So, while typing out my questions, I found out there is only a 1,000 character limit to the post, so I'm going to have to cut this up into multiple posts, because i have several questions, and I'd like to keep them all in one thread, so please pardon my multi-post.
Here we go.
First, a friend that got me back into Final Fantasy 14, keeps advising me to never do quests outside of my main story quest, and that I should just focus on my hunting log, doing dungeons, and the main story quest. His reasoning is that it "Makes it easier to level your alternate classes later" Honestly, I'm not so sure how I feel about this, or if it's even accurate, so I figured I'd ask, should I be avoiding doing all the side missions? It feels weird to play an MMORPG, where doing all the quests is a bad idea.
Multiple Quesions from a Newb
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06-07-2015, 06:34 PMNyariaMultiple Quesions from a Newb
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06-07-2015, 06:35 PMNyaria
Second, Dungeons, good lord these things are LONG. Are all the dungeons so ridiculously long? Every dungeon seems to take no less then 30 minutes to do (Even the really low level ones due to Synchronization), that's assuming no one dies, the group doesn't wipe, and someone doesn't leave (LIke a tank for instance) and you have to wait around until you get another one. Also, I'm not 100% sure of how I feel about how heavily some of the dungeons on the low level dungeon roulette goes, It doesn't really feel fun at all to do the random dungeon finder, only to get put in basically the first one or two dungeons, and have over half your abilities shut off, your experience gained gutted, and your stats reduced so heavily. Is there a 'Medium Level Dungeon" roullete later that I unlock to avoid having to do that darn pirate dungeon for the 6th time with no benefits?
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06-07-2015, 06:36 PMNyaria
Thirdly, Main classes! I recently managed to get to the point where I unlocked the White mage class and then nothing really happens. It kind of felt like a massive let down after all the work I had to put in, I get a bit of a congratulatory message, a promise that at level 35 maybe something interesting will happen, and a small ability that once in a while makes me cast fast That I can't even use in half the dungeons I can unlock It feels extremely underwhelming and dissatisfying, so now I'm at a bit of a loss as to what exactly unlocking white mage does for me, I'm basically just a conjurer by a different name, I know it sounds like a gripe, and honestly it is, but I was expecting something flashy I guess.
So, my third question is mainly to ask what exactly does unlocking main classes give persay? Like, did I get something from becoming a white mage that I'm totally oblivious too as a newb? Or does it really not get anything flashy until later? -
06-07-2015, 06:37 PMNyaria
Fourth Question, crafting (professions?) classes, is it worth doing at all at this early point in the game? Or should it be something I should avoid doing until I become better acquainted? (I still get lost in cities) Or heck, is it something I should have started ages ago and I'm an idiot for not doing so? It's totally possible.
Fifth Question: How are you Mr/Ms/Mrs question answerer? I know I have a lot of questions, and I'm probably taking forever with tons of rambling... -
06-07-2015, 06:38 PMNyaria
Sixth Question: Now that I've unlocked White mage, should I just take it to level 50? Or should I go level something else? I mean, is there really a point in my rushing to the end right now? I know the story only moves forward with your highest level, but hey, I could be setting myself up for failure by rushing level cap! Thus its' a question, hopefully not a dumb question.
And, that's all for this round, stinks to have a 1,000 character cap, so again, sorry about the multi-post. :( -
06-07-2015, 07:30 PMEnkidoh
Welcome to Eorzea Nyaria! :D
Firstly, you can actually get around that annoying 1000 character per post restriction by simply typing a few lines, posting that, then going back and editing the post and adding the rest of what you wanted to type into it (like I'm just doing now)
Really, it's personal preference - however, the main scenario is designed specifically to be able to level your first class to 50 pretty much exclusively so a lot of players indeed decide to hold off doing sidequests until they get their first class to 50 in order to then use them to level other classes. Having said that though, a lot of sidequests unlock special content (like the Challenge Log, dyeing armour etc) so they're worth unlocking straight away for that reason rather than holding off. It should also be noted there are other ways of levelling classes too so if you want to complete sidequests immediately don't feel bad about doing so! :) You also get a bonus to exp for all classes that are lower than your highest levelled one too so there is also that benefit to getting a class to 50 as quickly as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
Although dungeons are the fastest means of levelling, they are not the only means - try doing FATEs, your Hunting Log and levequests in addition to it if you're feeling burned out with running dungeons. Also at low levels, there is little reason to do dungeon roulette as the major bonus for them is only available if you do them as a level 50 character. If the Duty Roulette is consistently assigning you Sastasha, then it just means that a lot of new players are attempting it and needing to clear it (especially as you mentioned that you've had parties that keep wiping there - Sastasha is actually a really simple dungeon that most players now just run through). Sadly dungeons just get longer and more complicated, and there are a lot more you will have to do as part of the main scenario. But there is nothing forcing you to actually do them once you've already gone through it once.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
Sadly when you first unlock a Job you don't actually get everything that really makes them worthwhile right at the start, but unlock gradually as you level and do the Job quests. A Job is a specialization in that class's role which makes them far more effective, while limiting what abilities you can equip from other classes (in WHM's case, healing). Additionally, it also boosts the controlling stat for that class (for WHM, that is MND). The initial ability yoou get at level 30 for it isn't usually that useful, but don't despair! Stick at it and eventually you'll realize that a Job is far superior to a class in every way. Most of the really useful abilities are gained later, like Regen, Holy and Benediction that you'll find are invaluable and will make things far more enjoyable. And a final benefit is between level 45 to 50 your Job quests will give you your artifact armour for that Job (AF), your first set of 'blue' gear that no only makes you look like that Job's appearance from older FF games (like, WHM AF is a white robe with red triangles), it's stats are extremely potent at that stage of the game and will help you out a great deal. So you Job is basically your class superpowered. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
You can start to craft and gather if you so wish, there is no right or wrong to when you decide to get into it (I admit I haven't done much crafting and haven't done any gathering yet so someone else would be better placed to answer that question than me I'm sorry.).Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
Awww, you're fine - this is what this site is for after all! (And I enjoy helping out others just starting their journey in Eorzea so it's my pleasure to answer your questions. :)).Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
Again, it's entirely up to you how you level - some people like to try out all classes and Jobs and try to level them at the same time, while others like to level methodically, taking each to 50 one at a time. Having said that, it's worth levelling certain other classes at least partially in order to make use of abilities you can use with your main class/Job (in your case, WHM). WHM makes use of THM (Thaumaturge) and ACN (Arcanist) abilities, so levelling them to unlock some special abilities will be a great help. Specifically, taking THM to 26 for the ability Swiftcast if you haven't done so already is highly recommended, as the worth of this one ability alone cross classed on your WHM cannot be understated. It WILL help you as a healer! :D No question about it. What else you cross class is up to you, but as long as you have Swiftcast then all will be right with the world. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
Anyway, hopefully this wall of text has helped you in your training in the ways of White Magic. :) -
06-07-2015, 09:32 PMConradusIt's not that doing them is a bad idea, it's just that doing them all right now is a bad idea. You'll wind up being way over levelled for your main scenario quests, and those side quests will be much more useful in levelling your alternate classes, as your friend says.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
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06-07-2015, 09:39 PMConradusIt's not just at 30, you get an ability at every five levels starting at 30. By the time you're 50, you'll have five abilities that conjurer doesn't get. And don't dis Regen (which is what you get at 35)--it's MONSTER important. And Holy--AoE stun? Yes, please! And Benediction can save your tank when you're really in a hole. Also, your stats re-align when you're in a job to fit your specialization. In a WHM's case, that means more mind and piety, at the cost of your other stats. That makes you a better healer--by the time you get to 50, a much better healer. Also, the job quests feed you the AF gear for your job; they can only be worn by your job and are considerably better than any gear your class can wear that's available to you at this point. The advantages of taking your job are fairly minor at 30, but by the time you get to 50, they're overwhelming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
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06-07-2015, 09:42 PMNyaria
Thanks, good to know about the edit post thing! :D
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06-07-2015, 09:47 PMZetsumei_TsunarashiThis is not true. While you don't get the tomestones for end game stuff until level 50, pre level 50 does give you a huge experience point bonus for completing the daily roulettes. The bonus also scales with your level, for example if I got sastasha as a level 40 something character, the bonus would be something like 150,000 experience points. The roulettes are absolutely worth doing as a low level job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Enkidoh
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06-07-2015, 10:02 PMPeachy
1. I dont think skipping side quests is good or bad advice but I personally would do them until you dont need anymore. Saying a few measly sidequests will help you lvl a second class faster is not very accurate considering youd have to go back to those regions and they barely give 5% of a lvl. You can do guildhest for xp bonus on each class you lvl, along with hunt logs, dungeons, fates, and guildleves for the challenge log, lvling a second class is not as hard as some want to act like.
2. No, there is no mid level roulette. But as said before you get a pretty large chunk of xp by just doing the daily one time for the bonus, then selecting the dungeon you want to queue for so you dont get stuck in sashtasha all day.
3. Yes, you got something you probably did not notice. Equipping a job stone at lvl 30 will boost your primary stats for that job, think of it like a free mind ring for whm lol.
4. Player preference. No it will not ruin your game by not lvling them, you are not missing out by waiting til later. But lvling crafts lets you repair your own gear in the field and dungeons, and when repairing your own gear it goes above 100% durability.
5. Im good, thanks for asking.
6. Player preference again. It doesnt matter if you rush to the end or lvl them all to 40 before moving on. Do whatever you are having fun with. -
06-07-2015, 10:17 PMNyaria
Oh, I see, now that you mention it, my mind stat does seem extremely high in comparison to what it was before, I didn't honestly look until you mentioned it.
I do have to say I'm looking forward to the White Mage outfit, it's literally the entire reason I wanted to play 14 to begin with xP
Also, I didn't realize that I got my White Mage abilities every 5 levels, that's also pretty good to know. -
06-07-2015, 10:24 PMNyaria
I also now have another question! If you guys could indulge me again.
It's about my armor and gear.
I've found myself constantly finding white-quality gear that has better stats then some of my Green and Pink quality gear from dungeons, and, well, it's kinda strange, but I feel really weird wearing white gear (Most of my MMO experience is WoW-based) and I'm not really sure when it is considered "Okay" to replace gear.
Like, how do the stats scale, and how do stuff like spell damage scale? -
06-07-2015, 10:44 PMLordPhantomhive
If you haven't already, flag the 'challenge log' in Limsa Lominsa. It gives a ton of bonus xp through various tasks listed. It also resets every week. As 30 cnj don't forget to get your unicorn mount too :)!
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06-07-2015, 11:04 PMConradusBefore you reach 50, white gear is generally not awful. Pink (Aetherial) gear is equivalent to HQ white gear with a random materia melded to it. Green will be better (check out what your Grand Company quartermaster can sell you), but still, HQ gear with materia outscales it in a few levels. Before 50, you don't need to be pushing your gear all that hard anyways. NQ white gear with no materia that's kept current to your level is sufficient to clear the challenges you'll be presented with, although it can't be denied that it's often nice to have more (BTW, don't forget to eat--food gives some nice buffs). How well you play is more important--no gear will save you if you don't kill Ifrit's Infernal Nail in time, or if you let Titan's landside push you off the edge of the battle area, or if you're not hiding behind one of the pillars when Garuda goes off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
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06-07-2015, 11:37 PMWoggers
A couple things to add, like an above poster stated, low level roulette is still a great option for leveling, because of the XP bonus for completing it, not only just for post 50s.
Yes I would recommend to level your gathering and crafting classes together. Botanist goes well with Culinary/Weaver/Alchemist/Carpentry. Miner with Blacksmith/Armorer/Goldsmith. Leatherworking can be leveled with any DoW/DoM. -
06-07-2015, 11:53 PMCaraway
Don't worry so much about the white gear while you're leveling. The important bit is just making sure it's relevant. I personally upgrade mine roughly every 5-10 levels (though you may want to go a little sooner if you don't have access to melded High Quality crafted gear!).
Gathering and crafting can be leveled entirely separate from your adventuring classes and they don't really mingle. Your best methods for leveling them will be with Levequests as the per gather experience is pretty piddly to be honest. Gathering doesn't have much of an investment required, even when you get towards the endgame gathering but crafting... If you are serious about crafting it is going to take a lot of work and it is expensive.
At the moment endgame crafting (item level 55+) requires you to have leveled up the other crafting classes for their cross-class abilities. Getting further than the first set of level 50 recipies requires having high costing melded gear to be able to progress. Even if you're only interested in say, making cloth gear for your White Mage, you'll still need to become a master chef, woodworker, armoursmith, etc. It is as involved as the adventuring classes and significantly more expensive (though this sounds like it might be changing a little with the expansion and becoming a bit more accessible). -
06-08-2015, 06:22 AMGarlyle
The chief measure of gear strength is Item Level, generally. Color tends to just relate to where it came from.
That said, pre-50, different 'colors' of gear do have an impact. From lowest to highest: White (Normal) -> Pink (Aetherial, dungeon drops) -> White HQ (Has to be crafted) / Green (Unique dungeon drops). However, even upgraded gear only has a slight advantage over lower level gear; a piece of green gear will last you about five levels, but after that you can expect the next white upgrade to be on par or better.
When you're level 50, this rule changes a bit, and it's almost entirely on the 'item level' of the gear. A piece of gear that is of a higher item level, and is of the appropriate stat type for your class, is (almost) always better than a lower item level piece of gear. There's times where there's exceptions, but that's the easiest way to tell.
As for the stats of value:
1. Weapon Damage on your main weapon is the most important. It's the biggest determinant of your attack power, magic power, healing output, etc. ; it's super unlikely that a weapon with a lower weapon damage is better for you.
2. Your class' main stat. Melee classes (except Ninja) want Strength; Ninja and Bard want Dexterity; Arcanist, Summoner, and Black Mage want Intelligence; White Mages and Scholars want Mind. Eqiup pieces with the correct stat types for your class; especially later on these are going to make up a lot of your damage.
3. Vitality. All weapons/left side gear have Vitality, which determines your health; some right-side gear has Vitality as well. Tanks especially want to ensure they have a lot of this (and are using specifically tank-oriented gear), while non-tanks can generally safely use accessories that don't give Vitality. Higher item level gear naturally has more Vit.
As for the off-stats you can see; they are relatively 'minor' in the grand scheme of things, but if you have the choice between two similar pieces of gear...
1. Determination increases the effectiveness of all damage (or healing) slightly. It's good on pretty much every class.
2. Critical Hit Rate is exactly what it sounds like. Critical damage is swingy, but powerful. This is more emphasized on certain classes for certain reasons (Bard and Scholar have specific unique benefits when they crit, for instance)
3. Skill/Spell Speed reduces the global cooldown of your skills. It's honestly pretty useless at low levels because you can only get teeny amounts of it; at higher levels though, it can amplify some damage significantly. The more DoTs your class uses, the less useful it currently is. Black Mages love this.
4. Accuracy is what it says on the tin. If you're attacking from behind your target you need less accuracy; whereas from the side is more and the front (tanking) is even more. It's good to have a tiny bit of accuracy on your gear early, but you don't need to stack it unless for some reason you're fighting a lot of things several levels above yourself. Post-50, the amount of accuracy needed to achieve 100% hit rate keeps rising in harder and harder content, but gear can give plenty.
5. Piety boosts your maximum MP, and is mostly valueable on WHMs (and to a lesser extent other magic classes). Higher max MP also means higher passive MP regeneration (it's % based). -
06-08-2015, 02:48 PMNiwashiThat can happen while leveling if you're comparing one level's white gear to an earlier level's pink or green gear. The higher quality items do last a bit longer before getting out-leveled, but it still happens eventually.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyaria
When running lower level dungeons, you'll occasionally get a drop that leaves you thinking, "sheesh, this would have been so great if only I'd gotten it 15 levels ago, too bad it's useless now." You should hold onto the green or better gear if you have other classes you'll be leveling through that gear's level range later, but you won't always be able to (usefully) use it with your top class.