General FFXIV Questions

[Enkidoh]

Hopefully I can answer at least some of your questions.

1. FATEs are designed as one of the better ways to level in ARR, but it's not the only way. When you completed your level 10 main storyline quest, you would have also unlocked something called guildleves, also called levequests, which are like repeatable quests stripped of lore down to their basic gameplay. At each outpost/camp/village, you'll see a special npc with a card icon above their head and a title called 'levemete' - speaking to this npc will allow you to undertake levequests, which require you to complete specific tasks (like kill special enemies in a certain time).

Levequests are not just for melee and casting classes either - there are specific levequests for gathering and crafting classes as well, which involve things such as having to create a specific item or gathering certain materials from certain places. Levequests give a large amount of exp for completion and also will net other rewards like gil and items so they're well worth undertaking.

Be aware though that to do each levequest reqiuires a 'leve allowance', of which you can only have a maximum 100, and that when you unlock the ability to do leves you start with zero, but that you are awarded 3 leve allowances every 6 real life hours. This is to stop players just grinding on leves over and over again. But they're still well worth doing.

Another way of gaining exp is when you complete each class's initial class quest, you unlock what is called the Hunting Log. This is similar in a way to the training regimes in FFXI, where you have a list of specific monsters to kill in certain quantities. Each monster type listing you complete will net you a nice amount of bonus exp as well as the normal exp with each monster you killed, and completing a page will gain you an even larger exp bonus. Unlike training regimes though, they cannot be repeated, but will advance to a new page once you reach it's required level (for instance, page 1 is level 1-10 monsters, page 2 10-20, page 3 level 20-30 etc). Once you join a Grand Company you will also gain a special Grand Company Hunting Log as well which is pretty much the same except you will also gain Company Seals as well as exp and gil.

Otherwise besides FATEs, sidequests and main scenario quests also give exp, but of course, these aren't repeatable.

2. From what I understand players like to speed run dungeons because the faster you complete a dungeon, you will receive an exp bonus for it (and if you happen to have a player who hasn't done that dungeon before, they will gain an even larger exp bonus if completed quickly.) I'm not sure if it affects drop rates for loot at the end, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

3. Apparently attaining level 50 in one class will gain you a 50% exp bonus for all classes below that, but I'm not sure as to the precise mechanics of how that works. You do however also gain an exp bonus for all classes if you spend time in a sanctuary (usually a town or outpost with an aetheryte), or your inn room. You can tell you have rested exp by checking your exp bar at the bottom of the screen - a highlighted but unfilled yellow or blue section is the amount of exp that is 'rested' and will be boosted as it's filled in.

4. Once you have your Grand Company chocobo at level 30 you can undertake a further quest that allows you to call it as a Companion in battle, and those roles are how it performs in battle. It can be quite a help if you are soloing, but naturally cannot be brought into story instances or dungeons.

5. You can get a promotion in your Grand Company by talking to one of the Grand Company npcs at your specific Grand Company headquarters - to do so requires usually a specific amount of Grand Company seals, which you gain by doing FATEs (the easiest way), or completing the Grand Company Hunting Log. I think to get a promotion from one rank title to another (such as Private to Sergeant) requires a quest to be completed, but I'm not sure on that.

6. I play on the PC and have little knowledge of PS3 controls sadly so I can't help you there I'm afraid.

7. My MRD is only level 15 so I don't have much exp with it, but I do know that it's considered a tanking class, and hence, any ability you can use which helps with restoring HP, mitigating damage (like boosting DEF) and boosting hate would be the best to go for. A good idea would be to check the Tank Role sub forum and see what players recommend there.

8. Achievement awards are listed under Achievements in the Personal Logs menu of the game - clicking the little triangle button under the relevant achievement will inform you of what the reward is, and how much you've done to complete that objective.

9. I'm not too sure about if Sleep erases already built up hate, but when I've done dungeons and used Flash the mobs when awoken by someone else do not go for me, so I guess it does erase hate. But someone else is probably better qualified for answering this question.

10. When you join a Free Company (FFXIV's version of a player Guild), members have access to a central bank in the form of a Company Chest. Otherwise, as you progress in the game's storyline you will gain the ability to hire a retainer which is an npc who is more like extra storage space for your character (retainers are also used for selling items on the Market Board). Once you have a retainer, you can summon them by finding a 'summoning bell' in various places in each city (a bell is also found in the inn room). As for sorting your inventory, I'm not sure if there is an autosort function in the game yet, but I know it has been requested by players in the past.

Phew! I hope this has helped.