New player with a few questions.

Greetings, everyone. I recently purchased the game after several days of playing the free trial.

I've been playing an Arcanist (level 31) and have a few question about the rotation. The basic rotation seems to be Bio II > Miasma > Bio I (virus/bane, if needed) > Ruin, I can't seem to effectively use the ability "Aeroflow" ability in my rotation as it both gives a buff (that allows for both "Energy Drain" and "Bane" ) and restores MP, with it's fairly lengthy cooldown (60s) I'm not sure how to use it effectively.

A question about appearance, is it possible to save an armor set that looks pleasing while using an armor set that is better statistically? I haven't seen a such a system as of yet, so it's possible that I missed it.

Is a class specialization featured in the game? If so, how does it work? What cross class skills should I be using(Thaumaturge 10, Conjurerer 4)? The only one I've found to be of use is "Surecast," suggestions would be welcome.


Thanks in advance.

swift cast , is the main one and im fairly new as well id say i wouldnt worry bout cool gear until level 50 when u can glamour ur own clothes and also have u decided on whether u are gona play scholar or summoner or both , for me personally i just use bio one masina cant spell , bio two then bane but Im not sure how much the order matters but more experience players can prob tell u

Hello and welcome to the game! :)

Since you're Arcanist and level 30+, you should go for either Summoner (damage dealer) or Scholar (healer). You can unlock them both at level 30. You need level 15 Conjurer to unlock Scholar and level 15 Thaumaturge to unlock Summoner. Both unlock quests start from the Arcanists' guild. The cross-class skills you need depends on which one you're going for. Summoner needs at least Raging Strikes (Archer level 4), Quelling Strikes (Archer level 34, don't necessarily need right away), and Swiftcast (Thaumaturge level 26). Scholar needs Swiftcast (Thaumaturge level 26), Aero (Conjurer level 4), Cleric Stance (Conjurer level 6), Protect (Conjurer level 8), and Stoneskin (Conjurer level 34).

Using Aetherflow becomes clearer when you get higher level and get more abilities to use the stacks on. The basic advice is, you should use it whenever it becomes available, so use your stacks before that (if there's something useful to use them on, if not, don't worry about it).

Please note that Virus doesn't do any damage but instead it lowers the damage of the enemy you're using it on, and it also adds an immunity to Virus for 60 seconds on the target you use it on. When you reach higher levels, you may want to leave its use for the Scholar in the group.

You should definitely unlock Summoner, Scholar, or both. After that, any advice will depend on which you go for.

As for the gear appearance question, there is a feature (referred to as glamour) that lets you apply the appearance of one item onto a different item, but it can't be unlocked until you reach level 50 on at least one class. (Once you get that far, the quest to unlock it is "A Self-improving Man".) Until then, you have to settle for a gearset with your best stats for dungeons or difficult quests, and perhaps another better looking one for simple running around content. Oh, you do get to at least dye your equipment earlier if that helps. (The quest for that is at level 15, Color Your World" in Western Thanalan.)

As others have said you should definitely unlock one of ARN's jobs asap. As for Aetherflow, use it whenever it is up. If you still have stacks when Aetherflow becomes available use them on Energy Drain. Energy Drain does damage as well as restoring HP/MP so if nothing else it can be used as an instant cast nuke. Once you Get Ruin II at 38, you can weave it in with Energy Drain for extra damage as a last resort (ie Energy Drain, Ruin II, Energy Drain). Aetherflow stacks and their management become increasing important as you level higher as a summoner or scholar, so you will want to get in the habit of being aware of the aetherflow timer. With a few exceptions, you are never going to want to sit on aetherflow at higher levels.

As above, you need to decide whether you want to run as a healer or dps. If you're unsure which one is the best fit for you, just remember you can freely change between the jobs at any time. Also, on the plus side, when you level arcanist, you also level both the scholar and summoner jobs. You still have to collect weapon and armor sets for both roles (since one is a healer and one is a caster, you will need to keep 2 sets of armor and weapons starting from lv.50+), but it's something you can keep in mind if you want options. If you have any specific questions or concerns about the jobs, feel free to ask below.

As mentioned before: you will want to get your thaumaturge, conjurer, and archer to lv.26 and 34 respectively, for all the necessary skills at end-game. However, for now, simply get your Archer and Conjurer to lv.15 so you can class change. You can do this very easily by doing the 1st hunting log for your classes, any FATEs along the way (approximately 3-5 FATEs), and your lv5 to 15 guildhests (you get the bonus exp the first time you do a guildhest with the class, for all classes). It's not a terrible grind as they all teach you the basics for playing and introduce you to unique mechanics (such as your rotation for THM and strafing/kiting for ARC).

FF14 has this tendency to start players off very simply and to introduce its core mechanics early on. Get in the practice of using Aetherflow as soon as it's up. If you're not using all the charges now, that's fine. Starting from lv.40 on, you'll get more abilities that use the charges. Aetherflow is a very necessary and important resource for you to manage at later levels, so it's fine if you're still learning to conserve the charges at lv.30. Trust me when I say you will soon wish for more charges.

If I were to explain its importance: Scholars use it to use their most powerful healing abilities, whereas summoners use it for their most powerful damage abilities. In other words, Aetherflow is directly linked to your ability to burst heal and burst damage as a Scholar/Summoner. Keep it up always, and try to maximize the most out of it. As a general rule of thumb: think tactically and strategically with Aetherflow. It's a resource that resets every 60 seconds (or about once for every mob group). Try to decrease the time each encounter takes. This can be done with bane to spread your dot damage to multiple enemies at once (providing you with very good aoe damage), you can use drain for a small amount of burst damage, or (as summoner) use it to inflict massive burst damage on a single, troublesome/priority target you've inflicted with your dots. Alternatively, as a Scholar, use it to perform massive heals instantly. The most common use of this for scholars is that they can spend more time in cleric stance doing damage, letting the tank drop down to low hp, before needing to switch out of cleric and using their aetherflow to heal the tank to full (or to perform an emergency heal because someone didn't dodge a telegraphed aoe).

Welcome to the game and hope to see you at lv.50 or higher soon!

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Originally Posted by Anova

you will want to get your thaumaturge, conjurer, and archer to lv.32 eventually for all the necessary skills at end-game. However, for now, simply get your Archer and Conjurer to lv.15 so you can class change.

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Well, the thaumaturge only needs to get to 26 for all its cross-class skills. That's the one needed for either summoner or scholar.
Plus you'll eventually want either conjurer or archer to 34 depending on which job you're pursuing (both if you're using both jobs), but as a starting point to 15 for the job unlocks.

From a pure time commitment aspect. I recommend playing SMN for all the story quests and swtich to Scholar for the dungeons and duties.
Dungeon XP is better than anything you can do in the open world.
There are a few spots alone the story quest where you will run out of quests to do and still be to low a level for the next story quest.
DPS queues as you have seen (being ACN to start) take significantly longer. As a scholar you will queue within a minute most of the time.

Thanks to all of you that replied. I'll be choosing Summoner after taking a look at my chooses, I quite like the DOT stacking playstyle. Speaking on Aeroflow, seems I was approaching it backwards (typical videogame dilemma, if X is good: never use X in fear of wasting it). What of virus? I am aware it is a debuff, but should I bother using it or is it not worth using my MP? Additionally, should I use pets or are they more of a liability in dungeons?

I'm glad to hear I'll get access to appearance customization, I do like having that feature. I'll definitely get to level thaumaturge/archer to get Cross-class skills that I'll need.

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Originally Posted by Ninja-Gyles

Additionally, should I use pets or are they more of a liability in dungeons?

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You should always be using a pet. They are a major portion of your damage. You should also always have them on Obey though. If you are in a party with a tank you will want to use either Summon I (emerald/garuda) or Summon III (ifrit).