question for current ffxi players

[Shuon]

long story short, i wanna play ffxi again to get the story done.

I stopped in the midst of wotg. not sure if i want to reuse my existing char (cant remember login or any details for that matters) or create new one.

If i want to create a new character, how much hassle do I have to go through to finish rhapsodies? I understand you ca have NPC parties now? Will i get access to that at lvl10?

and what is a recommended all purpose class? rdm still the way to go?

[Evangela]

I want to play it someday too. Can I get the main story completed in 2-3 months? don't want to spend too many times for it.

[Warlyx]

to finish rhapsodies u need to finish your Nations missions (up to 6 i think ), zilart up to Sky , COP up to some point (no finish but almost...) , ToAU i think after alex , WoTG until cant remember...

so starting a new char....ugh , u will be able to SOLO all of it with trusts , but it gonna take u weeks ....trust dont lower xp received and u can chain kill IT mobs with easy , if your trust healer is low on mp release and resummon (3 min cd so yeah no need to take a break!)

Any job works now Rhapsodies missions arent hard , u can have up to 4 trusts after doing the first missions. (u can summon 3 before that)

i recommend a solid DD since u will be able to have bard healer caster and if needed tank (or another DD) , but i did rhapsodies as NIN/WAR wit healer bard 2 dd and breezed throw most of it

[Shuon]

at what level do i get trust? and as a new char, is my choice of trust npc limited?

mainly lookin to finish cop, toau, wotg, adoulin and rhapsodies stories (before they shut off ffxi for good).

[Evenstar]

I started over myself a few days ago, leveling is super quick. You can start Rhapsody missions right away, but can not finish them until you reach a certain point in other missions.

Trust Magic can be used to spawn NPC's to make them fight alongside you. I think this unlocks at level 5. You can have up to three to start with, but can unlock two more spots while doing Rhapsody. As a new character your trust choices are limited, but with the login campaigns going on it is easy to get some good trusts within a few days.

There are really easy ways to get huge EXP bonus. You can do the first few Rhapsody missions (just a bit of running around, no fighting involved) to get a key item which gives you 30% EXP boost, non-stop! There is currently also an event going on you can do within a few minutes to get a Kupofried trust, which gives you a standard 20% (not 100% sure on the % here) EXP bonus as long as you have it out. Combined with some EXP bonus rings leveling is really quick.

To avoid new people feeling left out and having no gear and/or items to buy from AH SE installed some new moogles that sell lots of shit (like prism powders, silent oils, low level gear etc. etc. etc.).

Oh! Also have RoE now which you can compare to Challenge Log of FFXIV, but with good EXP rewards

[Shuon]

so I can get a healer trust npc at lvl 5? thats awesome!

[Talraen]

They just added records of eminence 'quests' that immediately give you five extra trusts to fill the major roles, so getting whatever you need is very easy. Also there are *six* 30% experience bonuses available in Rhapsodies, for a total of nearly triple exp across the board. Combined with them already doubling exp a few years ago, and the fact that you 'solo' mobs that used to require a party, you level very, very fast.

One thing about leveling, though: don't focus on the hardest mob you can kill. There is a cap per mob at any given level, and up until level 50 I believe, the highest-level mob that cons as Tough (and anything that cons as VT or IT) will yield it. This is less true at very high levels, but while ramping up you are better off killing easier mobs than you would have as a party, since you'll get the same experience either way but be able to keep up a chain longer due to faster kills.

[Enkidoh]

Ah, but there is also a negative side to the Trust system - for instance, if your NPCs die, you cannot resummon them if you have hate on you (in other words, you cannot resummon them in the middle of a battle, you have to summon them before engaging an enemy).

Also some of the healer npcs... aren't nearly as potent as they might seem to be (an example of this is Ferrous Coffin, the galka WHM from the Campaign battle system in the Wings of the Goddess expansion. Where as in Campaign his healing skills are extremely powerful, even being able to remove that annoying 'weakness' effect when raised... as a Trust npc.. he just... mostly hits enemies with the relic hammer Mjollnir and spams the weaponskill Randgrith, instead of healing like he should. You can also not heal your npcs yourself - hence if a healer npc runs out of MP (which they tend to do), that's all folks!

Still, it's an amazing system that definitely makes life so much easier - it's just not a complete replacement for actual players in a party.

[Azazua_azura]

is trusts added with the companion or did they change the system? I recall FoV in the open world, GoV books in dungeons. Exp rings, signal, signet give exp def boost. They increased the exp on mobs as well. I haven't played for 3 years but those are some changes since you last played.

[Catwho]

Trust are in addition to the companion/fellow. Trusts are NPCs from the game, whose appearance cannot be altered, and they're automatically synced to your level. Your fellow had to be leveled separately.

I've heard that Kupipi is the best healer, since she prioritizes status debuff removal over direct cures or buffs.