Gone Since Beta, Back, What all has changed?

[LordEice]

Hello all! I started playing FFXIV back during the beta (still got my little onion helmet on). I stopped playing fairly quickly because of a lot of the issues (the severe lag, the general lack of things to do other than grind, the repetitive nature of zones and lack of "unique" or "explorable" places, etc). I saw that there had been many changes and decided to give it another shot!

So, I'm currently a level 11 lance/15 pug/few others for some extra abilities. I was wondering what all has changed other than the obvious things (i.e. there is now auto-attack, which I don't recall there being before, a lot of the skills have either changed levels or disappeared entirely, some new ones including combos, etc). I also noticed that there doesn't appear to be a physical level? It seems like each class has its own level just like in FFXI (sort of).

Are there any better leveling spots? I can't remember where I'm at on the main quest (I did most of the little bit they had during beta). Is there a "quest line" that will make things a little more fun? I know there is Ifrit and such, but not really familiar with that (have to read up on that). I see there are jobs now, which is part of why my levels are the way they are (I want to work towards dragoon ... surprised they didn't have red mage being conjurer and thaumaturge! That's a classic class more-so than dragoon and bard!).

Anyways, any tips and advice? I notice that I have a general dearth of money (as is per usual in the starts of many mmo games), so what would be a decent way to get an "average" amount (i.e. is the leve quests the best way to get a steady stream to fund normal gear your level?).

I'm on Gungnir (I was on Istory ... what happened to Istory?), so anyone that has any tips would be appreciated. Last thing ... is solo'ing still mostly possible? When I started as pug I remember being able to solo most of the time. Is party'ing normal at any rank range and if so ... how do I get into one? I don't know if there is a way to contact other players that aren't immediately around you since that wasn't there in beta.

[Taika]

Hello LordEice, and welcome back to Eorzea!

As you already know, quite a lot has changed since the release. Most of the worst problems have been fixed now - as in you can actually play the game now - but some of them are still there. It's a good time to give it another shot though, I just recently came back too. Besides getting to know the game in its current state, I would also recommend taking a look at their plans for 2.0 which is to be released in the end of this year.

I also noticed that there doesn't appear to be a physical level? It seems like each class has its own level just like in FFXI (sort of).

Yes, they got rid of the physical level and each class has their own level and stats now. Jobs share level and stats with their base class though (for example Dragoon and Lancer share level and stats).

Are there any better leveling spots?

Yes and it seems people are grinding more now. I recommend this site and the Moogle Box Mob Location Tool for finding them.

I can't remember where I'm at on the main quest (I did most of the little bit they had during beta). Is there a "quest line" that will make things a little more fun? I know there is Ifrit and such, but not really familiar with that (have to read up on that).

You can check your Journal (from the main menu) to see which Main Scenario quests you have already done. And, if you want to, you can rewatch their cutscenes in your inn room. You can see all the Main Scenario quests here (not sure if their level requirements are up to date on that site though).

In addition to Main Scenario quests, you also have quest lines for each class and job. There are also quest lines for Grand Companies, you can start them when you're level 22.

Ifrit and Garuda are primal battles. Storywise they're linked to the Grand Companies. Both have an easy version and a hard version. You can do the easy version of the Ifrit fight at level 25. There are also raid dungeons (one level 25+ and three level 45+) and a Moogle fight, so there is stuff to do now.

Anyways, any tips and advice? I notice that I have a general dearth of money (as is per usual in the starts of many mmo games), so what would be a decent way to get an "average" amount (i.e. is the leve quests the best way to get a steady stream to fund normal gear your level?).

There are some tips to gearing up and making gil in this thread.

I was on Istory ... what happened to Istory?

There was a server merge in March, they merged two servers in to one in most cases.

Last thing ... is solo'ing still mostly possible? When I started as pug I remember being able to solo most of the time. Is party'ing normal at any rank range and if so ... how do I get into one? I don't know if there is a way to contact other players that aren't immediately around you since that wasn't there in beta.

Soloing is possible but it's much faster to EXP in a group. Most people seem to solo at least to level 20 or 30 and then group up. There's a party search function in the game now, but unfortunately it's not widely used for some reason. I do recommend using the system to put your party search flag up though, and here's how you do it.

In addition to using the search function, you should listen to party shouts in Ul'dah (there are usually some for pretty much all levels 20+ at least on my server).

[Estellios]

As for what has changed, since you have been gone that long nearly everything has changed with the exception of the world itself (Which will be happening in 2.0 =P). The current dev team has been hard at work to add a lot more player-friendly features, revamps, and content.

If you want to re-acquaint yourself with the game, the Lodestone Play Guides (The Play guide section is on the left side) cover a large number of topics, is updated quite often now, and is pretty much the game manual.

Evy Rain's advice is all spot-on, too.

I would like to add about making money: guildleves are a good source of income but make sure that you do an "Evaluation" leve after each set of 8 that you do. The Evaluation option is at the Guildleve counter, and it gives you a leve with increased rewards.