Hi All. Few questions.

Hello all, I will keep it brief. There are things in game I am wondering about and since I finally figured out how to post here, I can finally ask:

1) Where can I read up on boss fights? I have been going in blind and trying not to muck up the groups. The dungeons are easy, but some of the raids have mechanics I am not getting. I would like to read up on them before I go. Suggestions to sites? I googled this and the wiki sucks.

2) What's the protocol on (now I forgot the name), the spells that build during encounters that the whole group has access to? Who generally should be using the big spells? I did a couple times in dungeons when the boss was at 5% because it seems mostly, no one uses the resource. However, in raids, I see people saying leave it for the healers. What's the protocol?

3) How do I find a noob-friendly FC where I can ask them questions as they come up? Part of the appeal of this game, for me, as that I know NOTHING. I am a total noob, have no idea what I am doing, blindly fumbling towards level 80 and loving it.

Thanks All!

1. Before i answer your actual question here, i will point out that its ok to be new and muck up some fights. On normal/story difficulty, everything tends to be easy enough to do blind. Groups expecting you to know a fight youve never done for normal content are being unreasonable. For extreme or savage difficulty looking up a guide first is recommended, but not for normal difficulty stuff. Anyway, your actual question. Text guides dont do much for me, so i dont have a source on them(though im sure someone will mention one). As for visual guides, i tend to watch the ones that Mizzteq does when i want to go over a fight. Her explanations are usually clear, she usually has good video to accompany said explanations, and i find her voice soothing. She doesnt always point to the best strategy(she tends to make the guides when the content is new, and as such the community might not have found/agreed upon a "best" strategy yet), but she almost always has enough info there to understand the underlying mechanics and get through the fight. You can search for her vids on youtube under MTQcapture.

2. Sounds like youre describing the Limit Break. So to understand the "protocol", lets look at what it does. Different roles have access to different LBs. For tanks, the LB acts as a shield reducing incoming damage for a few seconds. For healers, the LB is a big group heal. For melee DPS, the LB is a single powerful hit. For ranged DPS, the LB is a strong line attack. And for caster DPS, the LB is a targetable circle AoE. There are certain fights that can only be survived if a tank uses a level 3 Limit(abreviated LB3) to block a specific attack - otherwise the tank LB is mostly useless. A healer using an LB3 not only heals the group to full but also gets a free insta-rez on any fallen group members in range - a healer LB below level 3 is mostly useless and if the multi-rez isnt needed then it probly isnt the best usage(however holding the LB until the fight is almost over to make sure the multi-rez isnt needed does make some sense). Against a single target, a melee LB3 is the hardest hit in the game. But if you have multiple targets, a ranged/caster LB will outstrip the melee for raw damage done. So in a dungeon, the best usage is typically for a ranged/caster to LB the biggest trash pull they can about halfway through the dungeon then for a melee(or anyone if no melee present) to use the 2nd accrued limit on the final boss. For a raid/trial, saving the LB to see if it is needed and then having a melee use it near the end of the fight is the typical usage. And your instinct isnt wrong, people often forget to use them - especially on easy content.

3. You can only join an FC on your home server(which appears to be Malboro), so asking in game is the easiest way. If you want a group that is noob-friendly, the novice network wouldnt be the worst place to ask.

1) People who want to know the mechanics usually look up a guide on youtube by MTQcapture. Be aware that these guides go into so much detail about each mechanic that it makes them look more complicated than they actually are. The guides can spend a minute explaining a mechanic that only lasts a split second and is obvious in the moment and end up leaving you more nervous than you were before. Fights are designed to introduce mechanics to you one at a time and then test you by doing a few of them at once, if you don't figure it out and die to it, it doesn't matter that much.

2) You are referring to the limit break (usually abbreviated lb). The melee DPS usually uses it on a boss because this is a single-target attack. In a dungeon, ranged DPS can use it on packs of mobs because their one is AOE. In raids the DPS may decide not to use it in case the healer needs it, but this depends on the raid, some of them are not as difficult as they once were because of the item level it syncs to. There is one raid at level 60 and one trial at level 80 where tanks have to use their limit break, but this is usually early in the fight and the bar charges unnaturally fast.

3) You can /shout at Limsa Lominsa, click anyone in front of you and apply to their free company or look at https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...munity_finder/

You can ask anyone with a crown icon to invite you to the Novice Network, where you can ask questions.

Thank you both. I have learned more in less than one day on the forums than I did for weeks in game :) Good to be able to ask these things.

Just a little FYI here but just in case you were going to look for both, Mizzteq and MTQcapture are the same person (Mizzteq being her character's name, and MTQcapture her channel's name). I also watch her guides before going into savage/extreme content.
And it's totally ok to go blind, especially as a DPS. Healers and tanks have a bit more responsibility in knowing mechanics, but even then in normal mode no one really cares :)