New Character // New to the Game

[RicoJalapeno]

I have seen the Battlecraft option, but what exactly are battlecrafts?

[REDace0]

There are three other non-instanced dungeons like Shposhae. They're the three beastman strongholds: U'Ghamaro Mines north of Camp Iron Lake in La Noscea, Zahar'ak east of Camp Broken Water in Thanalan, and Natalan east of Camp Dragonhead in Coerthas. These are full of level 50-59 Kobolds, Amalj'aa, and Ixali, respectively, and have many special beastman NMs that sometimes drop keys to the coffers nearby, which sometimes contain unique gear.

You can't turn in the points you earn for completing achievements in FFXIV. The points themselves are like Xbox's Gamerscore: fun, but essentially worthless. On the other hand many of the hardest or most time consuming achievements have unique rewards, including the Luminary Tools, the Paragon's Crown, and the various Grand Company Escutcheons. These can be obtained from the NPCs issuing the corresponding achievements after they have been unlocked.

"Battlecraft" just refers to Battlecraft leves. Regional leves are divided into Battlecraft (fighting) and Fieldcraft (gathering). There's no corresponding word for crafting leves, since all Local Leves are crafting.

And yes, the main scenario will take you to Ul'dah at level 20. But the Grand Company storyline will take you all over.

[Mikita]

Outside of Shposhae I haven't really seen many other dungeons- is that something that is in the works for 2.0? Are there many other dungeons to explore as a team? Or is it mainly named monster hunting for the time being?

In the Black Shroud there are the Tam Tara Deepcroft (lower level) and Mun Tuy Cellars (higher level).

In Thanalan there is Nanawa Mines and Copperbell Mines... These aren't really dungeons, but a labyrinth like mine with lots of monsters to fight. There were also a couple of other mines that we stumbled upon, but neither were available for entry.

In La Noscea there is Cassiopeia Hollow near Camp Bloodshore, and the U'Ghamaro Mines (fairly difficult Kobold stronghold).

There are also the instanced dungeons of Toto Rak in the Black Shroud, Dzemael Darkhold in Coerthas, Cutter's Cry in Thanalan, and Aurum Vale in Coerthas.

Finally, as far as starting areas go, I hear alot of people saying to head to Ul'dah for groups and linkshells. I'm really liking Limsa Lominsa's style right now-- if I wanted to kind of stay put where I'm at for a little while, when would it be a good idea to kinda change my base of operations to Ul'dah? Does the main story quest chain that begins in Limsa Lominsa eventually head there?

Ul'dah is the gathering point for many players and it would be much easier to meet people, find parties, and get introduced to Linkshells there.

Even if you don't want to make Ul'dah your home, it's very easy to get around.
I usually keep my main return point as Ul'dah so I can go there easily whenever I like, and my secondary home point is set to the Inn Room in Limsa Lominsa so I can go "home" easily. ^^

[RicoJalapeno]

Once again, thank you guys for answering my questions. Looks like this game will keep me busy for awhile. I am getting all my Classes up to 15, then starting archer as my main so I can unlock Bard. I don't really like crafting, so I will most likely ignore that for awhile.

Another Question:
Does it matter where you place your retainer? Not as in which city, but the sub-category's. As long as someone searchs for an item I have, they can still find it right? Doesn't matter which sub-category it's in?

[REDace0]

They can still find it in the Item Search. The tax you pay to the city on the item varies by ward though. If you actually enter each ward it will tell you which items are discounted, e.g. Upper Tailors halves the tax on leather and cloth armor level 41-50. This is the tax taken away from the sale price when the gil is put into your retainer's inventory. I believe the tax is 5% in the wards, 2.5% in the correct ward, and 10% in a player bazaar (not sure why there's a tax there, lore-wise). Note that this is distinct from the item delivery fee charged when buying through the Item Search, which is added on top of your specified price when someone makes a purchase and is only charged to the buyer.

[RicoJalapeno]

Gracias Senior. So easy to pick up other MMO's, this one has been a little more difficult, and I played FF11.

[Soukyuu]

There is a thread with some pointers here. Lodestone links that tend to get overlooked, including a how-to on finding a party and setting your seeking flag.

Or you could join other people in their grinding parties (usually people shout in Uldah so don't bother with limsa or gridania)

Please do not do this. There is a perfectly working party seeking interface and people need to use it. Instead you're just contributing to clogging up Ul'dah. It's bad enough present players are ignorant about it, let's not lead new ones in that direction

[Bladewall]

There is a thread with some pointers here. Lodestone links that tend to get overlooked, including a how-to on finding a party and setting your seeking flag.

Please do not do this. There is a perfectly working party seeking interface and people need to use it. Instead you're just contributing to clogging up Ul'dah. It's bad enough present players are ignorant about it, let's not lead new ones in that direction

I will heed that information and use the party seeking tools!

[RicoJalapeno]

Lol I can't believe I asked the Battlecraft question, I got it mixed up with something else, I always knew what it was.