A Few General Questions

[irvm89]

1. I've managed to get CNJ to Rank 20 as people have suggested for Cure II. Currently, it's the only job I leveled. Besides, ranking THM up to 20, are there any other "recommended" abilities from the other classes that would make Soloing/Partying easier?

2. I was reading about taking GLA to 36 for Sentinel for Ifrit, so I'm assuming Sentinel is a also a great Soloing/Partying ability. Are there other abilities like Sentinel with a high Rank requirement? It feels a little strange having to level a class past it's "SJ" status.

2a. From what I've been reading, MRD and LNC seem to be the two classes over performing. Would it be a waste trying to level another DoW if not one of those two? If I were to level PUG or ARC, for example, I wouldn't be XIV's version of lolDRG, will I? They're not "lol" anymore, but I was using them as an example because of their status for a long time after the NA release of XI.

3. Since both THM and CNJ will be at level 20, which would be the better option to take to 50 for Soloing and/or Partying? I'm assuming it won't matter because I'll need both to 50 anyway for x-class abilities...

4. Actually, these questions are discouraging me from leveling now. Eventually, will I just need every class at 50 for the x-class abilties?

5. On average, how long would it take to Rank a DoL to 50? I feel I level my MIN faster than I do my CNJ.

6. As with the DoW/DoMs having CNJ/THM to 20, are there any "recommended" abilities for DoLs too or am I safe to focus on a single one unlike with the DoW/DoMs?

7. I've been stockpiling my Levequest allowances and I'm up to 52 now. Would the best way to use them be DoH leves? I was thinking so because of the material and crystals required for grinding.

8. In terms of DoH, are there any "recommended" abilities for these too? Would Alchemist be the best first DoH to rank to 50 because of crystal breaking?

9. I'm currently playing on Besaid since I've read that it's the most populated server with NA speaking players. Was I right on this choice?

10. Ul'dah is extremely populated. Limsa and Gridania is desolate. Would it be best for me to just join the Grand Company in Ul'dah when I can? Are there quests restricted based on which Grand Company you're a part of similar to with XI?

11. Is the market wards profitable at all? It feels as if anything and everything I put on my Retainer sells slowly (and I'm always the lowest price) to the point where I just end up vendoring my items and not bothering. Should it only be used for finished products? Are there any websites similar to ffxiAH that show the frequency an items sells so that I'd know exactly what sells Dead Slow-Slow to just vendor and whatever sells Normal-Very Fast to keep?

12. Equipment on the Market Wards is either absurdly expensive or just not available. Besides that, it has no sorting and filter function. I've been purchasing equipment directly from vendors and checking the Wards only for the the vendor/ward price differences. Would this just be the best route to go?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Sorry there's so many or if they've been answered before.

[REDace0]

(1). Second Wind from PGL, Bloodbath from MRD, and Invigorate from LNC seem to be popular. The first two restore HP, the last one gives a TP regen buff for a small HP cost. You can find the levels of these skills on http://ffxiv.yg.com.

(2). Sentinel is great because it seems to just cut all damage to 1/3rd for its duration, which makes it extremely powerful. E.g. on THM if things go sour and we pull too many, I can throw out Shadowsear, pop Sentinel to tank the damage, and then I can survive long enough to throw out a Drain II. This (hopefully) is enough damage to kill most of the enemies, esp if the rest of the party is continuing to fight. The tier 2 versions of the abilities from (1) are also quite high-level and useful.

(3). I prefer THM for damage and enfeebling, but unless you want to play a caster many of its abilities aren't as useful cross-class. CNJ, on the other hand, has Chainspell (at 44), which will let you Raise two people at once, one nearly instantly. It also has a more helpful array of buffs.

(4). I have CNJ and THM at 50, but my next highest is GLA at only 36. It seems like I contribute plenty in Dungeons, NM/Boss Fights, and Strongholds. In fact, I'm holding off on taking other things too high because I want to have lower-level classes to play later content. I missed out on Shposhae because I have nothing below L25.

(5). [Bah! I misread your original question! This refers to DoW/M. DoL or DoH can take quite a while, but I can't provide solid numbers as I rarely do grinding for DoLs or DoHs.]
With parties or powerlevelling I've heard of people doing it in a week full-time. A more normal timeframe is one to two months, especially if it's your first class. Leves and parties, esp. 20+, are the way to go.

(6). You can focus on a single DoL, though traits from other DoLs can be helpful, they aren't as important. Cross-class abilities are a little more important for DoHs, and most DoHs get a generally useful ability at L10, so many crafters have all of them at 10.

(7). Yes. However, leves are great for any class due to the XP bonus for successful completion. Keep in mind for any battlecraft leves that it's better to finish quickly to secure the speed bonus than to eke out a bit more XP by fighting stronger foes but resting between fights.

(8). Preserve (ALC10) and Fulfillment (LTW10) are always on my bar, regardless of the DoH class.

(9). No idea. I'm on Wutai. I know Figaro has a big NA Linkshell due to reddit.

(10). No. Join the Maelstrom because it's awesome and our leader has a friggin' gun. It honestly doesn't make that big a difference. Join the one you like best.

(11). It's really hard to tell right now because the market hasn't settled from the upset in 1.19. Finished products generally sell well at the right price unless there's a glut of them, which you can check from the Item Search Counter. AFAIK there is no such utility online, but maybe the new price history feature will have date/times.

(12). Yeah. They're fixing this in 1.20. The server program they inherited from the original development process has issues. It sounds like you're making the best use of the system. By the way, if it's not available, but you want it, there's probably a market there!

Hope this helps!

[Estellios]

^^^
This is all good info.

Above all else, play what you want to play. General rule of thumb is that Level 20 for battle classes is "capped subjob status" but the more you level up multiple classes, the more your character benefits and the more options you have to tailor your charater to your playstyle. Sentinel for the Ifrit fight is nice, but it is definitely not absolutely necessary.

Concerning flavor-of-the-month classes: we are set to get class revamps either at the end of the month or early next month when the next major patch hits, and the devs have stated that they are intending to make all classes viable in all major content.

Pick the company you want for personal reasons, you are required to spend time with all of them before committing so you can make a better decision. Don't worry about gear/location/anything. Story quests can be done with people from all companies, the only thing company-locked are caravans and company leves (the latter being solo-only so it doesn't make a difference).

Lastly, don't be afraid to buy things from NPCs when low-level gear is ludicrously overpriced. Also, you have the option of looking up the materials for gear and buying them, then shouting for a crafter. Crafters in this game, from my experience, are extremely generous and may not even charge you for the service. If you need to look up recipes, I've been using mooglebox.com.

Good luck! And if you end up not liking your server, you're welcome to join our small mid-core weekend LS on Istory

[VydarrTyr]

2a. From what I've been reading, MRD and LNC seem to be the two classes over performing. Would it be a waste trying to level another DoW if not one of those two? If I were to level PUG or ARC, for example, I wouldn't be XIV's version of lolDRG, will I? They're not "lol" anymore, but I was using them as an example because of their status for a long time after the NA release of XI.

It wasn't that long ago that Thaum and Arc were considered the two overpowered classes. In fact, just a couple of months ago, FFXIV Pro did a survey and determined that the DoW/DoM class that was least played was ... Marauder! True story -- About 6 months ago, I was playing with a JP player, and he asked what my main class was, I told him Marauder, and he laughed at me. But they changed the claim system, so suddenly Marauder's AoE was useful -- instead of being a detriment -- and Marauder seems to have become the flavor of the month.

Keep in mind that the "flavor of the month" classes is frequently just that -- the flavor of the month. Arc is still very effective against the Ogre and Batraal. And when you parse the numbers, Lancer does the most damage against Ifrit (but also has the fewest HP), and everyone else seems to do about the same amount of damage.

Classes are constantly being balanced, and like Este said, we're soon going to get another class adjustment when the next patch hits. So play whatever class you enjoy. In fact, I'd encourage you to play them all. Not just so you can figure out which one you like the most, but also so that you can get some well-rounded skills and abilities.

For example, you're eventually going to be able to do job quests at level 20, 30, and 36. When you do those quests, you'll be able to buy Traits with guildmarks you earn. The traits offered for mage jobs boost to your Str, Dex, and Vit. The traits offered for melee jobs boost your Mind, Int, and Pty. So, by leveling mage jobs, you can boost your melee attributes. And by leveling melee jobs, you can boost your mage attributes.

3. Since both THM and CNJ will be at level 20, which would be the better option to take to 50 for Soloing and/or Partying? I'm assuming it won't matter because I'll need both to 50 anyway for x-class abilities...

Totally up to you. Play whatever you find the most fun. I, personally, really like soling with Thaum. Thaum AoE is cone-shaped, which makes it really easy to take down groups of mobs. (Conj AoE is circular and seems to cover a smaller area, which I think makes it more difficult to AoE groups of mobs.)

But when it comes to partying, Conj is kind of in a class by itself. It gets the best heals and the best raises, which are exclusive to Conj. So if you're playing Conj, you probably won't have any trouble finding a party.

4. Actually, these questions are discouraging me from leveling now. Eventually, will I just need every class at 50 for the x-class abilties?

Nope. But it sure helps. And it will give you something to work on after you get your first class to 50.

5. On average, how long would it take to Rank a DoL to 50? I feel I level my MIN faster than I do my CNJ.

XP for DoL classes is really good right now. You may have noticed that you can generally move up to a higher gathering grade at every -5 levels (i.e., 15, 25, 35). XP is based on the difference between your level and the node's grade. If you're level 25, and you're gathering at grade 5 nodes, you won't get many attempts per node, but you'll get really good XP every time you're successful.

But as you get closer to the level of the node, you start to get fewer XP per strike. So for example, at level 24, if you're mining at grade 3 nodes, you get more attempts to strike at the node, and you're likely to be more successful on your attempts (which gives more XP than missing the ore), but you get much less XP per successful mining attempt. And there are currently no grade 6 nodes in the game. Combine the fact that you have to get a ton of XP per level from 45-50, with the fact that you're going to be getting about 100 XP per strike at grade 5 nodes, and it takes a long time to get those last few levels.

In other words, it's really fast to level all DoL until you get to about level 43. Then it slows down a lot.

6. As with the DoW/DoMs having CNJ/THM to 20, are there any "recommended" abilities for DoLs too or am I safe to focus on a single one unlike with the DoW/DoMs?

At level 25 Botanist, you get Sweat of Brow. When it pops, it gives you double the XP. Right now, it's the only DoL ability I have equipped on any of my DoL jobs. You don't need it, but I'd suggest taking Bot to 25 for Sweat of Brow because it's going to make it possible to level your other DoL classes faster.

7. I've been stockpiling my Levequest allowances and I'm up to 52 now. Would the best way to use them be DoH leves? I was thinking so because of the material and crystals required for grinding.

Leves are really good for any class. But there certainly are benefits to using them on DoH. As you mentioned, it saves you a ton of money that you'd otherwise spend grinding up levels. And grinding in a party on DoW or DoM can actually get you about as much XP as doing leves, if you're in a good party and in a good spot.

Doing leves on DoL can net you an insane amount of XP really fast. For example, if you're doing the "Find 3 special items" leves, if you can manage to get all 3 items in your first 3 strikes, you might get 1K XP per strike, and also a bonus of about 4K XP at the end of the leve. So you'll get about 7,000 XP from 3 mining attempts. That's insane. So if you grind DoL, you won't get as much XP, but you will get more stuff to sell in the Market Wards, so you will make more money.

On the other hand, Yoshi seems to be trying to change the way synthing works. Grinding was pretty necessary before because people would buy one set of gear, and never change it. But now, with materia, people are buying new sets of gear all the time. And since you can actually craft things that are around your level, it can actually be possible to level up crafts by making stuff that's useful instead of grinding. Which is kind of a mind-boggling concept in an MMO.

The downside to DoH leves is that the bonus is given when you turn them in. That's not such a problem on lower level leves, which will require you to run to somebody in town or the camp right outside of town. But as you get higher level leves, you have to turn more of them in at higher level camps, which are farther from town. You have to either run there or teleport there, which is either a time-suck or an anima drain.

8. In terms of DoH, are there any "recommended" abilities for these too? Would Alchemist be the best first DoH to rank to 50 because of crystal breaking?

Robert -- who always gives such good advice -- recommended Preserve and Fulfillment. (Side note -- I have a crafter friend who calls it "Ful-fail-ment." :P) Those are good. I also use Maker's Muse (from Blacksmith) on all my crafts.

Pay attention to the description of each ability, too. Maker's Muse works for Standard Synths, and is most effective for mass production (meaning single synths in which you're making more than one item). Preserve keeps the orb white -- which gives the best chance of successful synth attempts -- and is best for finished items. So if you're making logs, it will work for 3 attempts, and if you're making a Brass Spear, it will work for 4 attempts. Ingenuity (also Blacksmith) is most effective for parts. So my success rate seems to go up most when I'm using Ingenuity while making (for example) a Brass Spear Head or an Bronze Axe Handle or whatever.

As for which DoH to level up first, it's totally up to you. Alc and Cul can't repair any gear or attach materia to gear. But they are probably in for some pretty major changes in the next patch.

Like with DoW/M, it might be useful to level everything to about 10 to figure out which one(s) you like most. And if you take everything to 10, you can get every class's first ability. Which will probably make it easier to level everything else.

10. Ul'dah is extremely populated. Limsa and Gridania is desolate. Would it be best for me to just join the Grand Company in Ul'dah when I can? Are there quests restricted based on which Grand Company you're a part of similar to with XI?

When choosing a GC, you might consider which items offered by the Grand Company -- for example, Limsa's Grand Company offers Marauder weapons, while Pugilist weapons are offered by Gridania's Grand Company. And you also might consider which city you're going to be spending the most time in to pick up leves.

But I'd suggest just choosing whichever Grand Company you like best. I think they're going to balance the Grand Company rewards. And I have a feeling the storyline from here on out is going to be based on Grand Companies. So just choose whichever Grand Company you think suits you best, because you're probably going to be spending some time with it for the rest of the game.

Like Robert, I chose Limsa because I'm awesome. But you should feel free to choose whatever GC you like best. Unless you're awesome, too. In which case you should choose Limsa. (Este is awesome, but for some reason, he didn't choose Limsa. Maybe he's trying to raise the average level of awesomeness of the other GC's.)

11. Is the market wards profitable at all? It feels as if anything and everything I put on my Retainer sells slowly (and I'm always the lowest price) to the point where I just end up vendoring my items and not bothering. Should it only be used for finished products? Are there any websites similar to ffxiAH that show the frequency an items sells so that I'd know exactly what sells Dead Slow-Slow to just vendor and whatever sells Normal-Very Fast to keep?

Right now, the best way to make money is through the market wards. I'd suggest a couple of things.

First, make sure you're trying to sell your items in Uldah. That's basically the central market, and it's where pretty much everyone goes to buy and sell items.

Second, check out what sells well. You can either make that -- which will involve some crafting -- or you can sell the items that is made from. For some reason, on my server right now, basic items (like cobalt ore) are selling for higher prices than crafted items (like cobalt ingots).

Third, figure out what people need but isn't being sold. Like you seem to have noticed, low level gear is either not sold in the Market Wards, or it's being sold for incredibly high prices. Consider making some of that and offering it for more reasonable prices.

Fourth, we mentioned this before, but there's a new patch coming up soon. The new patch will probably bring new recipes and new gear. Anytime something new arrives, people will pay outrageous amounts to get the newest elite gear. So when the patch hits, you might consider checking out the new recipes and seeing what you can either make, gather, or grind related to that recipe.

Fifth, do sidequests, main storyline quests, and job quests. Those will net you some free and easy gil. Get your leves evaluated every 8 leves; it will get you a leve reward bonus. Do behests.

None of that appeals to you? Want my sure-fire way to make money? Outside of LL right now, there are tons of level 1 and 2 sheep. Kill them all. Sheepskin sells really well (and it's a great way to level up a starter class). Put up 4 stacks of sheepskin at the lowest price in the Market Wards, and you're going to make plenty of money.

Good luck! And if you end up not liking your server, you're welcome to join our small mid-core weekend LS on Istory

What?!?!? It took me months to convince Este to invite me to his LS, and it takes you about 5 minutes?!?! Unbelievable.

[REDace0]

It wasn't that long ago that...

[a whole lot of really good info]

...Unbelievable.

Wow Vydarr, why haven't you written and sold a strategy guide yet?

[VydarrTyr]

/blush

Because about 3/4ths of my tips would be stolen straight from you and Este.