General FFXIV Questions

Hey all,

Sorry if this is in the wrong section but there's so many bloomin' sub forums I wasn't really sure where to start :D As I've yet to get a keyboard for my PlayStation 3 I thought it best to ask a few questions on here, as opposed to spending 5 minutes typing a single question among the flood of gold spamming :D

Leveling
Is FATE grinding really the fastest way to level? I really don't enjoy them as I feel any individual skill or ability goes out the window, it's just a button mash for the most part. I'm guessing this will change with more difficult ones but at my current level, I struggle to find them entertaining. That and attracting all the aggro (as a tank) just appears to end in a rather swift trip to my home point. Are there any other non-obvious methods to leveling at a decent pace?

Speed Runs
I've been in two groups now where they've requested speed runs in a dungeon. As a tank, and the person assigned to grabbing all the aggro, I'd like more information to better prepare myself. Are speed runs viable or does the loss of general mob killing exp make it a waste of time?

Class exp bonus
I recall reading a tutorial pop-up that said your lower classes get bonus experience points depending on your highest level class. Is there any more information or a formula? Do I get a bigger bonus every 5 levels etc.

Chocobos
I unlocked my Chocobo last night but I find the information to be lacking. I can see a screen with roles, experience points etc, but my Chocobo appears to be little more than a mount. Is there something I'm missing or does that aspect come into play a little later?

Grand Company Promotion
Having unlocked my Chocobo I'm looking at getting promoted. I recall having an option currently unavailable as the first rank. I don't have game access at the moment and I can't remember what it was called. Something about Grand Deliveries? >.< Are these worth it or?

Targeting
I find targeting to be a real pain on the PlayStation 3. Having to switch between enemy targets is vital as a tank but quite often find I'm targeting nearby levers, doors etc. Is there any way to improve that?

Class/Job
As I've literally just dived into Marauder I'm at a bit of a loss in regards to other classes. Are there any skills/combo's that the community expects a Marauder to have? I plan on going for 15 Gladiator after reaching 30, but just wanted to be sure I haven't missed anything

Achievements Reward
I found a guy in one of the towns that's meant to offer rewards based on completed achievements. Is there a list of achievements/rewards or is it based on overall achievement score?

Aggro
I've recently been grouping with BLM that are obsessed with sleeping everything in sight. Despite the fact the dungeons are simple, AoE's are fast and I'm best suited for multiple target tanking. Anyway, do mobs that are slept or otherwise incapacitated still incur aggro from other sources such as healing?

Bank/Sort
I guess the Armory was meant to make things simple but god is it annoying. Is there a bank or a way I can sort my inventory? I have a starting weapon and tool for every class and bits inbetween, but they're all over the place. Why can't you display only the current classes items? Am I missing something here also?

I realize some, if not all, of these questions probably have answers somewhere but I'm hoping some of you friendly people can put them all into one place for me.

Any information is greatly appreciated,

Dracamere.

Thanks for the edit tip Kagato :D

Hopefully I can answer at least some of your questions.

1. FATEs are designed as one of the better ways to level in ARR, but it's not the only way. When you completed your level 10 main storyline quest, you would have also unlocked something called guildleves, also called levequests, which are like repeatable quests stripped of lore down to their basic gameplay. At each outpost/camp/village, you'll see a special npc with a card icon above their head and a title called 'levemete' - speaking to this npc will allow you to undertake levequests, which require you to complete specific tasks (like kill special enemies in a certain time).

Levequests are not just for melee and casting classes either - there are specific levequests for gathering and crafting classes as well, which involve things such as having to create a specific item or gathering certain materials from certain places. Levequests give a large amount of exp for completion and also will net other rewards like gil and items so they're well worth undertaking.

Be aware though that to do each levequest reqiuires a 'leve allowance', of which you can only have a maximum 100, and that when you unlock the ability to do leves you start with zero, but that you are awarded 3 leve allowances every 6 real life hours. This is to stop players just grinding on leves over and over again. But they're still well worth doing.

Another way of gaining exp is when you complete each class's initial class quest, you unlock what is called the Hunting Log. This is similar in a way to the training regimes in FFXI, where you have a list of specific monsters to kill in certain quantities. Each monster type listing you complete will net you a nice amount of bonus exp as well as the normal exp with each monster you killed, and completing a page will gain you an even larger exp bonus. Unlike training regimes though, they cannot be repeated, but will advance to a new page once you reach it's required level (for instance, page 1 is level 1-10 monsters, page 2 10-20, page 3 level 20-30 etc). Once you join a Grand Company you will also gain a special Grand Company Hunting Log as well which is pretty much the same except you will also gain Company Seals as well as exp and gil.

Otherwise besides FATEs, sidequests and main scenario quests also give exp, but of course, these aren't repeatable.

2. From what I understand players like to speed run dungeons because the faster you complete a dungeon, you will receive an exp bonus for it (and if you happen to have a player who hasn't done that dungeon before, they will gain an even larger exp bonus if completed quickly.) I'm not sure if it affects drop rates for loot at the end, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

3. Apparently attaining level 50 in one class will gain you a 50% exp bonus for all classes below that, but I'm not sure as to the precise mechanics of how that works. You do however also gain an exp bonus for all classes if you spend time in a sanctuary (usually a town or outpost with an aetheryte), or your inn room. You can tell you have rested exp by checking your exp bar at the bottom of the screen - a highlighted but unfilled yellow or blue section is the amount of exp that is 'rested' and will be boosted as it's filled in.

4. Once you have your Grand Company chocobo at level 30 you can undertake a further quest that allows you to call it as a Companion in battle, and those roles are how it performs in battle. It can be quite a help if you are soloing, but naturally cannot be brought into story instances or dungeons.

5. You can get a promotion in your Grand Company by talking to one of the Grand Company npcs at your specific Grand Company headquarters - to do so requires usually a specific amount of Grand Company seals, which you gain by doing FATEs (the easiest way), or completing the Grand Company Hunting Log. I think to get a promotion from one rank title to another (such as Private to Sergeant) requires a quest to be completed, but I'm not sure on that.

6. I play on the PC and have little knowledge of PS3 controls sadly so I can't help you there I'm afraid.

7. My MRD is only level 15 so I don't have much exp with it, but I do know that it's considered a tanking class, and hence, any ability you can use which helps with restoring HP, mitigating damage (like boosting DEF) and boosting hate would be the best to go for. A good idea would be to check the Tank Role sub forum and see what players recommend there.

8. Achievement awards are listed under Achievements in the Personal Logs menu of the game - clicking the little triangle button under the relevant achievement will inform you of what the reward is, and how much you've done to complete that objective.

9. I'm not too sure about if Sleep erases already built up hate, but when I've done dungeons and used Flash the mobs when awoken by someone else do not go for me, so I guess it does erase hate. But someone else is probably better qualified for answering this question.

10. When you join a Free Company (FFXIV's version of a player Guild), members have access to a central bank in the form of a Company Chest. Otherwise, as you progress in the game's storyline you will gain the ability to hire a retainer which is an npc who is more like extra storage space for your character (retainers are also used for selling items on the Market Board). Once you have a retainer, you can summon them by finding a 'summoning bell' in various places in each city (a bell is also found in the inn room). As for sorting your inventory, I'm not sure if there is an autosort function in the game yet, but I know it has been requested by players in the past.

Phew! I hope this has helped. :)

Many thanks for the information :D If anyone else has anything to add, it would be very much appreciated

As this is a topic for general questions, with lower level players clearly in mind, may I add one of my own please, hopefully without being accused of hijacking the topic? Incidentally, I found Enkidoh's response really useful, thanks for both that and the OP's questions that triggered it!

I am by nature a soloer in MMOs, as I like to take things at my own pace. To what extent are group-based dungeons required in the game, how tolerant are most groups of those not used to either the dungeons or the grouping needed for them, and how do people see them working out once the initial rush is over and most players are at endgame (a concept anathema to me, I play for the journey rather than the destination), is it generally thought that dungeon groups at lower levels will be difficult to find once most players have moved on to the higher level stuff?

Let me get you some answers, Tandor.
From your forum information I presume you're doing it on Gladiator so as a tank you've in very high demand. Group-based dungeons are downright mandatory, they are required for main quest progress and main quest progress is required to unlock further quests in other areas, unless you plan to live solely by levequests.

Most DF groups i've been with have had extremely friendly people even when they are the derpiest, with just about one group with a certain 'gem' of an arcanist. Then again, there are quite a few complaints about bad partymates around in regards to the DF so I don't know what to say. If you're in the same DF cluster as Excalibur I can at least say that in off-peak hours people are overall nice.

Cpt - I am also a tank on the PS3 and feel your pain with the targeting. What has helped me immensely is using one of the built in macros (target nearest). It really helps on targeting the first enemy of a group, tagging it, pulling its aggro and moving on to other incoming adds. Once you have the first enemy selected you can just cycle through with R1 or L1, or spam the target nearest macro as needed.

I also suggest placing a filter on your targeting settings to be "only enemies", while in the dungeon, it helps a lot. You can change that through the user settings in the main menu.

Best of luck to you!

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Originally Posted by CaptainCamper

Targeting
I find targeting to be a real pain on the PlayStation 3. Having to switch between enemy targets is vital as a tank but quite often find I'm targeting nearby levers, doors etc. Is there any way to improve that?

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I don't find it that much of a pain. Just mark your targets before and then you can very quickly cycle through until you get to the next target. Also, you can use targeting filters. So you can filter out all the extra stuff. The only problem then is that you can't activate things easily or at all. My best advice just use the next enemy in line as your next target for trash mobs. If you just keep your main target selected and move your temporary target you will switch back automatically after you do an action. (Also helpful for healers.)

Also, as a Marauder you have "Overpower" if you use that fairly ofter you really don't need to worry about targeting as it hits everyone in a cone.

Also, If you just clear off the target entirely, you can just press 'x' when facing the target with your camera and it should target it automatically most times.

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a specific amount of Grand Company seals, which you gain by doing FATEs (the easiest way), or completing the Grand Company Hunting Log.

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There's more ways to get seals than that. There are GC levequests, provisioning missions (which want crafted items) and supply missions (which want gathered items). I'm hoping Caravan escorts will come back soon.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

3. Apparently attaining level 50 in one class will gain you a 50% exp bonus for all classes below that, but I'm not sure as to the precise mechanics of how that works. You do however also gain an exp bonus for all classes if you spend time in a sanctuary (usually a town or outpost with an aetheryte), or your inn room. You can tell you have rested exp by checking your exp bar at the bottom of the screen - a highlighted but unfilled yellow or blue section is the amount of exp that is 'rested' and will be boosted as it's filled in.

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Don't need to be 50. You always get a 50% boost (on top of rested) for monster kills and fate xp rewards when you play on any battle class that's lower than your highest battle class.