I'm considering joining a Free company, but I wasn't sure if there is an incentive to join a free company that is (mostly) aligned with one of the grand companies.
1. Is there a point of Grand Companies in mid-late game... at all?
2. Are DoH meant mostly for mending (except CUL) and getting GC seals?
3. The only point in capping levels for beginner jobs are for skills?
4. Is it better for farm gear for the class you aren't playing (i.e. I farm gear for my future monk on my Conj)?
5. Is there a point playing a beginner class at endgame?
6. I just begin the arduous task of getting enough seals to get a choco license :( which means I've started crafting/gather albeit softcore (I've played too many games where crafting is a time/cash sink. I'm deciding to stay away from crafting this time around). What other things should I consider doing, need to do, or stop doing?
General Question(s) on Group content and midgame
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11-19-2014, 01:22 AMDawgPilezGeneral Question(s) on Group content and midgame
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11-19-2014, 01:32 AMSpoekes
1. Lore-Wise yes. In terms of actual gameplay I can only think of the new Battleground (3 Teams - one of each GC).
2. There are many more things than mending, too short of time to list all the things you can only craft and not buy of vendors (ie. vanity stuff)
3. yeah, cross skills. ANd, of course, you can play the class ^^
4. If you are on WHM and have a monk in your group, he can roll need while you can only roll greed. Other than that, it's up to you.
5. no.
6. Easiest way to get seals is by doing FATEs - no need to craft for this at all.
Edit:
Free Company can offer you some advantages:
- Buffs (ie. EXP Bonus in Battle)
- Housing (advance your chocobo, gardening...)
- Community -
11-19-2014, 01:35 AMErendis
6. Easiest way to get seals for chocobo is to do GC hunting log. You do not even need to complete first rank to have enough, just do Halatali and few other monsters.
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11-19-2014, 01:41 AMBixby
1. As in a point to joining one at all? Yeah, chocobo license, lots of items purchasable with seals (fill-in for equipment you're lacking, glamour, mounts & minions, crafting mats to sell if absolutely nothing else). If you mean does it matter which one you join? Only if you're into PvP and/or glamour. PvP is split up by GC, and the glamour gear varies.
2. Mending, glamour, making tons of gil. There's some crafted gear that, when fully melded, can be very competitive with high-end raid/token gear, even if the item level is lower (e.g., it's popular for tanks to wear crafted & melded jewelry instead of raid/token jewelry when they're pushing high end encounters).
3. You mean classes? You can't not level them. A job is a piece of equipment. When you level WHM, you're actually leveling CNJ.
4. I've never really "farmed" for gear for future classes, but I'll take anything that I happen across.
5. No.
6. FATES, GC leves, GC hunting log, and turn-ins. -
11-19-2014, 01:45 AMNaria
GC seals after 50 are mostly used to purchase consumables, respec items, materials for the higher level crafting, or alternatively gear if you are leveling a new class. :) Crafting is very useful, although mostly not to make endgame gear. Some of the uses are to make spiritbonding gear, housing items, vanity gear and minions. Other ways to get GC seals include daily guildhest and low level roulettes. If you have access to it, I'd also recommend doing your GC hunt log for some quick seals.
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11-19-2014, 03:55 AMDawgPilez
Thanks for the tips on seals (along with everything else). I do wish they changed how the beginner classes worked. Lvl 30 is the highest lvl req for a basic class outside of skills. Seems like a time sink to make you level further (old gripe I'm sure).
IDK if glamour is worth investing in atm. I like the idea, but I wasn't sure if the glamour pieces you made are item bound and not transferable (or not requiring Ca$h). All I know is that I want a monocle... but it would be a PITA to have to keep making a monocle for every headgear I get (I'm sure I don't understand the process). That being said, I doubt it's anything I would need to pay attention to until endgame.
I wasn't able to do a GC hunt (on the hunting bill in Ul'dah). Maybe they were already done or something. I figure I'll do a conjunction of hunts/fates/leves/and crafting. I would like to at least level up CUL since I like fishing and CUL is useful all around. Carpenter seemed useful as an intermediary for other DoH. But... I figure I will stick a 2 or more 3 DoH and focus mainly on DoL. Easy money to be made even if I farm for myself. It's relaxing in this game (well at least low level DoL).
I probably need to look up a leveling guide, not for 'how to level', but more of when are good times to switches classes to get cross-skills. I'm setting here wit that parry buff from Lancer on my CNJ knowing full well I could do better. it's somewhat reminiscent of the FFXI system though it was fully about 1 other class versus a bunch of others (and with the enforced limit breaks, you didn't need to level up a class to high if you didn't want to... that and there weren't many viable sub classes.). I was thinking doing Arcanist to keep up with the healing motif. Considering the new classes coming out, it's probably in my interest to level up ARC, MAR, thaumaturge, GLD, and ROG [only figuring that unless SOE adds a new base class, which is likely, that these are the likely other basic classes that will be requirements due to known information and that they are the least required base classes].
Final question I can think of: is pvp is important? I don't feel this is my game for pvp, but I would like something more interactive with the server (like those assault modes in ffxi). I never got into those vs npc things such as Assault in ffxi due to me playing really late (i.e. no one was doing them) and it's pretty poor reward system. I really like that idea, but power-creep and poor implementation and management made it completely useless/unpopular (bases on the history I read both on the wiki, ingame community, and on the forums).. -
11-19-2014, 04:08 AMBixbyHunts and your Hunting Logs are two different things. Every class gets a Hunting Log, which gives you XP bonuses for killing X number of certain specific enemies, broken into 10-level groups. Each Grand Company also has a Hunting Log, which gives a lot of bonus Company Seals for killing specific enemies, many of which are located inside dungeons.Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
Hunts are a separate system, with B rank, A rank, and S rank overworld named monsters to kill. S ranks have specific spawn conditions after a long timer has passed (30ish hours, depending on the mark), and require a few parties working together to kill. A ranks spawn every 30-60 minutes, and take about a party to kill. B ranks are for solo level 50 players, and spawn 5 seconds after they're killed. B ranks only give rewards if you have them as your weekly mark. There are also daily marks, which are regular monsters and FATE monsters. To do B ranks and dailies, you need to unlock the feature (at max rank with your GC) and use the bill you found. You can get rewards from A and S ranks without unlocking anything, but before level 50, you won't be contributing much, so you won't get much. Hunts reward Allied Seals, which is a different currency from Company Seals.
If you want to do PvP, you can PvP. If you want to ignore it, you can. There's nothing there that you really need for any of the PvE parts of the game. It can be a source some things you could get otherwise (tokens), but it's just an option, not the only source and not the best source. -
11-19-2014, 04:41 AMGarlyle
Re: Jobs - Think of your Job as an upgrade you equip over your normal class. Yes, you don't get it until 30, but you won't be set back at all when you get it.
For cosmetics, keep things around that you think look nice. After level 50, one of the things you'll unlock is Glamouring - using catalysts to 'override' the way a piece of gear looks with another piece of gear.
Cross-classes are up to the individual. You'll need level 15 in one specific alternate class for your job (Conjurer will need 15 Arcanist to get White Mage for instance), and then there's only two classes you can cross-class from when you are in your job (This sounds like a downgrade but in practice you're rarely losing any actually valuable abilities compared to the awesome techniques your job grants you). Any caster wants Swiftcast from Thaumaturge 26 as soon as reasonably possible; Marauders want Provoke from 22 Gladiator; the rest is "whenever you feel like it" or "before super endgame content". -
11-19-2014, 05:52 AMNaria
As Bixby said, Hunts and the Hunting Log are different things. To access your hunting log select Main Menu ->Logs -> Hunting Log. There will be icons for all of the classes and your Grand Company. Click on the Hunting log you want and it will bring up the list of mobs to kill. Hovering over the mob name on the list will tell you what zone/area they are in. For the Grand Company hunting Log, some of the mobs are in dungeons.
When you get access to Glamours at level 50 you can glamour an item on to another multiple times, so long as that class/job can equip it (you can not glamour Disciple of Magic gear on Warrior for example). The item used as a glamour is not destroyed and remains in your inventory. -
11-19-2014, 05:58 AMEstelliosYou might be misunderstanding Classes and Jobs. When you unlock a job you do not start at level 1. The job is basically something you equip that modifies the Class into something more specialized, so leveling either Conjurer or White Mage levels them both. Arcanists can become both Scholars and Summoners so leveling any of the 3 levels up all 3.Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
Glamour is unlocked at level 50 but until you get there just keep any items you like the appearance of. Glamours use a consumable to make a piece of gear look like another, but it does not get rid of either pieces of gear, only the consumable. So if you want to use a monocle you only need one and can keep reusing it when you get new gear.
Also for cross class skills, if you unlock a class you can look at its ability list and see what it can learn. White Mage can pull from Arcanist and Thaumaturge. Arcanist to 15 is required to unlock White Mage, but if you take it to 34 you get the surprisingly useful Eye for an Eye skill which has a chance to debuff enemy attacks when your target is struck.
Thaumaturge to 26 is highly recommended as it gives you Swiftcast which makes your next spell instant cast and is incredibly useful. You don't particularly need it while leveling up but if you wish to spend the time on it it is well worth it. You will definitely want to prioritize getting it once you hit level cap, though.
For Free Companies, their affiliation with specific Grand Companies has absolutely no bearing on anything except where leaders need to go to purchase company buffs or where members need to go to apply the FC crest to gear. The most important thing when looking for a FC is to join one that matches your playstyle and has people you like playing with. -
11-19-2014, 06:36 AMDawgPilez
Oh I get it. Advanced jobs don't have their own level separate from the base class. I was thinking every job had its own separate level. I guess I can change out of a basic class once I hit 30 (and unlocked the adv class). I'll probably go THA next for sure cast then ARC and see where I'm at. I'm interested in WHM... I don't really care about the other ones.
I'm using 'class' and 'job' interchangeably. Also, I understood the hunting log. It was this GC hunting bill that was new to me. It doesn't look like I need to worry about it any time soon. I'm not seeing how I will get GC seals quickly if most of the stuff lvl locked. Sort of silly that I have the collector's ED and I won't be able to use my couerl mount for a while (unless that's separate from the choco license).
Good to know about the glamour system. I'm not able to store items in any kind of chest/bank that I've found. I don't ever get gear, so I guess it's not a problem. -
11-19-2014, 07:04 AMEstellios
When you joined a Grand Company there was a new hunting log added that you can access by clicking the GC symbol in the Hunting log menu. You can get a lot of seals towards your mount very quickly that way.
I just checked and if you are using a gamepad you will need to switch to the GC hunting log using L1/R1 until the GC symbol is selected, so maybe that is why you are missing it. -
11-19-2014, 07:28 PMSpawnie
dont u have to complete grand company story quest to unlock retainers??
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11-20-2014, 01:22 AMErendis
You can get enough seals to get a chocobo in a day (couple of hours) with GC hunting log. Part of it needs you to do Halatali dungeon which you can unlock with the quest that starts near Waking sands in Vesper bay.
And yes, to use any mounts you need to have GC chocobo. -
11-20-2014, 03:14 AMNiwashiThough it doesn't explain it that well in-game, when you get your company chocobo, that's also what unlocks the mount system in general, so yes, you'll effectively get both the chocobo and your couerl at the same time.Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
If you're in a Grand Company, then you've already unlocked the ability to hire retainers. (It was unlocked when you joined the Scions.) Talk to a Retainer Vocate at the vendors' area of any of the three main cities, and you can hire a couple retainers to help with that. (Though the game uses the term "hire", it doesn't cost anything.) Retainers do several things for you:Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
They can store your extra items.
They can sell items for you on the marketboards.
They can (once you unlock ventures with another quest) go on ventures to bring you back items. -
11-20-2014, 11:11 AMDawgPilez
Hmm my comment didn't show up. I got my mount and am very grateful to you all. Someone even /hugged me in game without being prompted by some mediocre CNJ abilities in duty finder.
I don't know where to look for FC... but I'm not going to ask in game. Anytime I speak in game outside of /party gets me a random FC invite (which I never join) and a gold spammer...
Another question I have is in regards to dismantling (breaking down or whatever it's called). If heard you get 300 pts split between all of the crafts. You get 1 pt when you have at least 10 lvls in any craft. With a cap of 100, it would be wise to only lvl 3 crafts to max. Since I'm not considering going hardcore on crafting, is it a wise bet to only focus on a certain number of DoH? Is this dissassembly skill useful for CUL? -
11-21-2014, 05:00 AMEstellios
The most useful desynth skill is Goldsmith because it's one of the few options for Mastercraft demimateria which is used in getting or crafting almost all top-tier crafting gear. Culinarian itself can only desynth fish which can get some rare materials but only from unbelievably rare fish, and then the materials are only for vanity items. I don't think it's worth it. Other than that Leatherworker is currently very useful for getting Fieldcraft 3 demimateria which are also used for getting high end crafting items, but it's not as necessary.
That said, having Culinarian leveled up will be incredibly useful as making HQ Spicy Tomato Relish to turn in for Artisan's Spectacles for desynthesis is the easiest way of getting Mastercraft Demimateria.
If you aren't considering going hardcore on crafting you don't have to deal with the nightmare that is demimateria so just feel free to level up whatever desynth skills you want. Getting materials from random dungeon drops and aetherial gear is useful on its own. -
11-21-2014, 05:18 AMBixbyDesynthesis aside...Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
Even if you don't take crafting all that seriously, it's nice to level as many of the non-cooking crafts as you can stand to at least 40 for self-repairs. Self repairs are cheaper than NPC repairs, and allow you to repair your gear to 100+current durability. So that's a max of 199% durability on any gear you repair yourself (since you can't repair it until it's at 99%), which is really, really nice. Also keeps you from having to remember to repair before you do a dungeon or something, since you can just repair inside the dungeon (as long as you remember to keep dark matter stocked). Being able to meld your own materia is handy, too, but if you're not a serious crafter or gatherer, that only comes up here and there.
It can also provide a decent stream of small-but-steady income, even without a lot of fancy crafting gear and cross-class crafting skills. Even if you can't find anything that reliably turns a profit on the market board, there are profitable crafting leves, which will help you burn through leve allowances when they pile up. And the weekly challenge log for crafting for a bit of bonus gil/XP.
IMO, it's difficult to dabble, just because once you start, there's so much to it that it's hard to not do that one next thing, then that other one, and so on. But that's likely my personality as much as it is the crafting in XIV. >.> -
11-21-2014, 11:49 AMDawgPilez
It seems like that Bixby. You guys are kind of talking me out of CUL. I figure it would be useful since I like fishing... but I figured that I would only cook for myself. I'm not looking to turn a profit (not initially) as I tend to do for myself and rely on my guild or in this case FC to help for anything else. Long have I been the guild crafter. It's draining, plus FFXI left a bad taste in my mouth for crafting. While it's better in this game (initially) I figure since I like gathering more, I would dabble more in DoL for any revenue making.
I'm starting to think I'll focus on Leatherworking, WVR, and CAR. I might mess around with goldsmithing (if mining helps for that). I don't plan on doing much more than that initially. My plan would be to work the middle ground of recipes in the market should I do so (making tools or parts of multi-crafts). I'm still not sure if it's wise to only lvl 3 crafts past 10 to be able to get said 3 crafts to the capped desynth levels. I don't have much time to think about it as all of the crafts are creeping towards 10 due to my interest in getting additional seals and being an achievement whore.
At some point I'm going to force myself not to craft beyond the 3 I pick. I'll probably ignore crafting since whatever FC that picks me up should have a say in where I direct myself. Find a FC seems difficult. -
11-21-2014, 05:59 PMEstellios
CUL actually has some INCREDIBLY useful cross-class skills and I'm not sure how it is on your server but on Hyperion it is some pretty damn good money as long as you can gather the materials yourself. I'd say to at least get it up to whatever level Steady Hand II is since it will make crafting on every other class so much easier.
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11-21-2014, 09:51 PMBixby
Yeah, to be clear, I only said non-cooking because I was talking about repairs and CUL doesn't repair anything. Didn't mean it to diminish the usefulness of CUL.
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11-22-2014, 02:14 AMNiwashiPersonally, for choosing which crafting classes to specialize in, or how far to take them, I'd focus more on the actual crafting part than on the corresponding desynthesis skill, but maybe that's just because I haven't gotten into desynth very much yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
If you're dabbling in all of them through the early levels before specializing to three, level 15 might be a good target for where to bring the others. At levels 15, 37, and 50, each crafting class gets a unique skill that can be cross-classed by any of the other crafting classes. By getting them all to at least the first of those, the three that you continue further will have a variety of extra skills available to choose from.Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
The level 15 skills are:
Alchemist: Tricks of the Trade - Restores 20 CP. Can only be used when condition is good.
Armorer: Rapid Synthesis - Improves progress. Efficiency: 250%, Success Rate: 50%
Blacksmith: Ingenuity - Lowers recipe level to current level for the next 5 steps. (24 CP cost)
Carpenter: Rumination - Removes Inner Quiet effect and restores CP proportional to the number of times control was increased.
Culinarian: Hasty Touch - Improves quality. Efficiency 100%, Success Rate 50%
Goldsmith: Manipulation - Restores 10 points of durability after each step for the next 3 steps. (88 CP cost)
Leatherworker: Waste Not - Reduces loss of durability by 50% for the next 4 steps. (56 CP cost)
Weaver: Careful Synthesis - Improves progress. Efficiency 90%, Success Rate 100%
At level 37, most of the DoH classes (all except for Culinarian and Goldsmith) get a "Brand of <Element>" skill specializing in a different element for each of them. These are only useful for the small number of recipes that actually have an elemental affinity, which is rare enough that I wouldn't regard them as a high priority. For the two exceptions:
Culinarian: Steady Hand II - Improves action success rate by 30% for the next 5 steps (25 CP cost)
Goldsmithing: Flawless Synthesis - Increases progress by 40. Success Rate 90% (15 CP cost)
These two are useful, especially CUL's Steady Hand II.
Then the set that you only get on the classes you take all the way to 50:
Alchemy: Comfort Zone - Restores 8 CP after each step for the next 10 steps. (66 CP cost)
Armorer: Piece by Piece - Increases remaining progress by 1/3. Success Rate 90% (15 CP cost)
Blacksmith: Ingenuity II - Lowers recipe level to 3 below current level for the next 5 steps. (32 CP cost)
Carpenter: Byregot's Blessing - Improves quality. Efficiency: 100% plus 20% for each bonus to control granted by Inner Quiet. Success Rate: 90% (24 CP cost)
Culinarian: Reclaim - Increases the chance materials will not be lost after botched synthesis to 90% (55 CP cost)
Goldsmithing: Innovation - Increases control by 50% for the next 3 steps. (18 CP cost)
Leatherworker: Waste Not II - Reduces loss of durability by 50% for the next 8 steps. (98 CP cost)
Weaver: Careful Synthesis II - Improves progress. Efficiency 120%, Success Rate 100% -
11-22-2014, 10:23 AMDawgPilez
Thanks for posting that. I'm sure people have the 'best cross-skills' down pat. I don't imagine you will need all of the skills.
I've finally paused on crafting. I was doing it for seals on the provision missions, but they yield so little reward that it's almost useless (better to do leves...) That and I'm not seeing a point to seals beyond the choco license. CAR is all around useful and CUL still has it's benefits. I'm not a pureblood min-maxer so I don't seen a need for ALC. I find it interesting that lowbie gear has slots since who would bother putting materia in trash gear unless you happen upon lowbie materia (which I've not received likely due to you having to meld it). Which would take me back to crafting if want to get some additional stats (but... I'm not a min-maxer so vicious cycle plugged).
I'm rambling. I believe all of my questions have been answered. I'm glad I hit 30 in CNJ. It's a pretty boring class pretty much made to focus purely on healing with the occasionally dot. Sometimes I feel like it's a 'rush' to keep a team alive while trying to keep myself alive. That is the only time I'm really enjoying playing the class. -
11-22-2014, 03:55 PMGarlyleDepends on how good you want to be. All of the level 50 skills are incredibly powerful. You can craft very high level stuff without them - but good luck HQing them reliably, completing high level furnishings, etc. without them.Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgPilez
As for seals, early on just throw them into any gear you might need and focus on maxing your GC rank. Later, they're valuable as a consistent source of Ventures for retainers, gearing up alt classes, and if worst comes to worst you can cash them in for materials to sell on the market board for cash. (You DO want max GC rank for hunting purposes and access to PvP - especially Frontlines, which is good fun if you don't want PvP that's taken too seriously since it's a massive cluster****)
CNJ/WHM is as exciting as you make it. Trying to maximize your DPS by swapping in/out of cleric stance while still keeping the party from dying is, imo, by far the most exciting pre-job class in dungeons.