Returning Player Looking for Some Advice

Hello, I have returned to Final Fantasy XIV just yesterday, having been away from the game for around a year.

I have a level 50 Black Mage which I levelled during my playing days, however it is not geared and I did not do any of the level 50 content.

So now after coming back, I have purchased the expansion Heavensward, My question is after being away for so long, where do I start on what should I be doing quest wise etc?.

What do I need to do in terms of importance such as certain quests or classes to level?.

And what requirements do I need to reach the expansion content?.

I had planned to level each class to 30 first before deciding on a main class to get to 50 and experience the expansion, any suggestions on where to start would be great.

to put simply, any advice to a returning player who remembers 0 about the game and has no idea about any of the patches etc but is looking to get back in the swing of it.

Cheers

Go to completed quest log, find last MSQ you did and start from there.

1: Have patience. Since you've been gone, there's been a TON of story stuffs unfolded since the regular Main Story Quests (MSQ) ended. Just getting to Heavensward content could net you anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks worth of story content, depending on how active you are.

2: Enjoy the story. I know you wanna get to where everyone is asap, but if you deprive yourself of the story you're missing a really big element of the game.

3: Make sure you have all your subclass abilities that you're gonna need. Most of them are pretty much done by 32 since everything above that level seems to start specializing.

4: Check the market boards for iLvl gear that you can use for some of the updated content. Unless you want to get some of the more hardcore gear, most of the main story quests should be doable with armor that is fairly accessible to the casual gamer. Check all options.

5: Check the inn and the "Unending Journey" to jog your memory of what has occurred.

What a lot of these folks are saying. If you've done none of you MSQ since 2.0 then you have a ways to go. But no worries. All level 50 quests now grant EXP. You'll just have to pick up with 2.1 and make your way through 2.55. Nothing to harsh these days. You'll earn poetics which can be spent on ilvl 120 gear in Mor Dhona.

Though the "required" ilvl to get to the expansion is 90. That being the case because the final "boss" fight for MSQ requires i90.

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Originally Posted by Shinzra

Hello, I have returned to Final Fantasy XIV just yesterday, having been away from the game for around a year.

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Welcome back! :)

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I have a level 50 Black Mage which I levelled during my playing days, however it is not geared and I did not do any of the level 50 content.

So now after coming back, I have purchased the expansion Heavensward, My question is after being away for so long, where do I start on what should I be doing quest wise etc?

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You should start off by picking up where your Main Scenario Quests left off, this will give you a good idea of where to start. Some dungeons are unlocked from the MSQ while others are side quests.

This has a list of all the dungeons and how they're unlocked, unlocking them all will give you access to your High Level, Trial, and Low Level roulettes which will grant you EXP and tomes used for upgrading your armor. Minimum ilevel for the last of the dungeons are i90.

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What do I need to do in terms of importance such as certain quests or classes to level?

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Your MSQs are the most important as you cannot enter Isgard until you have completed 2.55 which was the last of the ARR quests right before Heavensward.

As for classes to level, you can level as many or as little as you want, that is up to you. It's important to play a class that you enjoy, or you won't really enjoy the game. :) However you should have the classes that give you cross class abilities leveled to whatever level allows you to access these abilities (for Black Mage your most important is really Raging Strikes from Archer/Bard, which you get super early on).

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And what requirements do I need to reach the expansion content?

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Firstly, you need to be level 50 to accept the quests at this point.

Secondly, you must have completed the story up to patch 2.55. This is the end of the A Relm Reborn's story and the beginning of Heavensward.

Thirdly, you must be at least i90 (don't worry, the main story quests reward you with gear, i110 I believe. And the dungeons you have to run for the main story may also drop items you may use. Tomestones of Poetics allow you to buy i120 gear in Mor Dhona from the vendor next to Aelina (I don't remember the NPC's name at the momet)).

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I had planned to level each class to 30 first before deciding on a main class to get to 50 and experience the expansion, any suggestions on where to start would be great.

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That sounds like a perfectly fine idea. I got all my classes to level 30 when I first started playing as well because I wasn't sure if I'd like White Mage or not.

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to put simply, any advice to a returning player who remembers 0 about the game and has no idea about any of the patches etc but is looking to get back in the swing of it.

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If you remember 0 about the game, I'd suggest going to Summerford Farms. There is a series of Striking Dummies there and you can read your spell info and allow you to test them out without anything damaging you (you can also switch classes in there without having your cooldowns trigger). Testing your skills is the best way to get used to them again.

Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by Shinzra

I had planned to level each class to 30 first before deciding on a main class to get to 50 and experience the expansion, any suggestions on where to start would be great.

to put simply, any advice to a returning player who remembers 0 about the game and has no idea about any of the patches etc but is looking to get back in the swing of it.

Cheers

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If you want to play the expansion any time soon, don't do this. Even though leveling is faster than it was, it will still take you a long time AND you have a lot of level 50 quests to get through before heavensward. Up to you though, if you don't mind waiting it's not a bad idea.

yh, I mostly want to try levelling the other classes as from what I remember of black mage the actual rotation and play style was rather dull, has that changed much or at 60 is it better?

Thank's

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Originally Posted by Selli

Thirdly, you must be at least i90 (don't worry, the main story quests reward you with gear, i110 I believe. And the dungeons you have to run for the main story may also drop items you may use. Tomestones of Poetics allow you to buy i120 gear in Mor Dhona from the vendor next to Aelina (I don't remember the NPC's name at the momet)).

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To expand on this a bit, as a Paladin by running nothing but the story I had the potential to have everything i110 except a single ring, since there is only one i110 ring that I am aware of, and it is unique. By the time you hit Heavensward you would even have enough tomes to upgrade something to i120. I managed both my shield and body, though I did have the new bonus from the last 2 dungeons of the 2.0 part of the story.

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Originally Posted by Shinzra

yh, I mostly want to try levelling the other classes as from what I remember of black mage the actual rotation and play style was rather dull, has that changed much or at 60 is it better?

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I haven't leveled a DPS to 60 yet, I main healers. But from what my static mates tell me, the new skills from 52->60 do indeed change your rotation a lot. I personally liked BLM's dull rotation, it was easy for me to pick up since my instinct is to heal everyone, LOL.