Super Character vs Multiple

So seeing as this forum has a ridiculous restriction on posting and replying outside of the newbie area. I guess I will ask here.

So SE encourages you to level one character, opposed to many by making the sub fee slightly less. But now I ask, is it worth it?

I feel there are pro's and con's to this. One pro is that you can easily switch into any class you feel like playing. That is an amazing feature. But I have noticed a few problems with this.

Questing: You can only do a quest once than its over. So each area only yields enough for one class. Meaning I can't play a Marauder in Limsa than switch to a Arcanist and do the same quests.

Guildleves: You get only 3 every 6 or 8 hours. So you will use those up quick.

This leaves you with doing FATES and dungeons. I am personally afraid that they may nerf FATES because of people saying it gives to much XP. Thus making other classes a slower grind.

Post to be continued...

I know a lot of people are not to keen on doing the same quest over and over again. But the fact you are leveling a new class means that you are already starting over. Just with the same character. I feel that questing is an important function of leveling. So it is something to take into consideration with changing classes.

You do get bonuses to getting exp for leveling a different class with the same character. The bonus being dependent on your level of your highest level class. But this is only a bonus. While helpful, it's still only a percentage more. Even with rested XP, its slow going.

I do not mean to be trashing on leveling another class. I just see a lot of challenges. I don't think it should be made easy in any way shape or form. I am just curious.

There are benefits to the same character.

Mount:
Having this at level 1 is a huge benefit. You can cruise around on your mount and get to FATES faster as well as mob jumping.

XP Bonus:
It will make leveling slightly faster

All your resources at your disposal:
You don't need to give Gil to your alt. You already have it. You will have equipment from other classes.

Traits
Having the use of select skills from other classes is awesome.

No need to keep switch characters
Title explains it all. It can be annoying needing to log into my blacksmith on one character and my alchemist on the other. It does cut down on time by a lot!

Thoughts?

You don't really need to "reserve" the space to extend the post - just edit it (it will let you to add over the 1000 chars limit).

In regards of pros and cons of 1 character with all classes and jobs versus having multiply characters with less classes (optimally full set of 8 characters with each on 1 of 8 main DoW / DoM classes):

- If you decide to have a single character and just switch classes / jobs you'd have "shared" pool of items (which is both benefit as well as issue as you'll soon start running out of space) and most of all you can "borrow" some actions and traits accross the classes / jobs once unlocked which is impossible if leveled on separate characters

- If you decide to level each class or at least group / disciple separately you'll benefit with less clutter in quests and items storage, possibility to "re-do" the quests (unless you find it boring) however you'll be unable to share traits / actions or even any of the items (directly) as you can't moogle mail your own characters and even if you'll use the middle man (some friend on the same server) to transfer the items you'll be unable to re-use any of the used gear as it will be already bound to the original character.

For me personally not being able to trade with / moogle mail / add on your friend list your own alternative characters is the biggest con however I have workaround for that already.

Also - in the current (or at least recent) situation with login issues you might easilly spend several hours just to "switch" to another character ...

I am torn on the idea of 1 super character.... on one hand it is nice to have the perks you mentioned but the fact that after you raise 2 classes up you will run out of quests just makes it hard. There are those people who love to grind xp by just killing mobs, running dungeons and FATE chasing but I'm not one of them.

The game has a dozen little ways to gain XP as well. Each class has a hunting or gathering journal which will give small xp rewards. These add up after time.

Another thought is aesthetics.
Do you want to stare at the same character leveling every class? As a rule, I only play male characters as my main. However there are time I do enjoy leveling a female character just because its not the same thing. Certain classes just look better for females in my opinion. I rather play a WM as a female character than a male. Its not because of gender stereotypes, I just think it looks better. Same for Bard. I like female Bards better as well.

It boils down to, do I want to spend a few dollars more a month and have access to all 8 characters or do I want one super character that has access to everthing I need.

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Originally Posted by Jaminos

It boils down to, do I want to spend a few dollars more a month and have access to all 8 characters or do I want one super character that has access to everthing I need.

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Well - you can actually sub for 180 days in advance and pay the same price as ther "entry" sub or get cheaper prepaid cards online for almost the same price as the entry / 180 days monthly fee so that's the last of the concerns. While I've opted for the standard full sub before the game was even out and have all 8 main chars on my home servers (each for one DoW / DoM class) I'm currently using the first one only to level all the classes and jobs and later on I'll start switching slowly to next one having various races, genders and looks as well.

my plan is to sort of have 3 super characters, one hyur super melee, one Mi'Qote ranger/dragoon combo, and 1 Lalafell super mage. that way i get to use all the classes but with a few different races just to keep things abit fresh. i dont really like the idea of having a super character that can do everything, not sure why it just doesnt feel rite lol

I'm going with the multiple characters option, I like the idea of being able to have several characters of different races with different specialties. The not being able to trade between your own characters does indeed feel like a con and hopefully will get fixed.

The options are all yours. Some people like separation by style, some like their super character. I personally prefer everything on one character, because I don't want anything to repeat and want it all ready on my one character. Especially not being able to send stuff to my alt... nah, I'd rather keep it all in one.

I'm leaning towards one super character at the moment. Just makes life easier.

Another consideration is that if you like following the stories, having just one character means you miss out on the two other city quest lines that are part of the main story quest. It's not a big deal (especially if you don't care about story), but that's why I'm playing 3 character, one from each town.

Yeah uh there really is not reason to have multiple characters except for bag space for crafting mats. I wish they would give us a lot more space for the armoury as most of us plan on having all our jobs on one character, which means we won't be able to variate and be prepared for situational fights with offsets, except through moving said gear to the inventory, which makes it a hassle to organize, find, and possibly make mistakes vendoring or losing in some fashion. Having alts for bag space helps, but does cause a hinderance that's not necessary at all.

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Originally Posted by Flowsharian

Yeah uh there really is not reason to have multiple characters except for bag space for crafting mats. I wish they would give us a lot more space for the armoury as most of us plan on having all our jobs on one character, which means we won't be able to variate and be prepared for situational fights with offsets, except through moving said gear to the inventory, which makes it a hassle to organize, find, and possibly make mistakes vendoring or losing in some fashion. Having alts for bag space helps, but does cause a hinderance that's not necessary at all.

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Have you tried hiring a retainer? The can hold several tabs worth of stuff as well as sell things on the Market. You need to summon him/her to access the storage, but it's easier than transferring items to an alt.

They either need to nerf FATEs a bit or just buff up the EXP we get in other places.
Why do dungeons or leves when we can just FATE all day?
If you ever need extra space, you can hire a retainer. That's their way of sorting the whole
"Mule" accs. You can have up to 2 retainers. All good in the hood.

1 Super Character is my plan.

I am an alt-a-Holic and I enjoy the various type of races and looks I get bored if I just stick to 1 character.Though it is annoying to not be able to mail items to my other characters there are a few ways round this:-

Use of FC bank ,sell items on the market at a silly price and then switch to other character to buy it,this is easy way to send gil to other characters and items,crystals this is the 2 methods I use.

But I wish SE would let us use the mail between characters just for your account and not having to be online.

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Originally Posted by Avorniel

sell items on the market at a silly price and then switch to other character to buy it,this is easy way to send gil to other characters and items,crystals this is the 2 methods I use.

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That's not the most efficient method as you'll pay tax on each market sale and with silly high prices you'll loose some considerable amount of gill ...

I have always been an altaholic, so I have a 30 WHM and a 32 BRD at the moment. But I plan on going Dragoon with my BRD and BLM or Scholar (haven't decided yet) with my WHM. So many choices, so little time!

I had originally planned on two characters.

One for DOM and Archer with BOT, FSH, WVR, ALC, CUL, and CRP (main - this one)
One for the DOWs with MIN, ARM, BSM, GSM, and LTW.

I did the Gridania storyline in phase 3 so this character was an archanist for LL and my other one would start as a gladiator in Ul'Dah.

Well with all the login issues and such my second character is on a JP world. So he can't do the BSM and MINing that I need for my main's professions. I also already picked up LTW on my main for Archer and crafting gear as I had so many damn skins.

So at this point I am reconsidering on the DOH profs. Problem is that my armory chest and retainers are already getting quite full. So not sure what I'm going to do. I can buy all the tools and gear that BSM and GSM would make.

Not sure why you would even consider creating a character per class when we're given the ability to level them all in one. As you said, there are many very important pros to this system, more than you mentioned.

Your only Con is that you don't get to repeat quests per class and you only get a certain amount of leve allowances per hour. I find that a bit ridiculous.
First, as others have mentioned, you get an exp bonus when leveling a class lower than your highest leveled class.
Second, there are far more quests than you need to level a single class. It's quite easy to level your first class simply by doing the main story combined with FATEs, leves, hests, and hunting logs. Doing it in this manner allows you to have plenty of side quests available to you when leveling other classes. Not only that, but you of course again have the ability to do FATEs, leves, hests, and hunting logs when leveling that other class.
You'll be missing the story quests and that's it.

So, in the end how could anyone even consider not leveling the classes they want on one character when doing otherwise comes with so many cons.
- The inability to ride a choco early
- Having no use for the incredibly important cross class skill slots (never underestimate being able to use heal as a dps or tank when you are soloing)
- Needing to move items and gil from character to character (the armory chest system was designed for a reason)
- The inability to specialize a job because you've only leveled one class
- The inability to help your party in a pitch if they really need someone to switch jobs to suit situations
- More more more, too much to list here.

There are sooo many cons to not leveling the classes on one character that I would be amazed if anyone levels one class per character, and I'd be amazed if their reasons are anything but foolish.

- I realize this may come off as terse but I don't intend for it to be, just trying to help out.

I'm going the 3 character route because i like doing quests and paying attention to the story so i want to see how it turns out for all 3 starting locations.

I feel I should clarify this a bit further. If you want multiple characters that is fine, but just know that in order to play whatever job you choose to play correctly, you MUST level at least 2 other classes to 34 on each character. For example Black Mage pulls abilities from Arcanist and Archer. So to play my Black Mage correctly, I must also level an archer to 34 and an Arcanist to 34.

This means it becomes instantly more cost effective to get more and more max level classes on ONE character, since if I say choose to go Bard at some point in the future, I have already done over half the work of leveling him. Chances are, if you want to level 3 jobs to the max, it is going to REQUIRE you to have achieved at LEAST 34 on every single class in the game. Combine that, with the xp boost you get on subsequent classes and sticking to one character instantly becomes a better choice.

If you are doing multiple characters for looks, it will save you time, energy, effort, and pain by just buying a bottle of fantasia (when they start selling them directly) and then completely changing your look.

I haven't done them all but I'm relatively sure the main story does not differ between the 3 starting cities. It will be slightly different until the level 15 quest to gain access to air travel of course. But I very highly doubt the *entire* main story will be different simply because of your starting city. In fact, considering the fact that the story missions after air travel start to put you into dungeons/instances, the story lines must converge before that starts to happen. I love paying attention to the story as well, and that's all the more reason to stick with one character. It will take you 3 times as long to find out the entire story as it would if you stuck with 1 character. Not only that, but you're gimping yourself for the higher level quests by not broadening your character skills much. In the end it's your decision, but before you do something that I would bet is a huge waste of time you might want to get a definitive answer on how much the story differs per starting city.

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Originally Posted by ChickensEvil

I feel I should clarify this a bit further. If you want multiple characters that is fine, but just know that in order to play whatever job you choose to play correctly, you MUST level at least 2 other classes to 34 on each character. For example Black Mage pulls abilities from Arcanist and Archer. So to play my Black Mage correctly, I must also level an archer to 34 and an Arcanist to 34.

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Explain? Everything I've read says a specialization (a "job") requires the main class for that job to be 30, and the secondary to be 15. I'm not sure where your 34 is coming from. From one of the many guides I've read:

"At Lvl 30, you will be able to obtain a Job (enhanced version of your main class). In order to be eligible for a Job however, you must have lvl’d an alt/sub class. The combinations required to obtain the specific Jobs are as follows;

WHM (White Mage) – Conjurer Lvl 30/Arcanist Lvl 15
SCH (Scholar) – Arcanist Lvl 30/Conjurer Lvl 15
SMN (Summoner) – Arcanist Lvl 30/Thaumaturge Lvl 15
BRD (Bard) – Archer Lvl 30/Pugilist 15
PLD (Paladin) – Gladiator Lvl 30/Conjurer Lvl 15
DRG (Dragoon) – Lancer Lvl 30/Marauder Lvl 15
WAR (Warrior) – Marauder Lvl 30/Gladiator Lvl 15
MNK (Monk) – Pugilist Lvl 30/Lancer 15
BLM (Black Mage) – Thaumaturge Lvl 30/Archer 15"

Some people are more interested in aesthetics than numbers and efficiency. My Miqo'te is aiming to be a Bard (pun intended) and a Monk, but I rolled a more-intimidating Roegadyn to be a Warrior, just based on appearance. Does that mean more work and some drawbacks? Of course it does, but I don't care...that's how I want to play it. :)

For me, I didn't like how when I played WoW that I had to go through all the story and rep grinds again just to get my alt up to the point of being able to participate in the same content as my main. In this game, all I have to do is level them up. Yes, it's going to be a bit slower not having the side quests available, but I think it's an acceptable trade off being that you won't be locked out of all the things that are unavailable to you from the start:

- Can't swap classes till level 10 (not an issue I guess if you plan on rolling a new char for every class)
- Can't use inn room initially.
- Can't do guildleves initially.
- Can't do guildhests initially.
- Can't use airship initially.
- Have to go through story again just to queue up for dungeons rather than just doing them once they're level appropriate.
- Can't use retainers initially.
- Can't use chocobo initially.

By the time you've gotten your first char to level 20 on a class, all of those things are available for you to use as you please. Is the quicker leveling pace for leveling a brand new char just for one class really worth not having those things?

Also, although it's not really an important thing to a lot of people, I find it harder to associate with someone's alt character over their main. In WoW I do all the raiding with these people's main chars, then when there's no raiding to do, they swap to another char that could be a totally different gender and/or race. That's just something that's weird for me as I have this image of their main char as I'm talking to them and they're something completely different.

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Originally Posted by KhyaraBloodvayne

Explain? Everything I've read says a specialization (a "job") requires the main class for that job to be 30, and the secondary to be 15. I'm not sure where your 34 is coming from.

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The person you quoted was talking about how far you need to level to play the job as its maximum efficiency. 34 on both Archer and Arcanist give access to cross class abilities that are very helpful. (Quelling Strikes to reduce enmity and Eye for an Eye for party utility.) There's also Physick if you want a heal, Raging Strikes for damage boost, Virus to debuff monsters and Hawk's Eye if you need an accuracy boost for some reason.

By the way, no one said they were planing on making an alt for each class. The most anyone mentioned was three. I don't know where the thought of leveling 8 characters came from...

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Originally Posted by Kincade

By the way, no one said they were planing on making an alt for each class. The most anyone mentioned was three. I don't know where the thought of leveling 8 characters came from...

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The OP never specified, and many people that have played MMOs have played WoW, so I was just using that as a comparison as every class = a new character.

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Originally Posted by Kincade

Some people are more interested in aesthetics than numbers and efficiency. My Miqo'te is aiming to be a Bard (pun intended) and a Monk, but I rolled a more-intimidating Roegadyn to be a Warrior, just based on appearance. Does that mean more work and some drawbacks? Of course it does, but I don't care...that's how I want to play it. :)

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and that's a total valid reason; one of the few. I was addressing the two people who cited doing it per class, and doing it per starting city for the story alone.

Although I can't stand WoW :/ I still agree with Oro's points, he elaborated on what I was trying to point out. I'm about to hit 23 in a moment and the only sidequests I've done have been those on the way through the Gridania origin story. Beyond that I've had no problems staying with (and actually beyond) level for the story quests just by the occasional FATE, leves, and hests. I'd think it'd be easy to save some sidequests for each new class you switch to.