To alt or not to alt?

[DrManik]

I'm still pretty new, and this is just for down the road for if I get bored, but:

What are the disadvantages and advantages for alting?

To tell you where I'm at: My character now is primarily a PGL, then MRD and Lancer just to get to monk. So basically a disciple of war character. Probably not going to want to or need to level any magic classes, but I'm interested in them so I was thinking of making a secondary character to try them out down the road, maybe a healer for grouping ez-mode.

What are the benefits to learning classes on only one character? I think I can do without the crown and achievement. As far as I can tell the attribute upgrades don't affect other classes, so I could learn it all on one character, but I also like the story missions and wouldn't mind replaying them. Thanks for any help, just wondering!

[Ifitisnotfunwhyplay]

Alting is fun, and isn't a game supposed to be fun?

I've been playing about 90 days, and I alt a lot (10 characters at at least lvl 12, I think), and that's probably why my "main" character is only SMN 30. Well, that might also be due to my having other things to do besides play FFXIV.

[Estellios]

The benefit of having stuff all on one character is one of convenience. You get access to previously-learned cross-class skills, you possibly have unique dungeon drops for alternate classes, and you get +50% bonus XP if your current class is a lower level than another one. Any crafting classes you have leveled can be used to repair your own gear which is much more gil-efficient.

It should be mentioned that the storylines for the 3 nations are largely similar and become the same once you get your airship pass.

Of course if you have fun playing through the story multiple times in other games and think you would enjoy it here by all means do it. You get multiple character slots as it is.

[Bixby]

The main benefits are having access to higher-level things earlier on, not having to jump through hoops to juggle items back and forth (in the case of characters on the same server), and not having to redo things you don't enjoy. For example, having a mount and airship access and aetherytes unlocked right from level 1 if you start a new class on the same character, vs. having to unlock all that stuff all over again on a new character. You can't mail your alts on the same server, so it's also easier to use your high-level classes to fund your low-level classes on the same character. Oh, also cross-class abilities. Second Wind, for example, can be really nice for any class (at low levels anyway).

That's not to say there's anything wrong with alts. Alts can be a lot of fun, and it's nice to experience the story again/differently. I also personally find alts easier to experiment with different control/UI setups. Muscle memory just feels easier to retrain when I'm watching someone new.

[Alistaire]

Definitely alt. Especially if you like SMN and SCH, 30 int vs mnd but also you can play a different race with another 5 or 6 points higher than the other. I play roegadyn sch/tank/melees and elezen smn/blm/brd.

Even in 2.0 this game throws so much xp at your first job, and now it's downright laughable to level jobs.

[Sho86]

I've been using alts on FFXIV since beta of 2.0 (and of course a ton of them when my days were spent on XI, mules ftw). The need for alts is very diminished compared to XI or other MMOs, but they do have slight advantages. In my personal conquest, I've been "alting" for reduced armory slots (one character a crafter, one a caster, one a melee etc), and to compound on that, any weekly caps or restrictions are circumvented by being able to get gear for all of them and essentially multiple classes. Finally if your running your own FC to get your own house like me (and to trade between them without having to rely on others via company chest), all of their quests and what not rank it up nicely; I've just come back from nearly a years break and had my FC at Rank 1 that is now half way through Rank 4 from less than a months time by switching between them.

Splitting it up further than that though might not be so fun, as you'll be missing some cross class skills that are important to have and may not feel like leveling up that sub again.

[Alistaire]

Diminished? More like quite substantially increased.

Maps.
Anything on a weekly cap.
Roulette bonuses.
The lack of craptastically rare drops that would make you throw your keyboard getting them on the wrong character.

The only comparable thing in xi was dynamis but I never had the time to do even 2 runs a day when I was running 3 characters there. Well, crafting you needed alts for there I guess. But certainly it's a no-brainer here to run 2 characters if you play enough.

[Sho86]

Diminished? More like quite substantially increased.

Maps.
Anything on a weekly cap.
Roulette bonuses.
The lack of craptastically rare drops that would make you throw your keyboard getting them on the wrong character.

The only comparable thing in xi was dynamis but I never had the time to do even 2 runs a day when I was running 3 characters there. Well, crafting you needed alts for there I guess. But certainly it's a no-brainer here to run 2 characters if you play enough.

Don't get me wrong, if you read my full post you'll see I'm much in favor of having alts. Although they did make the quality of life easier to sit with one character in this game, thus in my eyes diminished. That said of course like I also said in my post agreeing with what your stating here, the ability to get more armor is there through alts.

[Estellios]

To be fair you need to have quite a substantial amount of available playtime for alts to be worth considering for all of that. Doing all your daily roulettes alone is probably in the realm of 2-3 hours daily. And don't get me started on needing a drop from Crystal Tower, it's time consuming enough when you are looking for a few pieces spread among a few jobs.

[MicahZerrshia]

Alts are fun and can keep you interested. I had 2 accounts in both xi and xiv v1 since it was easy peasy to duo char but those days are gone so the second account is getting closed down sadly. However I am rolling a new alt on my main account to keep things interesting. So as an experienced alt-er, I say go for it. Just be sure you know which will be your primary since you should complete things on that one first so you have at least 1 strong and well geared char.