quick question from a new player

tbh i don't really know how to phrase what i'm asking but my current and only class is a lvl 17 conjurer and i wanted to try some of the crafting classes. is there any penalty for starting/training a new class? is that recommended at my lvl or is there any suggestions regarding this? there's plenty for me to do now w/ my current class of course, but i don't want to progress higher and get caught up doing neophyte missions when starting a new class. hope that's understandable, only mmo i've ever played was LotRO, lol :p

There are pros and cons to what you intend to do. The easiest answer is 'no, you will not be penalized' for starting and training a new class. Your progress with conjuror will be saved and until you reach the same level as your max level class, you will receive a bonus to your exp earned. Also, It can be argued that leveling a craft, gather and battle all together may be more beneficial as you can make things to assist your war/magic progression.

There's no penalty to starting a new class other than the one you're on now. When I first started, I went to all the guilds I thought I wanted to try and got the starting gear. I leveled them all up a few levels and then continued on with the ones I liked most. It's actually more efficient if you level all the similar classes (like all 3 gathering) at the same time because until you reach level 50, the gear can be shared which saves space in your inventory. Or, you could level the classes that would support your conjurer like weaver, alchemist, or maybe carpenter. If you pick several of the different types of classes, the things you gather may provide you with the items needed to craft gear for your main class. In the end though, high level crafting relies on cross abilities that can be shared from other crafting classes so leveling several classes at a time is ideal.

thx guys, really informative. so i will try to experiment w additional classes. i actually have more questions regarding some mechanics of the game, is there an online resource that you guys frequent or one recommended for beginners?

There are few to no penalties for starting any crafting or gathering classes at lower levels, although higher level benefits do help. You will retain all your levels in your previous class and can switch back to it at any time without penalty. Any new class you obtain will start at lv.1 and you will have to use various means to level it up. Keep in mind the majority of quests are not renewable, so you will be grinding fates, leves, hunting logs, and dungeons for half of your battle classes. It is easier to level those classes because there is a 50% xp bonus associated with all activiites except questing, and cross-class skills and access to better equipment make you more survivable and hit harder.

The biggest limitation to crafting classes is gil. It can cost quite a lot of money to obtain all the necessary materials for crafts. At lower levels, many of your materials will be purchased from npcs. These are not expensive relatively, but you may still feel the pinch on your wallet. After Lv.15 or 20 though, you will become increasingly reliant on your own gathering classes or the marketboards for materials.

The marketboards require you to complete the Lv.17 main scenario quest, Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Doing so unlocks the retainer feature (which provides extra storage slots and lets you buy/sell materials on the marketboard). If you buy materials from the marketboard, be aware there are times when prices are low and prices are high. On Leviathan server for example, many players begin undercutting each other over the weekend. This means it is cheapest to acquire craft materials in bulk starting from Friday and it becomes progressively more expensive afterwards. You can also examine the marketboard's history and find items that are easy to get/make and sell for a good amount of money. Spend some time to learn the sale times for your server to capitalize on profit and minimize costs. The retainer isn't necessary for low-level crafting as you will likely be leveling simply crafting all the gear you will use (at 25% of the cost), but it is useful if you want to craft Lv.20 and higher items quickly and/or sell items to fund yourself.

If you continue your main scenario quests to Lv.20, you will eventually decide to join a grand company company. You can then earn grand company seals to buy a chocobo mount. This will provide improved map movement to help you travel to gathering nodes. It's not strictly necessary since the nodes are relatively close together, but it is more a matter of convenience.

As far as guides on mechanics go, that is a very broad question. Many of the issues are discussed in the relevant subsections of the forums, but I can't point to any site with a consolidated and cataloged database on everything you might want to ask mechanics-wise. A query using google will probably yield most answers, but that assumes you're using the right keywords and terminology in your search. As far as an introduction to those terms though... the new player subsection and class-specific subsections are the best places to pick those up. If you can't find the term you're looking for, your best bet is probably to post the general question or mechanic-in-question on the beginner forums and use the information and terms gleaned to catapult your search.

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Originally Posted by nikstyles

thx guys, really informative. so i will try to experiment w additional classes. i actually have more questions regarding some mechanics of the game, is there an online resource that you guys frequent or one recommended for beginners?

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http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV


http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/FF14_Wiki

http://www.ffxivguild.com/

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Originally Posted by Anova

The marketboards require you to complete the Lv.17 main scenario quest, Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Doing so unlocks the retainer feature (which provides extra storage slots and lets you buy/sell materials on the marketboard).

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They provide extra storage slots and let you sell materials on the marketboard. You can always buy there, regardless of whether you have retainers or not. I still recommend getting a couple retainers before getting far into crafting, but that's more because of the extra storage they provide. Crafting (especially if you're pursuing multiple crafting classes, which is the generally preferred way) involves a lot of materials and ingredients. Your own personal inventory space might get you through your very first tries at crafting stuff, but you'll quickly run out of room before you level your crafting very far.

Especially if you're starting your crafting relatively early in the game, you should pick up the gathering classes as well (or at least miner and botanist). A player who gets to endgame before going back and starting crafting may be rich enough to afford buying all their ingredients, but if you craft early enough to make your own leveling gear, you probably won't have enough cash at that point in the game to just buy everything. If you gather all your ingredients yourself, it's free (though obviously more time-consuming). You'll probably want a mix of gathering most of your ingredients, but occasionally buying a few of the cheaper ones.

I really do recommend getting one job to 50 for unlocking stuff, then leveling your DoL/DoH all at the same time, keeping even pace, since you can share gear and they all support each other. For your remaining battle classes, level up classes that use the same gear together (mages, tanks, physical DPS, though the latter splits up some at higher levels.)

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Originally Posted by Urthdigger

I really do recommend getting one job to 50 for unlocking stuff, then leveling your DoL/DoH

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The latest thing a combat class can unlock that's useful to low/mid-level DoL/DoH is Grand Company supply missions, but that happens at level 20, not 50. After that, the only unlocks I'm aware of are opening levequest sites, but a level 50 levequest site isn't of any use to a level 10 or level 30 crafter. After getting far enough in the main scenario quests to join a Grand Company, it's useful to have a combat class that stays on-par with your crafters/gatherers, but it's not really useful to have it any higher than that. Or is there some other level 50 unlock I've never heard of?

While it's true the later unlocks don't help lower levels, a player may still wish to unlock endgame content so they can work on daily/weekly content as they catch up with the other classes.

There are many players who never level a battle class and just focused on crafting. If you enjoy crafting/gathering more than running dungeons or killing stuff then make crafting or gathering your main class.

The only downside is you cannot farm for your own materials to craft end game gear. You also will not be capping soldiery each week to buy your i100 armor. But eventually you'll have the chance to catch up so it's up to you.