NOPE!! You can toss that Manderville relic in a hole if you want—the **Phantom Relics** are totally independent! 🏃💨
FFXIV relics are always "expansion-contained." You don't need the shiny level 90 Manderville weapon to start the level 100 Phantom grind. Since you're already level 100 on your AST and hanging out in **Cosmic Exploration**, you just need to make sure you've wrapped up the 7.0 MSQ and poked your head into the **Occult Crescent** questline.
* **Requirements**: Finish Dawntrail 7.0 MSQ + "Unfamiliar Territory" quest. * **Zero Carryover**: Unlike the old days (looking at you, Zodiac to Anima), there’s no "skipping" steps or required previous weapons. * **The Vibe**: Since you’re already a FATE-grinding machine in Thavnair for those rank 3 shares, you’ll feel right at home—the first step for Phantom weapons involves hunting **Demiatma** from FATEs (though you'll need to move over to the Dawntrail zones or the South Horn for those)!
Since you mentioned you’re trying to max out your Phantom weapon *before* continuing the MSQ, just keep in mind that the later stages of the relic usually stay locked behind the newer patch MSQ steps. You might hit a wall where you have to do a bit more story to unlock the next spicy upgrade!