Questions about the xpac--new payer

I'm very new to FF, and enjoying it greatly. Moved over here from TOMMO and have decided to stay. :)


I do have a couple of questions pertaining to Heavensward though.

I read this elsewhere about the new xpac. A couple of other folks were discussing Heavensward:

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There is flying in the next expansion coming out in a few weeks, but you need to have leveled and completed certain quests before you can move into the new content. That's what I've read anyway.

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Certain quests = THE ENTIRE MAIN SCENARIO STORYLINE.

Which includes most of the dungeons, all primal trails, all primal trials on Hard difficulty, the Moogle King fight and a few other raid encounters. Which may or may not be a pain in the butt to get a group for when it launches. Good thing I'll be able to go in at 60 fully geared without level sync and just wreck the place.

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Continued in next post, since there's apparently a 1000 word post limit??

So, my question:

I'm not much of a group player (I don't even really want to join an FC unless it's one that is just for my family members who also play--I'm just that much of a soloist), though I understand that some group play is necessary. I'm not concerned about the dungeons, but if the raid encounters must be done before you can move into the new content and level to 60, that could be an issue for me.

Can anyone confirm what will be necessary to head into the new content?

Thanks in advance!

Hello and welcome to the game here is a handy tip for forum posting you can bypass the character limit by editing your post.

For you question all you have to do is complete the main story quests up to 2.55 to get into the xpac. The raids are optional content that are not part of main quest ( the Crystal Tower trilogy and Binding Coils)

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Originally Posted by OlyverW

Hello and welcome to the game here is a handy tip for forum posting you can bypass the character limit by editing your post.

For you question all you have to do is complete the main story quests up to 2.55 to get into the xpac. The raids are optional content that are not part of main quest ( the Crystal Tower trilogy and Binding Coils)

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Thanks for this info. I was also searching online and found this:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...t_should_i_do/

And the poster there mentioned that the main story content up to 2.55 is required to enter the new content. It seems like there will be some gearing up required, and this will take some time--perhaps more time than there is before June 23!

If I don't get to level 50 before the xpac is released, will there be people running this older content to group with?

You shouldn't have a problem accessing the content you need when HW drops as there are a lot of people who are in the same boat. Plus there are people like me who are trying to get alt characters through the story. Glad you're having fun with the game!

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Originally Posted by Velisra

It seems like there will be some gearing up required, and this will take some time--perhaps more time than there is before June 23!

If I don't get to level 50 before the xpac is released, will there be people running this older content to group with?

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You could maybe level and gear all the way in 20 days (if you play nearly nonstop), but trying to complete the story in that time would essentially be throwing away the entire Realm Reborn game, as you'd have to skip all the storytelling.

There's nothing special about when Heavensward releases except that those people who have already finished everything currently available will get a bunch of new stuff. If you haven't finished what's currently available, then it's new as well so far as your game is concerned. Play the part that you're at. When you reach its conclusion that should lead you towards Ishgard, that's when to get the expansion. Don't worry about Heavensward until then unless you want to switch to playing an Au Ra.

I could maybe see someone who doesn't like quests or stories and plays MMOs exclusively for the end-game raids wanting to race ahead to get to the end where most of the raiding is taking place, but that really doesn't sound like you.

As for getting enough people to complete the required group content, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just like we now get level 50 players running the level 15 dungeons (level-synced down to where that's feasible), after Heavensward comes out we're going to have level 60 players running the level 50 ones. SE puts in plenty of rewards and incentives to make sure people still keep playing all the required group content. In addition to that, there will always be new players, players starting new characters, or leveling up additional classes/jobs. And, since the expansion is a separate purchase, there will be people who don't get it and continue playing A Realm Reborn by itself without Heavensward. (I personally will fall into the "players starting new characters" part of that, since I'd rather start over with a new alt in order to play an Au Ra than have to change who any of my current characters are.)

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Originally Posted by OlyverW

Hello and welcome to the game here is a handy tip for forum posting you can bypass the character limit by editing your post.

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Olyver, I owe you a belated thank you for the tip and for the welcome!

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Originally Posted by sciondar

You shouldn't have a problem accessing the content you need when HW drops as there are a lot of people who are in the same boat. Plus there are people like me who are trying to get alt characters through the story. Glad you're having fun with the game!

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Good to hear, and thanks!

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

You could maybe level and gear all the way in 20 days (if you play nearly nonstop), but trying to complete the story in that time would essentially be throwing away the entire Realm Reborn game, as you'd have to skip all the storytelling.

There's nothing special about when Heavensward releases except that those people who have already finished everything currently available will get a bunch of new stuff. If you haven't finished what's currently available, then it's new as well so far as your game is concerned. Play the part that you're at. When you reach its conclusion that should lead you towards Ishgard, that's when to get the expansion. Don't worry about Heavensward until then unless you want to switch to playing an Au Ra.

I could maybe see someone who doesn't like quests or stories and plays MMOs exclusively for the end-game raids wanting to race ahead to get to the end where most of the raiding is taking place, but that really doesn't sound like you.

As for getting enough people to complete the required group content, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just like we now get level 50 players running the level 15 dungeons (level-synced down to where that's feasible), after Heavensward comes out we're going to have level 60 players running the level 50 ones. SE puts in plenty of rewards and incentives to make sure people still keep playing all the required group content. In addition to that, there will always be new players, players starting new characters, or leveling up additional classes/jobs. And, since the expansion is a separate purchase, there will be people who don't get it and continue playing A Realm Reborn by itself without Heavensward. (I personally will fall into the "players starting new characters" part of that, since I'd rather start over with a new alt in order to play an Au Ra than have to change who any of my current characters are.)

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Thank you for all of this Niwashi. You have me pegged correctly--I love storyline and questing, exploring and collecting, so I definitely don't want to feel that I have to rush through it. I appreciate your help!

I think I might go ahead and preorder the xpac though, just because of the extra stuff you get if you do that. I'll have to look at it all again.

Thanks heaps to all of you! :D

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Originally Posted by Velisra

I'm not much of a group player (I don't even really want to join an FC --I'm just that much of a soloist), ... if the raid encounters must be done before you can move into the new content and level to 60, that could be an issue for me.

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I played most MMOs pretty much solo. Here, you need to group up because SE has based story progression on the dungeons and primals.

Gearing up, after you reach level 50, is done via the three Crystal Tower raids and the Extreme Primals for the non-hardcore, and the dedicated hardcore raiders do it in the Coils of Bahamut.
You can wear crafted gear but the ilevel is lacking. And you need many MILLIONS of gil to get it!

If you repeatedly run two particular hard mode dungeons you can get full sets of i100 Picaroon or Bogatyr gear.

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Originally Posted by Velisra

what will be necessary to head into the new content?

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Those who have completed the Main Scenario the final fight on the Steps of Faith [the last of the 2.55 content] will be able to walk through the gates of Ishgard, wearing anything from ilevel 90 to ilevel 130+ gear.

Firstly, welcome to the game.

Unfortunately, as some others have been kind of saying, there's bad news. This is a group based game. There's a fair bit of solo content, but, yes, sooner or later you have to do the story trials and dungeons, which require 4 to 8 players. On the upside the duty finder will get you a group just as it does for dungeons. But there's no getting around that group bit.

Gearing up once 50, you pretty much have to group to do content to get tokens and drops. You could technically gear up through the weekly B rank hunt quest, but the pace would be glacial (multiple weeks for a single gear slot). Higher rank hunts do require that you group up, but the commitment is very minimal. When there's a call, get to the location fast and just hit the mob.

But there is some good news! Raids are not really required at all. It's pretty much dungeon and story-level trials (really easy) for the MSQ. Since you're fine with dungeons, you'll be OK sticking to those. SE does acknowledge a variety of playstyles and so you can do well on dungeons alone (or any other content that drops tokens).

However, as T2teddy points out--the casual raid is extremely casual. A lot of players in those instances don't contribute to the fight (either by getting locked out or stopping damage after the first few hits) and they still get through them. If you try even minimally, you'll be at least mid tier. The Crystal Tower raids drop relevant gear that can help you gear up faster, and so finish the MSQ. However, still 100% optional.

Just take your time, because once Heavensward coming out you can go low lvl dungeon without lvl sync.
Even you can dungeon with just 2 player only with highest ilvl gear equipped.
If you want to do it alone, you can lvl-up first then clear old content later.
First thing is Main Quest complete it...

Don't bother if you saw not much ppl arround when Heavensward coming out, you can play at your pace alone.
Dev already made a preparation for new joiner to catch up and not really feel left behind.

@T2teddy, @Risvertasashi and @nuyu11

Thank you for the welcome and the tips! I appreciate it. :-)