you will find a mithra stood behind a bush to the west of Toh Zonikki. She sells a couple of fishing rods and is invaluable for getting rid of a lot of the items you’ve collected and turning them into profit.

Tips for Beginners

Note that the heaviest item on the list is the Tropical Clam at 20pz.This means that if your current bucket weight is 30pz or below, there is 0% chance that your bucket will break on your next clamming attempt. It might be tempting to cash out the second you find an oxblood, for fear of losing it. But if you’re still below that magic 30pz number, then don’t be afraid and keep clamming.

Elm Logs and Coral Fragments are relatively rare, but they do sell very well on AH, often fetching 40-50k per stack at the time of writing this. This is a fair bit more than you would get from NPC’ing them, so I would recommend saving these up and selling them on AH.

You may be tempted to save items like HQ Pugil Scales to sell on AH - currently 10k per stacks, versus ~3k that you would make from NPC. However, consider that these don’t sell as quickly as other items and therefore you will often find people undercutting by A LOT. The result is they clog up your auction house slots, cost fees having to relist for the new prices, and sometimes won’t sell at all. And if they do sell, chances are you’re not going to make as much as you hoped. Consider selling them straight to NPC instead.

How do I go from being an OK clammer to a GREAT clammer?

Ok, now we’re getting into the nitty gritty. While you can attribute a lot of your results to luck with clamming, there are things you can do to maximise your profits - namely by playing it smart when you gamble on whether or not to cash out. Taking that one extra attempt means increasing the value of your bucket, as well as potentially getting to upgrade and saving yourself the 500gil you would have paid for a new attempt.

So, when do you fold and when do you push your luck and go for that extra clam? To answer that, you need to understand the drop rates and weights of each possible clamming result (see the drop table further up).

As mentioned above, for example, if you are at 30 or less weight (or <=80 for the 100pz, <=130 for the 150pz, etc), then your bucket CANNOT break on the next attempt. There is no reason not to continue clamming if you still have 20 or more capacity. Unless of course you have a 200pz bucket, in which case every attempt is risking an “incident”.

But let’s take that a step further. I’m now at 31pz (or 19 away from capacity). I had some OK luck in the first few clamming attempts, and I’m already at 200g profit if I turn in my bucket. I know that the next attempt could break my bucket if I got a tropical clam (20pz), meaning I would lose not only the 500gil paid for the bucket, but also the 200g profit I’ve gathered so far. Should I stop here and cash out? The answer is NO.

Why no, you ask? The tropical clam is the only item that can break the bucket at this point, and it has a 1.6% drop rate. 98.4% of the time, the bucket will not break and I add at least one additional item to my profits for that bucket. It is more than worth it to continue on at this point.

The caveat to all this, of course, is that if you had gotten lucky and hit a big ticket item early on, the chance to save 500gil on having to buy a new bucket becomes less worth it. You’ll have to come up with your own limits as to what profit value you think is worth it. I’ll share some more info on what my personal limits are below.

Current Weight	Items that can break bucket	Chance of break	My cash-out threshold	Notes
30 or under	None	0%	-	Keep clamming!
31-39	Tropical Clam	1.6%	2,000+gil	It’s a small risk, sure, but it does happen from time to time.
40-43	Tropical Clam, Jacknife	11.1%	1,000+gil	Still a bit of risk, but most times you’ll come out on top!
44	Tropical Clam, Jacknife, White Sand, Pebble	33.3%	500+gil	Getting riskier. 500gil gets you a new bucket though, so feel free to cash out if you’ve hit that magic number!
45-50	Most items!	Upgrade	Upgrade	Upgrade your damn bucket! There is 0 reason to clam past 45 without upgrading!

Same logic applies to the larger buckets, just add 50 onto the weight values for each upgrade you’ve done.

Once you understand these “breakpoints”, you’re on your way to becoming a master clammer!

Other questions?

Does bucket size affect drop rate?
There is currently no evidence to suggest this is the case. Based on my data of ~4500 clamming attempts, there is an insignificant (likely due to luck) difference between the drop rates while using a 50pz and 100pz bucket. I do not have enough data while using the 150pz and 200pz buckets to draw any definitive conclusions from those.

The ASB/LSB codebases show no difference in drop rate between bucket sizes also. While Horizon does have custom drop rates, based on rates observed so far there is insufficient evidence to suggest that Horizon has deviated from its predecessors in this instance.

Why do I keep getting tropical clams at 31pz?
Just lucky, I guess. It can sometimes feel like the chance of getting a tropical clam significantly increases as soon as you hit 31pz, but this isn’t actually the case. You’re just getting unlucky and remembering all the times you broke your bucket over the times you didn’t.

Can I have a D2?
Dammit, why did I have to come here on BLM? Gonna change job to something else next time I’m here 🙂