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Couple questions about this:
1. Where the hell is the Lycopodium that's supposed to be at f5 in batallia downs? It's for the mini quest Lycopodium Warps so that I can get up onto the isolated plateau.
2. What is the best way to get to Xarcabard?
3. Where should I be soloing at lvl 36 whitemage? I have no expansions (free trial).
1. Approximately 20 years back to the past.
2. Traditionally by traveling via the Ranguemont Pass and the Beaucedine Glacier, though I suppose it's possible to "cheat" by using a smidge of Unity Concord magic (not sure if available for free trial).
3. I suppose all the common places are off-limits (free trial), so, incidentally, perhaps the aforementioned Glacier and Xarcabard might work. Other than that, can only really think of caves such as the Labyrinth of Onzozo and the Gustav Tunnel, though those might be a bit tough still.
To expand on answer 1 since FFXI is now old enough that "20 years in the past" could mean "it existed early in the game's life and was removed":
There are two versions of the Batallia Downs zone. The only one you would have access to on the free trial, the "present-day" version, does not have the lycopodium you need in it. The Wings of the Goddess expansion introduced "past" versions of several zones, including that one, and those are where you would find any lycopodiums.
I see, thanks Zenion. You've been very helpful.
Still wondering how to get to Xarcabard, though, because the maps are vague, and if I can't get to the lycopodium there should be another way, since xarcabard was included in the original game and I should have access to it.
If the game goes on sale in the next while, for either black friday or christmas or whatever, I'll buy it, but I'm trying to get as far as I can for the time being. Thanks for any help!
Okay, so, the Batallia - Beaucedine thing... it's best to think of that as a one-way exit from Beaucedine Glacier to Batallia Downs. That's how it was for a long time, and still is if you can't do the quest in Wings of the Goddess now; you get access to a fenced-off part of Batallia from Beaucedine, but can't really go back that way easily.
Instead, you'd need to find Ranguemont Pass, accessed in the northeast corner of East Ronfaure. That'll run directly to Beaucedine Glacier, and is the main "first visit" way to get there (absolutely do not forget to examine the Survival Guide in Beaucedine Glacier to make getting back easier!) Then it's just a long and torturous zig-zag climb up the zone's cliffs, and you find the exit to Xarcabard somewhere around the northwest corner of the map. Again, once here, make sure to find and examine the Survival Guide.
There's also the, uh... "cheating"... method Dragoy mentions. It's really not, it just sort of feels like it since it bypasses all of the actual adventuring to get there and just, poof, drops you in the zone. 100% recommend for a second playthrough, not so much for a first. That would involve signing up for Unity Concord (requires the Records of Eminence objective "All For One", in the Tutorial category, which itself requires ten other Records of Eminence objectives to have been completed first.) Once that's done, you can talk to the relevant NPCs in Windurst Woods, Southern San d'Oria, or Bastok Markets, and they'll offer to teleport you to a Unity Wanted encounter area for a fee of 100 Unity Accolades (earned from some Records of Eminence objectives.) One of the Unity Wanted NMs lives in Xarcabard, so once you figure out the kinda weird way destination selection works you can just... warp on out there. That said... I'm with Dragoy in not knoqing whether that's available to free trial players? Try it and see, I guess, and if you can, you can.
Again though, that really does take a lot away from the experience, if it's your first time playing it's nice to let the world feel big for a while, so probably stick with Ranguemont Pass. Remember to either learn Sneak and Invisible before the trip or pack some Silent Oils and Prism Powders, because there are some monsters along the way that you absolutely do not want to be spotted by. You might consider fighting lower-level monsters there for experience though, some of the bats and goblins will be about your level. Remember that /check is your friend!
To get to Xarcabard, I would go through Ranguemont Pass, yes, but then make sure you have done the mount quest in Upper Jeuno cause you can now use mounts in Beaucedine Glacier so you can mount all the way to Castle Zvahl, which makes things a lot safer & quicker. Make sure you get all survival guides, warp points, etc along the way.