Returning player seeks direction - what should we do?

[Exeeter]

Hello all,

As the title might suggest, me a 2 other fellow exp players are returning to this game after a breif dabble in the official site and seeing all the new changes that have been implamented....

I apologize in advance for the wall of text and thank those that read it and provide some constructive input if any at all.

The thing is to be honest, i feel a bit overwhelmed with were to start.. heres the history of our knowledge of the game, mind you it isnt that much... :(

My freinds and i didnt progress that far really, we obtained our sub job option and leveled our main jobs to 30 and sub jobs to 15. we completed (with the help of several generous higher level players) many other job quests including DRK, SAM, NIN, RNG, DRG and few others i cant recall.. We completed our chocobo license quest but have yet to obtain our whistle, and i dont remember the exact mission rank number it is but i remember one of our last major endeavors involved going to the tower in Qufim acending the many levels to complete the quest, i do believe this was some sort of nation mission or whatnot...

Thats the jist of our achievments for the most part, lacking as they are, we only have fond memories of the game and simply chose to stop playing about a year ago due to the intensive amount of free time, patients and energy required to progress, there were weekends where we were completely unable to secure a dedicated party to gains a few levels, dispite our best efforts and constant searching and forming, it was slightly demoralizing to say the least. We had this constant sense that we "started to late" level sync had just been implament shortly before we left the game.

After skimming the forums here ive got the jist of most players opinions about abbysea, its a new feature that is allowing lvl30s to lvl up reletively quick but is not providing adequite skill ups and therefor making them rather poor in the performance areas and pretty much granting them a level 75 (or up to 90) job without the lvl 75 player knowledge that goes with it... i for one am against that notion to an extent and my group and i want to play a little more properly and enjoy the game a tad more and learn our jobs appropiately .

So in a nut shell im simply asking for a tad bit of direction when we return to the game (hopefully when the servers return online) and my freinds and i are not lazy players in any way and are not asking for easy answers or whatnot.

Basically, as far as 3 players go, what options do we have to level comfortably and semi affectively? and how high of a lvl can we play together and level together until we must have a complete group to see any progress (not that we mind). And despite my search on the official site i am still slightly in the dark about how FoV works. We are also a bit clueless about what dcmns, sky, dynamis, campaign, besiege, pretty much anything related to toau and wotg :(

Any insight would be greatly appreciated thanks

[Mirage]

If you're after maximum levels for the time invested, abyssea leeching is the way. If you actually want to have fun, you could trio for some decent exp in the normal areas now that exp has been doubled there.

Two DDs plus a support job should do good. You should be doing ok this way up through the 40s, at least that's what I think works good for us.

[Nepharite]

The 3 of you could trio using FoV pages.
or
You could also abyssea exp if you choose to.

It is true your skills would be pretty low from doing the latter.
Here's the catch, the amount of time it would take to properly skillup your skills would be less than going from 30-90 getting exp normally. Although if you do this, I would strongly recommend you read up on your job you choose to play (don't use wiki job guides, they are outdated and usually wrong) as well as asking veterans for advice.

But leveling up with 2 of your friends should be fun as well and gives you time to get reacquainted with the game and allow for a slower pace instead of a rushed pace.

[Gwynplaine]

It's really pretty easy and fast now for most jobs to level up 1-40ish. I've solod a lot of jobs recently 1-30 because of how laid back it is now. I don't know how easy/difficult it is over 40. It may start to slow down significantly but with friends that helps.

Forget most of what you knew about exp camps, Fields of Valor is where its at. If you've ever played a WoW-like game, FoV is basically just like every single WoW quest ever. You choose a set of mobs to kill, meet the quota and get exp rewards. The only difference is they made it a straightforward system instead of allowing the pretense of "story" of WoW quests.

So most mainland zones will have two FoV books where you sign up to begin and spend Tab points. There's usually one located at the zone entrance or exit, or the Outpost. Ideally exping on mobs near a FoV book you can kill then flag a new FoV are best. Here's roughly how I like to go about it:

-Levels 1-10: Anything works, everythings easy this level. Just save up Tab points to use on the regen or refresh buffs.

-Levels 10-15: If you really want to you can just grind easy mobs past 10 up to 15. Otherwise I like to go to La Thaine Plateau. The north entrance book page 1 is doable, but I find it annoying because the only bees are down a cliff and make you walk too far. Once you hit about 13 maybe go to the FoV book at the Crag and do page 3 (I think) which is to kill 8 funguars. You can find a group of funguars slightly northeast where it exits to Jugnuar.

-Levels 15-20: Buburimu Peninsula FoV page 1 killing Rabbits and Mandies. Just repeat this at the outpost til 20, very easy. Don't be fooled into thinking Valkurm is the same level range, so it must be similar, it's not. The lizards and rabbits are all spread out. And the cave and gobs are frustrating.

-Levels 20-25: Buburim Peninsula FoV page 3. Leave the Outpost and go to the entrance to Mhaura FoV book. Now kill Dhalmels and Crawlers til 25.

-Levels 25-30: Battallia Downs FoV page 1 near Jugnuar exit, kill Flies and Saplings. This zone is very dangerous because it's crowded with aggro mobs and tigers which aggro farther than other mobs. So be very cautious. You'll die a lot but it's better than Sauromogue.

-Levels 30-90: Congrats now you can enter Abyssea! Go leach to 90 :) Haha. Or if you don't want to there's other options still. But now you can get those advanced jobs. Definately go and unlock the Dancer job then level it up for Drain Samba and Cure Waltz as a Subjob. Dancer empowers you to solo on any other job, it's a huge help.

Options for leveling past 30:
I don't have much experience here, but here's some ideas. Just continue along with FoV or try to get parties. The most obvious thing to do. But also don't forget about things like Campaign Ops that are a nice chunk of bonus exp on any jobs over level 10. As well as Moblin Maze Mongers which you can gain huge but not Abyssea-obscene levels of exp during. Moblin Maze Mongers replaced old merit parties for a while before Abyssea and for good reason.

[viion]

How do you leech into Abyssea if you're new? I doubt people just look around for level 30's when they do it. And I'd have 0 cruor and not be able to do an awful lot.

[Gravionblack]

Hello all,

As the title might suggest, me a 2 other fellow exp players are returning to this game after a breif dabble in the official site and seeing all the new changes that have been implamented....

I apologize in advance for the wall of text and thank those that read it and provide some constructive input if any at all.

The thing is to be honest, i feel a bit overwhelmed with were to start.. heres the history of our knowledge of the game, mind you it isnt that much... :(

My freinds and i didnt progress that far really, we obtained our sub job option and leveled our main jobs to 30 and sub jobs to 15. we completed (with the help of several generous higher level players) many other job quests including DRK, SAM, NIN, RNG, DRG and few others i cant recall.. We completed our chocobo license quest but have yet to obtain our whistle, and i dont remember the exact mission rank number it is but i remember one of our last major endeavors involved going to the tower in Qufim acending the many levels to complete the quest, i do believe this was some sort of nation mission or whatnot...

Thats the jist of our achievments for the most part, lacking as they are, we only have fond memories of the game and simply chose to stop playing about a year ago due to the intensive amount of free time, patients and energy required to progress, there were weekends where we were completely unable to secure a dedicated party to gains a few levels, dispite our best efforts and constant searching and forming, it was slightly demoralizing to say the least. We had this constant sense that we "started to late" level sync had just been implament shortly before we left the game.

After skimming the forums here ive got the jist of most players opinions about abbysea, its a new feature that is allowing lvl30s to lvl up reletively quick but is not providing adequite skill ups and therefor making them rather poor in the performance areas and pretty much granting them a level 75 (or up to 90) job without the lvl 75 player knowledge that goes with it... i for one am against that notion to an extent and my group and i want to play a little more properly and enjoy the game a tad more and learn our jobs appropiately .

So in a nut shell im simply asking for a tad bit of direction when we return to the game (hopefully when the servers return online) and my freinds and i are not lazy players in any way and are not asking for easy answers or whatnot.

Basically, as far as 3 players go, what options do we have to level comfortably and semi affectively? and how high of a lvl can we play together and level together until we must have a complete group to see any progress (not that we mind). And despite my search on the official site i am still slightly in the dark about how FoV works. We are also a bit clueless about what dcmns, sky, dynamis, campaign, besiege, pretty much anything related to toau and wotg :(

Any insight would be greatly appreciated thanks

Well i have to say that a trio of friends is actually a very en-powering force, if you and your friends find a job you enjoy then you learn how to take things on from there. I soloed my rng for the most part to 75 then when abyssea came out i had swapped my main job to ninja (because if you know your job well and have a good set up of gear a ninja can solo most anything) which i also soloed for the better part of my 75 lvls. As Mirage said as long as you have 2 DD and a healer your pretty much good to go on field of valor, if you dont care for white mage or another main healing job then by all means lvl your dancer as lvl 90 they have Curing Waltz V (this heals for about 900hp on a well geared dnc) and they "imo" are a very good DD as well. With three people you have many options indeed, and with friends by your side you will be able to see much more of the world of ffxi. Abyssea pt's (if you can find someone to let you leech) are also another option, however i shy away from this option for the simple fact that i enjoyed getting my skillups as i played and learned my job. I have seen lvl 90 chars die on even match mobs cause there skills were not high enough to hit the mob or dodge/counter/parry the incoming attacks ( i was one of them lol). My advise would be do field of valor until you find a job you truly enjoy and can see yourself taking to lvl 90, then after you make your choice it is up to you how you want to get the exp. Hopes this helps you at least a little bit, and good luck in your adventuring! ^^

[Exeeter]

Thanks so much for all the feedback its been very helpful. this along with some more digging on the internet have helped me set up our gameplan and should be good to go.

XD

[Gwynplaine]

How do you leech into Abyssea if you're new? I doubt people just look around for level 30's when they do it. And I'd have 0 cruor and not be able to do an awful lot.

Cruor isn't too big a problem for very long. If you stay in party for 30mins-1hour you should get tons.

To get into a party you'd probably need to know some high level people. Or just plain pay them. Or if it's a small warrior FC burn party just try to ask nicely and see if they'd let you in. Being in a linkshell with high level players who do Abyssea to burn time extensions before events or who farm Empyreaon weapons is the way to go. When players go out to farm Empyreon weapon items they try to do as many at once as they can. But spawning the NMs requires holding key items limited to one per person. So you could offer to hold an NM spawn in exchange for the exp/cruor. Then when you get surplus Cruor you can buy chest keys to help open them.

[viion]

Cruor isn't too big a problem for very long. If you stay in party for 30mins-1hour you should get tons.

To get into a party you'd probably need to know some high level people. Or just plain pay them. Or if it's a small warrior FC burn party just try to ask nicely and see if they'd let you in. Being in a linkshell with high level players who do Abyssea to burn time extensions before events or who farm Empyreaon weapons is the way to go. When players go out to farm Empyreon weapon items they try to do as many at once as they can. But spawning the NMs requires holding key items limited to one per person. So you could offer to hold an NM spawn in exchange for the exp/cruor. Then when you get surplus Cruor you can buy chest keys to help open them.

Oh right, thank you I get it now.

[Miiyo]

Here's another "guide" you can use if you want. Abyssea doesn't take away from the game in any way. Abyssea only provides faster exp. You will still be forced to do level cap quests and at least one Maat's fight. Chains of Promathia, Sea, Zeni, and Sky are all still possible and will be a bit easier to find fellow players who wish to take part in these after the merging of the servers.

Levels 1-10
Traditional exp
Levels 11-30
Not going to be easy to find a party of 6 but it's possible and you can efficiently make use of the Fields of Valor system with smaller parties.
Levels 30-50
Everyone says you can exp in abyssea but it's honestly not going to be easy to get a party for this anymore. The partying boom is normally done as soon as level cap is increased. The farther away from that time, the less often parties will be formed. There's always someone wanting to leech so you have to compete with other leeches. Honestly, your best bet would be to find 2 blm's (more than likely have 2 blm's in your ls) who can rape most mobs. Me and a friend Mino Mino, got a bst from 30 to 60ish in a 2-3 hours.
Levels 51-70
You have your limit breaks to do. Your starting AF is here as well. You acquire this via dynamis which should be a bit more popular after the update (crosses fingers). This is your first bit of endgame experience you'd start(normally 65+).
Levels 71-90
Limit breaks and endgame. By the time you get to these levels, you're probably going to be looking towards making your char as strong as possible. Therefore you're going to be spending more time in abyssea. Other endgame aspects are easier to do with smaller parties, but the gear will mostly be used to collect? We can only hope SE will place some items in those zones that will renew interest other than just collecting gear that you'll place in storage and never use >.<

For your mage jobs, skilling up is easy. I can't comment for non-mage jobs.