Forum Settings
       
Reply To Thread

Last Log In 6/10/2010Follow

#1 Jan 19 2013 at 6:51 PM Rating: Decent
***
2,501 posts
I was pondering until recently to return, and I decided list night to pull the trigger and do it. Formerly of Diabolos, now on Siren.

After spending a little bit of time (maybe an hour?), I realized that I don't remember squat. I played almost from NA release, with a couple of breaks here and there, the longest lasting about 6 months. I've noticed that things have changed...level cap to 99 (I still haven't hit 75 in any job, I'm slacking), and an occasionally annoying /yell command. I've decided to level a new job to refamiliarize myself, and I wanted to get some opinions on what I should take a look at, from the rest of the player base, to get an idea of what will get me back up to speed the fastest.

Also, I've got a couple friends that should be reactivating their accounts at some point, one a 75 RDM, the other, I'm not sure the highest job...and we're looking to level together exclusively on these new jobs. Any tips on three jobs that would be picked up together rather easily up to 45-50ish?

How much as really changed in a a year and a half?
#2 Jan 19 2013 at 6:57 PM Rating: Excellent
Avatar
****
4,864 posts
Welcome back. A lot has changed.


Two big things you should do are make sure you start the Abyssea quests enough to start accumulating stones which allow you to spend time doing empyrean 2 armor (job specific, pretty good for most jobs).

The second is to start the Voidwatch quests.

Other than that, just have fun with your buddies and join some shouts - you'll learn that way. Don't take anything that the super hardcore say to seriously.
____________________________
Carbuncle


#3 Jan 21 2013 at 9:00 PM Rating: Excellent
**
356 posts
I too played at launch-2006, taking some breaks in between. Partying is alot different now because theyve added these books called Grounds of Valor. You click on them and they give you a few different "pages" which tell you to kill a certain amount of monsters. You can also set it to repeat so you dont have to go back to the book. Everytime you kill, say 6 skeletons like the one in Gusgen mines, you get a boost of experience, usually starting around 6-700. The more you experience in an area, the more the boost accumulates and the more experience you get. It does have a cap, usually around 2000. Gusgen mines is a very easy place to do this so alot of people go there for the mid-lower teens into the 30s. The faster you kill the skeletons, the faster your requirement of 6 fills up and then you get the bonus and it resets. In the mid/upper 30s and up Crawlers Nest is a popular place to gov party. You can go wherever you want though, if you have a couple of buddies and you just want to play with them you can explore areas and find good spots that match with the grounds of valor pages. This isnt that common just because the bigger the alliance is the easier it is to kill the monsters as the experience the individual mobs give isnt the goal, its the experience boost for killing the certain amount of them.

As for which jobs, If you plan to join up with the alliances then it really wont matter much, it'll be more about what jobs you want to take to endgame and do missions/quests with rather than what is needed to gain experience. If you guys plan on doing some duoing/trioing, which can be alot of fun but as I said you cant beat the exp from alliance groups, then I would highly recommend unlocking the dancer job as it is the best subjob for survivability, allowing you to use TP to cure, drain MP, enfeeble mobs, ect. You even get a dance that costs no TP and allows you to cast sneak/invis on yourself (it doesnt count as magic aggro either) and while it doesnt last as long as the magic version it has been extremely useful to me. If you all subjob Dancer than you shouldnt have any problems with no mage healer, otherwise subbing whm would be a must. As for which job to pick for a main, I say just go with whatever you guys have interest in. One thing people tell me is to pick a few jobs to get to level cap, because its good to have diversity/flexibility when doing endgame events for when, say an alliance already has enough of one job for a particular event so you could just come as something else that time so you dont miss out. If it was like the old days, where it took months and months to reach cap, I would understand picking one job to go with being a bigger decision, but as you can reach level cap in a few weeks (less if youre hardcore or have people that let you leech off of Abyssea parties) I dont see it as much of a factor anymore. Imo, just pick a few jobs you like and run with them. If there is one particular job you really like then you can still use other jobs to join events where your main job may not be needed that particular time and then use the resources you acquire towards making your main job better.

I myself started a new character and I am very much enjoying Beastmaster, both for its abilities to solo and to get parties/alliances out of sticky aggro situations. Starting off was a little difficult but the more levels you gain the more abiltiies you get that make it so much easier, such as the ability to tame and charm an aggro and then use the ability "leave" to get rid of it or the ability "snarl" for jug pets which lets you transfer all of your hate onto your pet. My highest on my old character was a 75 blackmage and on this character my highest is 60 beastmaster so my experience when it comes to the newer endgame content is limited, but ive read and talked to people ingame alot so I have a pretty good understanding of the basics.



Edited, Jan 21st 2013 10:06pm by aadrenry

Edited, Jan 21st 2013 10:08pm by aadrenry
#4 Jan 21 2013 at 11:43 PM Rating: Excellent
****
9,526 posts
aadrenry explained it really well.

That's pretty much it. The game is best if each of you, say, looks at 3 jobs you're relatively interested in. If between the 3 of you there is a WHM, BLU, BLM, WAR, NIN, MNK, DRK, BST, THF you'll be able to set up parties for almost anything (jobs arbitrary) Ultimately if the 3 of you cover 9 jobs you'll be able to trio a lot of content and be able to set up parties for a lot of other things.

Like with 3 you can challenge (end game wise)

Salvage
Nyzul
Meeble Burrows
Assualt
Abyssea
Many BCNMs
Many ZNMs
World NMs
Probably all storyline missions
Most dynamis

Also if the three of you are core, it is a lot easier to pick up a couple members for things.

Honestly, FFXI has a big up front time investment, but if two or three people work together they can beat a lot of the game. There are some events that require a lot of people still, or very specific set ups, or both, but if you have a couple friends most of the game is open to you. I hope your time back is fun. If you feel frustrated, always feel free to come back and ask advice. The people around here might seem like they are arguing lots, but when it comes to honest questions people do just want to help.

Edited, Jan 21st 2013 9:48pm by Olorinus
#5 Jan 23 2013 at 8:34 PM Rating: Decent
**
297 posts
Only thing I would add/correct is that while you gain more abilties as long as you are in either gusgen or crawlers nest chances are you will be level sync'd and not have acess to those abilites or being able to skill up. Something to keep in mind. Otherwise great summary.
Reply To Thread

Colors Smileys Quote OriginalQuote Checked Help

 

Recent Visitors: 120 All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (120)