I have played tons of other MMOs like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. I know there are mounts and chocobo friends in this MMO but I'm a little confused how it is supposed to work.
In a nutshell, you can unlock chocobos at level 20 but you have to get an egg from a specific city somewhere (Jeuno?) and you have to raise them for approx 30 days before they are rideable, but they have to be raised right for different roles and they'll die of old age someday? But like... how long do they last before they die and are they expensive and worthwhile to invest in?
What's the difference between a chocobo and a standard mount? Is there a mount that you just buy and it just works, no raising/dying/training involved? I kind of just want to run around faster. :)
[Question] Mounts / Chocobos
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06-13-2026, 03:02 PMtrashpanda[Question] Mounts / Chocobos
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06-13-2026, 04:12 PMMnejing
Standard mounts are the same speed as rental chocobos. The chocobo you can register as a mount can be faster, but you have to raise its stats accordingly within chocobo raising.
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06-13-2026, 09:45 PMCatmatoYou've got some wires crossed here. You don't need to raise a chocobo to ride one. Once you complete the quest for obtaining the chocobo license, you can ride a chocobo and then do the quest to unlock mounts.Quote:
Originally Posted by trashpanda
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06-14-2026, 03:48 AMVoidstormThe max movement speed is rental chocobo speed. Raised chocobo can be significantly slower though. Not really an issue if you only use chocobo for digging.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnejing
EDIT: Flee speed is the same speed. And so are all mounts aside from your personal chocobo. -
06-14-2026, 09:01 AMtrashpandaAh I see... So you can just rent/buy chocobos? Do they also die at some point and is it expensive to be constantly renting them? How long do they last for?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnejing
And is there an easy way to get to Jeuno? I'm totally new-ish so since I'm starting out in Bastok... Do you know if it's a long journey from Bastok? :P -
06-14-2026, 09:02 AMtrashpanda
Do a lot of people use chocobos for other things than travel? I see they have a ton of features, but I think I've only seen one person who was using one so far.
I'm still learning about features that some people never seem to use anymore and other little-known features that can completely change your gameplay. -
07-05-2026, 10:37 PMSodaru
Not sure if you ever found your answer, but the way renting chocobos works is simply going to the stable in town, and paying a fee in gil. You get them for a certain amount of time, and when that runs out you dismount automatically and the chocobo runs back to town.
There is a quest to get a mount, which you can call for free after you complete the quest. It has limitations like it can't be used in dungeons, so only in open areas. The base one you get is a raptor, but you can unlock lots of others like a chocobo, a crab, adamantoise, etc.
Renting/riding does require a license though, which you need to be level 20 and do a quest in Jeuno to acquire. I believe the quickest way is to join a unity and then use the unity warp to get "close" to Jeuno. However, having played at the game's launch, I can say the most satisfying experience is to hoof it from a starting town. You might die, but it's defiantly fun. Reraise scrolls are your friend :) -
07-07-2026, 05:51 AMDzspdref
Once you have finished raising a chocobo and getting your chocobo whistle, you can then use that to register it in Upper Jeuno so it shows up as "Chocobo" in your mounts menu.
You also have the option in Chocobo Circuit to register it for races. -
07-08-2026, 04:25 AMDragoy
There is no dying in FFXI. :]
While raising a chocobo, they do get retired, but they, too, never die.
I've lost count on how many I raised since 2005, but I never did it too much after I got one that is as fast as it can be, and another that digs really well... but about two years ago, I got my first not-yellow one when getting eggs for a friend for their traits... a green one... from two yellow ones, so I started raising at least two at a time all the time. For science.
They show their colour at day 19, and so far I've got zarrro lucky again. At least two chocobos per 19 days for over a year. Fun!
In any case, I do always use my chocobo instead of the mounts, and there are some fun cutscenes one can enjoy when doing the chocobo races in all of the 3 racing teams (some kind of hidden backstory on Sakura for example!), and there are useful items that can be dug using them, but I'm not sure it's really worth the time. I do admit I have not been digging for so many ages past, and they did add some new items to it, so it is better, but probably not a game-changer still.
But yeah, as mentioned, if you just want to get around faster, the mount quest is there, and well, best do that too in any case! -
07-12-2026, 11:34 AMAlhanelemOriginally renting chocobos in a city was the only way to mount. And the rental was only good for a period of time, until you dismount. You couldn't just call a mount whenever like you can today. Later, they introduced chocobo raising and racing. This was when you could get your own (permanent) chocobo, but it takes a long time (weeks of real time) to raise them and the BEST speed you can achieve is the same as the rental chocobos- however raised chocobos do have other attributes that affect how they perform in chocobo racing.Quote:
Ah I see... So you can just rent/buy chocobos? Do they also die at some point and is it expensive to be constantly renting them? How long do they last for?