Question from a New Player.

[Beemith]

Hello everybody,

I'm new to Final Fantasy 14, I am currently a level 29 marauder (no max level characters). I understand that I have to complete the level 50 story line to start the expansion. Just a couple questions.

1) How much time will it take to complete? Just a general estimate.

2) Do you believe that it will be easy-ish to complete (with regards to finding groups)?

3) Is the new expansion worth the effort (in your opinion) to play?

[Anova]

1) Roughly speaking, ARR quests will take 60 hours from lv.1 to the start of the expansion. Leveling up is a lot faster now thanks to the 50% bonus exp until level 50 and the exp increase in level 51+ dungeons.

2) It depends on your class. As a Marauder and tank however, you will generally have the easiest time. This does not include non-main-story quests like the Crystal Tower raids, Coil of Bahamut raids, or many of the level 50 dungeons. Most waits will be 5 to 10 minutes for each dungeon at most. Dungeons may take anywhere from 40 minutes to 60 minutes to complete. This time can shorten depending on how well geared you and your party are though.

3) story-wise and gameplay-wise, the expansion is quite good. However, it's only valuable if you decide to continue the subscription and play the MMO. There's no reason to buy the expansion if you don't like the game at level 50.

[Risvertasashi]

Hello everybody,

I'm new to Final Fantasy 14, I am currently a level 29 marauder (no max level characters). I understand that I have to complete the level 50 story line to start the expansion. Just a couple questions.

1) How much time will it take to complete? Just a general estimate.

2) Do you believe that it will be easy-ish to complete (with regards to finding groups)?

3) Is the new expansion worth the effort (in your opinion) to play?

1. A few days ago someone here on the forums mentioned that, from level 1 to 50 & HW unlocked, it took them 114 hours. This was skipping all cutscenes. As a tip, though... don't try to rush it. Just enjoy the story, take it in little chunks. Enjoy other things along the way too.

2. Mostly yes. My alt character did have trouble getting Garuda Story mode done through the DF (the auto group finder), and I had to ask my FC for help. So, finding a good FC can go a long way should you run into trouble.

3. Absolutely yes. Even if I end up quitting the game, I'll be coming back for the next expac on its story alone. If you're not really enjoying the story... maybe not, then. I can't really claim there's some superfun amazing content at the current endgame because even my current favorite thing (Thordan's Reign) is only fun if you enjoy raiding to begin with.

[Yukileonhart]

The game it self is amazing so u should enjoy it but reaching lvl 60 with MSQ's if u spend enough time it will be 3 weeks maybe to finish all the game without raids and ex bosses and side stories

[Mimilu]

1. If you stick with doing just the main-story quest, it theoretically shouldn't take to long. I've know people who have done it in less then a week and have heard of people doing it quicker then that. It could get a little boring though and getting a group in the Duty Finder might be hard. >w>()

2. As a tank, you shouldn't have a hard time getting a group together in the Duty Finder. I might recommend joining a Free Company and/or making friends that could play/help you though, just because the Duty Finder is a mixed bag, you might get veterans who are nice, you might get veterans who are jerks, you might get newer players who are willing to learn, you might get new players who aren't, etc.

3. If you are interested in XIV's story, bigger areas to explore, and want some more harder fights, then yes. If you are looking for a huge difference in game play, not so much... >w>()
For me, when it comes to MMOs, it grinds down to how social you are, how stimulated you are, and how much reward for work you feel you're getting.

[Beemith]

3. Absolutely yes. Even if I end up quitting the game, I'll be coming back for the next expac on its story alone. If you're not really enjoying the story... maybe not, then. I can't really claim there's some superfun amazing content at the current endgame because even my current favorite thing (Thordan's Reign) is only fun if you enjoy raiding to begin with.

Thanks, I do enjoy raiding. I am enjoying the story. With regards to raiding, what do you find with regards to how the time required vs how you progress?

[Malicewolf]

This is sort of a tricky question... It really depends on how much time you put in. I finished the main story quests for ARR in a little under 2 months, but I was sharing my ps4 with my gf and I was doing all the side quests and getting distracted with other things as well. So if you wish to just push through the main story quests to get to the end of ARR content, then I'd say if you play about 5 hours a day and just focus on the necessities, you should be through in a few weeks. 2-3 maybe. But with that, you'll be passing up SOOO much content in the side story quests, etc. For me, I dislike leaving quests to do later. I prefer to clear out an area with the quests there before moving on (hence why it took me a while to clear ARR content, and why I'm still doing HW content).

Yes, the MSQ in ARR aren't too difficult. There are a few dungeons/trials that are a bit challenging, but as a tank, you shouldn't have problems finding quick queue times in DF. I would suggest you read some guides or watch some video's on some of the more challenging dungeons/trials. DF is hit or miss with the people you get. Some are very nice, patient and helpful. Some are... let's just say not as accommodating. Don't let those people get to you. I will say though, as a tank, you'll have to deal with some impatient people regardless. I feel I'm pretty experienced/good at tanking and I still get people complaining about stuff every once in a while. Best advice I can give for you is, if you enter a new dungeon or trial, say it. Then no one can blame you for not knowing what the mechanics are if they are too impatient to wait before pulling (but once again, as you are tank, you are the one to start things off). By the time you reach 8 man dungeons, you should have a very good gist of how to tank correctly.

Last, I think yes. HW is totally worth the effort. So much more content and things to do. I'm having a blast in it. I've found many of the dungeons in HW require you to follow stricter mechanics to get through the fights, but I haven't had much problem with it. Once again, be sure to ask when you enter a new dungeon or trial if there's anything you should know.

[Risvertasashi]

Thanks, I do enjoy raiding. I am enjoying the story. With regards to raiding, what do you find with regards to how the time required vs how you progress?

Previous to the expac it wasn't too bad. Say, with about 6~8 hours a week most of them took 3 weeks to get down? But it could be 6 weeks for a particularly hard one. Now the current raid (Alexander Savage) is a bit... um, weirdly tuned. The first 2 levels can be progressed through very quickly, especially now that gear levels are higher. Then there's a huge difficulty cliff after that, the sort where groups can put in 2+ months at more hours per week and still not get anywhere. It's killed raiding communities on most servers. I suspect SE is going to tone it back a little bit for their next raid.

Thordan EX... you can get that down just pugging in about a week if you work at it (a day if you have raid-capable friends), but it's still fun. It's tuned such that tanks and healers have to pay attention pretty closely, and DPS need to be on their A game, but at least in my opinion-- it hit that sweet spot in being challenging without being so frustrating you come to hate it. And it's pretty epic--music, visuals, etc. All in all I'm pretty happy with it.

There's my 2 gil on it.

[Maero]

I guess comes down to how much play time you have. From say level 1-50 it really does not take all that long, but highly suggest to find a Free Company and friends to help you out.
Some of the older content players just do not do as much anymore.
Fates, dungeons, hunting log, Free Company exp buff and also eat experience food all help oh and leves if you absolutely need.
End game raiding like say Alex Savage and Thordan EX most definately could be tough to actually complete just with pugs, but a dedicated group should be no problem.
You do have various Primals first to do, regular versions, Hard Mode versions and then Extreme versions of Primals, all of which (with exceptions to the battles in Heavansward) can be done unsynched and undersize parties. Which basically means instead of the usually 8 players you could do it with say 3 or 4 (or less) but with the higher level gear and abilities.
Heavansward is worth getting but you can also wait until you are close to having the 2.x storyline complete.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Hello everybody,

I'm new to Final Fantasy 14, I am currently a level 29 marauder (no max level characters). I understand that I have to complete the level 50 story line to start the expansion. Just a couple questions.

1) How much time will it take to complete? Just a general estimate.

2) Do you believe that it will be easy-ish to complete (with regards to finding groups)?

3) Is the new expansion worth the effort (in your opinion) to play?

1) If you put something of a rush on it, the content up to Heavensward should last roughly 3-4 weeks. This assumes you do things outside following just the main story from the word go. Personally, I would recommend taking a leisure approach. The story is quite good and there is plenty to do, be it side quests, crafting or unlocking dungeons. You'll enjoy the game much more if you take your time with it.

2) It very much depends on the world your in. I'm on Aether/Balmung and rarely have issues getting queues at prime hours. You may see some longer ones for some story content, but speaking only from my own experiences, it hasn't been too bad as a DPS. Being a Tank, you should have even less trouble with queues.

3) I have yet to reach it myself, however friends in my FC just did recently and have raved about it. The story and voice acting really steps up. So I'm excited for it myself.