ARR My first MMO; Tips and Suggestions?

Hey Everyone,

I've never been an MMO player before, as I usually found them dull fetch-quest-athons, but I picked up FFXIV ARR on a Steam sale and thought I give it a try as a big fan of FF I-X (and IV, VI and X in particular).

So far I'm quite liking the game, but I have a few questions that I'm not too sure on;

1) Quest progression; I started as a Gladiator and would eventually like to go towards Paladin. I just hit GLA level 12 and so far all I've been doing is main quests (the flaming circle ones) and FATEs, Hunting log etc. I've pretty much avoided all the side quests. Should I do them first, or save them until I get to a more advanced job/class?
2) Is buying equipment worth it? I've gotten a few ok pieces from quest rewards, but overall my equipment average is Level 5 and I'm wondering if I should dump money into gear now or if I'll obsolete it before long.

3) What's the best way to level up to Level 30 for the Paladin class? Keep doing main quests and Fates, or should I diversify?
4) When I'm ready to start getting Conjurer/Maurader levels, do I have to go by foot/chocobo to the other city or is there a quest that will let me teleport or something there?

5) Finally; what's the best support/crafting job for Paladins or does it really make no difference? I just got the first mining quest done, but if it's not a substantial benefit, I might not stick with it.

Any tips, suggestions would be great. Thanks for any help you can provide.

1) Sidequests arent really worth it, if you ask me. Mostly just some sort of boring go here, go there, collect this, kill that.
2) Buying Armor and Weapons isnt really worth your money. Your itemlevel will always be good enough if you just pick up the rewards from main quests.
3) Best way to level up is the main questline, yes.
4) You will visit every town through the main quests. If i am remember correctly, you will fly with an airship. Once arrived, just sync with the aetheryte in that town. After you have done this, you can always just teleport through the citys.
5) You might should get the paladin cross class skills before starting a crafting class.

And a small tip by the way. As tank you have the lead role in every dungeon, raid and trial. So always watch a guide of a new dungeon before you enter it, so you know what to do and how to handle specific boss mechanics. :)

Have fun, its a great game. :)

Often when you finish a quest it will give you options for the reward so you can select gear pieces you are most in need of. While you will be replacing gear very often as you level up, you should probably try to keep most of your gear to within 5 levels of your class level. If you get to lv15 and still have items that are below lv10 it might be nice to buy something.

Keep main scenario as your focus and you will eventually travel to the other cities and have access to all the guilds. Starting at lv15 you will be forced into some dungeons with other players at certain points in the main scenario and you will be the designated tank as a gladiator so it means mostly herding enemies by primarily using flash so they focus on you and not your weaker allies.

Crafting and gathering is optional and a lot of people chose not to do so.

It was my first mmo too and gladiator/paladin is what I settled into doing as my main job too. Enjoy

1) do it if you want as leveling up from the main story will come naturally. But if you are in a rush or you want that extra level up, you can always do FATES that are 5 levels below your level as doing fates on your level/ above your level will notify you that u r too low to get max rewards.
2)since u r a tank, always have ur gear up to date. I am a tanky healer and i'd prefer my tanks to have more hp than me lol.
3)see #1
4)u can go by foot as u started in u'ldah. But if ur in no rush, there will be a story quest tht will bring u to gridania.
5)blacksmith and miner are good as you can make weapons for gladiator and maruader. Mining will supply u with ores and shards and it can net u some major gil.

Ffxivarr is my 1st mmo and it has its ups and downs but i'm planning to sub till i become too busy to play in life lol.

Also a small tip too.
1) ignore the random spazams in areas as ppl are raging at eachother due to the madness of the hunts.
2) prepare to burden the hate towards tanks. Ppl will always blame the tank or healer if shit goes down lol.
3) don't be afraid to ask ppl u meet in duty finder some tips as everyone knows
A tank who is new = a tank who will get hit by avoidable stuff and will tank stuff in unfavourable positions.
4) more hp = more Survivability!
5) don't join a mass free company ( guild ) you are usually only a statistic to them and a nobody unless u r a top endgame raider or crafter.
6) duty finder will have nasty players, usually players who r higher up in the game.
there are more but this is the most important one.
7) enjoy your class, make friends and most of all; have a good time in eorzea!

This was my first MMO as well. Enjoy yourself first and foremost. Always be open to constructive criticism. However, don't let A-holes get you down either. Enjoy!!!

That's all pretty much what I expected, but I'm glad to see it confirmed. Thanks for the info and tips everyone, I appreciate the help. Maybe I'll even see you in game :D

Welcome to ARR!! ^_^

To answer your questions~
1. Yes, You should be doing side quests as you level up your first class/job to lvl50.
Apart from building world lore they are an excellent source of exp.
You are doing great in following the main scenario questline! Keep at it!

2. Personally, I recommend getting the Allagan coin reward from quests and side quests, but since the game allows you to make gil via challenge log you can opt for the gear reward if you like.

3. Your best bet for exp will be Main Storyline, Side Quests, Hunt Log, Bonuses from Duty Roulette, Dungeons, Fates, Challenge Log, Levequests.
Duty Roulette is opened to you once you clear certain dungeons and Guildhests.
Guild Hests are like mini dungeons that you can do at level 10. They are there to prepare you group play.
Dungeons start at level 10, opening with Sastasha.
Once cleared you can do what is called a Duty Roulette, which will place you in a random dungeon/trial/hest/etc and give you a once a day bonus.

3. I would check the Paladin forums for the cross class abilities. Warrior is my only level 50 as far as DoM and DoW are concerned. I've only played GLD till about level 28. Sorry, I can't answer that question. ; ;

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Tips from me, or things that I have found helpful! XDD

-You are the tank. It means that you will often find yourself as the de facto leader of your group. That also means that when things go wrong, one of the first people to get blamed will be the tank- whether or not it was the tanks fault. That being said, always- ALWAYS play at your own pace. If you are going to do a dungeon for the first time, you may opt to make your own party with your FC/LS mates or try via Party Finder. That way the situation is controlled and you can take your time with it. Otherwise, you are free to use Duty Finder. Just know that who you get grouped with is very random and they may be the type of players that aren't very kind...

-Speaking of Duty Finder. Always, always, let your group know when you are new. Despite the very vocal minority of jerk players- most players are willing to help newbies out. By saying that you are new, it tells people to not only give you advice about a certain dungeon but if they are overgeard players, to hold back on dps.

-If you should run into jerk players, never stoop to their level. Don't argue back. Simply report them for harassment and remove yourself from the situation if it gets bad.

-Don't miss out on LS/FC opportunities. Find one that suits your needs and stick with it.

-Always be kind to other players. We want to build a good community. Much like other players don't have the right to force their playstyle down your throat, the same is true in reverse.

-Always be open to advice and constructive criticism.

- Don't skip cut scenes and quest text. This is an FF game. The main focus is the world and the story. By skipping them both, you are missing out on a huge part of the game. Also, quests- specifically class quests will tell you how to play your role so if you skip everything, you also skip that information as well.

-Do your class quests. Some of them give you abilities that you will need later on.

-Make sure to update your gear regularly. Gear for tanks is fairly important. On that note, stockpile all of your attribute points into Vitality. Later on, once you have the best gear you can choose to switch to Strength.

-Tanking as Gladiator at low levels can be discouraging. It is much tougher to hold onto hate as GLD than it is as MRD. However, do not get discouraged. Once you get more abilities and once you get accustomed to the job, things will get much easier.

-Take a look through the Paladin Forums here as well as Reddit. You will find some great information and tips about tanking.

-Lastly, even if you look up guides and tutorials you are not guaranteed to win a fight. The real experience comes from actually doing that fight/dungeon.
While looking things up is a good thing, especially at endgame, it is by no means a necessity. If you want to go in blind, make a group of like minded individuals. That way you can avoid drama. Tbh, you shouldn't need to look much up pre-endgame but the information is out there if you need it.

@_@ sorry for the wall of text...

1) A lot of people save them for levelling other classes since you do not have story quest any more and dungeons only start at lvl 15.

3) After you unlock dungeons best way to level is to do those. As a tank you get fast queues and you can train tanking best this way.

4) To be able to teleport you have to attune to the aetheryte in the area. You unlock teleport skill when you attune to the first one outside city. Teleporting can be very expensive at low levels though.

In my opinion, the most important thing is to play for fun :D

This is my first MMO too, and I just started yesterday. This noob is very glad to see a lot of folks on the Forum chipping in with advice :3

One issue I'm having (playing on PS4) is the targeting system during FATEs. I often seem to go to the closest critter and must be missing something with the targeting system. Once I get the cursor on the right baddie I just have to hit X to lock it on until I change it, right? I'm terrified to join a party until I have that down pat.

In regards to the OP, I'm doing every quest I can find, and I'm often getting duplicate loot to what I already bought. I end up taking the tradeable currency most times and am building up a nice stash of gil so whenever I level up I can buy new equipment immediately. I hit level 11 (Conjurer) this morning and am avoiding doing much else other than the questing until I have a better handle on the game mechanics. I swear I'm not an old man but my last new console system was a Wii like 7 years ago :o

My advice - If you are eventually going to play a DPS class, start with it. With all of the quests that you will be able to do on your first job it will level up very quickly. There are a couple of reasons I say to start with DPS: Duty ques for tank are really fast and probably the most efficient way to level, but ques for DPS can take way longer, so the extra exp from quests is way faster. Also, if you start with DPS you get to go through the dungeons as a follower the first time so you can get an idea of how to navigate the dungeon/learn boss mechanics.

Follow the main story line and always stay up to date on your class quests. They pretty much teach you everything you need to know/give you access to everything you need. Once you hit 50/finish the main story, congrats, you are about 25% done with that Job.

Gil - Not all that important in this game. I'm sitting on about 3 mil on my retainers because I have never withdrawn any gil from them from the items I have sold. Along with that, once you can do retainer ventures send them on quick explorations as often as possible. They can bring back some cool stuff.

DoL is fun and worth the time, but it really isn't essential for game progression.

Like someone said before me, the point is to have fun. If a certain aspect of the game isn't fun, do something else! This game is big and there are a ton of ways to spend your time.