New Character // New to the Game

Hey all,

Picked up this game just before the weekend and after looking over what info I could I decided on going the warrior route, taking the marauder job first.

I was wondering if any experienced players had some general advice? Either about the job selection or just general game advice a newb might overlook?

I am also looking for people to play with/talk to in game, so if anyone is interested or maybe has a linkshell please hit me up in game on Balmung, character is Renton Bladewall.

Thanks! Looking forward to spending some major time in Eorza ;)

Well I am brand spanking new to the game but my advice so far would be:

- Do leves when they become available, when you are done you will have to grind. Just find a group of mobs that are your level or a level above you.
- Do the main story quest to get you familar with whatever starting town you choose.
- Do the INN quest so you can get rested exp when you log out. You will have to log out in your room of course. (I don't know what level you have to be to start it though. From what I hear it's pretty easy.)
- I found www.mooglebox.com to be your friend when it comes to looking up stuff in game.
- Don't be afraid to do a little shouting in town for advice, just don't spam questions.

That's about all I got so far. I am a noob as well.

Wow, just checked out Mooglebox and used the mob locating tool-- that is ridiculously helpful! Thanks.

With that, and hopefully a linkshell or some folks to hunt I think I'll be getting pretty close to set.

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Originally Posted by Bladewall

Wow, just checked out Mooglebox and used the mob locating tool-- that is ridiculously helpful! Thanks.

With that, and hopefully a linkshell or some folks to hunt I think I'll be getting pretty close to set.

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Yeah I was going to suggest that as well, it's a good base to help you find which mobs to grind. I haven't been able to play much at the moment, so I have been reading every forum I can find, and loading my self with knowledge. My computer based job allows me such time do so.

Update:

So to unlock the INN quest, you have to complete your main quest. Which I think is at level 20.

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Originally Posted by RicoJalapeno

Update:

So to unlock the INN quest, you have to complete your main quest. Which I think is at level 20.

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Earlier than that it seems, took care of the inn quest in Limsa Lominsa and retired for the first time using the bed. Guess it's around... level 6-7?

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Originally Posted by Bladewall

Earlier than that it seems, took care of the inn quest in Limsa Lominsa and retired for the first time using the bed. Guess it's around... level 6-7?

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Must be, I guess you can finish: Treasures of the Main / Souls Gone Wild / Court in the Sands under level 10 then?

Finished Souls Gone Wild at level 4 and finished the Inn quest, so it is indeed really early on

Yeah I found out there is multiple main story quests that unlock at certain levels.

Awesome, hope that info helps out other players just starting out as well!

First weekend down (Boo-- monday!) Matched my Marauder level as Gladiator- preparing for warrior. I've had some great experiences already (awesome community!) in game, but still no Linkshell which is kind of a downer-- but I'm pushing along. I've heard no shouting for the dungeon(s) in the hillsides just outside of Limsa Lominsa, does anyone run 'dungeons' like that (maybe it's just a cave, it's Shospae or something like that- going off of memory)? Is that something I should try to run?

Also, more newb questions but, how useful are the tradeskills? Is it something I should immediately focus on or is it something that's fine to wait- continue adventuring and then turn to that down the road?

And is it faster to run leves to gain levels, or grind?

Hey Bladewall, hope you're enjoying your time ^^

About shopshae (not sure if I spelled it right), it's just a cave with 3 NMs (notorious monsters) it's level 15 to 20-ish, so if u found some people you could check it out! If you're lucky you might find decent gear in there (have to be REALLY lucky :p)

And about leveling up, leves are a great way and fast, but I find grinding parties faster if you could make one. Or you could join other people in their grinding parties (usually people shout in Uldah so don't bother with limsa or gridania)

Not sure what do you mean about the tradeskill :confused:

Another thing to keep in mind is to get your retainer (from the adventurers guild) and put him in Uldah's market as soon as you get the chance, because everyone buys from there.. If the wards weren't already full of course ^^

Hello Bladewall!

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Originally Posted by Bladewall

Also, more newb questions but, how useful are the tradeskills? Is it something I should immediately focus on or is it something that's fine to wait- continue adventuring and then turn to that down the road?

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//EDIT: Oh right, sorry, completely misunderstood your question. :eek:
I think you mean the skills you can use from other classes?

There are some skills that are very useful no matter which class you are leveling. I would recommend getting at least Second Wind (instantly restores HP) from Pugilist (level 6) and Cure (level 2) and Protect (level 6) from Conjurer. Other than that, you can focus mainly on skills that Warrior can use (Gladiator and Pugilist skills).

For linkshell, I suggest you check out the Balmung LS list if you haven't done it yet. :)

This site is helpful: http://mozk-tabetai.com/

I love Pug, but I think I am going to be a Bard. Only thing is I don't want to level conjurer lol.

By tradeskills, he means crafting. Basically, if you care about being able to fix and augment your own gear, then you should be crafting right now. You're probably going to want to be able to meld your own gear. That means attaching materia to gear to make it stronger. You'll need to be close to 40 in a particular craft to be able to meld the highest level stuff in the game right now. Tbh I'm already at 50 but my crafting is underleveled. So I'm already knocking myself for not focusing on crafting first since I don't have the time or money to sit there and shout for melds right now. You could still shout and hope that a crafter takes you up on your offer to meld your gear for you. There are also systems in the game that will allow you to just put your gear up on your character and let others single meld/repair it. NPCs can also take care of repairing, but at level 50, you're looking at a 5K npc repair bill for each piece of damaged equipment. Including accessories.

But like I said, if you want to be able to do it yourself, might as well start now. Gathering classes can help and can also net you additional monies.

Crafting or Gathering are nice ways to make money. The former you may want to take advantage of guildleves as they give you materials to use along with free materials upon completion that you can use to make items to sell. Crafting XP and speed got revamped a lot this last patch so it's a lot quicker to get a crafting class up to speed and keep it within a reasonable range of your main battle class.

Gathering XP is erratic, you will gain a TON of experience when you first get to the next tier of camp but it gradually slows to a crawl until you reach the next tier and you are gaining ridiculous XP again. Even so, you get a lot of useful free materials out of it that will help you make money with crafting or you can just sell them as-is.

Neither are necessary if you end up not liking them, as you can get money through guildleve grinds and just from farming and selling more valuable items. If you need info on how to craft or gather, you can take a look at Synthesis here and Gathering here.

For Marauder you may want to consider working on Armorsmithing and Mining. Most of your high level repairs will be your Armor and it will save you a lot of money if you can do it yourself.

Items Question to you veterans:

Is there a website that list's items, and what they are worth on the wards? I know FF11 had an AH database. I am having trouble going though my stuff and deciding what's worth selling on my retainer, and what's better to sell to an NPC.

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Originally Posted by RicoJalapeno

Is there a website that list's items, and what they are worth on the wards? I know FF11 had an AH database. I am having trouble going though my stuff and deciding what's worth selling on my retainer, and what's better to sell to an NPC.

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Not really, your best bet is to use the Item search function at the Market Wards in game and compare the prices to the NPC prices you see on Moogle Box.

Hi and welcome to FFXIV! I just thought I'd add my 2 cents to the thread. ^^

Shposhae
Definitely worth doing for the experience. It's a fun low level dungeon to run around in and fight things, and the NM fights are fun as well. But you will probably quickly outgrow any equipment you get here, so it may not be worth doing repeatedly for the drops.

On a side note, an R50 player can practically one shot the NMs in Shposhae, so if you value experiencing the dungeon I'd recommend going with a few people while you're all in the R20 to 25 range if at all possible.

Crafting and Gathering
Some people love these activities, and some people hate them. But they are an integral part of the game and you will eventually need to work on these if you want to be somewhat self reliant, so it would be good to get started now because it can take a while if you only work on them between adventuring activities. Or you can befriend people who have put in the time to level these and who can help you out.

Doing it for profit...
Crafting by itself may not be a money making activity... in fact, it can sometimes cost quite a bit to get the materials you need if you need to buy them in the markets. Gathering brings new raw materials into the economy and therefore has greater potential for earnings if you can collect items that are in demand. Of course, the best combination is finding complementary activities and leveling them up together. ^^

Starting Class
One of the great things about FFXIV is that you can freely change classes and find the ones you like to play. I started as a Lancer, then switched to Pugilist main before finally finding my heart was in Conjury and being a White Mage.

Being able to use abilities from other classes is also integral to the game, and jobs have sub-class requirements as well. So even if you start as one class you have the freedom to try other classes, then mix some of the abilities you've learned from each. ^^

You all are AWESOME, thanks so much for all the awesome pointers. Wow. I've set aside a couple hours tonight to work on crafting/gathering, armorsmithing and mining as Estellios suggested-- and I will also, hopefully, push through more of the Skull Valley camp.

Mikita after reading your great post I'll try to curb my enthusiasm about profits-- at least, heh, to start out with. So long as I can sustain my gear to some degree and help keep myself up to snuff... That'll be enough for now. Even if it becomes something of a gil-dump.

I've been working on Marauder/Gladiator almost exclusively but I'll shoot for spending some time with Pugilist and Conjurer to kind of round out my abilities because of your post Taika. If I hadn't read it, I would have, probably foolishly, just plowed ahead as just a Marauder/Gladiator until I unlocked warrior- so thank you for that input.

Heh, I feel like I'm just barraging you all with questions (thanks for your patience!) but I have a few more...

Outside of Shposhae I haven't really seen many other dungeons- is that something that is in the works for 2.0? Are there many other dungeons to explore as a team? Or is it mainly named monster hunting for the time being?

Had a friendly player direct me to the camp where I could pick up a Goobbue when I hit level 30- - I also unlocked Battlecraft achievements. I understand that as I gain achievement points I can exchange those for items, is that true? When I get to higher levels is it worth it to focus on gaining those achievement points?

Finally, as far as starting areas go, I hear alot of people saying to head to Ul'dah for groups and linkshells. I'm really liking Limsa Lominsa's style right now-- if I wanted to kind of stay put where I'm at for a little while, when would it be a good idea to kinda change my base of operations to Ul'dah? Does the main story quest chain that begins in Limsa Lominsa eventually head there?

Thank you all!!

I have seen the Battlecraft option, but what exactly are battlecrafts?

There are three other non-instanced dungeons like Shposhae. They're the three beastman strongholds: U'Ghamaro Mines north of Camp Iron Lake in La Noscea, Zahar'ak east of Camp Broken Water in Thanalan, and Natalan east of Camp Dragonhead in Coerthas. These are full of level 50-59 Kobolds, Amalj'aa, and Ixali, respectively, and have many special beastman NMs that sometimes drop keys to the coffers nearby, which sometimes contain unique gear.

You can't turn in the points you earn for completing achievements in FFXIV. The points themselves are like Xbox's Gamerscore: fun, but essentially worthless. On the other hand many of the hardest or most time consuming achievements have unique rewards, including the Luminary Tools, the Paragon's Crown, and the various Grand Company Escutcheons. These can be obtained from the NPCs issuing the corresponding achievements after they have been unlocked.

"Battlecraft" just refers to Battlecraft leves. Regional leves are divided into Battlecraft (fighting) and Fieldcraft (gathering). There's no corresponding word for crafting leves, since all Local Leves are crafting.

And yes, the main scenario will take you to Ul'dah at level 20. But the Grand Company storyline will take you all over.

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Originally Posted by Bladewall

Outside of Shposhae I haven't really seen many other dungeons- is that something that is in the works for 2.0? Are there many other dungeons to explore as a team? Or is it mainly named monster hunting for the time being?

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In the Black Shroud there are the Tam Tara Deepcroft (lower level) and Mun Tuy Cellars (higher level).

In Thanalan there is Nanawa Mines and Copperbell Mines... These aren't really dungeons, but a labyrinth like mine with lots of monsters to fight. There were also a couple of other mines that we stumbled upon, but neither were available for entry.

In La Noscea there is Cassiopeia Hollow near Camp Bloodshore, and the U'Ghamaro Mines (fairly difficult Kobold stronghold).

There are also the instanced dungeons of Toto Rak in the Black Shroud, Dzemael Darkhold in Coerthas, Cutter's Cry in Thanalan, and Aurum Vale in Coerthas.

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Finally, as far as starting areas go, I hear alot of people saying to head to Ul'dah for groups and linkshells. I'm really liking Limsa Lominsa's style right now-- if I wanted to kind of stay put where I'm at for a little while, when would it be a good idea to kinda change my base of operations to Ul'dah? Does the main story quest chain that begins in Limsa Lominsa eventually head there?

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Ul'dah is the gathering point for many players and it would be much easier to meet people, find parties, and get introduced to Linkshells there.

Even if you don't want to make Ul'dah your home, it's very easy to get around.
I usually keep my main return point as Ul'dah so I can go there easily whenever I like, and my secondary home point is set to the Inn Room in Limsa Lominsa so I can go "home" easily. ^^

Once again, thank you guys for answering my questions. Looks like this game will keep me busy for awhile. I am getting all my Classes up to 15, then starting archer as my main so I can unlock Bard. I don't really like crafting, so I will most likely ignore that for awhile.

Another Question:
Does it matter where you place your retainer? Not as in which city, but the sub-category's. As long as someone searchs for an item I have, they can still find it right? Doesn't matter which sub-category it's in?

They can still find it in the Item Search. The tax you pay to the city on the item varies by ward though. If you actually enter each ward it will tell you which items are discounted, e.g. Upper Tailors halves the tax on leather and cloth armor level 41-50. This is the tax taken away from the sale price when the gil is put into your retainer's inventory. I believe the tax is 5% in the wards, 2.5% in the correct ward, and 10% in a player bazaar (not sure why there's a tax there, lore-wise). Note that this is distinct from the item delivery fee charged when buying through the Item Search, which is added on top of your specified price when someone makes a purchase and is only charged to the buyer.

Gracias Senior. So easy to pick up other MMO's, this one has been a little more difficult, and I played FF11.

There is a thread with some pointers here. Lodestone links that tend to get overlooked, including a how-to on finding a party and setting your seeking flag.

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Originally Posted by TenraiNagi

Or you could join other people in their grinding parties (usually people shout in Uldah so don't bother with limsa or gridania)

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Please do not do this. There is a perfectly working party seeking interface and people need to use it. Instead you're just contributing to clogging up Ul'dah. It's bad enough present players are ignorant about it, let's not lead new ones in that direction ;)

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Originally Posted by Soukyuu

There is a thread with some pointers here. Lodestone links that tend to get overlooked, including a how-to on finding a party and setting your seeking flag.

Please do not do this. There is a perfectly working party seeking interface and people need to use it. Instead you're just contributing to clogging up Ul'dah. It's bad enough present players are ignorant about it, let's not lead new ones in that direction ;)

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I will heed that information and use the party seeking tools!

Lol I can't believe I asked the Battlecraft question, I got it mixed up with something else, I always knew what it was.