How does Leveling work now?

[Iakothm]

So how does leveling work now? or rather where does everyone go for exp? I logged in and went and leveled up to 13 than decided I would go check out how active the Valkurm Dunes were. When I got there I got the surprise of my life and there were only a few 99 players there. Shocked at the sight I decided to find out what is up.

Can someone please explain to me.

[Gokku]

gusen mines , and or the prison under sandy till 30 , pay for or have friends get you into any abyssea leach till 95, if this is your first toon book burn till 50 level cap then 55 cap etc so your not blowing gil leeching in abyssea , it about 75 and you can get into an abyssea party as a none leech.

[Iakothm]

book burn in gusgen mines from 15 to 50?

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Solo to 30, abyssea burn to 99, rinse and repeat up to 20 times per character.
It is far, far, far, far, far more easier to skill up after the fact then taking the time to skill as you lvl. Which you will still gain some of.
As for gusgen mines. keep in mind that your syncee becomes useless around 27 and will have to be replaced frequently.

[Iakothm]

Solo to 30, abyssea burn to 99, rinse and repeat up to 20 times per character.
It is far, far, far, far, far more easier to skill up after the fact then taking the time to skill as you lvl. Which you will still gain some of.
As for gusgen mines. keep in mind that your syncee becomes useless around 27 and will have to be replaced frequently.

yeah not too worried i want my 30 only for my advanced classes. than i plan on getting dragoon up.

[svengalis]

At 13 head to gusgen mines til 30. If you got the Gil 100k/ hour the you can leech in abyssea til 75 or so then it's abyssea parties till 99. If not you will have to go to the crawlers nest for parties if there's anyone, the sewer under sandy of just plain solo till you can reach abyssea.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

I suggest taking whm up for the 75 Maat fight, as you can stand there and laugh your way through it.

[Iakothm]

I suggest taking whm up for the 75 Maat fight, as you can stand there and laugh your way through it.

The game is already Laughably easy why would i wanna make it even easier?

[Luvbunny]

Decide how you wanna take your poison, fast leveling and pay later, or slower leveling on your own or duo. You should be able to solo to lvl 30 using FoV + GoV on starting areas and the usual leveling areas (Buburimu, Valkrum, Tahrongi, etc). Around 28-29 you can even solo in Qufim to 33-35. And skip Gusgen Mines altogether if you rather go the slow way. Gusgen will get you to 27-30s very fast - it gives you a taste of what to come.

Around 30s - go to Crawler Nest and repeat the GoV book burn till 60s (synch is up to 57). If you are still not about to tear your hair out, you can mix it up with FoV on other areas, either solo or duo if you need to skill up. Around 60s, people go to Bostanieux - near North Sandy inside the castle dungeon. It's what normally done. However you can have friends or make a group and do Boyahda Tree as well for an awesome old school party to 70s. It is best you go there around 65 and ask your lvl 99 friend who needs to skill up or unlocking weapon skill trial to duo with you. Or just go with 6 other lvl 60-70s and hack it old school.

Then you hit the La Theine abysea worm party, or frog, and enjoy speed level to 99. After that you may have to go back to the tree to skill ups. The game is now about weapon and gear grinding, so your goal is to get to 99 ASAP so you can take the magian trials and go at it. When you are done with weapons (empyrean weapon or other elementals) and your abyssea AF3+1, +2 gears - it's time to join the Voidwatch shouts. Or level multi jobs, for abyssea, for void watch, for neo nyzul, etc... Welcome to the grind, for gears and weapons :)

By the way, these are the most bang for your bucks jobs, you should level them, could be useful. WHM, BLM, SCH, SMN, BST, WAR, MNK, NIN, THF, DNC, SAM, BLU. Most are good for abyssea seal farming, others are excellent for neo nyzul, some for neo dynamis farm, and then void watch.

[Iakothm]

wow... so i did the grinding today and got tired after an hour or so... hitting 25 that fast was crazy.. honestly i didnt mind the speed of the leveling due to having fun with the party.

edit: when i say tired i mean sleepy.

[Alhanelem]

How does leveling work now? You kill monsters and gain EXP. That's how it's always worked.

[dragmagi]

Brute force and lots of snacks

[wildsprite]

will you people please stop outright promoting abyssea, not everyone finds it fun, not everyone likes it, telling new players to use abyssea to leech EXP is just plain ignorant, nowonder a good majority of the players don't even know the jobs they play

if you really want to learn the job don't use abyssea till lv 70+, if you just want to be a noob, well abyssea is the way to go


Brute force and lots of snacks

ahh a true gamer

[Daniel_Hatcher]

will you people please stop outright promoting abyssea, not everyone finds it fun, not everyone likes it, telling new players to use abyssea to leech EXP is just plain ignorant, nowonder a good majority of the players don't even know the jobs they play

if you really want to learn the job don't use abyssea till lv 70+, if you just want to be a noob, well abyssea is the way to go

You don't need to level it "the now not so slow way" in order to learn a job. Stuff you do in an EXP party is completely different to what you do endgame.

Basically: Level how you want, but don't be confused, you learn how to play a job more from the internet then playing it at low levels. Bad players were bad at 75, and are still bad at 99, the method of leveling doesn't change that.

[wildsprite]

not everyone plays this game for endgame

[Daniel_Hatcher]

not everyone plays this game for endgame

Then playing it is pointless, the storylines can be beaten in 1~2 days, the only restriction is on the pointless (wait until japanese midnight.)

Once that's done, if you don't do endgame then there is no point in playing an MMORPG.

MMORPG's are NOT single-player console games with which the only point is beating the storyline.

[wildsprite]

Then playing it is pointless, the storylines can be beaten in 1~2 days, the only restriction is on the pointless (wait until japanese midnight.)

Once that's done, if you don't do endgame then there is no point in playing an MMORPG.

MMORPG's are NOT single-player console games that's only point is beating the storyline.

that is your opinion, and I don't share that opinion, I have yet to find any endgame LS in the 8 years I been playing that isn't full of wining maggots who just ruin the fun of it

[Daniel_Hatcher]

that is your opinion, and I don't share that opinion, I have yet to find any endgame LS in the 8 years I been playing that isn't full of wining maggots who just ruin the fun of it

I see! so basically none of the upcoming updates will effect you, why do you still pay to "half-play?"

Not that it's really relevant.

You'll learn as much from Abyssea leeching as you do from normal leveling. Fact!

[wildsprite]

I don't half play anything, just because I don't join in on endgame doesn't mean there is nothing left for me to do

[Daniel_Hatcher]

I don't half play anything, just because I don't join in on endgame doesn't mean there is nothing left for me to do

Yes you do. Endgame is 90% of this game now, anything else is outdated and pointless doing.

[wildsprite]

You'll learn as much from Abyssea leeching as you do from normal leveling. Fact!

and actually that is BS, you can only learn from abyssea if you pay attention, which you will find the majority of leeches do not


Yes you do. Endgame is 90% of this game now, anything else is outdated and pointless doing.
again, that is your opinion, what are you calling endgame? abyssea? voidwatch? both of those are jokes barely even real content
what else? Dynamis? not even really endgame anymore, not since the updates that change the Dynamics of it

[Llana_Virren]

I have nothing of value to contribute to this discussion, however for the sake of making a post tonight, 2 things:

1. Totally see where Sprite is coming from... although I do enjoy the endgame, I don't enjoy the bitches that try to run everyone else's business in endgame.

2. Believe it or not, but this:

Fact!
actually makes you look like a tool. If you're going to make a claim, it is implied already to be a fact. To have to state so suggests that you don't know as much about the subject as you may/may not portend.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Not worth it, "Abyssea leeching" moaning is so last year!

[wildsprite]

if you enjoy abyssea all the better for you, I do go into abyssea mostly by myself, and guess what, I have been in oldschool parties in abyssea, I would hardly call that endgame

[wildsprite]

I think the best thing to do is get opinions and advice then figure out how you like to level on your own, you may find others that share that opinion, as long as you find ways to have fun do it your own way

you will always find people who don't think you are playing right, but it is you who pays to play it, it should be you who decides how you want to play it as long as you don't break any of the ToS nobody is gonna stop you

[Daniel_Hatcher]

I think the best thing to do is get opinions and advice then figure out how you like to level on your own, you may find others that share that opinion, as long as you find ways to have fun do it your own way

you will always find people who don't think you are playing right, but it is you who pays to play it, it should be you who decides how you want to play it as long as you don't break any of the ToS nobody is gonna stop you

Fine! But the OP specifically asked how leveling works now, old-school parties are few and far between. Whether you personally do it or not, leveling is done in the VAST majority inside Abyssea Fell Cleave now, even outside there is a type of cleave for 1~30.

Telling people not to mention Abyssea is absurd when that is the current leveling system now.

[Logandor]

My advise for starting out on leveling choose a high priority job. Next where to level: start off outside your nation like you used to do back in the days of the old 75 cap leveling to level 10. Then Choose your poison to go onto the regular areas to level or try some of the zones with the new books. (Example: I used to do east sab to 10 move to the canyon til 16 then go into the maze to 35 spamming the new book and its first 3-4 pages.)
At 35 move onto crawler's nest and grab a page 1 party then you can zip up to 50 in roughly 30min-1hour if the party is very active. Grab some friends and get your cap unlocked, go back to next cap, and rinse and repeat up to 65-70. At 70 skill out on a few mobs then go get a test, laugh at maat, then level in the tree til 75. @ 75 shout for abyssea or go back to the tree for page spamming. You should be able to get into an aby party and zip on up to 95 in no time if the alliances don't break up too soon. 95 cap out your skills and get ready for a fight for your cap. Then you can solo aby to 99 easy on most jobs from there or by page spamming in the tree, sky, ect.
Good luck and happy leveling.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Then playing it is pointless, the storylines can be beaten in 1~2 days, the only restriction is on the pointless (wait until japanese midnight.)Even with the JP midnight restrictions, there's 8 different storylines, plus 3 more for each city, that will still takes months.
and actually that is BS, you can only learn from abyssea if you pay attention, which you will find the majority of leeches do notYou don'teven have to pay attention, you don't even have to put any effort into a job. They're all laid out pretty strait forward and anyone can learn them nearly by the JA/spell lists alone.

[Shadowsong]

Pffft this thread is so old hat.
Experiment is my suggestion. If you are smart you eill rventually gravitate towards Abyssea. If you wish it was 2007, listen to these other people. OP asked what the majority does, not some freak minorty.

[Elexia]

MMORPG's are NOT single-player console games with which the only point is beating the storyline.

You're quite mistake. MMOs/Muds of the 80s-90s and 2002 weren't single player console games, MMOs of now are single player MMOs which is what the new generation of 'casual' gamers want. So yeah it actually is the point now, end-game is for 'hardcore' people and 'people who have no responsibilities."

Yes I've seen this said on many MMO sites lately, including SWTOR/Rift/TERA/GW2 forums.

[svengalis]

Abyssea is not to blame for people not knowing their jobs. Bad players will be bad players no matter what. He asked a question and we told him how most people do it now.
will you people please stop outright promoting abyssea, not everyone finds it fun, not everyone likes it, telling new players to use abyssea to leech EXP is just plain ignorant, nowonder a good majority of the players don't even know the jobs they play

if you really want to learn the job don't use abyssea till lv 70+, if you just want to be a noob, well abyssea is the way to go



ahh a true gamer

[Luvbunny]

will you people please stop outright promoting abyssea, not everyone finds it fun, not everyone likes it, telling new players to use abyssea to leech EXP is just plain ignorant, nowonder a good majority of the players don't even know the jobs they play

if you really want to learn the job don't use abyssea till lv 70+, if you just want to be a noob, well abyssea is the way to go

You are clearly delusional if you think people will learn their jobs by leveling outside abyssea to 70+ ... the old school party is dead, no one in their right mind will do the 6 ppl set up to 75 anymore, dead gone burried. The rest of the new school party is alliance style via GoV camp. If one is good players, they will try to learn their jobs one way or another. Levelling is such a moot point in this game. Learning your job is not, and you must do it regardless on how you level. Stop calling people noob when they use abyssea to level up. Everyone is a noob at one point, old school or new school, it is your willingness to learn the job you just leveled so fast is what makes a difference. Each jobs has their own plus and minus, and you can't expect to learn from fast leveling or party set up - yeah old school party is boring monotonous and super safe, meaning it also breeds lazy players. You can learn more by duo-trio or solo and fighting tons of abyssea NM, hence the entire abyssea expansion is focusing on battle system, since thats pretty much what you will do mostly, battling mobs and various NM. As other posters have said, bad players exist regardless on how they achieve their levels. Stop thinking abyssea is bad for you. Heck I can do speed level via GoV as well, ever heard of zeruhm mines and boyahda tree? With the right set up, 3 people can do the work while the rest can just leech and afk... yeah you heard me, its abyssea style, outside abyssea - it's the new deal, get used to it :)

[Shadowsong]

You're quite mistake. MMOs/Muds of the 80s-90s and 2002 weren't single player console games, MMOs of now are single player MMOs which is what the new generation of 'casual' gamers want. So yeah it actually is the point now, end-game is for 'hardcore' people and 'people who have no responsibilities."

Yes I've seen this said on many MMO sites lately, including SWTOR/Rift/TERA/GW2 forums.

Thank God square enix doesnt agree with you. Go play one of those that you listed, than.

[Luvbunny]

Unfortunately, SE agreed, the previous team released abyssea contents, very casual friendly. Big success, very much loved, and one of the best battle content add ons ever to grace FFXI. Then the visionary director is moved to FF14, to make sure that version 2.0 will be casual friendly, and a surefire blockbuster when they relaunch. A lot is riding on the success of FF14 version 2.0. As much as SE trying to be "different", the landscape of gaming changed, BIG TIME, with the more casual friendly mobile gaming and social gaming. Just hoping they can strike a good balance. Not everyone wants to dedicated time and effort on gaming, most just want to log in, play, have fun, log out, no big deal, it's just a game.

At least FFXI now has options, for casual or dedicated (1500 heavy metal plates, you can have this). Now everyone is on the similar level of playing field, and everything is within reach, easy, and you can always get by with pick up groups. Legion, unfortunately also DOA, unless they are adjusting the content, even neo nyzul is in life support. The general players want fun enjoyable content with minimal fuss and headache, they want it now, they want it all :)

[Shadowsong]

Abyssea was meant as a bridge from 75 to 99, its old content now. It provided what we needed to adjust to the new aspects of the game.

[Luvbunny]

Abyssea was meant as a bridge from 75 to 99, its old content now. It provided what we needed to adjust to the new aspects of the game.

And sadly, what a total lackluster, the new aspects of the game :) Voidwatch, Legion, Neo Nyzul, all not exactly well loved judging from the numerous post in the forum, and all three need a year to "barance". Seeing the road of 2012, one can safely take 6 months off and probably won't miss much and come back to a better balanced contents after the storms of complaints.

[scaevola]

You're quite mistake. MMOs/Muds of the 80s-90s and 2002 weren't single player console games, MMOs of now are single player MMOs which is what the new generation of 'casual' gamers want. So yeah it actually is the point now, end-game is for 'hardcore' people and 'people who have no responsibilities."

Yes I've seen this said on many MMO sites lately, including SWTOR/Rift/TERA/GW2 forums.

There was a really great quote in some review of SWTOR or another that said the main reason the game worked was that it is essentially a bunch of different single-player sequels of KotOR that you and your buddy play through independently of each other, except rather than just talking about what an awesome time you're having playing KoTOR you actually get to drop in on each other's playthrough and say hi.

The reason it works so well is that this ability to drop in on your buddy's personal RPG and hang out is the only thing MMORPGs have ever had to distinguish themselves from single-player RPGs; it's not actually going to be the content or structure of the cooperative game, because the combat experience itself would not greatly suffer by all your teammates being controlled by programmable AIs like in FFXII or Dragon Age.

I think MMORPGs have always worked best with this model of every player concurrently going through this process of personal progression, occasionally joining forces to accomplish something that aids that personal progression (this is ultimately what's going on in all of FFXI's endgame zones gated behind storylines, Dynamis, Abyssea, definitely Voidwatch, etc.), but it took World of Warcraft to make the scales fall from our eyes and see what was really going on.

EDIT: HEY SHADOWSONG FFXI was SW: Old Republic ten years before SW: Old Republic came out

[Phogg]

You are clearly delusional if you think people will learn their jobs by leveling outside abyssea to 70+ ... the old school party is dead, no one in their right mind will do the 6 ppl set up to 75 anymore, dead gone burried. The rest of the new school party is alliance style via GoV camp. If one is good players, they will try to learn their jobs one way or another. Levelling is such a moot point in this game. Learning your job is not, and you must do it regardless on how you level. Stop calling people noob when they use abyssea to level up. Everyone is a noob at one point, old school or new school, it is your willingness to learn the job you just leveled so fast is what makes a difference. Each jobs has their own plus and minus, and you can't expect to learn from fast leveling or party set up - yeah old school party is boring monotonous and super safe, meaning it also breeds lazy players. You can learn more by duo-trio or solo and fighting tons of abyssea NM, hence the entire abyssea expansion is focusing on battle system, since thats pretty much what you will do mostly, battling mobs and various NM. As other posters have said, bad players exist regardless on how they achieve their levels. Stop thinking abyssea is bad for you. Heck I can do speed level via GoV as well, ever heard of zeruhm mines and boyahda tree? With the right set up, 3 people can do the work while the rest can just leech and afk... yeah you heard me, its abyssea style, outside abyssea - it's the new deal, get used to it :)

Leveled my DRK 0-72 with a PLD and NIN friends static trio fighting IT mobs the entire way. Was great fun. Book burning and leeching are easier and faster, noone can argue that. But there is still a good time to be had partying old school if speed is not a concern.

[Phogg]

EDIT: HEY SHADOWSONG FFXI was SW: Old Republic ten years before SW: Old Republic came out

IIRC, Star Wars Galaxies came out at the same time as FFXI but quickly faded into FTP status after some update basically broke the game, or something. I vaguely remember trying and hating it before buying FFXI a week or so after the NA release.

[scaevola]

IIRC, Star Wars Galaxies came out at the same time as FFXI but quickly faded into FTP status after some update basically broke the game, or something. I vaguely remember trying and hating it before buying FFXI a week or so after the NA release.

Literally the only thing Galaxies and Old Republic have in common is the IP.

[Luvbunny]

Leveled my DRK 0-72 with a PLD and NIN friends static trio fighting IT mobs the entire way. Was great fun. Book burning and leeching are easier and faster, noone can argue that. But there is still a good time to be had partying old school if speed is not a concern.

The game is definitely more fun to be played with your friends. GoV boost the exp gain when you trio, and yeah abyssea is not everything, you can easily get to 99 doing normal camp using book burning in dungeons - with much better results for skill cap. The problem is finding 5 other players to static, but the best thing about this game now, we have so many options that suits our play style :) Personally I like to do abyssea around level 60s-70s, I mean at the end of the day, I will still have to do skill ups either way, might as well go there with a good amount of skilled rather than start at level 30s.