Help needed! :)

Hey there guys, I'm a new ps4 player and I was wondering about a few things. Not sure if this is a good place to go but figured since I'm new and needed help this was the right spot. :p

1. I'm a thermometer mage (I call them that jokingly lol) and was wondering should I invest in a 2h staff or a wand/shield?

2. Is there a way to craft gear of my own? I know this is a beta but the only way I can get good gear is through NPCs and I feel like there should be an alternate way.

3. can I change the color of my gear? Some of this stuff is kind of fruity :P

4. what's a good way to make money? I've been sticking to quests and selling things I don't use but other than that I'm pretty poor.

thanks everyone! In case you were wondering I'm level 13 (almost 14) and I'm planning on playing this game for quite some time so I'm not worried about stuff taking too long.

I'll see if I can take a crack at your questions:

1. You'll end up doing both, I'm sure at some point in the game. Some levels you'll use a staf, some wand/sheild. Go with whatever you have access to that has more base damage and primary stats (INT). More damage=bigger hits=better dps

2. I'm not sure of how it is in the beta, but in the full game, once you hit level 10 you'll have access to change your class by speaking to the guildmaster/receptionist in the area for that class. Crafting classes are just like battle classes, they have a primary weapon that you'll eqiup and turn into a crafter, instead of a mage.

3. Sure, during the course of the game, you run across someone who will teach you how to dye. Only some gear can be dyed. Green or blue drops usually cannot. There is a glamor system to, but I'm sure if you search you can find info on that too.

4. Your questing will add up for sure. Try not to buy gear, instead run dungeons when you can, and rerun them to try to eqiup your character, in the long run that will save you a ton! Gathering and crafting can also make a profit too.

Thanks for the info!

But why are there crafting classes? Also, if I change crafting classes how would I go about crafting? The beta hasn't really mentioned anything about it that I can remember.

I was also wondering if this was a game much like WoW where gear pretty much has the same stats, but there are very few actual rare weapons in which you can do raids and stuff for. Meaning, if I did dungeons for weapons they'd pretty much all have the same stats but there are huge boss monsters I can fight to get orange weapons.

You can get a lot of armor by doing Levequests. And Levequests are a good way to make money, too. They are available starting at level 1, so check the main cities to get started on them.

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Originally Posted by Goldhawk

But why are there crafting classes? Also, if I change crafting classes how would I go about crafting?

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There are 8 different crafting classes and they craft different things. For example, Weavers make most cloth clothing, Blacksmiths make most weapons, etc.

It's been a long time, but IIRC, when you join a crafting guild (after you hit level 10 on your initial class), you get trained in the basics of crafting.

You could easily level up your crafting ones to suport your battle classes. The is a bit of differences between the gear you craft and the gear you get from dungeons. The reason one may want to craft their own gear is that a crafter can put materia into an item that it can make, to give it extra stats. There's a lot to crafting and how to meld materia and you can find a lot of that info here on the forums.

The easiest route is getting items from bosses and chests in dungeons. To put it in WoW terms, random chests in dungeons can give pink(Wow=green) items, bosses drop green (wow=blue) items...and crafters can make gear that is comparable to blue items, but with adjustable stats.

The main problem with starting crafting early (and you noting that you're having some concerns with funds already) is that it can get expensive. There's also the fact that any gear you may craft....you'll outgrow quickly enough. Dungeon drops are better in terms armor and stat bonuses over those of crafted or vendor items.

Honestly, the biggest benefit to crafted items is the fact that you can attach materia to them later but even then later in the game, the benefit isn't that good...

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Originally Posted by Failia

The main problem with starting crafting early (and you noting that you're having some concerns with funds already) is that it can get expensive. There's also the fact that any gear you may craft....you'll outgrow quickly enough. Dungeon drops are better in terms armor and stat bonuses over those of crafted or vendor items.

Honestly, the biggest benefit to crafted items is the fact that you can attach materia to them later but even then later in the game, the benefit isn't that good...

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But the guy above said crafting is essentially like doing dungeons but you get to customize stats... so if you're correct then how would crafting give you any money?

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Originally Posted by Goldhawk

But the guy above said crafting is essentially like doing dungeons but you get to customize stats... so if you're correct then how would crafting give you any money?

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That's not quite true. The only stats that you get to customize are the pieces of gear that you can add materia to. If there's no materia slots, you can't customize the equipment.

Also, you can't meld materia to equipment until your crafting level is the same level as the gear you want to craft. So, if you're level 25 and looking to meld a piece of materia to a level 25 piece of equipment, for example, you have to be a crafting level 25 in order to be able to meld materia to that peice of equipment. There's also a failure chance for melding as well, where you will lose the materia you want to use and materia itself can be expensive depending on what you want to use (if you don't have any from spiritbonding).

I also forgot to mention that not all gear comes from the same craft. You said you were a mage, and a lot of the gear from that may come from weaving but there are other items that are required to be made that come from other craftskills (for example carpentry or goldsmith).

Would like to quickly note that melding materia to gear that has an empty materia slot on it (green empty circle) the chance is always 100% (provided you have the correct craft and lvl to do so), its overmelding (adding more materia then there are slots) that has a chance a failure.
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Originally Posted by Goldhawk

Thanks for the info!

But why are there crafting classes?

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That's a legacy of the original version of FFXIV which ARR is a reboot of (version 1.0) - for that the Armoury System (the class and ability changing system in the game) was designed so that the player would have full freedom over what they did in the game - it was meant to be more laid back in that the original development team (not the current team that made ARR) envisioned that the player would start on a melee class like Gladiator, kill some enemies, then switch to a mage class like Conjurer to help out a friend in a fight, then during a break would switch to a harvesting class like Botanist and farm materials, then finally switch to a crafting class and make items to use or sell, all by simply equipping the relevant weapon or tool of that class (hence why each class only has one or two weapon or tool types associated with it).

The above was pretty much how SE described the Armoury System on the original FFXIV website (now long gone) and how they suggested players use it. Of course this has been changed considerably with ARR, but the basic idea is still there, in that once you unlock the Armoury System fully and join each class's guild, you're free to switch to any class you like, regardless of whether it's a Disciple of War (melee fighter), Disciple of Magic (mage), Disciple of the Land (harvester) or Disciple of the Hand (crafting).

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Originally Posted by Failia

You said you were a mage, and a lot of the gear from that may come from weaving but there are other items that are required to be made that come from other craftskills (for example carpentry or goldsmith).

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Ah, looks like I should hop on crafting! Got weaving to level 10. I would really like to make gear of my own, and then enchant the crap out of it so I can have a little more of an edge in battle.

Since I am a mage (and will probably stick to mage style attacks/healing) should I invest in a majority of the guilds or just a select few? Going to try to get weaving up as much as I can.

Also, unrelated to crafting:

I was wondering about the style of robes that cover your head so you can't wear a helmet. Is there any way to actually equip any form of headpiece while wearing one of these? (like the evil mages with the masks) Seems odd that they would make a robe like that...though the one I found was pretty spectacular at the time.

There is a slippery slope to crafting in terms of class synergy and cross-class skills. Essentially, you will have an enormous benefit if you have several crafting classes leveled 15 or higher. The additional skills you can access will help guarantee that your items have higher stats and are more reliable (lower failure rate) compared to others. That said though, it is entirely possible to focus on one and then branch out later, especially when you have access to more difficult and/or profitable item recipes.

When leveling your crafting, the fastest way is to use your leves. Leves are available after a quest starting from level 10 (varies depending on starting city). After this quest, you will gain 3 leves every 12 hours, to a maximum of 100. Crafting leves essentially are work orders. You craft a specific item and turn it in to a npc for bonus xp, gold, and items. If the item is High Quality (easier to gain with more crafting classes leveled), you will gain double the xp and gold bonus. This can offset the cost of buying materials for those items and help you level faster.

As a mage, weaving will give you the majority of your armor. Carpentry will provide the majority of conjurer weapons, goldsmith for thaumaturge, and alchemy will make all arcanist weapons.

Cowls, which are armors with the hood, will not allow you to use a headpiece with it. As cool as it would be, there is currently no way to obtain a mask and cowl on your character.

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Originally Posted by Failia

The main problem with starting crafting early (...) is that it can get expensive.

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Only if you don't gather your own mats.

If your doing some crafting look into eventually getting a gathering class (disciple of the land). You know how you have to buy a ton of stuff from the crafting supplier, you can gather them with the gathering classes. As with the diciples of war and magic they're in thier respective cities. Look into that once you progress far enough in the main story to get the airship.

Thanks for the info guys.

Btw, are there more character creation options in the final build? Beta had like none at all and I notice some of you on these boards have really cool looking characters. One guy had the exact same guy as me, but with WAY cooler hair...made him look beast. Can you edit your character after you create him (mostly superficial stuff) or can I only get my hair cut?

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Originally Posted by Goldhawk

Thanks for the info guys.

Btw, are there more character creation options in the final build? Beta had like none at all and I notice some of you on these boards have really cool looking characters. One guy had the exact same guy as me, but with WAY cooler hair...made him look beast. Can you edit your character after you create him (mostly superficial stuff) or can I only get my hair cut?

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There's a quest available around, hrm...15? for the aesthetician (aka barber) that gives you access to change some of the less permenant aspects of your character when you're in your room at the inn. that quest starts in Limsa Lominsa. Also, your avatar displays what you're currently wearing in game so that's why everyone looks the way they do.

You also do get an item called a 'Fantasia' mailed to you after paying for a certain length of time on your subscription - a Fantasia allows you to completely change all aspects of your character (except name, guardian and birthdate) once only. Apparently SE will be offering more Fantasias for sale as optional services at a later date on the Mogstation, but at the moment, you can only get one (if you had a character from version 1.0 you're sent a second one though, as a lot of 1.0 players messed up recreating their characters during the transfer).

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Originally Posted by Goldhawk

Also, unrelated to crafting:

I was wondering about the style of robes that cover your head so you can't wear a helmet. Is there any way to actually equip any form of headpiece while wearing one of these? (like the evil mages with the masks) Seems odd that they would make a robe like that...though the one I found was pretty spectacular at the time.

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The only Robe I see that has a mask is the Seer's Cowl which is level 38 & item level 40.
http://img.finalfantasyxiv.com/lds/p...png?1392604701